Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12)
From CBN News: Two Christians in Lahore, Pakistan, have been charged with blasphemy after Muslims objected to their Bible study in a local park last weekend.
Morning Star News (MSN) reports Haroon Ayub Masih, 26, and friend Salamat Mansha Masih, who’s also in his twenties, were studying the Bible in Lahore’s Model Town Park on Saturday when a group of Muslims approached the two men and told them they should not read the Bible in public, attorney Aneeqa Maria of The Voice Society said.
When Masih told them that reading the Bible in public was not a crime in Pakistan and that they had no right to stop them, the Muslims began questioning them about their Christian faith and asked if they had any reading material to help them understand the Bible, Maria said.
“On their insistence, Masih gave them a Christian book entitled, ‘Water of Life,'” said Maria, who represents Masih. “The youths took the book and left Haroon and Mansha for the time being.”
Masih decided to return to his home, while his friend Masih remained in the park.
“A few minutes later, the Muslim youths returned to the spot where Mansha was present and attacked him, claiming that he and Haroon had blasphemed against their prophet,” Maria told Morning Star News. “They also summoned the park’s security and lied to them that the two Christians were evangelizing to Muslims in the park and had used derogatory words for the Koran and the prophet Muhammed.”
The attorney said someone from the Muslim group called the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a far-right Islamist political party reportedly behind most blasphemy cases against Christians and the Ahmadiyya, a sect originating in Islam that Muslims repudiate.
The co-founder of the TLP reportedly called for the death of three Supreme Court justices involved in the 2018 acquittal of Christian Aasiya Noreen (Asia Bibi), who had been wrongly convicted of blasphemy and condemned to death.
Several TLP leaders arrived at the park and pressured police to charge the two Christians for derogatory remarks against Muhammad, punishable by death; defiling the Koran, punishable by imprisonment for life and fine; and deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine. Read More
Sources
- 2 Pakistani Christians Charged with Blasphemy Just for Studying Bible in Local Park (February 18th, 2021) – CBN News