Rifqa Bary: Is Her Life in Danger?
Rifqa Bary is a 17-year-old girl raised in a Muslim family in Ohio who has secretly been a Christian for 4 years. Recently, her parents discovered her new beliefs. Rifqa fled Ohio for Florida, fearing that her parents will kill her for her Christian faith. Is that really an issue? Rifqa believes it is.
Her parents want her returned. It’s now in the courts in Florida. Rifqa has stated:
If I had stayed in Ohio, I wouldn’t be alive. In 150 generations in [our] family, no one has known Jesus. I am the first—imagine the honor in killing me. . . . There is great honor in that, because if they love Allah more than me, they have to do it. It’s in the Koran.
Some may question the validity of her fears, but honor killings are a common feature of Islam. And anyone who converts to the Christian faith is an infidel who deserves death. I believe her fears have a solid basis.
A couple days ago, Michael Medved, film critic and conservative Jew, posted this in Townhall.com:
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan began in late August and brought terrifying violence to Islamic communities everywhere. In Gaza, fanatics came charging out of a mosque after inspiring Friday prayers and engaged in bloody battle with their fellow extremists of Hamas: at least 26 people died, including innocent children. No other faith associates its most sacred observances with bloodshed and suicide. Christians and Jews may use holy days for fervent prayer, even fasting and repentance, but no one ever leaves a church or a synagogue after sacred services and explodes into mob brutality. This tendency to mix appalling murder and devout religiosity shows that the problem for Muslims isn’t their treatment by the west, but a propensity for violence and self-destruction deeply rooted in extremist teachings followed by tens of millions.
He is correct. While I want to reach out to individuals Muslims with the Gospel of hope and reconciliation, I also have to recognize the nature of the system that binds them. Christians need to take the Muslim threat seriously. There are already calls for Sharia law to be established in America. It hasn’t happened yet, but the trend is there—dangerously so.
We also have a president who found it amenable to issue a video message celebrating the observance of Ramadan, but who refused to participate to that degree in the national day of prayer earlier this year.
Meanwhile, pray for Rifqa.