The following are among the abuses and murders inflicted on Christians by Muslims throughout the month of October 2025.
The Muslim Slaughter of Christians
Mozambique: On Oct. 8, the Islamic State Mozambique Province (ISMP) terror group launched a series of savage attacks targeting Christian communities in Cabo Delgado and Nampula provinces. The assaults resulted in the beheading of 30 Christians, widespread arson, and the destruction of at least five churches and 100 homes. Many other Christians—including women and their daughters—were herded away. The Muslim terrorists later boasted of their handiwork by releasing photos of themselves beheading and shooting civilians at close range.
Democratic Republic of Congo: On Oct. 4, Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamic terror group allied to ISIS, slaughtered three Christians in Ituri Province. Three days later, on Oct. 7, the same terror group launched attacks on Christian villages, slaughtering another five Christians. A local witness recounted:
"They woke up early that morning, hoping to provide for their families. Then the rebels came out of nowhere and brutally ended their lives. Gunshots, screaming, and people running in every direction — it was horrifying... We call on the security services to act without delay... The population is tired and broken. We cannot continue to live in fear in our own villages."
Nigeria: According to an Oct. 2 report, Boko Haram launched a deadly night raid on the Christian community in Adamawa state. The Islamic terrorists massacred four Christians, injured many others, and destroyed homes, shops, and torched a local church. Hundreds of Christians were displaced. This attack followed a similar raid in July. Cyrus Ezra, a local resident, said, "Nobody wants to stay behind to witness this kind of incident again."
On Oct. 14, armed Fulani militias launched coordinated attacks on Christian villages in Plateau State, murdering at least 13 and injuring dozens.
On Oct. 2, Pastor James Audu Issa was found dead after being kidnapped on August 28. His Muslim Fulani captors had initially demanded 100 million naira ($62,500 USD). According to Peter, a local:
"The distraught family members of the pastor and the Ekati community were able to negotiate the sum down to 5 million naira [$3,125], which they paid in an effort to secure the pastor's freedom. After collecting the 5 million naira, the bandits exhibited extreme cruelty by demanding an additional 45 million naira [$28,125]. Tragically, before any further negotiation could take place, Rev. James Audu Issa was killed by the Fulani bandits."
"This harmless pastor has been cut down, one among many, leaving his wife, children, extended family, church and friends in agony," said another Christian leader. Another local added that this slaying is part of "many targeted attacks on Christians and their pastors."
Finally, a report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety) highlights the staggering depths of anti-Christian violence in the west African nation. According to it, since Boko Haram's terrorist insurgency began in 2009, jihadist groups have torched and destroyed 19,100 churches, averaging nearly 100 each month. In that time, 125,009 Christians were slaughtered, as well as "60,000 Liberal Muslims."
In the first 220 days of 2025 alone, 7,087 Christians were massacred, averaging 32 deaths a day, or four every three hours. More than 1,100 Christian communities, stretched over 20,000 square miles, were sacked and taken over. Over 600 clerics — 250 Catholic priests and 350 Protestant pastors — were targeted for abduction, and many were killed. Intersociety warns that, unless urgent action is taken, within the next 50 years Christianity in Nigeria is set to disappear.
Pakistan: On Oct. 5, Pastor Zafar Bhatti died of cardiac arrest—just two days after his release from prison. Bhatti, 62, had been wrongly imprisoned for 13 years under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, after a Muslim cleric accused him of texting disrespectful messages about Muhammad. The pastor was initially sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017, and then was given the death penalty in 2022, before the Lahore High Court overturned his conviction on October 2. Bhatti, during his imprisonment, had suffered severe heart problems. Previously, he had experienced multiple minor heart attacks and severe complications, prompting legal appeals for his release on medical grounds.
Muslim Rape and Abduction of Christian Women
Cyprus: According to Turkish Cypriot politician Derya Dogus, sex slavery has been widespread in the Turkish-occupied portion of the otherwise Christian, Greek island of Cyprus for the past 25 years:
"Since the law regarding night clubs and entertainment places passed in 2000, human trafficking and sexual slavery have been practiced with the approval of the state (including the police and other state institutions). Women and girls below the age of 18 are trafficked, abused as sex slaves and their passports are seized by the state [in charge of the Turkish-occupied territory in Cyprus]. The victims are sold in catalogs like property, like animals."
Pakistan: According to an Oct. 16 report, Kinza Bibi, a 14-year-old Christian girl, "was brutally raped by her Muslim neighbour, Muhammad Haroon. Kinza is now suffering from severe post-traumatic stress and has been relocated to a safer place, while her attacker remains free on pre-arrest bail." On the day of the rape, the girl was home alone, taking care of her 9-month-old baby sister, as the rest of her family were out. According to the report:
"Taking advantage of her isolation, Muhammad Haroon entered the house through the roof, dragged Kinza into the front room, and raped her despite her desperate pleas to be let go. When Rukhsana [her mother] returned home half an hour later, she found Kinza crying on the bed."
