Muslim extremists beat Christian apologist unconscious in Uganda
Islamic extremists beat a Christian apologist and evangelist unconscious as he was traveling to participate in a debate about Christianity and Islam in Kampala, Uganda, according to a report.
Two men stopped the car of 43-year-old apologist Charles Kamya when he was about 300 meters from the open-air debate site in the Bwaise area of Kampala and then a mob attacked him, Morning Star News reported.
“I stopped my car only to be ambushed by six other Muslims in Islamic attire who resurfaced from the bush at around midday,” Kamya was quoted as saying from his hospital bed.
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One of the assailants told him, “You have been terrorizing our religion. Today Allah has called you, and you are going to meet him. Some beat me badly while others cut me with some objects, and I lost a lot of blood as they pulled me out of my car and threw me out,” he said.
In the Jan. 29 attack, he was hit on his head with an iron bar, leaving him unconscious for about two hours. A passerby found him in a pool of blood and called the police.
Kamya’s father fears his son will be attacked again and has asked the hospital to release him against the doctors’ advice.
Days before the attack, Kamya had gone to a mosque in the Jinja area to buy a Quran, accompanied by a Muslim convert to Christianity. He then debated Muslims in that mosque.
“I used the Quran to show Muslims that from the beginning of the Earth to date, God wants all people to be saved, including Muslims,” Kamya said. “I also discussed Surah 72 about the powers of evil jinn, and that they can be defeated by Issa [Jesus], and many Muslims converted to Christ. One sheik wanted to grab the Quran from me, but I refused and left immediately.”
Another debate was scheduled for Jan. 29, organized by Bwaise area churches.
“It was well publicized, with my photo displayed as the main debater of the day in Christian-Muslim dialogue,” Kamya said.
While most people in Uganda are Christian, some Eastern and Central regions have higher concentrations of Muslims.
According to the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, about 11.5% of Uganda’s population is Muslim, mostly Sunni. Armed attacks and murders of converts are not uncommon in the region.
“Radical Islam’s influence has grown steadily, and many Christians within the majority-Muslim border regions are facing severe persecution, especially those who convert from Islam,” a Voice of the Martyrs factsheet notes.
“Despite the risks, evangelical churches in Uganda have responded by reaching out to their neighbors; many churches are training leaders how to share the Gospel with Muslims and care for those who are persecuted after they become Christians.”
