Middle East/North Africa (MNN) — The Islamic State appears to have a far reach, but do they? The transnational terrorist group has a history of claiming responsibility for violent acts, such as the deadly knife attack in Germany last month, or the attack on a Shi’ite mosque in Oman in July.
Samuel* with Redemptive Stories says claiming these types of “lone wolf” incidents can make the Islamic State appear larger than they are. He says the group is dealing with pressure within the Middle East-North Africa region on top of pressure from the broader world.
“There are challenges that our whole region faces because of these ‘family feuds’ that continue to exacerbate [tensions]. Some of them stand with certain parties in certain cases, and then others are against other parties,” Samuel says.
Gathering of ISIS militants on Mali-Niger border in 2021.
(Wikimedia Commons)
“The Islamic State in particular, nobody has really liked them very much, and they have always made enemies wherever they’ve gone.”
Among the places where ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups operate are countless Christians. Samuel calls for prayer for their protection.
“If we lose the Christians that have lived there for hundreds, if not thousands of years, then we lose something deeply [instrumental] to the spread of the gospel and the opportunity for the truth and God’s glory to be magnified in that region,” he says.
“God is still in control in the midst of all this. We should cry out on behalf of our brothers and sisters there, but still in the midst of that lament, there’s always the trust component at the very end.”
Pray for God to give believers strength to share the hope and love of Christ across the Middle East and North Africa.
“Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism of all sorts can’t be fought with more weapons and destruction and killing of others, because all that does is [breed] more terrorists, more hatred, more violence,” Samuel says.
“I know it may sound naive, but there needs to be acts of love and kindness — maybe not directly toward evil people like ISIS, but in the region, our policy as Christians should be one of communication of the hope and the opportunities to walk with Jesus.”
*Pseudonym
Header photo of a mosque reduced to ruins by the war with the Islamic State. (Photo courtesy of Levi Meir Clancy via Unsplash).
