Muslims Turn to Christ

Iran

The Majlis (parliament) in Tehran are discussing a law to mandate the death penalty for anyone born to Muslim parents who decides to convert to another faith. Currently converts to Christianity in Iran face arrest and years in prison.

However, a wave of enthusiastic conversions to Christianity have dismayed Muslim leaders and led to the demand that Mohammad’s dictum to kill “apostates” be enforced in Iran.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejads’ government is under pressure to move swiftly to stem the tide of young people abandoning Islam. Some sources estimate that in the last five years as many as one million Iranians have abandoned Islam and joined Evangelical churches.

As one Iranian Evangelical leader, who himself used to be a Muslim, described it: “We find ourselves facing what is more than a conversion to the Christian Faith, it’s a mass exodus from Islam.”

Algeria

The Sunni Muslim Government of Algeria has ordered thirteen Protestant churches to close down. This includes a 1,200 member Full Gospel Church congregation.

The former Chairman of the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA), Pastor Hugh Johnson, has been expelled from the country amidst accusations of being involved in evangelism, and importing and distributing Christian books.

Three Algerian Christians have been convicted of “insulting Islam.” They have been informed that they will be sentenced to three years in prison.

The church closures are enacted in accordance with a law passed in February 2006, which requires all non-Muslim congregations to obtain a permit from their regional prefect to hold worship gatherings. This law also bans the production of any media intended to “shake to faith of a Muslim.”

Tensions have flared in Algeria as Muslim leaders have accused Protestant Evangelicals of trying to convert Muslims to Christianity. Officially, 99% of Algeria’s 33 million population are Sunni Muslims. Algeria’s Protestant Churches claim 50,000 followers. Joel Rosenberg in his book Epicenter reports that more than 80,000 Muslims have turned to Christ in Algeria in recent years. There are strict laws against evangelism in Algeria.

Morocco

In Morocco Muslim newspapers articles openly complained that between 25,000 to 40,000 Muslims have turned to Christianity in recent years.

Russia

According to the Islam Watch website, some 2 million Muslims in Russia converted to Christianity last year. Islam Watch also reports that 10,000 French Muslims converted, as did 35,000 Turkish Muslims. They also claim 10,000 Muslims converting to Christianity in India last year.

"They Want Jesus Instead"

Chuck Colsen in Breakpoint reports that as many as 5 million Muslims in Sudan have accepted Christ since the early 1990’s. This despite horrific persecution by the Sudanese government. He quotes a Sudanese evangelical leader commenting: “people have seen the real Islam, and they want Jesus instead.”

Iraq

Chuck Colsen also reports that more than 5,000 Muslims in Iraq have converted to Christianity since the American military overthrew Saddam Hussein.

“16,000 Convert Everyday”

A leading Saudi Arabian Muslim leader Sheikh Ahmad al Qatanni reported on al-Jazeera TV that every day “16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity!” He claimed that Islam was losing 6 million Muslims a year to “becoming Christians.” This he described as “a tragedy”!

Even allowing for the fact that the Sheikh could be inflating these numbers to incite Islamic reaction against Christianity, and that he could be confusing those who are merely leaving Islam, with becoming Christians, something momentous is happening.

Are You Involved?

I have seen Muslims coming to Christ in Sudan and Nigeria. What used to be a rare event is now becoming a mass movement to Christ. Millions of Christians worldwide come from Muslim backgrounds. If we are to fulfill the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ, we need to love our Muslim neighbours enough to learn to understand Islam, and to faithfully pray for and effectively share the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ with Muslims.

“The desert tribes will bow down before Him and His enemies will lick the dust…All kings will bow down to Him and all nations will serve Him.”
Psalm 72:9-11