Religious freedom award

Richard A. Sokerka

The U.S. State Department’s newly released annual report on international religious freedom shows continued attacks and abuse by governments and societies against religious minorities, including Catholics, in many countries.

Among the countries cited was Nigeria where “terrorist organizations Boko Haram and Islamic State-West Africa continued to attack population centers and religious targets.”

Nevertheless, among the terrible news in this report, we find a nugget of selfless giving by an 83-year-old cleric that sends a strong message about the importance of religious freedom and its need to be defended, even at the cost of one’s life.

According to the U.S. State Department, “Imam Abdullahi was finishing midday prayers on July 23, 2018, when he and his congregation heard gunshots and went outside to see members of the town’s Christian community fleeing. Instinctively, the Imam ushered 262 Christians into the mosque and his home next to the mosque. The Imam then went outside to confront the gunmen and he refused to allow them to enter, pleading with them to spare the Christians inside, even offering to sacrifice his life for theirs.”

The Muslim cleric was one of five people honored at the Trump Administration’s first-ever International Religious Freedom Award ceremony led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and International Religious Freedom Ambassador Sam Brownback last month.

Pompeo said of the five awardees, “They’ve risked their own reputation, their personal comfort, their own well-being, and in some cases, even their lives to help strangers, many of whom practice faiths that are different from their own.”

“Imam Abdullahi’s actions bear witness to true courage, true selflessness, and true brotherly love,” said Brownback.

This cleric’s heroic actions echo the words of Jesus, “My commandment is this: love one another, just as I love you. The greatest love you can have for your friends is to give your life for them” (Jn 15:12-14).

Love in action, like that shown by Imam Abdullahi to his Christian brothers and sisters, is the only thing that will purge these evil attacks on religious communities in our society.