A.S. Ibrahim: Christians under attack

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Today is Tuesday, March 4th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Lindsay Mast.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up next, WORLD Opinions contributor A.S. Ibrahim on the latest killing of Christians in Africa—and why it’s part of a disturbing pattern.

A.S. IBRAHIM: The world continues to witness as Muslim terrorists massacre Christians, and the media rarely care to cover such horrific attacks.

This time the Muslim butchery of 70 Christians occurred in the majority-Christian village of Mayba in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A group of Muslim militants from the Allied Democratic Forces—or ADF— entered the Christian village in the early hours of the day, knocking on doors and seizing whomever they could hold.

The terrorist group with ties to the Islamic State led the captives to a nearby Protestant church. Later their bodies were discovered inside the church. Reports describe the victims as having been bound, with many beheaded, likely with machetes.

Congo is Africa’s second-largest Christian-majority nation—after Nigeria—with over 93% of the population identifying as Christians. Catholics and Protestants make up about 85% of the total number of Christians.

In the past decade, ADF terrorized parts of western Uganda and eastern Congo, especially in vulnerable villages. While an army presence and government influence can often be found in major cities, the small, isolated villages are vulnerable to rebel attacks.

Many may rush to claim that this atrocity has nothing to do with Islam, arguing that Islam doesn’t condone violence against Christians, but they will be wrong.

Ten years ago, on February 15th, 2015, ISIS terrorists executed 21 Coptic Egyptian Christians on a beach in Libya. The event sent shockwaves around the world due to its brutality and the stark display of faith by the victims.

The brutal attack on the Copts in 2015 was repeated with the Congolese Christians in 2025. Muslim terrorists identified Christians, abducted them as poor and vulnerable people who are unable to resist, and led them to slaughter.

This is the horrific reality many Christians face at the hands of Muslim terrorists in many parts of the world.

This isn’t a time to claim all religions have bad people—wrong timing. It isn’t the time to rationalize an endless debate about “what’s the true Islam”—a misleading distraction. Nor is it a time to speak of how the majority of Muslims are peaceful people who aim no harm against anyone—an irrelevant claim.

Islam, as written, definitely offers reasons for many Muslims to delight in butchering non-Muslims, especially Christians. ISIS and ADF know Islam and delight in following its precepts. The Quran, Muhammad’s teachings, and the authoritative historical accounts of Islam all—yes, all—include statements and examples that clearly allow Muslims to target Christians and kill them for Allah’s sake and to advance Islamic dominance. Once a Muslim identifies a Christian as an infidel, all brutal actions can be legitimized through religious commands.

Unless we expose these teachings and claims as inhumane and morally abhorrent, nothing can change. But we can do more. The international community needs to help struggling countries identify areas where terrorists thrive. It should come together to support enhancing local security and seek to cut the lifeline of these groups. Not only drying up their funding through imposing sanctions on countries and groups that aid terrorists, but also by crippling their ability to recruit new soldiers in underprivileged and isolated regions.

Governments can—and should—shut down Islamic propaganda pipelines and identify and jail recruiters. In a sense, Muslim leaders who are open about disavowing Islamic terrorism are much needed in this regard. While non-Muslim thinkers can tackle Islam’s claims right on, Muslim leaders—who are vocal in condemning Islamic terrorism—can influence Muslims in crucial places, including mosques, schools, and online spaces where radicalization emerges and festers. And it must be done before more attacks like this one take place.

I’m A.S. Ibrahim.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.