Pakistan: 'I former Imam who found salvation in Christ'

AsiaNews in conversation with Patras Paul, a Muslim cleric who suddenly - more than twenty years ago - reading the Gospel found in it the answers he could no longer find in the Koran. He tells of the persecution he suffered for this choice and of his difficult life today. His battle to have his new religious identity recognised on his identity card.

Islamabad (AsiaNews) - From imam to disciple of Jesus, on a journey of faith, persecution and resilience. This is the extraordinary testimony of Patras Paul (Peter Paul), the Christian name of this person that AsiaNews met in a location in Pakistan that we do not specify for obvious security reasons. "I was born in 1968 in a very poor neighbourhood and I belong to a convinced Sunni family. In 2000 I became a Qari Imam and was then appointed Imam Masjid: I was sent to different cities in the country to carry out my service. Until 2003, when I first doubted my knowledge and faith'.

'It was the week of Eid-ul-Adha,' he continues his account, 'and I was reading the story of the sacrifice. There were Abraham and Ishmael (in the Koran the episode refers to Ishmael and not Isaac ed), Abraham had his eyes closed, he slit Ishmael's throat but when he opened his eyes there was a lamb sacrificed and not Ishmael. I thought: where did this lamb come from? This lamb is greater than Ishmael who sacrificed his life for him. My search for answers led me to the Gospel (given to me at the time by a friend), where I encountered the words of the evangelist John 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son' (Jn 3:16) and 'Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world' (Jn 1:29). Thus, in secret, I embraced Jesus as my Saviour. I began to read the Bible with keen interest and devoted most of my time to this reading. And I started to pray before Jesus alone".

One day in 2005, others suddenly learnt of his new faith too. "I was imam in a mosque in Kashmir. I followed two different faiths in my heart and asked God to show me the right way to salvation. One night, in a dream, I heard a voice: 'I am the way, the truth and the life' and I was given the symbol of a cross. That day, early in the morning, I woke up to recite the Adhan in the mosque. I thought I was reciting it but the name of Jesus came out of the loudspeaker. Listening to me, one of my pupils from the mosque shook my shoulder vigorously and asked, 'What are you doing, teacher?' I answered him: 'I am reciting the Adhan'. But he said no, you are saying something different. Meanwhile some people from the city who were listening to my prayer from the loudspeaker rushed to the mosque. I heard a voice tell me three times: 'Run Peter', and I started to run away from the mosque. But they caught me, they were about twenty people, they beat me with kicks, punches and sticks. I still have the marks of those wounds on my face. They shouted at me that I had become a kafir (an unbeliever). From Kashmir they sent me back to the madrassa where I came from, there my relatives and clerics took me to the police station and accused me of blasphemy. I ended up in prison where I had to serve one year".

"In prison," the imam-turned-Christian continued his story, "I experienced another miracle in my life: I felt so strong inside; I was firm in my faith in Christ. The first day in prison they gave me prison food, but I refused it. That same day a person from the prison came to me and asked my name. I told him my name was Patras Paul. He told me not to worry: he brought me fresh food every day for a year and took my dirty clothes and brought them to me the next day cleaned and ironed. There were also dangerous inmates in my barrack, but I was not afraid of anyone because Jesus was always with me".

"After a year, it was my wife who appealed to the judge, claiming my innocence. The plaintiff did not appear and eventually, in 2006, the judge released me from prison. After the acquittal, my wife and my six children also accepted Christ: they have not yet received baptism, but they lead a Christian life. Christians are afraid to baptise former Muslims because they do not want to risk their lives. After embracing Christ, we had to leave our village, our parents, friends and relatives because they all became enemies against us".

'I went to many Christian villages and neighbourhoods to ask for help with food and housing,' Patras recalls, 'but they refused to help us because they feared the Muslims would attack them for giving us shelter. I cannot forget a cold night in December at that time: all of us, my wife and my six small children, had to stay out in the cold on a very cold night. We did not have adequate clothes for the winter: my children became sick from hunger and the cold. We were like beggars. But we remained steadfast in our faith, we knew that Jesus would help us. So I arrived in this district where we were given a small house in a shantytown (village); we still live here".

Patras actually lives in unimaginable conditions, in a space intended for the animals he takes care of in exchange for that shelter. In this village other people think they are Muslims. Her greatest fear is for her three daughters, who are growing up vulnerable to forced conversions or other abuses. "All I want is for them to walk with Jesus and take his message to others," she says.

Patras cycles to other villages far from his town and preaches the Gospel of Christ. Christian families give him some food and a small amount of money as thanks. He tells of other Muslim families who have secretly embraced Christ, but cannot say so publicly. In 2020 he was also attacked by a group of Muslims who discovered a Bible and a Christian prayer book in Urdu in his bag. But he remained steadfast in his faith. "I love Jesus, I believe that salvation is only through Him".

Now he would like his identity card to be changed to reflect his Christian identity, to ensure a safe place to live and also to guarantee his children an education and freedom of worship. Joseph Janssen, minority rights activist of the Jubilee Campaign, is working to provide support. 'The Constitution of Pakistan guarantees freedom of religion,' Janssen tells AsiaNews, 'but the reality is quite different. The government department NADRA (National Database and Registration Authority) applies an official policy that denies Muslims the possibility of changing their religious status. Outside every NADRA office, there is a sign with rules ensuring that a Muslim can never leave Islam. This policy directly contradicts the essence of religious freedom and fundamental human rights'.

"Although Pakistan does not officially criminalise leaving Islam, apostates run serious risks," Jannsen adds. "They are subject to ostracism, threats, violence and honour killings. Moreover, the blasphemy laws, which provide for the death penalty, are used as a weapon against those who openly abandon Islam. Religious freedom is a human right. It is time to take a stand for those who are forced to practise their faith in secret. Pakistan must honour its constitutional commitments and international obligations on this issue'.

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