SHOEBAT EXCLUSIVE
By Theodore Shoebat
The life of the Christian is as the life of Christ. It is a struggle. It is a struggle with the forces of evil, in which the light toils and labors for justice, and triumphs even under the force of wood, nails, crowns of thorns, and piercing lances, for “the darkness comprehended it not.” (John 1:5)
It is a struggle in which a man’s closest relations become his enemies, and in which one must deny himself to endure the pains of the struggle. The life of the Christian is not one of peace, but of the sword, for, in the words of Christ, “I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” (Matthew 10:35-36)
Thus is the life of a young man named Abdullahi Aden Ali, a native of Somalia who decided to leave the heresy of Muhammad, take up his cross and follow Christ.
His father was entrenched into the false doctrines of Muhammad, obtaining the title of Haji after he went on a pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca. But even though he was brought up in such a devoutly Islamic household, his own intellect and soul was troubled with the chimerical theology of Muhammad. A struggle was occurring within his own being, with the Spirit wrestling with the flesh in an endless dual to the death.
One day he visited a fellow Somali who expressed his disbelief in Islam, and the two commenced a deep discourse on the religion. This man expressed some theological points which, though unknown to him until now, Abdullahi felt a strong inner conviction to be true.
During this time it was known that Somalia was on the brink of a civil war, and this man made known that the teachings of Christ would dissipate the clouds of strife and violence in their land. He told Abdullahi that Christ taught to turn the other cheek in times of persecution; that He walked amongst the poor and was never corrupted by the taint of pride or envy, all concepts and actions that were quite absent in his mind before they were told to him. His new friend also explained that the violent and morally decayed society of Somalia was a result of nothing else but the Islamic religion.
Such thoughts forced Abdullahi to wonder as to where he stood within the realm of religious realities. Was he in the true, or false religion? If Islam is inspired by God, then why does cruelty and never-ending war plague Somalia, a devoutly Muslim nation? Abdullahi himself wrote of this experience with his friend:
He believed that the collapse of Somali moral and cultural standards is caused by the Muslim religion. Initially I didn’t agree with him, but gradually I discovered that the lack of love and peace in Islam plays a great role in our people’s way of thinking.
It was at this point that a soaring urge compelled Abdullahi to quench the thirst which his soul suffered, and thus he was determined to endurably walk the path that leads to Divine Truth.
Abdullahi’s friend introduced him to an expatriate living in Somalia. There was something unusual and extraordinary about this man which struck him. Firstly, unlike the Muslims, he never hesitated to discuss matters of faith and theology, as opposed to the Islamic clerics who always avoided questions and discourse on such a subject. Secondly, he always took care of his wife and family, a fatherly action almost unknown to the nature of Somali culture. Thirdly, the way he prayed was most foreign, and yet most inspiring, to Abdullahi.
It was his Somali friend that introduced Abdullahi to Christianity, but it was this expatriate who first illustrated to him the spirit of Christianity. In his own words:
Through my Somali friend I got in touch with Christianity, but through this expatriate I discovered Christianity, and I began to compare the two religions. This man also gave me a Bible and I started to read it.
He voraciously perused the Holy Scriptures, joyously walked the luscious meadows of eternal writ, and allowed the brightness of divine truth to caress his wavering soul. He “walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,” (Pslam 1:1) but instead delighted “in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” (Psalm 1:2) Abdullahi recounted this impactful moment:
I was amazed to discover the similarities between the stories of the Old Testament and the Qur’an. I found the Bible contained a more historical, detailed account. I then investigated critically to find out the historical origin of Islam – something that my people consider an unthinkable thing to do.
I started to read the bible very secretly, especially at night time when everybody goes sleep. My heart fell in love with this word in the bible: Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” I realized that God has a purpose for me and I kept reading the Bible for a year and a half again and again without discussing it with any one. Also I learned how to pray… every time I bow down and cry out to the lord.
But then, the Sword of Christ was unsheathed, the vicious anger which it provokes in the wicked appeared, and the holy blade cut asunder the bond between Abdullahi and his father.
His father angrily approached him and asked, “What is this?” He discovered his Bible and demanded to know for what reason he possessed it. He then severely whipped his son, and ordered his mother not to feed him any food until he be reported to the Sharia court. He then exclaimed to his son these piercing words:
It was better for you not to be born.
What they do to Christians in the sharia court in Somalia was horrifying. Just to give you an idea, here is a video a Christian convert in Somalia being beheaded for apostasy:
Also, as Shoebat.com reported, the Muslims in Somalia forced two daughters to watch their own mother get beheaded for converting to Christianity, after she went through a sharia trial.
More Christians will be killed in Somalia under sharia, and this is why we must rescue them. Rescue Christians has just expanded into Somalia, and we ask you to please click here to make a donation to save Christian lives in Somalia.
His father took out a sharp knife and threatened his son, demanding that he give him the password for his Facebook account. Once he opened his account, he saw with his own eyes all of the anti-Islamic statements, and debates with Muslims, that his son was making.
His father was enraged, and imprisoned him in his own room. But his mother, filled with maternal sympathy, secretly provided him with food, and told him
Your father is crazy….now he will kill you, I will try to help you run from him and go to another place.
