THE MAGAZINE OF BARNABAS FUND HOPE AND AID FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

barnabasaid MARCH/APRIL 2007

• Gifts of Hope: how you can bring

a smile to a Christian child this Easter
• Iran: persecuting Christians while awaiting the mahdi
• Islam and slavery: will the link ever be broken?
 From the New Zealand Chairman
Let justice roll on
like a river
barnabasaid MARCH/APRIL 2007
One of the great Biblical themes is justice – giving the rightful place to God and
respecting His order for humankind both in our individual relationship with God
and in our relationship with one another in the community.
Contents One way in which God’s justice is
expressed is in how those the Old
To guard the safety of Christians in hostile environments
names have often been changed or omitted. Thank you Testament calls “the stranger” or
for your understanding. “foreigner” are treated.
Do not exploit the foreigners who live
3 Project News in your land. They should be treated
like everyone else, and you must love
Oxen and donkeys make all the them as you love yourself. Remember
difference for Christians in that you were once foreigners in the
West Africa land of Egypt. I, the Lord, am your
God. Leviticus 19:33 – 34 (NLT)
4 Gifts of Hope To love the stranger as you love
Helping Christian children brings yourself requires at least equal
treatment as compared with the way
hope and aid for the next generation you treat your own people.
In modern terms the “stranger”
8 Newsroom would include immigrant and other
Celebrating a school you helped minority groups including ethnic
to build and religious minorities. It was as a
minority community that Israel lived
Information for several generations in Egypt.
One of the issues so-called
pull-out “Western” societies have faced since
Islam and slavery the watershed date of 9/11 in 2001
has been the treatment of Muslim
minorities. New Zealand, along with
10 Country Profile: other governments, has taken a firm
Iran line in assuring Muslim minorities
What happens to Christians when that their rights will be respected and
they will not be allowed to become
a Muslim president wants to hasten a scapegoat for the actions of some
the End Times Muslim extremists. Muslim leaders
for their part have spoken out against
14 In Touch what has been called Islamophobia
- the harassment of a minority group
Have you seen our new DVD on
simply because they are members of
Christians in Iraq? the Islamic faith.
As the passage from Leviticus
16 Campaign Update shows, the Biblical understanding of
Looking back on a year of campaign justice also requires respect for the
rights of minorities. This involves,
achievements however, not only ensuring justice for
the Muslim minority in countries like
Cover: A Christian boy from Bethlehem. New Zealand but justice for minorities
Turn to page 8 to read about the official opening
of the school there, funded by Barnabas in countries where Muslims are the
Fund, which was visited four days later by a majority. In many such countries
delegation of British church leaders, headed
Christians do not enjoy equal rights
by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The girl in
the small picture attends a Christian school
or the freedom to openly express their
in Chad which Barnabas Fund assists. faith. According to traditional Islamic
Barnabas Fund supports many projects which law – shari‘a – they are classified as
help specifically children and young people
growing up in contexts of discrimination and Turn to the pull-out supplement in the centre of this magazine to read more
persecution. Read more about “Gifts of Hope” about what Islam and the shari‘a say about slavery.
which you could give them (pages 4 to7).
This editorial is adapted from an article first published in the New Zealand Treasury magazine of
1st February 2007.
dhimmi. Furthermore there is no
freedom in shari‘a for a Muslim to
convert to another faith, and apostasy
from Islam carries the death penalty.
Elements of shari‘a are increasingly
being put into practice in many Muslim-
majority countries. Although the death
penalty is not often carried out today,
converts to Christianity can suffer
persecution and harassment of many
kinds including loss of employment,
disinheritance, physical threats, the
removal of children and the dissolution
of their marriage. Since 9/11 pressure
on Christians has increased with
Christians being targeted as supposedly
supporting the United States’ war on
Islamic terrorism. In countries that
have had a history of tolerance such
as Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Jordan
there has been increased pressure to
introduce shari‘a with its discriminatory
approach to non-Muslims.
This year marks the 200th
anniversary of the beginning of the
abolition of the slave trade, the result
of years of tireless effort by William
Wilberforce and a small group of
other Christians, who wanted to see
this terrible injustice righted. As 21st
century Christians we need to have a
similar passion to that which motivated
those who worked so hard to see the
end of slavery and the slave trade. For
us the issue of justice will be to work
for the removal of discrimination
against Christian minorities in Muslim
countries, and in doing so encourage
those Muslims who are seeking for a
more open interpretation of the shari‘a.
“Don’t forget about those in prison.
Suffer with them as though you were
there yourself. Share the sorrow of
those being mistreated, as though you
feel their pain in your own bodies.”
Hebrews 13: 3 (NLT)
Peter McKenzie QC
Chairman of the Trustees of Barnabas
Fund New Zealand
Gifts of Hope 2007

A hope and a future for Christian

children in places of persecution
As Easter approaches and we prepare to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is
good to remind ourselves of the sure and certain hope we have in Him. Because of His atoning
death on the cross we can be confident that one day we shall be with Him in glory. At last we shall
see His face, in a place where there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, and He will
live among His people. (Revelation 21:3-4)
This hope is surely an anchor for the soul (Hebrews 6:19)
in our turbulent, storm-tossed world where in human terms CARING FOR ORPHANS
the outlook seems so bleak.

T
Hope is linked to truth, to faith, and also to love. Have here are many commands in the Bible to care for the
orphans and fatherless, those who have no one to
you ever noticed how the apostles Paul and Peter both
provide for them. Barnabas Fund helps to support
wrote of love for our fellow-believers in connection with
orphaned Christians in a variety of different contexts.
hope and the truth on which that hope is based?
Twenty-five children who lost their parents in the
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, catastrophic tsunami on 26th December 2004 are being
when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith cared for in India. The cost per child is £29 per month.
in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints Barnabas Fund is currently contributing £20 per child per
– the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored month, as local support increases.
up for you in heaven and that you have already heard
about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to Ratnam lost his parents in
the tsunami. Barnabas Fund
you. (Colossians 1:3-5) is helping to support him
Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the and 24 other Indian Christian
orphans from the tsunami
dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in
God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying
the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers,
love one another deeply from the heart. (1 Peter 1:21-22)
Maybe you will be giving chocolate eggs to your friends
and family this Easter. Perhaps you could also give a gift
to someone from your Christian family overseas, someone
living in a place where Christians are under pressure for
their faith? In these pages we describe some current
projects you might like to support.
Keeping to the theme of hope, we have chosen ministries Santhi
Samson
and projects which help Christian children and young Karuna
people – the next generation, the future of the Church.
The pressures on children from Christian homes in Muslim
countries can be very great. They face discrimination,
indoctrination and abuse. Projects like these bring
encouragement to young people, and make them strong,
mature believers, bringing hope for the future.

You may like to choose to support a ministry or project

as an alternative gift for a loved one, perhaps for
Easter, or for some other occasion. For donations in
lieu of a gift Barnabas Fund is able to supply you with
an attractive card for your friend or relative to tell
them how the donation on their behalf has helped and The tsunami orphans in India celebrating Palm Sunday 2006
encouraged Christian children. You can use the order
Reference 00-540
form on page 15 to send your gift and tell us what you
would like to have written on the card.

