
It can be difficult to capture in words the intense persecution of Christians who live in Muslim-majority countries, but the ongoing story of Shahzad Masih is a powerful reminder of the heavy cross that some of God’s people carry. 1
Shahzad was born into a Christian family in Pakistan. He was 16, illiterate, and working as a janitor, when a Muslim co-worker started a religious conversation with him in July 2017. The co-worker shared with Shahzad about Muslim prophets and asked Shahzad about Christian prophets.
Young Shahzad was not knowledgeable about either Christianity or Islam. Respectfully, he told his co-worker that he would ask his father whether he knew the answers to these questions. At this time, Shahzad also shared that his father had a friend, named Ali, who has made derogatory remarks against Muhammad.
This angered the co-worker, who left and threatened Shahzad’s father. Shahzad was then pressured by the co-worker and a member of the Pakistani Taliban to convert to Islam. When he refused, he was pressured to confess to blasphemy while being recorded. Shahzad also refused to do this. He was then called to a location where dozens of members of the Pakistan Taliban handed him over to the police, who filed a blasphemy case against him.
In a fair judicial system, there would have been no basis for these charges:
- Shahzad never spoke negatively about Muhammad. He only said that his father’s friend had said negative things about the prophet.
- Shahzad was a minor and should have been released immediately on bail.
- Shahzad did not initiate the conversation; his co-worker did.
- The police investigation concluded that Shahzad did not blaspheme Muhammad.
- Eyewitnesses corroborated Shahzad’s account.
Nonetheless, Shahzad was held in prison for five years, and in November of 2022, he was sentenced to death by hanging. He remains in prison today waiting his death sentence.
We believe that the reason for this miscarriage of justice was the immense pressure exerted on the courts by the Pakistan Taliban and other angry mobs. Members of the Pakistan Taliban regularly attended Shahzad’s hearings and threatened violence, which swayed the judge as is often the case.
From Shahzad’s grieving mother:
“I only meet him for 20 minutes [in prison] each time… He was a little child when they arrested him and he’s still too young. He’s imprisoned for nothing from the beginning… He is like a bird in a cage and it’s like my son is locked in a cage”
This kind of persecution – difficult to fathom for most of us – is a daily reality in many parts of the Muslim world. Ministries engaging people with the Good News must operate with wisdom and discernment. Much prayer is needed as seekers and believers weigh the immense cost of following Christ.
Contact us to learn more about how you can advocate for Shahzad’s release. You can also learn more about and support our ongoing work in Pakistan here.
- https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20318/pakistan-christian-death-sentence ↩︎