NAIROBI, Kenya — A former member of a Muslim extremist group in Uganda who converted to Christianity is in hiding in Kenya, his movements severely restricted following threats to kill him. Hassan Sharif Lubenga, 54, was a sheikh and member of Buk Haram, a violent group of Islamists whose name suggests that the Bible is corrupt and therefore forbidden.
Originally from Chengera, close to Kampala, the husband to four wives began his conversion process four years ago; in June 2011, he said, after dreams and visions in which Jesus appeared to him, he made a full commitment to follow Christ. In 2009, he said, a message from Jesus came to him in a vision: “Do not hide your Christian faith.”
Within a few months, a threatening letter arrived: “If you do not join Islamic jihad, then we shall kill you.” His father, Morshid Kabide, came to his house in July 2010 to establish the truth of the rumors he had heard, Lubenga said. When he affirmed his faith in Jesus, his father was crestfallen; he later committed suicide, leaving a letter that read, “I have decided to kill myself because my son became a Christian” and urged all family members to curse him.
“But I kept my faith in Jesus,” he said. “I sold some of my belongings to build the church structure at Chengera.” As a result of this act, threats on his life grew more shrill, and he fled to Kenya.
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