4 BARNABAS AID MARCH / APRIL 2007

Some of the Central Asian orphans last December
In a certain country of Central Asia where Christians are
facing much pressure and persecution, a church is caring
for 11 Christian orphans. Barnabas Fund covers the cost
of their food, clothes and education, which amounts to
£21.50 per child per month.
Reference XX-610
In the Arab world we also support children’s homes which
care for Christian youngsters. Some are orphans but
others are living there because of different and equally
tragic circumstances. For example, perhaps one of
their parents has converted to Islam and the remaining
Christian parent has sent the couple’s children to a church-
run children’s home to protect them from being forcibly
converted to Islam.
Reference XX-101
SCHOOLS
C
hildren need to go to school! But in contexts of
anti-Christian persecution, it can be a severe ordeal
for Christian children to go to government schools,
especially at primary school age. As well as the mocking
from their class-mates which Christian children in any
country may suffer, their teachers too may belittle them
and may tell grotesque lies about the Christian faith. The
Christian children may be given low grades or even failed
in their exams.
Barnabas Fund has many projects which help to give
Christian children a good education, whenever possible
in a secure, Christian environment. Our School-Place
Sponsorship Fund enables Christian schools to offer places
at reduced fees to needy Christian families. At the moment
the Fund is helping 1,580 children in India, Pakistan,
Egypt and the Holy Land.
Reference 00-514
These Pakistani
Christian girls can go
to a Christian school,
thanks to help from
Barnabas Fund
Gifts of Hope 2007
Special projects help Christian school-children in very
difficult situations, for example, Iraqi Christian children in
Syria. They have fled with their families from the terrible
situation and anti-Christian hostility in their own country.
It is next to impossible for their parents to find work, so
school fees cannot be paid unless there is outside help.
Currently we are funding Lebanese Christian children
whose parents cannot afford their school fees this year,
because of the conflict in their country last July. Many
people fled their homes during the conflict and could not
gather in that summer’s harvest. So until the 2007 harvest
they need extra help.
School buildings
In some places there are not enough Christian schools, or
those that exist are not large enough for all the children,
or they are in a very ramshackle state. On page 8 you can
read about the new extension added to a Christian school
in Bethlehem last year. It was through Barnabas Fund that
the original school was built and also through Barnabas
Fund that the extension has been added. We have also
helped with new buildings for schools in Chad, Gambia,
Nigeria, Sudan and Uganda.
School building projects currently in progress include a
complete new school for the desperately poor children of
one of Egypt’s infamous “garbage cities”.
School buses
Getting to school can be difficult. In Mosul, in northern
Iraq, Barnabas Fund is helping with the costs of hiring six
school buses to take Christian children to school.
Reference 20-227 (helping needy Iraqi Christians)
School hostels
In some countries children have to travel a long way to go
to a Christian school and it is normal for them to stay in
a nearby hostel during term. Here they are cared for in a
Christian environment. Currently we are assisting with
a purpose-built hostel building in Faisalabad, Pakistan,
which will be able to accommodate up to 40 boys aged
10 to 16.
Reference 41-667
Teacher training
Schools need teachers, and teachers need training.
A church-run project in Sudan is helping to train head-
teachers, teachers and educational coordinators, with
assistance from Barnabas Fund.
Reference 48-494
Training Christian school-
teachers in Sudan
MARCH / APRIL 2007 BARNABAS AID 5
Gifts of Hope 2007
This Christian girl in the Middle East would have died from a spinal problem but Barnabas
Fund assisted with the necessary surgery. Her father refused to convert to Islam and get
FURTHER EDUCATION free medical care for his daughter that way. We are so thankful that God used Barnabas
Fund to reward this family’s courage and faithfulness.

A
fter school, what next? Barnabas Fund
helps Christian young people in contexts of
discrimination to study at university or college.
This will enable the individuals to support themselves
and their family in the future. For example, we are
helping a young Christian in Pakistan to learn welding.
Pakistani welding student - Reference 41-401
Some skills could also be a great benefit for the whole
Christian community. We are currently supporting a
law student in Bangladesh; when she is qualified her
skills can be an asset to the whole Christian community
in her country, which is increasingly beleaguered.
Bangladeshi law student - Reference 04-658
Other projects which support Christian students:
Bethlehem and Jerusalem (32 students studying a variety of
subjects) – Reference 65-589
Pakistani medical student – Reference 00-316
University Christian Fellowships
Another way in which to help young Christians in
further education is by resourcing Christian Unions or
similar fellowships whereby they can encourage and
support each other as Christian students in a hostile
environment. Barnabas Fund has been helping such
organisations in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Lebanon. Barnabas Fund is currently assisting with the building of a
Student hostels Christian centre for disabled children in upper Egypt.
This academic year we are assisting Christian students Reference 11-612
in Chad with the costs of building a student hostel so
that they can live in a Christian environment while they
are studying. GIRLS AT RISK
Christian Student Hostel, Chad - Reference 08-661

I
n certain Muslim countries, Christian girls are
at great risk of being kidnapped, raped, forcibly
converted to Islam and forcibly married to a Muslim
MEDICAL NEEDS OF CHILDREN (perhaps the kidnapper himself). Although rape is
forbidden in Islam, there is a widespread cultural belief

A
sick or disabled child touches everyone’s heart.
Some conditions can be very expensive to treat or
care for in countries where all health care must
be paid for. Imagine how it feels for impoverished
Christian parents in some contexts who have to watch
their children suffer, knowing that if they converted to
Islam the necessary treatment would be provided for
them free of charge.
Barnabas Fund can sometimes help in individual cases,
which church leaders bring to our attention. Last year a
grant of £1,000 went to help a baby girl with cancer of the
eye, the daughter of a Christian couple in Iraq.
A Christian clinic in Islamabad, Pakistan, specialises in
caring for babies and their mothers. Much of their work
is preventative, including vaccinations. But the families in
this Christian community are too poor to pay more than a
token amount for their treatment. Barnabas Fund covers
the difference enabling the clinic to continue to function.
Reference 41-195
in certain Islamic contexts that it is all right to rape
Christian girls.
Barnabas Fund seeks to help girls and young women
in these contexts by funding refuges and other forms of
care for the victims or those who know themselves to be
in particular danger. To help support such a refuge in a
Middle Eastern country, you can give to project reference
XX-096.
We are also supporting a refuge in Kenya for Christian
girls at risk in the context of traditional African religions.
The Cana Girls Rescue Home is located in an area where
traditional African religions are strong. Many young
Christian girls seek help to escape from situations such
as being forced into a polygamous marriage with a much
older man, or female genital mutilation at puberty. Some
are brought by mothers who have become Christians and
want to protect their daughters. Sometimes the girls are
themselves converts to Christianity.
Reference 25-663

