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Somalia has for several decades suffered from lawlessness and deprivation. Much of the country is extremely dangerous for anyone, and so it’s no surprise that members of its tiny Christian minority lead lives of constant fear.  

Thousands of Somali Christians are outside Somalia. They still often face isolation and danger, largely due to members of the Somali expat community who revile them for abandoning Islam.  

Few countries other than North Korea are more inhospitable toward Christianity than Somalia, an East African nation of about 16 million, almost all of whom are Muslim.  

The U.S. Department of State reports that only 1,000 Christians live in Somalia, but “more than 5,000 Somali Christians outside of Somalia, the number is growing slowly “because it’s not easy to preach the gospel to Somalis.”  It’s so difficult to be a Somali Christian that many might wonder why they would choose to convert. 

Evangelizing through social media has led a considerable number of Somalis to convert to Christianity. It’s quite a decision to make: If discovered, everyone you know will likely disown you — or worse. Throughout most of Somalia, any Somali Christian who publicly “announces themselves will be killed.” Just having ostensibly Christian literature could be enough to warrant lethal violence.  

Though some of the attacks on Somali Christians are the work of the Somali terrorist group al-Shabab, such violence is by no means relegated to the terrorist fringe. Rather, it reflects the mainstream Somali viewpoint, which predominates among those in power as well as among the impoverished masses comprising much of the bereft countryside.  

“All Somali Muslims must support attacks on Somali Christians because otherwise they may not be seen as Muslim.” “Some, inwardly, may disagree but, due to the nature of the Somali community, they must appear to the others as though they condemn Somali Christians.” 

If a Somali Muslim shows any sign of sympathy to the Somali Christians, then “somebody would suspect that they are an infidel … and they themselves could be in danger of being persecuted or killed,”

Even Somalis who were raised Christian risk being killed for their faith.

Mogadishu, the Somali capital, has a tiny community of elderly Catholics who grew up in an era when there was heavy Italian influence in Somalia, which became an independent country in 1960. Some of these longtime Christians have died of old age, while others have been murdered.  

Though the danger for Somali Christians is less extreme outside Somalia, that doesn’t necessarily mean it is safe.  

Somali pastors have been attacked in Ethiopia and murdered in Kenya, where many Somali Christians must live with the ongoing prospect of an attack from Somali Muslims. Even if they succeed in avoiding violence for years, they might go out for water one evening, and then the attack finally comes, or they might fall victim to a home invasion, among other violations.  

Somalis who are seen outside churches in foreign countries have faced severe consequences. Even in Europe, Somali Christians have faced physical assault after Somali Muslims spotted them walking out of a church.  

“Somalis have a culture of policing one another’s religion and it is the community’s responsibility to enact the punishment if somebody leaves Islam or they even suspect that.” Such punishment includes “harassment, persecution, excommunication and sometimes physical violence.”   

Inside or outside Somalia, “Known Somali Christians are not allowed to socialize with Somali Muslims.” “Many Somali Christians develop mental health issues because of the persecution and isolation.”   

“Many Somali Christians have been killed, kidnapped, assaulted, or put through forced reconversion” in such countries as Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti. In Europe and North America, the acts perpetrated against Somali Christians are typically less severe but can still involve “threats, discrimination, beatings and occasional poisoning.”   

“Most Somali Muslims in the U.S. can tolerate Christian faith,” but this first acceptance changes to “intense hostility” when they discover preaching to Somali Muslims.

Somalis will continue to become Christian because of “dreams and visions” and the “loving and caring believers who witness to them.” Even if they worship exclusively within their own homes, Somali Christians must face the grim truth that most of their people despise them.  

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