Muslims threaten Christians in Mauritania
Christians are a tiny and beleaguered minority in Mauritania, an Islamic republic in western Africa, numbering about 4500 of a total population of 3.3 million. Distribution of non-Islamic literature is prohibited and evangelism of Muslims is viewed as a threat to social order.
A worker with Voice of the Martyrs Canada recently met with the leader of a group of Christians from Muslim backgrounds in the Saharan nation.
“Anwar” and his small band of courageous Christians trek across miles of sand so they may assemble secretly in a Muslim land. This group of Muslim background believers regularly endures the scorching Mauritanian sun to pray, learn more about Jesus and sing praise songs.
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Despite government restrictions, perhaps the greatest threat to Anwar and the band of Christians comes from militant Muslims. They have warned Anwar he will be killed if he does not stop telling Muslims about Christ. He recently received this threatening letter from a group calling itself the Islamic Committee:“We’ve been following and keeping an eye on this cunning group. We’ve discovered that there is a group trying to convert people in the public areas or underprivileged people to Christianity. We promise to eliminate them as we are commanded in the Quran. It seems that those so-called Christians are taking advantage of how weak the Islamic world is in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine these days.”
The article also reports that a Muslim family repeatedly assaulted and humiliated a young Mauritanian woman who became a Christian. In seven months of confinement, she refused to renounce Christ, so they threw her out. She is now married and ministering to other Christians from Muslim backgrounds.
The full article is published in the March 2009 issue of VOMC’s monthly newsletter, but is not available online. Click here for subscription information.