6 BARNABAS AID MARCH / APRIL 2007


CHILD SLAVES
Y
ou have probably read and prayed about the
Pakistani Christian boys, aged 6 to 12, who were
seized from their villages and advertised for sale
in Quetta, Baluchistan Province. They would have been
sold by their Muslim abductor for domestic servitude
or the sex trade, if they had not been rescued by two
Christian missionaries. (Turn to page iv of the pull-out
supplement for more details.)
The boys had been beaten and half-starved during their
months in captivity. Barnabas Fund gave a donation to
help with medical costs for the 20 boys, as well as for 15
other redeemed child slaves in Pakistan.
Reference 00-345 (Victims of Violence Fund)
SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF CHILDREN
P
erhaps the most basic way of meeting children’s
spiritual needs is through Sunday schools.
Barnabas Fund helps to provide Sunday school
materials, for example in Sudan. We also help to
train Sunday school teachers, for example, Armenian
Christians in Iran.
Summer camps
A week or two at a Christian camp when school is closed
for the summer can have a life-long effect on a child. It is
often at camps that children and young people come to a
deeper understanding of their faith and make their own
personal decisions to follow the Lord Jesus. Camps can
also be a source of great encouragement, as children meet
to worship the Lord in large numbers and realise that they
are not alone as they face the hostility of society at large.
Over the years Barnabas Fund has supported Christian
camps in a number of contexts, for example, Jordan, the
Caucasus, Pakistan, Russia and Central Asia. Currently
our focus is on supporting Christian summer camps for
children in Muslim-majority parts of Russia.
Reference 43-646
Happy faces at a Christian summer camp in Russia
Gifts of Hope 2007
CHILDREN’S CHRISTIAN LITERATURE
H
ow blessed we are in the West with so many
kinds of children’s Bibles for our youngsters.
It is a privilege for Barnabas Fund to help
provide Bibles for children growing up in contexts of
discrimination and harassment.
Barnabas Fund paid
for the printing of this
children’s Bible
Christian magazines for children are tremendously popular
in certain parts of the world. Where Christians are poor
and needy, as in so many places where the Church is
persecuted, these magazines must be given away free or
sold for a very tiny sum. Barnabas Fund is helping to
cover the cost of some of these children’s magazines, which
bring so much encouragement and hope to young people.
Middle East - children’s magazine - Reference XX-207
Kazakhstan and Tajikistan - children’s magazines -
Reference 80-664
Many Christian children
in Central Asia wait
eagerly for their
copy of this Christian
magazine for children.
Literature like this
brings encouragement
and helps to strengthen
their faith
CHILDREN’S FUND
M
aybe you would love to help some Christian
children through Barnabas Fund this Easter
but do not know which project to choose. A gift
to our Children’s Fund will be used to help any of the
above projects which do not have sufficient support, or
else for other children’s needs.
Reference 00-665
Above all, the most important thing is to pray for these
young believers that they may be firmly grounded
in their faith and that the Lord will fill them with
His joy and peace, despite the difficult, degrading or
dangerous situations in which they are living. Pray
that they will be bold witnesses for their Lord, both
now and when they grow up. May their lives be used
for His glory and His purposes in the contexts where
He has put them.
MARCH / APRIL 2007 BARNABAS AID 7
Newsroom
The head teacher, Amal Behnam, at the entrance to the school
on the day of the official opening
Bethlehem’s neediest
Christians rejoice at the
official opening of
their school
WHAT A JOYFUL DAY IT WAS ON MONDAY
18H DECEMBER 2006 when St Aphrem’s
Syrian Orthodox School in Bethlehem was
officially opened. Although it had been
running for three years already as a four-
classroom kindergarten, an extension built
during the summer of 2006 provided another
10 classrooms to allow it to cater for children
up to the age of 12. It was time to celebrate
with an official opening which was attended
by church leaders of many denominations as
well as representatives from local schools and
dignitaries from the Palestinian community.
Being the poorest of the Christian
communities in Bethlehem, the Syrian
Orthodox had never before had their own
school, and until recently had scarcely dared
to hope they ever could. As the head teacher,
Miss Amal Behnam, said in her speech at the
opening, “It is an occasion that only a few
years ago seemed so far fetched - a dream and
a wish longed for, for ages.” Yet with funding
from Barnabas Fund their hope has become a
reality.
“We give thanks to the Lord for this blessed
gift,” said Miss Behnam. She also spoke of
the fact that the date of the opening was so
close to the time when we celebrate “the birth
of our Lord Jesus Christ in the little town of
Bethlehem, where 2,000 years ago with His
8 BARNABAS AID MARCH / APRIL 2007
birth, peace and joy were brought into the
world. So is our school shedding the light of
hope for a brighter future, giving love and care,
bringing joy and happiness, and spreading
peace and reconciliation.”
A further encouragement came four days
later when the Archbishop of Canterbury paid a
three-hour visit to the school, along with other
senior church leaders from the UK who were
on a Christmas pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
The children performed songs and dances for the visitors
at the official opening
Four days later the Archbishop of Canterbury visited the school,
with a delegation of senior church leaders from the UK
IRAQ: two personal
stories of Christians
who have fled
As thousands of Iraqi Christians continue
to flee their homeland, in response to
the campaigns of anti-Christian violence
and intimidation, we bring you stories
of two families who have sought safety
in Syria. The names have been changed
to protect them.
AS THE DAWN LIGHT STRUGGLES to illuminate
the tiny one-roomed apartment in a run-down
suburb of Damascus, George begins the daily
struggle to provide for his daughters. He
arrived last December, bringing just the clothes
on his back and the family he so nearly lost.
Until late 2006 George had lived in
Baghdad. A widower and father of three,
he divided his time between his work as an
electrician and caring for his eldest daughter,
who has terminal cancer. Then one morning
masked militants arrived at his door. They
sacked and looted his house, took all his
savings, and told him to leave the country if he
wanted to live. George had no reason to doubt
that they would carry out their threat. He had
seen many Christians in his neighbourhood die
at the hands of the militant gangs.
NOT FAR AWAY MARIAM WAKES in the small
room she shares with her family and another
couple. When her husband disappeared
in April 2006, she feared the worst. His
bullet-riddled body was later discovered, half
buried under rotting rubbish on the wasteland
outside Mosul, the city where they used to live.
Unable to provide for her children (aged 14, 11
and 10) and fearing for their lives, Mariam took
them and fled with her meagre savings and
what they could carry.
Pakistani Christians
tortured for refusing
Islam
A Christian mother and daughter employed
as domestic servants by a Muslim couple in
Sialkot were imprisoned and tortured by their
employers in a bid to force them to convert to
Islam.
Nasreen Pervez and her 13-year old
daughter, Razia, had been working for a month
at the home of Muhammad Ikram and his wife
when the couple who had hired them refused
to pay their wages, and chained them at night
to prevent them escaping. They tore the
crosses from the Christians’ necks, and forbade
them to pray. When the mother and daughter
consistently refused to convert, they were cut
and burned, and threatened with acid and a
syringe.
Nasreen and Razia were released from their
ordeal of many weeks on 7th December 2006
by a bailiff acting on the orders of the Lahore
High Court. The authorities had been alerted
after Nasreen’s eldest daughter tried to visit
her mother and younger sister, but was told by
Muhammad Ikram and his wife, “Don’t come
back unless you want to see them dead.”
Islam and Slavery

