A day ago, the world rejoiced as a Sudanese woman Meriam Yehya Ibrahim — jailed for her faith — was released by the Sudanese government. Sudan is an Islamic state, where conversion from Islam is a crime deserving of execution. Ibrahim’s death sentence was found to be faulty, leading to her release.
When asked to renounce her faith, she had fired back, “I am a Christian, and will remain a Christian.” Even as she sat in prison awaiting her death with her 20-month-old son and another unborn child in her womb, she remained steadfast. In the end, her release was secured, as human rights organizations and governments across the world pressured the Sudanese government to back down from the sentence.
But her escape from Sudan has hit another snag.
Ibrahim and her husband Daniel Wani have been detained at the airport because of “irregularities with their documentation,” just as they were about to fly out of the country on June 25. They are now in police custody.
It’s hard to comprehend this kind of persecution here in North America. While Christian beliefs are certainly unwelcome in many circles, we are a long ways away from being sentenced to death for believing that Christ is our Saviour. What is most striking about Ibrahim’s refusal to renounce her faith is just how easy it would be to do it. A simple phrase, a few words. Would you have done the same?
Photo courtesy of The Independent.
