[Today’s Prayer] Egyptian Islam Uses New Tactic to Forcibly Convert Christian Women

An ordinary middle-class Egyptian Coptic Christian student has reportedly gone missing after being gaslighted to convert to Islam by fellow students, administrators and police.

According to the Christian Daily International (CDI), a Christian human rights group, the Coptic Solidarity, in a recent report found that “a network of Muslim female students at a school in Assiut governorate targeted the Christian student for two years in WhatsApp and Instagram chatrooms, sowing doubts about Christianity and emotionally distancing her from her family.”

“The missing student’s name is Amani. The Muslim girls were mentored by men from the strict Salafi branch of Islam who then tried to force Christian students into Islam,” the Coptic Solidarity said in the report, titled “Hidden Crimes, Public Deception: The Pervasiveness of Abductions and Enforced Disappearances of Coptic Women and Girls.”

“When a Coptic Christian girl follows the advice of her friends and goes to an Islamic institution to inquire, she is immediately converted and, with the help of senior security officials, a restraining order is put on her family to further isolate her and prevent her from seeking help,” Coptic Solidarity said.

The Coptic Solidarity report said there were cases of abductions of women and girls, forced marriages and conversions to Islam in areas where Coptic Christians make up around 10% of Egypt's population.

The report found that in many cases, the means of converting Coptic Christian women and girls had shifted from abduction to trickery, seduction or 'grooming'. 'Grooming' is defined as the systematic building of trusting relationships with children or adolescents, their families and communities, to manipulate, pressure or coerce them into engaging in sexual activity.

Because the penalties for child trafficking are harsher than those for adult victims, perpetrators often wait until their target girls turn 18. According to Amani’s family, she disappeared two months after she turned 18, but the process began when she was 16.

Victims of sexual abuse and their families face not only opposition from the authorities but also abuse. Coptic Solidarity pointed to a report by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) that found widespread sexual violence and abuse by Egyptian police and security personnel in detention facilities.

“Women are often targeted because their religious, tribal or political affiliation can be easily determined by their appearance, dress or behaviour. Violence against women is therefore often collective violence against the communities to which they belong,” the FIDH report said.

To combat these abuses, Coptic Solidarity recommends reforming Egypt’s laws on child marriage to close loopholes that allow for “customary marriages” where the groom promises to register the marriage once the bride turns 18, and enacting laws that impose effective sanctions on adult spouses and legislators/government officials who allow these crimes to occur.

Source: News

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted[d] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Loving God, we hear the sad news that Coptic Christian women and girls in Egypt are being kidnapped, forced into marriage and converted to Islam.

Please protect our missing sister Amani and pour more peace and faith into her heart so that she will not crumble under the circumstances.

In the midst of forced conversions, kidnappings, and all the persecution and hardships they face, let Your light shine upon them so that they may not lose their faith and return safely to their families.

You are the Lord who will not allow suffering to be tempted above of which they can handle, in the hour of temptation, give them the way of escape, that they may be able to bear it. We pray that the Christians will continue to have faith in You to guide them through the difficulties and pains they are facing.

Lord, even though the race of faith is hard and the persecution is difficult, let us run the course of faith to the end and be victorious in our hearts.

Allow the holy Coptic Churches to remain steadfast in the face of worldly oppression and keep their faith, looking forward to the eternal reward of the Lord, so that they may triumph with Jesus and receive the crown of righteousness.

As the Coptic Christian community are persecuted, may they be strengthened in the faith and move from heart to heart in prayer and worship, like our Lord Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead after His sufferings.

Lord, allow the Coptic Church to continue to have faith in the face of difficulties, and that it will rise up as a church that will now boldly proclaim your gospel. May the Coptic Church no longer hesitate to proclaim the Gospel.

Allow the Coptic Church to be established as a holy church, not merely for their own salvation, but to preach the gospel in Egypt and to the ends of the earth.

And may Egypt now be the people of the blessed Lord, according to Your word in Isaiah 19, that all the nations may come through Egypt to worship You and come before You!