Pakistani Christian “Haroon Masih”, a former imam who sought asylum in Germany, is continuing to receive death threats from his family, according to the BILD newspaper.
Haroon, 34, left Pakistan following an attack by members of his community after they learned of his conversion to Christianity. Although he has been granted asylum and resettled in Germany, he still faces threats and says he was stabbed by four Urdu-speaking men while out jogging.
After training as an imam, Haroon moved to Athens where he planned to start a mosque. But he was instead led to Christ while working in a shop run by a Christian couple, whose charity towards someone of a different faith surprised him.
Haroon said in the report, “During my studies, I persecuted and oppressed Christians myself. There the question flared up in my heart: why? … Then Jesus appeared to me three times in a dream.”
He then moved back to Pakistan where he began an underground church. When the church was discovered he was forced to flee the country after being beaten “half dead” by a mob of 30-40 Muslims and receiving death threats. Now in Germany, he continues to receive threats; in his words, “my family wants to kill me”.
Blasphemy and apostasy laws in Islamic countries can lead to severe official punishments, plus “mob justice” and lynching. Christian converts from Islam are particularly vulnerable because of strict penalties for apostasy in sharia law.