"I felt as if the sky had fallen on me," the mother later recalled. "I started weeping with my daughter while holding her in my arms." The family reported the rape to police, who "collected evidence, and the medical report confirmed the assault."
"Despite this, Haroon secured pre-arrest bail, leaving the family vulnerable to threats. Kinza's mother reported that Haroon's brothers, Basharat Ali and Ali, verbally abused her and threatened to kill the family if they did not drop the case. Rukhsana has filed a complaint with the District Police Officer, Hafizabad regarding these threats."
Nigeria: According to an Oct. 3 report, Muslim gunmen abducted a pastor's wife and another female church member. Pastor Samuel Nasamu had stepped out briefly when his wife, Patience, called him — but, as he recounted, "All I could hear was her voice of prayer." The attackers had tried to break down the door "with a hammer," then opened fire, forcing Patience to unlock it in fear. She and a church member were seized as they attempted to flee, leaving behind only the couple's three-month-old baby.
The kidnappers later demanded 50 million naira ($34,000 USD) ransom for their release. During the phone call, Patience could be heard crying, "My baby ... my baby. Who will help me out of this pain? Somebody, please, rescue me from this forest."
A relative added that "the condition in which they [the women] are being kept is unbearable."
Muslim Attacks on Christian Churches
United States: On Oct. 3, three Muslims were charged with vandalizing Uncommon Church, in Euless, Texas, reportedly because it displayed an Israeli flag after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. The Muslims spray-painted "F**k Israel" and posted pro-Palestinian/Hamas stickers on the church. The Muslim Brotherhood-linked organization CAIR demanded that the charges be dropped against the three Muslims, claiming that "graffiti is the language of the unheard," and because vandalizing the church was their "First Amendment right."
According to one report, "The case highlights a pattern in Texas where Christians, churches, Jews, synagogues and pro-Israel Americans have been targeted with unprovoked violence by Muslims."
Separately, on Oct. 2, a 27-year-old man was arrested for initiating a bomb scare at St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in Kendall, Florida, during Sunday Liturgy. He walked in claiming that he had a bomb in his backpack—which emitted a loud ticking noise — and later, terrifying congregants during the service, started crying "Allahu akbar."
Syria: On Oct. 3, Christian cemeteries in Suwayda were diabolically desecrated. Published images (here) show smashed coffins, exhumed graves, and corpses hurled on the floor. Father Tony Boutros lamented: "What lesson is there in disturbing the dead? They are already gone... where would you drive them?"
The Greek (Rûm) Catholic Diocese of Bosra, Hauran, and Jabal al-Arab denounced the act:
"This shameful act is not only a flagrant violation of the sanctity of the dead; it is also an assault on the human and religious values embodied in these cemeteries, which hold the remains of generations of the region's Christian community."
Indonesia: On Oct. 14, hundreds of Muslims protested the construction of a church. Opposition came from community leaders, local clerics, and the Indonesian Ulema Council. "We will mount a large-scale demonstration to cancel the construction if the government ignores our opposition," said one leader of the protest movement.
Another added: "We, representing the clerics ... oppose the construction of the church."
The report adds, "All church construction processes in Indonesia consistently face problems from Muslim extremist groups," and quotes an anonymous political observer, saying, "Church construction never proceeds without disruption."
Azerbaijan: Authorities denied Peace Church in Sumgait official registration and blocked its legal ability to hold worship gatherings. Although the constitution of the Muslim nation guarantees religious freedom, laws require approval from the state, with penalties for unapproved activity. "Our meetings were always held openly and transparently," the pastor said after authorities accused his church of "secret meetings." Peace Church is one of at least five Protestant congregations still awaiting registration, some for more than two years.
"We are being restricted from exercising our constitutional right to worship peacefully," the church stated. Historically, some churches have waited decades for approval, such as a Baptist church in Aliabad, which received permission to meet only after 25 years.
Muslim Attacks on Christian Apostates and Blasphemers
Uganda: On Oct. 13, a Muslim man savagely attacked his family for embracing Christianity and later demolished the church they attended. One day earlier, on Sunday, 41-year-old Kulusumu and her children, ages 12 and 9, attended a service at an evangelical church. Afterward, her husband, 44-year-old Soicha, called her repeatedly.
"My husband started quarrelling and insulting me that I was becoming a disgrace to the family and misleading the children in joining a religion which is contrary to Islamic religion... Fear came to me for risking the lives of my children and my own life."
