Abdul Rahman

Abdul Rahman is a man of faith and he unashamedly affirms: "I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in Christ. And I am a Christian.”

Unfortunately for Rahman, he was originally born a Muslim in Afghanistan-and he has been forced to defend his religious conversion in his home country's court, where he recently faced the death penalty for turning to Jesus.

The Afghan government is desperate to appease its Western allies and wants the apostasy case against Abdul Rahman dropped. Under great pressure, the Courts have returned the case to the prosecutors with the request that Rahman be assessed for mental illness. On Friday 24 March local Muslim leaders warned they would incite people to kill Abdul Rahman themselves if he does not return to Islam, while Mujahadeen leaders from all over Afghanistan met in Kabul to work out a unified strategy should Abdul Rahman be released. Late Monday night Abdul Rahman was released from prison into the custody of his family. His whereabouts are unknown. In Mazar-i-Sharif, clerics and students protested the decision to release Rahman. They marched shouting ‘Death to Christians', 'Death to America' and 'Death to the convert Abdul Rahman'. A Taliban council has issued a fatwa (religious decree) saying Abdul Rahman must be killed.

Michelle Malkin’s web site follows the press accounts of Afghan Christian Abdul Rahman's release and vanishing this morning. Reportedly he is safe for now, but the lynch mob is still thirsting. "If the government forgives him, the people will not. The people will kill him," said tribal elder Shah Baran in the eastern province of Zabul.

There are believed to be some 10,000 Afghan Christians inside Afghanistan, many of whom are recent converts. Compass Direct reports that since Rahman's case became public, two other converts have been arrested, one other convert has been beaten and several more have been harassed and threatened. Rahman's trial is a revealing and defining moment for Afghanistan and for the rest of the Muslim world whose silence reveals volumes. In these days of Taliban resurgence, a cleric-led Muslim uprising against 'Western interference' would have horrific consequences for the Afghan Church. Pray for Abdul Rahman and the seriously threatened Afghan Church.

“Christ Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Romans 8:34