Last month Ahmed Mohamed, 36, a former Muslim in Colorado, was one of the targeted Christians whose photo and contact information were posted on another radical Islamic Web site, Barsomyat.com, for debating Muslims on PalTalk. He says that since his information was posted, he has received numerous threats on the phone, in person and in letters he has received in the mail. Mohamed says, though sometimes afraid, he is prepared to die for his faith.
Ahmad Mustafa Abaza, 34, is a physical therapist and former Muslim from Egypt now living in Ontario, Canada. He says that leaving the Muslim faith is particularly dangerous.
Although Abaza does not want to falsely accuse anyone of the murders in Jersey City, he says he has witnessed atrocities against Muslim converts to Christianity while in Egypt.
“I have seen the cutting of hands, legs, body parts, and the raping of men who left Islam while I was in prison,” he says.
Born into one of the most influential families in Egypt, Abaza says he enjoyed a happy and secure life in Cairo. But things changed when he turned 19 and announced his conversion to Christianity. He says he watched in shock as the love and affection he had always received from his father quickly turned to hatred.
Seeking to disown him and save the family honor, his father called a family council meeting to discuss his conversion. Three of his uncles, Egypt’s former minister of electricity, Maher Abaza, Egypt’s legendary writer and novelist, Tharwat Abaza, and one of Egypt’s wealthiest men, Wageeh Abaza, attended the meeting. Abaza says that soon after this meeting his father authorized the beatings, interrogation and torture he endured, first at home and then in prison, until he was able to escape 17 months later.
New Jersey Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said on Tuesday that though no suspects have been identified in the murders, all leads are being pursued.