PULL-OUT SUPPLEMENT
The enslavement of human beings was practised by all the ancient civilisations of the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Africa.
People became slaves – the property of others – through debt, by being sold into slavery by family members, by being
captured in war, or through kidnapping by slave raiders and pirates.
Nowadays, when slavery as such is banned in almost every O prophet! We have made lawful to thee thy wives to whom
country, there are still situations where people are effectively thou hast paid their dowers; and those whom thy right
trapped in employment under harsh conditions. For example, hand possesses out of the prisoners of war whom Allah has
they may be “bonded labourers” in Pakistan, unable to change assigned to thee; and daughters of thy paternal uncles and
jobs because of debts to their employer. Another scenario is aunts and daughters of thy maternal uncles and aunts who
that of expatriate domestic workers in Saudi Arabia, whose migrated (from Mecca) with thee; and any believing woman
employers have seized their passports, and who are locked who dedicates her soul to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to
in the house to prevent them escaping. Such individuals are wed her this only for thee and not for the Believers (at large);
slaves in all but name. There are also still true slaves in some We know what We have appointed for them as to their wives
countries. and the captives whom their right hands possess in order
The European slave trade is well known, but that of Islam that there should be no difficulty for Thee. And Allah is Oft-
is not. Furthermore, Islam even played a part in the European Forgiving Most Merciful Q 33:501
slave trade, as Arab traders were involved with African chiefs in This verse clearly shows that, according to the Qur’an,
the business of providing Africans for the Europeans to enslave. taking slaves in war was a God-given right. These slaves were
In the past, religions sought to justify the practice of slavery.
considered spoils of war, and the women were usually destined
Whilst, thankfully, most have rejected this now, Islam stands to be concubines of the victorious warriors. Muhammad
out as the exception. received his share in enslaved women.
The right of Muslims to have sexual intercourse with female
Muhammad and slavery slaves is indicated in Qur’an 23:1-6 which gives Muslims
Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, kept slaves. One of his sexual rights over their wives and over those “whom their right
biographers, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, states that he had four hands possess”.
slave girls and adds a list of 27 male slaves (some of whom he Many texts indicate that slaves can be used as a sort of
freed). currency to pay penalties imposed for the misdemeanours
Many slaves were gained as booty after victorious military of their owners. Qur’an 4:92, for example, explains that the
campaigns. After defeating a Jewish tribe called the Banu manslaughter of a Muslim could be paid for by freeing a
Qurayza in 627, Muhammad executed all the men (numbering believing (i.e. Muslim) slave and paying compensation to the
600 to 900), and divided the women and children among his relatives. If a slave cannot be afforded then the penalty is a
people as slaves. On this occasion, he took Rihana, the wife of two months’ fast.
the leader of the tribe, as a concubine. This story indicates the While the Qur’an does not condemn slavery, it does
close linkage in classical Islam between prisoners of war, slaves encourage kindness to slaves. Qur’an 24:33 instructs Muslims
and concubines. A prisoner of war was automatically a slave, to allow a slave of good character to buy their freedom if
and if female she was potentially a concubine as well. they so request, and even tells the slave-owner to contribute
Muhammad not only kept slaves and enslaved captives towards the sum to be raised. This verse also prohibits
but also traded in slaves, as did his companions and many compelling unwilling slave girls into prostitution.
other people in the Arabian Peninsula at that time. He also … And if any of your slaves ask for a deed in writing (to
received slaves as gifts. One of his concubines, Mary the Copt enable them to earn their freedom for a certain sum), give
(apparently a Christian), was given to him by the ruler of Egypt. them such a deed, if you know any good in them; yea, give
The example of Muhammad, who is traditionally considered them something yourselves out of the means which God has
by Muslims the perfect model for their own behaviour, has given to you. But force not your maids to prostitution when
made any Islamic opposition to slavery difficult. The argument they desire chastity….
that what he did was normal and acceptable in society of that
The freeing of slaves is included in a list of virtuous acts
time but not in the modern world carries little or no weight
(Q 90:12-13), and elsewhere the Qur’an commends spending
with conservative Muslims, who are interested only in copying
money to ransom slaves (Q 2:177).
Muhammad’s example.

The Qur’an and slavery Shari‘a and slavery

The shari‘a (Islamic law) has much to say about slaves,
The existence of slavery is accepted uncritically in the Qur’an,
including the acquisition of slaves, slave-trading, freeing
and slaves are often mentioned. Captive women could be taken
slaves, the status of female slaves, and how to deal with
as concubines, special permission being granted to Muhammad
runaway slaves and lost slaves. In wars against non-Muslims,
to allow him to do this in a Qur’anic verse:

1
Quotations in this article are taken from The Holy Qur’an: Text Translation and Commentary by A. Yusuf Ali (Leicester: The Islamic Foundation, 1975). Please note that
the verse numbering varies slightly between different translations of the Qur’an so it may be necessary to look in the verses just before or just after the reference given to
find the same text in another translation. i
PULL-OUT SUPPLEMENT
Slave caravan
prisoners of war were to be killed, exchanged for Muslim
prisoners of war, freed for ransom, or enslaved. The women
and children were to be similarly exchanged or enslaved.
Many rules concerning the practice of owners marrying
slaves and taking slaves as concubines were outlined in order
to determine paternity and ownership of children born to
a female slave. A slave concubine who bore children to her
master would be elevated to the status of um walad (mother
of his child) and her children would be equal to the legal
offspring. She could not be sold and was freed on her master’s
death. If a concubine was freed she could not have legal status
as a wife, but would live with her master as his mistress and
her children would be illegitimate. There were also rules
about slaves marrying each other.
The four caliphs who came after Muhammad discouraged
the enslavement of Muslims and it was eventually prohibited,
but the enslavement of non-Muslims continued apace. If
a non-Muslim slave converted to Islam he or she remained
a slave. As an act of charity by the owner, however, a slave
could be emancipated – but only a believing slave deserved
freedom. In Muslim lands, a slave had few civil or legal rights:
a slave had no right to be heard in court; no right to property;
any goods he did manage to accumulate would be inherited
by his master not his children. He could marry only with the
permission of the owner; he could not give alms or make a
pilgrimage; he was considered a mere piece of property.
As in all contexts where slavery was practised, the actual
treatment of slaves varied: some masters were kind, and some
were cruel.
Islamic expansion and slavery
As Islam expanded by conquest (jihad), extending within a few
centuries from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian subcontinent,
and spreading to south-east Asia, central Asia and Africa, large
numbers of people were enslaved. The supply of slaves had
to be constantly replenished because there was a high death
rate amongst them. Furthermore, marriage amongst slaves
was not encouraged, and in any case many male slaves were
castrated (an operation which was often fatal). But Muslims
and non-Muslim minorities living under the protection of
the Islamic state could not be enslaved. So the need for more
slaves became a motive for continuing to expand and conquer
non-Muslim territories.
A vast network of slave trading developed. Within Islamic
territories there were slaves from central Asia, from the
Byzantine Empire, from sub-Saharan Africa and from Europe.
As far afield as Indonesia the business of seizing and selling
slaves flourished, with the Muslim Acehnese active in “man-
hunting” even in the early 20th century.
ii
As well as domestic duties, agriculture and concubinage,
some were used as soldiers. These slave-soldiers included the
Turkic Mamelukes who eventually became a powerful force
within Islam and set up their own states.
High prices were paid for eunuchs, and the practice of
castration persisted from the 9th century until the early 20th
century. Islam prohibits physical mutilation so many eunuchs
were castrated before entering Islamic territory.
The slave trade became a great source of wealth and
power to Muslim states, and remained an important part of
the economy of parts of the Muslim world well into the 20th
century.
Slavery in Africa
Black slaves were imported into the Muslim world from Africa
by a number of routes northward across the Sahara desert,
and by sea into Arabia and the Persian Gulf. Estimates of
the number involved vary greatly but it seems that there may
easily have been 10 million, perhaps even twice that number.
Two-thirds of African slaves were female. The males were
considered to be troublesome. An uprising of slaves from
West Africa, the Zanj, who had been imported into the Tigris-
Euphrates delta to reclaim salt marshland through their back-
breaking labour, lasted from 869 until 883.
The mortality rate was very high because of the harsh
conditions, but the trade was so lucrative that merchants were
not deterred by the numbers who died. Harrowing eye witness
accounts tell of the vast scale and miserable conditions of the
slave trade in Africa. In the 1570s many thousands of black
Africans were seen for sale in Cairo on market days. In 1796
a caravan was seen by a British traveller leaving Darfur with
5,000 slaves. Black eunuchs became favoured for the royal
harems. Even after Britain outlawed the slave trade in 1807, a
further 2 million Africans were enslaved by Muslim traders.
The Arabic word abd which means “slave” or “servant” is
used as an insult to black people in Lebanon, Syria, Saudi
Arabia and the Gulf.
Slavery in the Ottoman Empire
The enslavement of captives taken when the Ottoman armies
raided Christian countries was part of the state system of the
Ottoman Empire. After he conquered Constantinople in 1453
Sultan Mehmed wrote to various Muslim rulers boasting of
the enslavement of its Christian population. The Ottomans
engaged in slave trading from Gibraltar to Central Asia.
The Balkan Christians of the Ottoman Empire suffered
cruelly, particularly under the brutal and bitterly resented
child-levy, the devshirme. From the 15th century to the early
17th century the Ottomans would seize a certain proportion
of Christian boys from their villages every few years, forcibly
convert them to Islam and train them for the elite fighting
force known as the Janissaries or for the state bureaucracy.
The devshirme was sternly enforced. If any Christian parent
tried to prevent the taking of his child he was immediately
hanged from his own door frame. It is estimated that between
500,000 and one million boys, from the ages of 8 to 20, were
taken in this way. Occasionally, armed uprisings against
the system took place, but they were quickly crushed. Some
children ran away, only to return and give themselves up when
their parents were tortured. Many resorted to bribery to escape
recruitment. In the early 17th century the devshirme was
abandoned and the Ottomans obtained their slaves from new
sources – Georgians and Circassians of the Caucasus and Slav
and Central Asian slaves captured and traded by the Crimean
Tatars. By the early 19th century this supply was reduced and
the Ottomans turned to Africa.

