Afghan Christians Living in Fear of Taliban

Afghan Christians are living in fear as the Taliban has declared they will carry out executions and other brutal punishments, including amputations, under Islamic Sharia Law as part of their rule in Afghanistan.

“Cutting off of hands is very necessary for security,” Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, a member of the Taliban’s interim government and chief enforcer of the group’s strict interpretation of Sharia Law, told The Associated Press.  “Everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments,” he continued.  “No one will tell us what our laws should be.  We will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Quran.”  Turabi, who is under U.N. sanctions, also said the new government may consider carrying out such punishments in public.  

Turabi’s announcement has many Afghan Christians bracing for persecution, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern (ICC) reported, explaining that the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Sharia is a threat to Afghan Christians due to their conversions from Islam to Christianity.  “As apostates, Afghan Christians will be subject to Sharia’s deadliest consequences, including execution,” ICC said.

Almost all Afghan Christians — estimated to be between 8,000 and 12,000 — are converts from Islam and remain largely closeted and hidden from the public eye due to severe persecution.  When the Taliban took control of much of Afghanistan following the drawing down of U.S. troops in August, many ministries working with the country’s underground church worked tirelessly to evacuate at-risk Christians, William Stark, ICC’s regional manager for South Asia, told The Christian Post earlier this month.  “Christians are now in hiding because of active threats against their community,” Stark said.  He shared stories of how Christians continue to face threats from members of the Taliban.

In one situation, an Islamic extremist threatened to kidnap a Christian man’s daughters and marry them off to members of the Taliban.  In another, a Christian man received a letter from the Taliban saying his house belonged to them.  

Christians have also been warned to refrain from gathering.  “Even within the networks that we have, a number of people have changed their phone numbers because it’s simply not safe anymore,” Stark said.  “Their work to lie low in the country makes it hard for someone on the outside to stay in contact.”  As persecution continues to increase, Afghan Christians need “help from the outside” to escape their circumstances, he said.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel