Another Hero in Somalia

It’s men like Juma Kamil who are with the Lord now, under the altar asking for justice. 

Juma Nuradin Kamil was forced into a car by three suspected Islamic extremists from the al Shabaab terrorist group on August 21. On September 2 his decapitated body was found on the outskirts of Hudur City in southwestern Somalia. A Christian who saw Kamil’s body said “It is usual for the al Shabaab (a militant Islamic group with ties to al Qaeda) to decapitate those they suspect to have embraced the Christian faith...our brother accepted the Christian faith three years ago and was determined in his faith in God. We greatly miss him.”

The area community feared burying him, and Kamil's body lay in the open for two days before unknown people buried him secretly.                                                                                                                        - Compass Direct News

And although we grieve with his family and friends, we know that Kamil has crossed from death to life; for him, the veil has been lifted and he can see his Savior face to face. Praise God!

I am so thankful that, as Christians, we belong to the great I AM, Emmanuel. He does not require that we kill ourselves to obtain certainty of our destiny - we know that our life is hidden with Christ in God, and when Christ, who is our life, appears, then we also will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:3-4). And although we are carefully instructed not to be deceived by those who have strayed from following the Truth, we are also told to love them and pray for them, and to seek to restore them to fellowship with Jesus Christ (Jude 1:22,23)...not to wage war against them or behead them. 

As we read about Kamil's kidnapping and murder, our sorrow for him should be mixed with joy, for he is with Christ right now! And our indignation at his attackers ought to be tinged with pity. They follow a god of chaotic temporal power, and are ignorant of the eternal joy and security found in the God and Father of Jesus Christ. They are blind to the Light, and in their darkness they are bound in the chains of the Qur'an and Hadith, which command them to behead apostates: 

"They long that ye should disbelieve even as they disbelieve, that ye may be upon a level (with them). So choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among them..." - Qur'an, Sura 4:88

Muadh asked, "Who is this (man)?" Abu Musa said, "He was a Jew and became a Muslim and then reverted back to Judaism." Then Abu Musa requested Muadh to sit down but Muadh said, "I will not sit down till he has been killed. This is the judgment of Allah and his messenger," and repeated it thrice. Then Abu Musa ordered that the man be killed, and he was killed. Abu Musa added, "Then we discussed the night prayers and one of us said, 'I pray and sleep, and I hope that Allah will reward me for my sleep as well as for my prayers.'" - Sahih al-Bukari, volume 9, book 84, number 58

Let us pray for Somalia. Let us pray for our Christian brothers and sisters. And let us also pray for their aggressors - there is mercy enough at the foot of the Cross.