A former sheikh who converted to Christianity in Uganda has again suffered for his faith. In the latest attack, his Muslim relatives apparently tried to kill him with poison in late April.
Since Hassan Muwanguzi became a Christian in 2003, he has lost his wife and his job as a school teacher, been beaten by his family, been falsely accused of a criminal offence, been ordered to shut the Christian school he had opened, had his home burned down and been threatened with death.
At the end of April, he was hospitalised following a family gathering at which it appears a relative put insecticide in his tea. Hassan said: ‘They have been hunting for me directly and indirectly, because when I left them and converted to Christianity it pained them so much… to them it is like I brought shame by converting, as a [former] sheik. But to God the Almighty Father, this was his plan for me to expand his Kingdom.’
Young convert
Hassan became a Christian in his early 20s. His Muslim wife, with whom he had two children, left him and he lost his job at an Islamic school near Pallisa. He subsequently remarried, had two children with his second wife, and opened a Christian school in Kajoko, which is a predominantly Muslim area.
In April 2011, Hassan was falsely accused of defiling a schoolgirl in what appeared to be an attempt by local Muslims to close down the school, which they said was being used to convert Muslim children to Christianity.
Despite being cleared of any wrongdoing, Hassan received a court order to shut the school.
The following June, his house was burned down. The three Muslims who were convicted of the crime were sentenced to three months in prison and, following their release, threatened to kill Hassan.