Eunuch slaves were in high demand in the Ottoman
Empire, principally as guardians of the harems. Prague
became an important centre for the castration of European
slaves being imported to the Ottoman Empire.
Slavery in India
The Arabs were the first invaders of India to capture and
enslave large numbers of its inhabitants. In the 7th and
8th centuries, and later under the Ghaznavids (962-1187),
huge numbers of Hindus became slaves. Many more were
enslaved under the Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526), the Timurid
jihad (1398), and the Mughals (1526-1857). K.S. Lal claims
that the slave-taking added significantly to the growth of
the Muslim population in India: “… every slave captured in
war or purchased in the market or sent in lieu of revenue or
tribute was invariably converted to Islam, so that slave-taking
in medieval India was the most flourishing and successful
missionary endeavour.”
The nobility owned huge numbers of slaves and maintained
large slave armies. For example, a 14th century sultan kept
180,000 slaves of whom 40,000 were palace guards. In this
situation of abundance the price of female slaves was very
low. The large numbers of slaves captured in campaigns were
either sold in local markets or sent to markets in central Asia.
Enslaving western Europeans
Muslim pirates from the Barbary (North African) coast,
authorised by their governments, were active in seizing and
enslaving white Christians from western Europe from the 16th
to the 18th century. They attacked not only ships but also
coastal villages. While Spain and Italy bore the brunt of these
attacks, the Barbary pirates – often called corsairs – would
also go to Portugal, France, England, Ireland and even Iceland.
The slaves were kept in wretched conditions and many were
worked to death, especially those unfortunate enough to be
chosen to row the corsair galleys.
Between 1530 and 1780 at least a million white Christian
Europeans were enslaved on the Barbary coast. Around the
year 1600 there were estimated to be some 35,000 in captivity
there at any one time. Many records of the letters sent home,
telling of the terrible sufferings the slaves were enduring, still
exist. Some converted to Islam in order to get easier duties or,
in the case of women in the harems, to stay with their children
who were being brought up as Muslims.
The slaves’ only hope lay in being redeemed by payment
of a ransom. Churches collected offerings for this purpose.
Many of those who went to North Africa with funds to
negotiate the release of the slaves were church leaders. In
Spain and Italy ransoming slaves was considered an act of
great merit: “Their [only] fault, their crime, is recognising
Jesus Christ as the most divine Saviour … and of professing
Him as the True Faith.”
English slaves were largely neglected by their home
country, especially in comparison with those from southern
European countries. They knew this, and were demoralised.
An “Algerian Duty” was set aside from the customs income in
England to redeem slaves, but much of it was diverted to other
uses. Many English slaves died in captivity.
Slavery in modern times
Although Tunisia, Egypt, and the Ottoman Empire abolished
slavery in the 19th century under pressure from the West,
in east Africa and other places it persisted into the 20th
century, prompting the League of Nations and later the United
Nations to condemn the practice. The nations of the Arabian
Peninsula were among the last to outlaw slavery: Qatar in
PULL-OUT SUPPLEMENT
1952, Saudi Arabia and the Yemen Arab Republic in 1962,
the United Arab Emirates in 1963, South Yemen in 1967, and
Oman in 1970.
Saudi Arabia
After abolition in 1962, about 10,000 slaves were freed out
of an estimated 15,000 -30,000. In 1965 the Saudi royal
family still kept hundreds of slaves. Many in Saudi Arabia
advocate slavery even now. Sheik Saleh Al-Fawzen, a leading
scholar and author of a religious textbook for schools, has
said, “Slavery is a part of Islam”, and that those Muslims who
oppose slavery “are ignorant, not scholars”.
In Saudi Arabia, the plight of migrant workers often
amounts to slavery. Domestic workers are often exploited,
forcibly confined, beaten, underfed, and sometimes raped.
The lives of these workers are complicated further by deeply-
ingrained gender, religious and racial discrimination in
Saudi society. Government policies, the practice of private
employers, and unfair legal proceedings all combine to
oppress large numbers of poor and desperate foreigners trying
to earn a living in Saudi Arabia.
Mauritania
In ancient times slavery was common in Mauritania. In the
8th century Mauritania came under Islamic authority. From
this point onward, only black Africans have been enslaved in
Mauritania.
The old practice of forming slave armies was revived after
the end of colonialism. Black Mauritanians were forced into
military units and sent into African villages to subdue and kill
the inhabitants. The soldiers were then settled on the lands
of the villagers, and authorised to defend themselves and
undertake punitive campaigns against the population.
There have been several legal/constitutional rulings to
outlaw slavery (in 1905, twice in 1961, and in 1981), but they
have not been effective. In 1994 there were still an estimated
90,000 black Mauritanians (Harratin) in the possession of
their Arab/Berber masters. It was also reported that some
300,000 freed slaves were still serving their former masters
because of psychological or economic dependence. The 1981
ordinance abolishing slavery granted compensation to slave
holders for the loss of their slaves, but the money was not
forthcoming, which may be one of the reasons why most slave
owners continued to hold their slaves.
Although some try to defend the institution by noting that
many families of slaves have worked for the same family
for generations, and claiming that they are merely servants
working for their keep, the testimonies of the small number
who have managed to escape tell of brutalities and hardship
which seem more like slavery.
There do not seem to be any firm figures on the number of
slaves in Mauritania currently, but it is clear that slavery still
continues there.
Sudan
With the imposition of Islamic law in 1983 by the Northern-
based Arab Islamic government, the age-old practice of slavery
in the Sudan gathered momentum. During the civil war
which raged from 1983 until 2005, captured Southerners were
frequently enslaved. The men were often shot, the children
were made slaves (herding cattle or performing other unpaid
tasks) while the women became the sexual slaves of their
owners. Such slavery was abolished in the 2005 peace treaty
which ended the civil war.
Since 1986 more than 200,000 people of the Dinka tribe
are estimated to have been enslaved in a complex network
of buyers, sellers and middlemen, with many of the slaves
brutally treated and some forcibly converted to Islam.
iii
PULL-OUT SUPPLEMENT
Pakistan
In Pakistan, many lives are blighted as enormous numbers
of people eke out an existence as “bonded labourers” unable
to leave their desperately hard and low-paid jobs. A high
proportion of these are Christian workers with Muslim
employers.
Evidence came to light in 2006 of the kidnapping and
enslavement of young boys from Christian villages in the
Punjab, an operation coordinated by a leading member of a
militant Islamic group, the Jamaat-ud Daawa. The children,
aged between 6 and 12, were held in unspeakable conditions,
beaten, barely fed, and forbidden to talk, play or pray, before
being sold for approximately $1,700 each into the sex trade or
into domestic servitude.
Conclusion
Many Muslims agree that there is no place for slavery in the
modern world but there has as yet been no sustained critique
of the practice. The difficulties and dangers of confronting the
example of Muhammad, and the teaching of the Qur’an and
shari‘a (which most Muslims believe cannot be changed) have
dampened any internal debate within Islam. While slavery
still exists in many Islamic countries, few Muslim leaders
show remorse for the past, discuss reparations, or show
that repugnance for the scourge of slavery which eventually
led to its abolition in the West. It is time for Muslims to
emphatically and publicly condemn the practice of slavery in
any form and ensure that their legal codes supporting it are
changed.