The pastor arranged for her to stay at a Christian woman's home, and advised her to stay indoors until another safe place could be arranged. The following day, the Muslim husband suddenly appeared. According to one of the children:
"He then became very wild and pulled our mother outside the house and started beating her and shouting in a loud voice saying, 'You are disobeying and denouncing the religion of Allah, and you ought to die.'"
When the beaten woman's son tried to intervene:
"My husband hit my son with the walking stick several times, and he soon fell down screaming and wailing in great pain – he fractured the right arm... While my son was on the ground, my husband started beating up me and my daughter. Thank God, neighbors arrived, and my husband fled away."
The family was hospitalized for three days. While they were still in care, the husband gathered a Muslim mob and, on Oct. 15, demolished the church.
Iran: According to an Oct. 10 report:
"An Iranian court upheld the prison sentences for five Christian converts on Sept. 17. Each of the five believers will spend more than eight years in jail for activities related to their faith in Christ.
"Middle East Concern reported that 'the charges, under Articles 500, 500bis and 514 of the Islamic Penal Code, related to their participation in Christian training courses in Turkey, attendance at house-church meetings, participation in online meetings, and other online activities.'
"Mohabat News cited 'advertising and propaganda activities contrary to the Islamic law...[and] propaganda against the regime' among the official charges levied against the Christ followers. An additional charge of 'insulting the leadership' was also reportedly added for one of the individuals....
"In Iran, it is illegal for Muslims to convert to Christianity. Additionally, Bibles written in Farsi, Iran's national language, are prohibited.
"According to the U.S. Department of State, '[Iranian] law prohibits Muslims from changing or renouncing their religious beliefs. The only recognized conversions are from other religions to Islam. Under the law, a child born to a Muslim father is Muslim.'
"In Iran, it is illegal for Muslims to convert to Christianity. Additionally, Bibles written in Farsi, Iran's national language, are prohibited. According to the U.S. Department of State, '[Iranian] law prohibits Muslims from changing or renouncing their religious beliefs. The only recognized conversions are from other religions to Islam. Under the law, a child born to a Muslim father is Muslim.'
"The persecution of Christians in Iran, particularly those who have converted to the faith, has plagued the nation for decades."
Pakistan: According to an Oct. 31 report, a 49-year-old blind Christian, Nadeem Masih, was arrested after a Muslim accused him of insulting Islam's prophet, a charge punishable by death under Section 295-C of Pakistan's blasphemy laws. Masih, who earned a meager living providing a weighing scale for merchants, had long faced harassment from local Muslims. Masih's 80-year-old mother, Martha Yousaf, said:
"Sometimes kindhearted visitors would also give him more money due to his disability, but the park's Muslim workers used to steal it from his pocket. Some, including [Waqas] Mazhar, had taken loans from him but refused to return the money despite repeated requests....
"When Masih protested against their harassment [on the day of the arrest], Mazhar and another man manhandled him and forced him to sit on a motorcycle and took him to the Model Town Police Station."
In jail, Masih was beaten and coerced into admitting a false charge. The mother added:
"Every time I meet him, my heart bleeds and cries when he tells me how badly he is being treated, especially when he's taken for court appearances."
Naeem Yousaf, of the National Commission for Justice and Peace, underscored the injustice:
"Already burdened by poverty, blindness and social cruelty, he is now suffering even more behind the bars of a jail cell, a victim of injustice and human indifference."
After pointing to a number of discrepancies in the police report, the lawyer representing Masih said:
"It is very unfortunate that a blind person was subjected to such inhumane treatment by the police. We hope senior officials will take notice and act."
Afghanistan: According to an Oct. 10 report, Christians, mostly first-generation converts from Islam, face life-threatening danger under the Taliban's sharia courts, which consider converts apostates who risk execution if discovered:
"As the Taliban deepens its control and international attention wanes, many Afghans — especially those from minority faiths — face an uncertain and perilous future, caught between repression at home and dwindling options abroad."
Generic Muslim Abuse of Christians
Pakistan: According to an Oct. 2 report, Christian pastor Kamran Naz was targeted for but survived an assassination attempt in Islamabad. Traveling with his elderly mother to conduct Sunday worship, he was ambushed by two armed Muslim men on a motorcycle. One shot him in the right leg, while a second bullet "aimed at the pastor's head" narrowly missed. According to the report:
"Unfortunately, such attacks are not isolated events. Pastors and Christian leaders in Pakistan have often been subjected to intimidation, harassment, and violence because of their faith and community work. Despite these recurring threats, the Christian community has repeatedly shown resilience, holding firmly to their faith and continuing their worship."
