For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face. I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children. Psalm 69:7-8
Fatima al-Mutairi (2008)
“We for the sake of Christ all things bear”
Fatima, a 26-year-old Saudi woman, learned about Jesus on the internet and decided to follow Him. When, in August 2008, her family noticed the cross on her computer screensaver and discovered that she had converted from Islam to Christianity, they cut out her tongue and burned her to death.
It was considered an “honour crime”; her father worked for the Commission for Protection of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, a government agency for enforcing Islamic religious purity. In Muslim contexts, it is generally considered legitimate and even necessary for a family to kill a member who has brought perceived “shame” or “dishonour” by converting to another religion.
In the last blog that Fatima wrote before her death, she found comfort and strength in the opening verse of Psalm 27, “The LORD is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?” She had also written the following poem (translated from Arabic), which she posted on the internet.
And we for the sake of Christ all things bear
May the Lord Jesus guide you, O Muslims
And enlighten your hearts that you might love others
The forum does not revile the Master of the prophets
It is for the display of truth, and for you it was revealed
This is the truth that you do not know
What we profess are the words of the Master of the prophets
We do not worship the cross, and we are not possessed
We worship the Lord Jesus, the Light of the worlds
We left Muhammad, and we do not follow in his path
We followed Jesus Christ, the Clear Truth
Truly, we love our homeland, and we are not traitors
We take pride that we are Saudi citizens
How could we betray our homeland, our dear people?
How could we, when for death – for Saudi Arabia – we stand ready?
The homeland of my grandfathers, their glories, and odes – for it I am writing
And we say, “We are proud, proud, proud to be Saudis”
We chose our way, the way of the rightly guided
And every man is free to choose any religion
Be content to leave us to ourselves to be believers in Jesus
Let us live in grace before our time comes
There are tears on my cheek, and oh! the heart is sad
To those who become Christians, you are so cruel!
And the Messiah says, “Blessed are the Persecuted”
And we for the sake of Christ all things bear.
What is it to you that we are infidels?
You do not enter our graves, as if with us buried
Enough – your swords do not concern me, not evil nor disgrace
Your threats do not trouble me, and we are not afraid
And by God, I am unto death a Christian – Verily
I cry for what passed by, of a sad life
I was far from the Lord Jesus for many years
O History record! And bear witness, O witnesses!
We are Christians – in the path of Christ we tread
Take from me this word, and note it well
You see, Jesus is my Lord, and he is the Best of protectors
I advise you to pity yourself, to clap your hands in mourning
See your look of ugly hatred
Man is brother to man, Oh learned ones
Where is the humanity, the love, and where are you?
As to my last words, I pray to the Lord of the worlds
Jesus the Messiah, the Light of Clear Guidance
That He change notions, and set the scales of justice aright
And that He spread Love among you, O Muslims.
Fatima al-Mutairi (martyred 2008)