She slipped a note under his door on which was a phone number, and said to her son,
When you are ready, tell me and I will open for you the door.
This poor Christian remained for two days in a dark room, and he dialed the number of a friend on Facebook, who then referred to him about our organization, Rescue Christians. He dialed us, and cried to him for rescue. Abdullahi, in his own words, recalls the moment:
“My father wants to kill me and wants to report me to the Islamic court.” After I contacted Rescue Christians, I told my mom that I found someone that may help me …and what my mom did was opened the door for me and she told me to run away….she said, “I will say something to your father, but you have to run.”
And so he left, and like the prophet Elijah, “ran for his life” (1 Kings 19:3), becoming a sojourning saint, a grain of salt wandering in the midst of death, toiling under the cross that he carried, separated by the Sword of the Holy One from the ungodly, and with the lance of persecution ripping through his side, he denied himself and kept the path of light to the mighty pinnacle of victory.
He took refuge in a friend’s home, and continued contact with Rescue Christians who sent him $200 and helped him find a route of escape. Sending the money was most difficult, since it is illegal to send cash to Somalia. So we had to send it to Kenya where a contact of ours transferred the money to Abdullahi. He decided to travel to Ethiopia, a more Christian nation, and we connected him with a Somali contact living in Ethiopia who would help him obtain sanctuary.
The journey was long and arduous, filled with dangerous uncertainties, but fortified by the unending providence of God within the road of destiny.
On Monday, April 28th, 2014, Abdullahi began his traveling. At around midnight he commenced his precarious journey. He hopped into the back of a truck heading for Garoowe, and paid the driver $25, a great amount of money in that part of the world. But, he would not have been in possession of such money if it wasn’t for Rescue Christians who gave it to him in two payments.
The truck travelled for two hours and arrived in the area of Qardho where a number of robbers met him, and said that they could not pass unless they paid them $316. Abdullahi took up $10 of his own money, and the others in the truck added in from their own pocket. They gave the robbers the money, and the criminals said that they had to wait. After about one hour they were released and they resumed their arduous journey.
In the midst of the journey he began looking for a bus that could take him to Hargeisa. But then hunger took him and he decided to enter a restaurant. While he was eating, two police officers approached him and said he was under arrest.
They apprehended him and threw him into a cell. He suffered as Paul suffered, when a “commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains.” (Acts 21:33)
He was then interrogated at the police station, and one officer accused him of being a member of the Al-Shabaab terrorist group. Abdullahi denied the charge, and said that he was simply traveling. But they did not listen to him. They instead tossed him into a cell filled with murderers and robbers. The other cell mates immediately attacked him, beating him and searching for money in his pockets, but they found nothing because he had wisely hid the cash in his underwear.
Abdullahi recalls his time in the cell:
The cellmates asked me, “Did you kill some one, are you thief?” And I told them that I did nothing but they just put me in prison. The room was very hot… I was sweating and everybody was stinking. I pray to the Lord, asking Him why He did this to me, just silently and from my heart. But God reminded me of the story of Job. then I stayed calm. After 6 hours the officer called out my name and he told me, “You are free to go.” Also he told me to give him some money otherwise he will arrest me again.
With such a story are we reminded of the words of Job:
Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness. (Job 30:26)
The next morning, after spending all night in a mosquito infested hotel room, Abdullahi caught a bus headed for Hargeisa, and the journey recommenced. But on the way, they were stopped by officers who asked him if he knew anyone in Hargeisa. He said that he did, a man named Abdulkadir. The officers ordered him to dial this man, and when he did, nobody picked up the phone. This provoked suspicion in the officers and so they arrested him. As they did to St. Peter, they “seized him” and “put him in prison,” but “prayer for him was being made fervently by the church of God.” (Acts 12:4-5)
They took his shoes and placed him in the cell, and now he stood, barefoot, with no help near him, only the Voice of God ringing the ears of his soul, echoing from the words of holy writ.
Four days he stood in captivity. He begged the officer for a phone call to Abdulkadir, and they permitted it. He made the phone call, and with the sound of each ring his heart beat with the highest intensity. He picked up, and promised that he would come by to pick him up. But, when Abdulkadir arrived he did not keep true to his promise, saying that he did not have the time to come for him. Two days later the officers finally let him go.
He eventually made it to his destination in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, where he united with our contact in that country. He is now living comfortably in a Christian land, where he can worship God without worry of being oppressed by the Muslim sword, and remain separated by the sublime Sword of Christ, for God “separated the light from the darkness” (Genesis 1:4).
He took up his cross, endured the great weight of the wood, took upon himself what the divine destiny brings upon the lives of the saints, felt the nails of the evil one, suffered the lance of the devils, and followed Christ, only to arise as a holy warrior triumphant over darkness, for “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
This is the first rescue mission Rescue Christians has done in Africa, and we would have done it without you, the reader. How much did it cost to save this man’s life? $200. Thats all it cost to save a Christian life. You don’t have to donate a lot of money to save a life. Help us save more of these Christians. We are obligated to save them. Please click here to make a donation to save more Christian lives in Somalia.