Formerly Muslims, now Christian Saints

 

This article is a sequel to a previous article 'Christian Miracles in Muslims' [in Greek here & here] and is a descriptive reference to the constant invitation by Jesus Christ to our well-intentioned and benevolent Muslims to approach and acquaint themselves with Him and hopefully become members of His universal and wondrous body - the Church.

The term 'Church' refers to the ancient, undivided Church of the first thousand years after Christ and Her historical continuation, the Orthodox Church. 

The saints listed below had been Muslims but were defied as Christian Saints through their willing martyrdom. Among them are an emir, two dervishes and two senior officers of the Turkish army.

During the period referred to as the Turkish Occupation [from around 1453, from the former Byzantine Empire (Romany) - and until 1912 in other surrounding territories], thousands of Christians had become Muslims, while there had also been a number of Muslims who had embraced Christianity.  It should be noted that Christians who had forsaken their Christian Faith and accepted Islam was because they were unable to live under the intolerable conditions of slavery.  However, Muslims who had accepted the Christian Faith had not only given up the absolute freedoms of a dominator and had even chosen to bear those intolerable conditions themselves; they too risked being arrested, convicted, tortured and put to death by the dominating forces - which is why almost all the saints presented here are also acknowledged as martyrs.

So, what was the big secret which had inspired them to make this bold decision?  Perhaps an overview of their lives, albeit a brief one, may help our Muslim friends to discover it.

You can see the article here: Formerly Muslim, now Christian Saints

You can see also: From Islam to Christianity: Saints in the Way to the Lihgt

The Penalties for Apostasy in Islam 

Quelques Saints ex-musulmans