Pakistan (MNN) — Christian girls desperately need justice in Pakistan. A Muslim man kidnapped 14-year-old Maira Shabaz in April and tried to marry her, claiming she was 19, The Telegraph reports.
Local officials placed Maira in a shelter when family proved she was a minor, but that’s about to change. The Lahore High Court just ruled in favor of Maira’s captor, saying she willingly married him and converted to Islam.
According to FMI’s Nehemiah, stories like Maira’s are tragically all-too-common. “The concept is not new, it’s very old. Muslims treat Christian women as animals,” he says.
“When they take a girl who is a minor, the first thing they do [is] convert that girl to Islam. Once [she] is a Muslim, she cannot convert back to [her] religion and, in Islam, you can marry a girl who is underage. This is a Pakistani law.”
This 2014 report from Movement for Solidarity & Peace (MSP) estimates 400 to 1,000 forced marriages and conversions occur each year. Huma Yuonnus, also 14, is now pregnant with her captor’s child.
How to help
FMI partners with indigenous church planters and evangelists in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nations. More details here. Sometimes, that partnership looks like 1 Corinthians 12:26.
Christian children in Pakistan.
(Photo Courtesy FMI for MNN use.)
Speaking about an FMI-supported pastor, Nehemiah says, “In his congregation, a young girl was abducted, converted to Islam, and she became a mother when she was 14 years old. When we went to see her parents [to encourage them], we saw a bunch of Muslim guys standing outside the house. They wanted to kidnap another girl from the same family.”
Ask the Lord to intervene and protect Christian girls in Pakistan. Pray for justice for Maira and others like her.
“These Christians are vulnerable; they have no voice in the community,” Nehemiah says.
“Please pray for these persecuted Christians in Pakistan, and pray for yourself. Pray that the burden of persecuted Christians [will weigh] more heavily on your hearts.”
Header image is a representative photo depicting the Quran, the principal source of Islamic law. (Photo credit abdulmeilk majed from Pexels)