Christianity and slavery

The Bible does not treat slavery as divinely ordained but rather as reflecting the condition of man. Paul’s
words in 1 Timothy 1:9-10 (NIV) specifically condemn slave traders; he tells slaves to gain their freedom if
they can (1 Corinthians 7:21); and he encourages Philemon to welcome the runaway Onesimus who had now
become a Christian, no longer as a slave, but “as a dear brother” (Philemon 15-16). Paul had exposed himself
to punishment by sheltering Onesimus, and he makes it clear that Philemon ought to free Onesimus. There
is no endorsement of slavery as an institution; rather the goal of freedom pervades the New Testament.
In western Europe slavery was virtually extinguished by the 11th century, until 1450 saw the rise of the evil
and brutal transatlantic slave trade which lasted for nearly four centuries. It is strange that slavery and the
slave trade during this period were approved by some senior church leaders in Europe and North America,
some of whom owned slaves. They even sought to justify the practice by theological arguments. However, it
was also Christians – a small group of them in 18th century Britain - who took a leading role in the long hard
struggle against slavery. The best known name is William Wilberforce who was motivated by the Biblical
teaching about humans being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) and by Jesus’ command to treat
others as we would like them to treat us (Matthew 7:12). Their struggle eventually achieved the abolition of
the slave trade (1807), and then the abolition of slavery itself throughout the British Empire (1833). Other
countries then followed suit.

© Barnabas Fund, 2007

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iv Source: Barnabas Aid March/April 2007


Cotton growing in Uzbekistan. Isolated Christians living in rural
areas are on the receiving end of a wave of hostile threats after
anti-Christian programmes were shown on television. Because
they are few in number, rural Christians are very vulnerable
Anti-Christian TV in
Uzbekistan Prompts
Backlash against Rural
Christians
In late 2006 Uzbek television broadcast
programmes which accused Christians of
corrupting people, especially young people,
of using drugs, and of gathering to meet
in unregistered places. They also said that
missionary activity is funded from overseas
and carried out by foreigners. Christians were
accused of breaking the law, distributing
religious leaflets and making converts by force.
It was even implied that Christians would kill
any church member wanting to leave.
If the programmes were intended to
incite hatred against Christians they certainly
succeeded. Within a couple of weeks ,
Barnabas Fund was informed of a surge of
hostility against Christians, especially isolated
Christians living in rural areas. Some have
been told by their Muslim neighbours that
they must leave their villages. One Christian,
who had converted from Islam more than 10
years ago, began receiving threats from local
Muslims after the programmes were aired.
They told him that he and his family must
attend the mosque and renounce Christ. A
newspaper reported a mullah as saying that
Christians will not be buried when they die.
Newsroom
AUSTRALIA: appeal of Hope for Christian
two pastors against School-Children
charges of “vilifying in Pakistan
Muslims” is upheld Pakistan’s Ministry of Education is working to
reform the country’s school curriculum and text
On 14th December 2006 an appeal court in
books to remove any bias against non-Muslim
Victoria State upheld the appeal brought by
minorities. For example, history books will
Pastors Daniel Scot and Danny Nalliah against
start to include the fact that, when Pakistan
their 2004 conviction for what has often been
was created in 1947, all citizens of the new
described as “vilifying Muslims”. The two were
state were meant to be equal, irrespective of
accused in a case brought against them by the
their religion or caste.
Islamic Council of Victoria who had secretly
Conservative Muslim parties were quick
infiltrated a seminar for Christians on Islam led
to condemn the proposed changes, accusing
by the two men in March 2002.
the government of acting on orders from
The appeal court ruled that the case must
be reheard with the same evidence as before
Washington. Education Minister Javed Ashraf
Qazi rebutted these charges on television,
but with a different judge. It also ruled that the
saying, “We are reforming our text books
penalties previously imposed on the pastors
when they were found guilty should be set
for the development of our children, and the
people who are involved in this process are
aside. These penalties had included publishing
Pakistanis – we don’t have any American
large (and therefore expensive) advertisements
expert with us and we have not received
in several newspapers to acknowledge their
any money from the US for reviewing our
guilt and agreeing never to make similar
curriculum.”
statements about Islam again.
Liberal Muslims and Christian leaders
While rejoicing at the appeal court ruling,
welcomed the proposed changes.
the two pastors must now brace themselves
Pakistan is one of many Muslim-majority
for yet more court proceedings. Observers
countries where children are taught at school
have commented that it is to be hoped that
to despise non-Muslims. This is one of the
this appeal court ruling will cause the Victoria
reasons why Barnabas Fund does so much to
State government to look at amending its
help Christian children in such contexts get an
Racial and Religious Tolerance Act (2001)
education in a Christian environment.
under which the two pastors were convicted.
(See page 5.)
Intended to promote harmony between
different groups in the state, it is in practice Christian children in Pakistan may find it easier at government
doing the exact opposite. schools if proposed new changes to the curriculum and text
books mean there is less bias against non-Muslims
MARCH / APRIL 2007 BARNABAS AID 9
Country Profile
The Islamic
Republic of Iran
Introduction
Iran is a unique country. It is one of
the oldest centres of world civilisation
and empires. It has maintained a
distinct identity within the Islamic
world by retaining its own language
- Farsi - and adhering to Shi‘a Islam.
Iran is the only Muslim state with
Twelver Shi‘a Islam as the official state
religion. Indeed it is the only country
where Shi‘ism is unchallenged as the
dominant form of Islam. Iran is one
of the most ethnically diverse states in
the world. It holds some 9% of world
oil reserves.
The area to the north of the Persian
Gulf, which is currently known as
Iran, has had several other names in
the past. While Iranians have always
called their country Iran (land of the
Aryans) others used different names.
For many centuries it was called
Persia (from the Greek Persis), and
under this name (in Hebrew Paras) it
appears in Old Testament books such
as 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah,
Esther, Ezekiel and Daniel. Fars
(Parsa in Old Persian) is the region
that was the ancient core homeland
of the Persians from which they
expanded to found their empire. The
word Farsi (or Parsi) is used to denote
10 BARNABAS AID MARCH / APRIL 2007
the Persian language. Elam, the
oil-rich coastal region now known as
Khuzistan, was the homeland of the
ancient Elamites mentioned in the
Bible. To the north of Elam were the
regions of Fars, Media and Parthia.
History
In the 6th century BC the Persians
under Cyrus the Great conquered
a large part of the ancient world,
including Media and Babylon,
creating the vast Achaemenid Empire
stretching from the Indus to the Nile.
Its state religion was Zoroastrianism,
which taught that a good creator god
(Ahura Mazda) and an evil god (Angra
Mainyu) were locked in a perpetual
cosmic battle. At the end of time the
good god will finally prevail.
After conquering Babylon in 539
BC, Cyrus gave permission for all the
foreign captives who had been living
there to return to their homelands.
Amongst those who benefited were
many Jews who returned to Jerusalem
and rebuilt it. There is much recorded
in the Old Testament about the
help, funding and protection given
by various Persian emperors to the
Jewish people over the next hundred
years or so.
The Achaemenid Empire was
followed by the Seleucid (333-223
BC), the Parthian (223 BC-226 AD)
and the Sassanid (226-642 AD)
Empires.
Weakened by incessant wars,
the Sassanid Empire was quickly
overrun by the Arab Muslim armies
in 636-642 AD. As the Persians were
gradually Islamised they made great
contributions to Islamic culture.
In the 9th and 10th centuries Farsi
replaced Arabic as the dominant
language of the eastern part of the
Islamic Empire.
From the 10th century onwards
there was an infiltration of nomadic
Turkic tribes into Iranian territory.
The Turks formed a new military class
that soon took over real power as the
Grand Seljuks nominally under the
Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad.
The Mongols overran Iran and the
Abbasid domains, sacking Baghdad
in 1258. Cities and countryside were
devastated and their populations
massacred. The Mongol rulers were
eventually converted to Islam at the
end of the 13th century.
In 1501 Sheikh Isma‘il, head of
the Turkmen Safavi order (a type of
Sufism or mystical Islam), conquered
Azerbaijan, establishing the Safavid
Empire (1502-1736). He soon gained
control of most of Iran and declared
Twelver Shi‘a Islam the state religion
in an effort to unite his empire
against the Sunni Ottomans. For two
centuries there was warfare between
the two Muslim empires until the
border between them was stabilised.
In 1781 Agha Muhammad of the
Turkic Qajar tribe seized the throne
founding the Qajar dynasty (1781-
1925). Under the Qajars Iran faced
Russian expansion into its Caucasian
provinces whilst the British sought
commercial domination of Iran’s
Ghorban Tori: a convert from
Islam who led a small house
church of other converts.
He was stabbed to death
on 22nd November 2005,
apparently by the security
forces

