One convert’s struggle

For quite some time now, we’ve been following the case of Mohammed Hegazy, the 25-year-old Muslim-born Egyptian who filed a case a year ago for his identification card to reflect his conversion to Christianity.

Since the court closed Hegazy’s case in January, ruling that it was against Islamic law for a Muslim to leave Islam, he has been on the run with his wife and young daughter. He and his family have had to move five times in the past eight months due to safety concerns. Militant Muslims, some of them Hegazy's own family members, continue to threaten him with death.

In a recent Compass Direct report, Hegazy says, "The most difficult thing for me is that the lives of my wife and daughter are in danger all the time." I find it especially distressing to think of his daughter, not yet two years old, being already caught up in a religious freedom battle. Hegazy's father, who has threatened to kill his son himself if he doesn’t embrace Islam, has filed for her custody in an attempt to ensure that she is raised Muslim.

Amid his troubles, Hegazy continues to find reasons to hope and rejoice. “Nowadays, the word ‘convert’ is being used in the media here – never before!” he says. “That’s progress.”

I see this progress as but one indication of God’s ever-presentness in the lives of Egyptian Christians facing trials for their faith. Hegazy’s testimony reveals how important it is to remain faithful—even joyful—as the struggle rages on.

And despite how it feels, we can praise the Lord that no fight for righteousness is in fact without end. “I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God…”