Somali Christian sources report Ali Mustaf Maka`il, a 22-year-old
college student and cloth merchant who converted from Islam to
Christianity 11 months ago, was shot and killed in the Manabolyo
quarter of Mogadishu.
According to a report from the Barnabas Fund, quoting a
Christian source inside Somalia, the gunman was loyal to the Union of
Islamic Courts, the Islamist organization that took power in Mogadishu
in early June and now controls much of southern Somalia.
The report states the gunman shot Ali in the back Sept. 7
after he refused to join a crowd chanting Quran verses in honor of the
lunar eclipse. Solar and lunar eclipses are significant in Islam and
are accompanied by special congregational prayers. The Union of Islamic
Courts confiscated Ali`s body for 24 hours before delivering it to the
grieving family, the report said.
The Barnabas Fund comments: "It seems that under the new Islamist
rulers, who include hard-line jihadi elements, the tragic history of
persecution and martyrdom for Somalia`s tiny Christian community is set
to continue and most likely to worsen."
The group reports that in July there were unconfirmed reports
three Christians had been shot and killed by Islamists as they returned
home from a prayer meeting.
In October 2005, an evangelist and house church leader, Osman
Sheik Ahmed, was shot dead by Islamist radicals, Barnabas said. Also,
children of Christian Somali refugees in Kenya have been kidnapped by
Muslim relatives and taken to Islamic institutions in Somalia for
`rehabilitation.`"
The Barnabas Fund pointed out the leader of the Union of
Islamic Courts, Hassan Dahir Aweys, promised to implement Sharia, or
Islamic law, in all areas he controls.
According to Sharia, the group explained, apostates – those
who leave Islam for another religion – must be killed. Union of Islamic
Court leaders even have threatened to kill as apostates Muslims who are
lax in their prayers, claiming this is commanded by Sharia. Several
Muslims have been flogged publicly for drug-related offences since the
union took control.
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