trade and economy. Iran became a
pawn between the two empires who
divided it into Russian and British
spheres of influence. This resulted in
an intensification of Muslim distrust
of Christians.
The Pahlavi dynasty (1925-1979)
In 1925 Reza Khan, an officer of the
Cossack Regiment, seized power
and proclaimed himself shah (king).
He imposed central authority on
the unruly provinces and tribes and
weakened the power of the Shi‘a
Islamic clerics. He modernised Iran
by creating westernised military,
educational and judicial systems,
promoting anti-clericalism, secularism
and a modern Iranian national
identity based on the glorification of
pre-Islamic Iran. His son Muhammad
Reza Shah (1941-1979) continued
his father’s policies of centralisation,
secularisation and modernisation.
Growing oil revenues helped the shah
push his modernisation drive on at an
ever accelerating pace, antagonising
the clerics who saw it as anti-Islamic.
Iranian Islamic Revolution and
Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Khomeini (1900-1989)
introduced a new interpretation
of traditional Shi‘ism, the vilayet-i-
faqih doctrine, which maintained
that political leadership in the
Islamic state belonged to the leading
cleric as the representative of the
Hidden Imam. Following huge
demonstrations against the shah,
Ayatollah Khomeini returned to
Iran in 1979 to establish the Islamic
Republic.
The Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988)
served to consolidate the regime, as
nationalistic fervour was added to
Islamic rhetoric. Most Iranians united
under the regime against the foreign
enemy.
With the election of Mohammad
Khatami as president (1997-2005)
moderate reformist Islamists seemed
to gain the ascendancy. The reformists
however were kept on the defensive
by powerful conservatives in the
government and judiciary and failed
to make good on their promises.
Khatami’s liberal ideas put him
at odds with the supreme leader,
Country Profile
Ayatollah Khamene’i, and the Islamic
hardliners around him. The hardliners
managed to keep the reformists at
bay and eventually made a comeback
with the election of the hardliner
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president
in 2005.
President Ahmadinejad and
the mahdi
In Shi‘a Islam the supreme leader is
called the Imam (equivalent to the
caliph in Sunni Islam). Twelver Shi‘a
Muslims believe that their twelfth
Imam, who disappeared in 874, exists
today in an invisible spiritual mode
as the Hidden Imam and will return
as an End-Time deliverer (mahdi)
to set up God’s Kingdom of peace,
justice and harmony. The mahdi will
purify Islam and establish it as the
global religion, implementing shari‘a
(Islamic law). Non-Muslims will be
killed unless they convert to Islam.
(More details in the box below.)
What does Islam say
about the End Times?
Islamic eschatology, both Sunni
and Shi‘a, predicts a period of great
cosmic conflict before the final
resurrection and judgement. During
this period there will be natural
catastrophes as well as terrible
wars. An Antichrist figure (al-dajjal)
appears who causes corruption and
oppression all over the world for
a limited period of time, deceiving
many by his miracles and false
teachings. A heaven-sent saviour,
the mahdi, then appears to fight
the forces of Satan, restore Islam
to its original perfection and glory,
and set up God’s kingdom on earth.
Jesus returns to earth as a Muslim,
defeats the Antichrist and helps the
mahdi. While Sunni and Shi‘a beliefs
concerning the End Times have
many similarities, they differ from
one another on several points.
In a speech to senior clerics on
November 16th 2005 the Iranian
president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
stated that his government’s main task
Issa Motamedi Mojdehi: a convert from Islam who got in trouble
with the authorities seven years after his conversion when
he gave his baby son a Biblical name. Issa was detained for a
month on concocted drugs charges, then released on bail on
24th August 2006 (Photo: Compass)
was to “pave the path for the glorious
reappearance of Imam mahdi”. He
also urged that Iran be turned into a
“mighty, advanced and model Islamic
society” so as to prepare for the
mahdi. Reports allege that after his
accession to the presidency in 2005,
Ahmadinejad told regime officials that
the Hidden Imam would return in two
years’ time (i.e. 2007).
Ahmadinejad seems to consider
that creating the perfect powerful
Islamic state is part of the necessary
preparation for the return of the
mahdi. The state can then be handed
over to the mahdi for use to fulfil his
programme.
President Ahmadinejad is reported
to be linked to the Hojjatieh, a
mahdist group that believes in
generating chaos in order to hasten
the return of the mahdi. It could
be that his reckless foreign policies,
which seem to envisage nuclear war
with Israel and the USA, are all part of
a deliberate chaos-creating plan.
Christianity in Iran
The Christian communities in
Iran go back to the Book of Acts
where we read of Parthians, Medes
and Elamites hearing the apostles
speaking in tongues on the Day of
Pentecost (Acts 2:9). Soon churches
MARCH / APRIL 2007 BARNABAS AID 11
Country Profile
were established which even to this
day use the Syriac (Aramaic) language
in their worship: the Ancient Church
of the East, the Assyrian Church of
the East and the Syrian Orthodox
Church.
These Eastern churches expanded
vigorously and by the time of the
Muslim conquest in 642 some 25%
of the Iranian population were
Christians. The Christians were
persecuted severely by the Zoroastrian
majority before the arrival of Islam.
Later, under the Muslim Abbasid
Caliphate the Eastern churches were
recognised as protected religious
communities. Many of the Christians
attained high government positions
as well as contributing to the new
Islamic culture by translating Greek
and Syriac texts into Arabic. The
Assyrian and Syrian churches were
great missionary churches who by
the 8th century had spread to Arabia,
southern India, Central Asia and
China.
The Muslim conquest of the
Christian country Armenia caused
the displacement of many Armenians
into areas now in Iran. Armenians
suffered much persecution by various
Muslim states starting with the Seljuk
conquest of the Armenian heartland in
1071 and culminating in the Ottoman
genocide which peaked in 1915. Shah
Abbas moved many Armenians from
Eastern Anatolia to Esfahan (in Iran)
in the 17th century. The Armenian
community gradually became the
largest Christian community in Iran.
Missionary efforts since the
18th century in Iran resulted in
the growth of a small Protestant
group of churches. Since the
Iranian Revolution of 1979, many
Muslims have become more open
to the Gospel, and some have
decided to follow Christ. There are
no authoritative statistics on the
number of Iranian converts from
Islam to Christianity, but the number
is growing both within the country
and amongst Iranians living in other
countries.
Under Islam, the status of the
Christian minorities was regulated
by the discriminatory dhimmi
12 BARNABAS AID MARCH / APRIL 2007
system laid down in shari‘a, in which
Christians were second-class subjects
who submitted to Muslim rule, and
paid a special poll tax (jizya). There
were limitations on public expressions
of their faith, and sharing Christianity
with Muslims was forbidden. Various
humiliating rules were enforced to
emphasise the superiority of Islam.
Once large, relatively powerful
and missionary-minded, the Iranian
Christian communities have gradually
dwindled due to devastating wars,
massacres, and long-term Muslim
pressure. The majority Muslims see
the Christian communities as not
truly Iranian, due to their ethnic,
linguistic and religious differences.
In the colonial era Assyrians,
Syrians and Armenians were tempted
to look for protection and support
to the Christian Western powers
who manipulated them but could
not deliver on their promises. Many
Muslims saw this as inappropriate
“assertiveness” by the Christian
minorities who – according to the
teachings of Islam – were supposed
to behave in a very submissive way.
Therefore the Muslims became more
aggressive towards the Christians.
This aggression was one of the causes
of the terrible genocide inflicted
on Armenians (and Assyrians and
Syrians) in the Ottoman Empire
which spilled over into the Iranian
north-west territories.
Christians under the Islamic
Republic
Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution the
shari‘a forms the basis of the Iranian
constitution and legal system. In the
Islamic Republic Christians form a
separate electorate, not eligible to vote
for Muslim representatives, but only
for three Christian representatives
to the Majlis (parliament). This
effectively denies Christians any
political power.
While the constitution theoretically
guarantees freedom of belief,
various laws place limits on religious
freedoms. These restrictive and often
contradictory laws are found in the
Penal Code, the Theologians’ Law
(a body of law dealing with offences
committed by clerics) and in the
Public and Revolutionary Courts’
Procedural Law. Under Article 513 of
the Penal Code offences classified as
“insult to religion” can be punished
by death or prison terms of between
one and five years. Articles 6 and
26 of the Press Code forbid writings
containing apostasy or anything
against Islamic standards or Islam.
In cases where there are no specific
codified laws, judges can deliver
fatwas based on authoritative Islamic
sources, and this has allowed them
to give death sentences for apostasy
from Islam (see below). In recent
years there have been many cases of
arbitrary detention, unfair trial and
imprisonment under these laws.
Under the present Islamic regime,
Christians and their institutions are
intensely regulated, and subjected to
intrusive interference by the Ministry
of Information and Islamic Guidance,
the Ministry of Religious Affairs and
Endowments, and the Ministry of
the Interior and its notorious State
Secret police. Many Christians are
emigrating to the West, and the
Christian population is now thought
to be as low as 0.2% of the total
population, although it was 1.5% in
1975.
Persecution of the churches
operates in a variety of ways:
1. Control by secret police.
The secret police regularly infiltrate
church meetings and services, often
pretending to be converts from Islam.
Church leaders and ministers who
refuse to collaborate with the secret
police are threatened with arrest,
indefinite detention and even death.
Church leaders’ telephone lines are
tapped and their mail frequently
intercepted.
Haik Hovsepian
Mehr: a prominent
Armenian church leader
who mysteriously
disappeared on 19th
January 1994, and was
tortured and killed
the following day.
He had stood up to the
Iranian authorities for
the rights of Christians
and had played a major
role in the campaign for
the release of Mehdi Dibaj who had been sentenced to death for
apostasy from Islam in December 1993 Photo courtesy of CSI

