Location of Lower Juba Region, Somalia. (Map data © 2026 Google)
NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – A 22-year-old woman is recovering from serious injuries in a hospital in Somalia’s Lower Juba Region after Muslim relatives beat her for putting her faith in Christ, sources said.
Sofia Ahmed suffered a broken nose and significant loss of blood after the attack on May 28 in her home on the outskirts of Hagar (also spelled Xagar), said a source who visited her in the hospital.
Ahmed accepted Christ on March 25 after learning the gospel from a Christian leader. When an uncle, Sharif Hussein, visited her and questioned her about her absence from Friday mosque prayers, she told him she was engaged in some tasks away from home, sources said.
Hussein visited her several more times, emboldening Ahmed to share about Christ. When he appeared to show interest, she suggested to him that he also put his faith in Christ, the sources said. Hussein departed without responding.
On May 28, he returned with three other male relatives. Hussein asked her again if she had converted to Christianity.
“I kept quiet,” Ahmed told a Morning Star News contact, adding that immediately they began attacking her.
The relatives beat her with sticks and struck her nose with a sharp object, the sources said. The attack drew the attention of neighbors who came in large numbers, seized the assailants and called police.
Officers arrived and arrested the four men, but Ahmed’s Muslim parents intervened and persuaded police to release them, the sources said.
“Family members later advocated for the release of the suspects, believing the actions were justified because of Ahmed’s decision to leave Islam and embrace Christianity,” the Christian leader said.
Underground Christians described her as an enthusiastic young Christian with aspirations of community outreach and church planting.
Ahmed was admitted to Hagar Maternal Centre in the Lower Juba Region of Jubaland, southwestern Somalia, where she underwent two surgeries. She remained under medical care and may require several more weeks of hospital treatment, the sources said.
She has remained committed to her faith despite pressure to renounce it, they said, adding that she has experienced periods of isolation during her hospitalization and faces mounting medical expenses.
Her condition has improved, one source said, but her recovery is expected to take weeks.
“We appeal for support for Ahmed’s medical needs and for greater protection of individuals facing persecution because of their religious beliefs,” the source said.
Local underground Christians said they are committed to assisting her with their limited resources through upcoming challenges and were hopeful that justice through lawful processes will be achieved.
Somalia ranked No. 2 on Christian support group Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The country’s constitution establishes Islam as the state religion and prohibits the propagation of any other religion, according to the U.S. State Department. It also requires that laws comply with sharia (Islamic law) principles, with no exceptions in application for non-Muslims.
The death penalty for apostasy is part of Islamic law according to mainstream schools of Islamic jurisprudence. An Islamic extremist group in Somalia, Al Shabaab, is allied with Al Qaeda and adheres to the teaching.
Converts from Islam face significant social pressure, family conflict and isolation, and human rights organizations have frequently highlighted these concerns.
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- Location of Lower Juba Region, Somalia. (Map data © 2026 Google)
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