A British
imam's daughter is living in fear of her life under police protection after she
received death threats from her family for converting to Christianity.
The young woman,
aged 32, whose father is a Muslim imam in the north of England, has moved house
45 times to escape detection by her family since she became a Christian 15
years ago.
Hannah,
who uses a pseudonym to hide her identity, told The Times how she became a
Christian after she ran away from home at 16 to escape an arranged marriage.
The
threats against her became more serious a month ago, prompting police to offer
her protection in case of an attempt on her life.
She was speaking
on the eve of the launch of a new charity in London today to promote greater
religious awareness. Muslims in Britain who wish to convert to Christianity are
living in fear of their lives because of Islamic apostasy laws, a senior Church
of England bishop will warn at the invitaton-only launch in west London.
The Bishop
of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, will claim "freedom to believe"
is under threat in Britain because of Islamic hostility to conversion.
Hannah,
now employed in multi-faith youth work and who gives talks to churches on
Islam, is the daughter of a Lancashire imam whose seven other children are
demanding she return to Islam. She has been in hiding, since her home was
attacked by a group of men armed with knives, axes and hammers, in 1994. She
will describe today how she is in fear of her life after the death threats
against her were recently renewed.
She said:
"I left home and I had nowhere to go. My religious education teacher gave
me somewhere to live. Even though she tried to make me stay at home on Sundays,
I am quite rebellious by nature and I started to go to church with her out of
curiosity."
She said
she had been in hiding, on and off, ever since, and has now been given a
telephone number she can call for an instant response by police should she need
help. The latest threat was a text message from one of her brothers, warning he
could not be responsible for his actions if she did not return to Islam.
Hannah
said she was looking forward to getting married so she could change her name
and escape detection by her family. Not all Muslims in Britain are this
extreme, she believes.
"It
is representative of some Muslims. I know the Koran says that anyone who goes
away from Islam should be killed as an apostate so in some ways my family are
following the Koran. They are following Islam to the word. But I do not think
every Muslim would actually act on that."
Earlier
this year, a Policy Exchange study found that 36 per cent of British Muslims
aged between 16 and 24 believed those who converted to another religion should
be punished by death.
Dr
Nazir-Ali will speak out on behalf of Hannah and others suffering persecution
for their beliefs in the UK at today's launch of Lapido Media, a new charity
which is seeking to promote "religious literacy" in world affairs.
The Bishop
is expected to describe how sharia law in many countries, including parts of
Britain, punishes apostasy with death and is viewed as treason by theocratic
governments. Dr Nazir-Ali will call on society to offer greater protection, by
increasing understanding of what makes people vulnerable.
Pakistan-born
Dr Nazir-Ali, who has a Christian and Muslim background, is patron of Lapido
Media, funded by donations and trusts including the Jerusalem Trust. The word
‘lapido’ means ‘to speak up for’ in the Acholi language of Northern Uganda. The
charity has been named in honour of the courage of Acholi church leaders who
campaigned for an end to a little-reported 20-year war there, involving the
abduction of 25,000 children
.