What is an Ayatollah?
Ayatollah (meaning “sign of God”)
is a high-ranking title given to
the best qualified Shi‘a Muslim
clerics (jurists) with outstanding
scholarship. A few of the most
prestigious Ayatollahs are granted
the rank of Grand Ayatollah.
2. Restrictions on church worship
and membership. The authorities
actively restrict church activities and
freedoms, demanding churches and
leaders get permits for almost any
activity such as weddings, preaching
and travel. Churches are obliged to
sign a document promising not to
allow Muslims to attend their services.
They also face pressure to proclaim
that there is no religious persecution
in Iran. Church services are not
permitted to be conducted in Farsi,
the language of the Muslim majority.
All members must be issued with
membership cards and membership
lists must be submitted to the relevant
authorities.
3. Discrimination. Christians are
discriminated against in admittance
to universities and in public
employment. No Christian religious
teaching is allowed in public schools
for Christian children. Some Christian
public sector employees have been
dismissed.
4. Closure of churches and
institutions. A number of churches
and house groups have been closed
down, as have Christian training
centres and other institutions.
5. Bureaucratic obstacles.
Government authorities refuse to
renew registration of some churches
or to register new ones. They have
also refused various requests to print
Bibles, construct Christian places
of worship, or engage in registered
charitable activities.
6. Suppression of Christian
Scriptures and literature. Despite
constitutional guarantees of religious
freedom, it remains an offence to
sell a copy of the Bible in Iran. The
offices of the Iranian Bible Society
were closed in 1980 and all its stocks
Country Profile
confiscated. The Iranian government Issa Motamedi Mojdehi was charged
has refused permission to print or
import Farsi-language Christian
with drugs offences and held in prison
for one month. He had converted
Scriptures and Christian literature. from Islam seven years earlier and
7. Attempts to enforce the Islamic seems to have riled the authorities by
giving his baby son a Biblical name,
apostasy law. Article 167 of the
thereby identifying him as a Christian
Constitution provides the judge
from birth. This would ensure that
with the discretion to “deliver
the child could never in later life be
his judgement on the basis of
authoritative Islamic sources and accused of apostasy from Islam.
authentic fatwas. This opens the door 9. Assassination of Christian
for implementation of the shari‘a leaders. A number of prominent
apostasy law which specifies the death Christian leaders have been violently
sentence for adult male converts attacked and several have been
from Islam. The most recent case of mysteriously murdered. There was
execution for apostasy was Hossein a spate of such killings in 1994, one
Soodmand in 1990. victim being the evangelist Mehdi
Dibaj, whose death sentence for
apostasy had been set aside a few
months earlier, apparently in response
to international pressure. It is alleged
that the assassinations of Christian
leaders were carried out by a death-
squad operating within the Iranian
security structures on orders from the
highest political levels.
The election of hardline President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in August
2005 has put Christians in Iran under
renewed pressure. In an open meeting
with regional governors in November
2005, Ahmadinejad reportedly
vowed, “I will stop Christianity in
this country.” Christians believed this
statement would be seen as a green
light for security services to clamp
Hamid Pourmand: a colonel in the Iranian army who was
arrested in 2004, decades after he had left Islam to become down on Christians. Shortly after
a Christian. In the end he was not charged with apostasy but the meeting a convert to Christianity,
with failing to inform the army of his new faith before he got Ghorban Tori, was stabbed to death
promoted. Despite evidence that the army had been well aware
he was a Christian, he was found guilty in February 2005 and by security forces on 22nd November
sentenced to three years in jail. He was released early, on 20th 2005 and since then there has been
July 2006 a definite increase in anti-Christian
harassment and persecution.
8. Other ways of persecuting
converts from Islam. Since the
hanging of Hossein Soodmand, there
have been no known executions of Helping Christians
apostates. When Mehdi Dibaj was
sentenced to death for apostasy
in Iran
Barnabas Fund has helped with
in December 1993 there was a
a variety of needs in Iran. Most
great international outcry and
are too sensitive to publicise.
he was released the following
month. Nowadays it seems that the
If you would like to make a gift
authorities choose other methods to to help your Iranian brothers
persecute converts from Islam, for and sisters, please mark it
example, concocting drugs charges for our Iran General Fund
against them. Last year, for example, (reference 19-940).
MARCH / APRIL 2007 BARNABAS AID 13