Iraq: According to an Oct. 2 report, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako revealed that Mosul's Christian population had collapsed from more than 50,000 Christians to fewer than 70 Christian families. He said "religious extremism and systematic discrimination" -- in the guise of ISIS, al-Qaeda, militia violence, and the Personal Status Law, "a law based on Islamic law," allowing the Islamization of minors -- have devastated Iraq's Christians.
United Nations: According to an Oct. 1 report:
"Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See's secretary for relations with states, addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York, warning that Christians face intensifying persecution worldwide and accusing the international community of 'turning a blind eye.' He declared, 'The data show that Christians are the most persecuted religious group worldwide, and yet the international community seems to be turning a blind eye to their plight,' adding that believers suffer 'physical violence, imprisonment, forced displacement, and martyrdom.'"
India: St. Rita's Public School in Palluruthy, run by the Latin Catholic Church, was forced to close for two days after a hijab-related dispute escalated into threats and disruption. The conflict began when a Muslim student arrived wearing a hijab, which the school's dress code expressly forbids. Her father, joined by six other Muslims, demanded she be allowed to wear it, creating a "provocative and threatening" situation on campus, according to Principal Sr. Heleena Alby, who filed a police complaint. She further cited "mental stress caused by the situation" and staff absenteeism in announcing the Monday-Tuesday closure, urging parents to respect the Christian school's dress and discipline code.
Indonesia: On Oct. 10, a job advertisement by the Tarakan Regency Ministry of Religious Affairs Office in North Kalimantan Province specified that applicants for custodial and office security positions must be Muslims able to recite the Koran. Michael Jama, chairman of a local Christian Student Movement, responded by citing the ad as proof of discriminatory government policy:
"How can maintaining office security or cleaning the office require specific religious qualifications? The Tarakan City Ministry of Religious Affairs Office does not belong only to Muslims, but to all Tarakan residents from various religious backgrounds."
Others cited the incident as reflective of other discriminatory policies:
"The Islamic traditional boarding school has no building permit, and its structure doesn't meet the building standards – collapsed, killing 67 students – and will be rebuilt with the state budget, while a church establishment without a building permit will drive its pastor to prison."
Sudan: According to an Oct 20 report, Christians in Khartoum are living under increasing fear of arbitrary attacks by the authorities — most recently, arrests for holding a Christian funeral service. In an interview, Pastor Peter Perpeny spoke candidly about the growing intimidation and the chilling effect on worship in the capital:
"We were simply holding a burial service. It was meant to be a quiet, respectful moment to honor the departed. Instead, it ended with arrests. One of the women with us was told to pay nearly a thousand dollars or stay in prison. That is not justice.... People are afraid to leave their houses. They know they could be picked up at any time, not for anything they have done, but because of who they are. Church used to be a safe place. Now, even gathering to pray feels like a risk. This fear has completely changed how we live."
Separately, on Oct. 28, police arrested a Christian pastor, Daud Fudul Kachu, after pressure from a Muslim businessman seeking to seize church property. Church members reported that officers initially feigned understanding when Pastor Daud requested to speak with the church attorney, but additional police forced him into a vehicle and jailed him overnight. "They [police officers] told us, 'The law is above your religion,'" a church member recalled. Police further demanded Daud sign a document relinquishing his objection to the property seizure, which he refused. The report adds:
"Pastor [Daud] Kachu, who has led the church for 30 years, was initially denied bail but police later released him after intervention by the church attorney.... Officers were reportedly seeking to question church council members named by the Muslim businessman. A battle over church assets started several years ago, with the government favoring Muslim business interests taking over assets owned by... churches in Khartoum and in other states of Sudan."
Egypt: On Oct. 22, Bola Adel Naguib Attia, an 18-year-old Christian student, was arrested and, according to a Coptic Solidarity report, subjected to severe violations of his legal and constitutional rights. After disappearing for over ten days, Bola appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution on November 2, facing charges including joining an illegal organization, disturbing public peace, misusing social media, and contempt of religion. He told the prosecution that he had been tortured during the first three days of detention and it was visibly obvious that he was suffering "extreme exhaustion and visible fear," but his statements were not recorded. The report adds:
"Bola is suffering from harsh and inhumane detention conditions in prison, without regard to the fact that he is a secondary-school student — a situation that endangers both his educational future and his psychological well-being.... We affirm that what Bola is being subjected to constitutes a serious violation of the legal and constitutional guarantees afforded to every Egyptian citizen, as well as of the provisions of international conventions to which Egypt is a signatory."
Raymond Ibrahim, author of Defenders of the West, Sword and Scimitar, Crucified Again, and The Al Qaeda Reader, is the Distinguished Senior Shillman Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
About this Series
While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians by extremists is growing. The report posits that such persecution is not random but rather systematic, and takes place irrespective of language, ethnicity, or location. It includes incidents that take place during, or are reported on, any given month.
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