July 2023 Persecution Magazine

THE ANATOMY OF MUSLIM-BACKGROUND BELIEVERS
The experiences of MBBs differ greatly from one another.
Some MBBs grow up in close-knit Muslim communities, cherished
and respected by their families and tribes. Choosing to love Christ
more than their family (Matthew 10:37) can be excruciatingly
painful and heartbreaking for both the new believer and their
Muslim loved ones.
In North Africa, for example, a father gave his MBB son 12 days to
renounce Christianity, and when the son did not, his father and
the whole village arranged a funeral for him to symbolize that for
them, he was dead; he was no longer a part of the tribe because
he had become a Christian.
Other MBBs come from broken families marked by abuse, divorce,
extreme poverty, or the traumas of conflict and war. ICC especially
helps MBB women who have experienced not only persecution
because of their new faith, but also gender-based violence in their
Muslim community before they found hope in Jesus.
PERSECUTION IN THE SEARCH
Muslims who ask too many questions about their religion
are seen as threats to the broader Muslim community. In the
deeply religious cultures of the Middle East, to lose faith in
God and religion is not only an internally troubling thing for
the questioner, but is also seen as the seed of apostasy (to
question and explore answers outside of Islam). They must
explore Christianity in complete secret with great sensitivity.
Many MBBs are young people who, after trying to find peace
in Islam, ultimately encounter confusion about who God
really is. Many of them become atheists or agnostics until
they dream of Jesus, stumble across a Christian social media
page, or meet a Christian friend to whom they turn to find
their answer and hope in Jesus.
Tragically, when family members learn of their curiosity,
MBBs often face disownment, assault, and even lifethreatening
attacks, as their Muslim family tries to rid itself
of the shame that an “apostate” new Christian brings them.
PERSECUTION IN BELIEF
Most MENA countries have anti-conversion laws in
place that persecute converts to Christianity.
Apostasy laws in some countries criminalize
conversion from Islam to Christianity, making it
punishable by imprisonment or death.
Anti-proselytization laws restrict or prohibit any
effort to share the Christian gospel, bringing great
pressure to new converts and Christians who agree
to meet with a seeker to help answer their questions
about Christianity.
Many MENA countries regulate identification and
inter-faith marriage. Throughout the Muslimmajority
world, one’s religious identification from
birth is included on identification documents. It is not
possible to change one’s ID from Muslim to Christian.
This leads to several challenges throughout the rest
of the MBBs life, including restrictions on marriage
and the education of children in the public school
systems who will also be registered as Muslims.
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Persecution | JULY 2023