[Today’s Prayer] Egyptian Christian Detained for 3 Years for “Leaving Islam” Post on Social Media Released

Egyptian authorities have released Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo, a Christian convert who was jailed for three years for a Facebook post saying he was leaving Islam. He is still in court after being detained for participating in a private online meeting of a Christian group.

The Christian legal group ADF International (ADF International) announced on the 2nd (local time), “Abdo, a husband and father of five, has been released. Having received death threats after his conversion, he left Yemen and registered as an asylum seeker at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office in Egypt.”

Local authorities detained him in 2021, citing his participation in online discussions of Christian doctrine and Islamic theology as the reason for his arrest. Abdo, who had been transferred through several detention facilities, suffered from poor heart, liver, and kidney health even before his release. Despite this, he went on a hunger strike for the last six months to protest the authorities.

“He has been released, but the legal proceedings against him are not yet concluded,” said ADF International, which submitted his case to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

During his detention, Abdo received psychological support from Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a researcher at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

She said: “Abdo’s treatment is incomprehensible. His imprisonment is a surreal example of censorious blasphemy in action. Ali, once widely known as an atheist, announced last November that he had become a Christian. This is the logical conclusion to a trend of brutality by the authorities against innocent people who express themselves freely on social media. From China to Pakistan, Russia to Syria, Britain to Egypt, free expression must be urgently protected from the resurgence of totalitarianism in our time.”

Ali, who has been vocal on global human rights issues, has also faced threats for criticizing the Muslim Brotherhood.

Source: Christian Today

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it (Mark 8:34-35)

God, we hear from Brother Abdo, who came to Egypt to escape persecution after believing in Jesus in Yemen and was released after three years in detention for his conversion.

We ask that you would guide Brother Abdo, who has been threatened with death for his conversion and has not been able to complete the legal process since his release, to keep the faith and become a follower of Jesus through all circumstances.

His wife and five children also want to step out in faith. May the family be built up as a family of faith and a church, bearing the cross together with Brother Abdo!

For this, we pray that the Egyptian church will be more active in nurturing converts from Muslim backgrounds with the Word, breaking the cycle of silence and spreading the Gospel, and that the global church will focus on sending out followers of Jesus who will take up their crosses together!

Lord, there are those among the nations who are suffering for the name of Jesus. May they defend their crosses in faith and press forward, trusting that You will build Your Church upon the blood of martyrdom, where the powers of darkness will not prevail!

Allow them to rise up from the nations a great multitude that fights the good fight of faith and looks forward to the day of Your return!