The Persecution by Their Muslim Husbands of Female Converts in Cape Town: A Case for Mission-Shaped Churches and a Missiology of Suffering

Significant changes have occurred in South Africa since the first and free democratic election held on April 27, 1994. Freedom of religion in that country is now thought to be a widely accepted value. However, in that democratic country, female converts have been experiencing persecution at the hands of their Muslim husbands, in contravention of the national laws.

This study examines the issue of conversion of Muslim women in Cape Town and its concomitant themes: contextual mission and persecution. It argues that mission-shaped local churches are crucial to express authentic Christocentric witness that speaks to the realities of their religious as well as socio-cultural settings and responds to the needs of their contexts. It also argues that although in popular perception the biblical texts on persecution cannot readily apply to democratic contexts such as South Africa, God’s call to Christians to costly discipleship is also a call to a missiology of suffering