Paradise Lost: An African Island’s Dark Secret

By George Thomas
CWNews.com -- An African island paradise harbors a dark secret, and Christian children are suffering.

Across Africa, radical Muslim groups are pursuing their goal of creating the first Islamic continent. On the Indian Ocean Island of Zanzibar one such group is achieving this goal by kidnapping Christian girls and boys and forcing them to convert to Islam.

Zanzibar is anchored in the Indian Ocean 50 miles off Africa's eastern coast. It is one of the few places that can truly be called a paradise on Earth. But there is more to this tropical island than meets the eye.

Once, Zanzibar was East Africa's main slave-trading port. By the mid-1800's, 50,000 slaves were bought and sold each year. The dealers sailed here from across Asia and the Middle East. They returned with their boats filled with men, women, and children. The practice was eventually outlawed.

But two centuries later, the brutal trade has taken on a new dimension. Young Christian girls are being abducted, forced to convert to Islam and, in some cases, shipped to parts of the Islamic world.

Flora Davidson knows how it feels to have a child disappear. She told me, "I looked everywhere for her, but I could not find her. Even the police gave up looking for her," Flora said.

In July 2004, Flora's 14-year-old Christian daughter Joyce was kidnapped by members of UAMSHO, a radical Muslim group on the island.

Joyce said, "I was told that, from this day on, I would not be going back home to my family. You will become a Muslim [they told me]."

Her kidnapper was Mariam, a 45-year-old Muslim woman. Mariam refused to talk to CBN News on camera, but she insisted that Joyce had voluntarily become a Muslim.

Joyce and her mother Flora told CBN News about their experiences.

Joyce: First, they told me to change my religion.

CBN News: Did you want to become a Muslim?

Joyce: No.

CBN News: Were you forced?

Joyce: Yes.

CBN News: So, for three days your mother was looking for you?

Joyce: Yes. I was forced to wear Islamic dresses that covered my entire body.

CBN News: So they wanted to conceal your identity?

Joyce: Yes, so that my mother could not know [recognize] me.

For a while, it worked – until local police and Joyce's mother were tipped off that she had been shipped to the mainland city of Dar-es-Salaam. Authorities found Joyce there and sent her on a boat back home.

Flora recalled, "So I went with several police officers to the docks to find her. We waited, but there was no sign of Joyce. Almost everyone was off the boat. The police even got tired of looking and left. But then suddenly, I saw this small girl."

The small girl was completely veiled; at first glance her own mother did not recognize her. But then Flora saw something.

Flora described, "I noticed her legs and the way she walked, and immediately I knew that this was my daughter under that veil. I walked up to her and lifted her veil, and there she was! My daughter -- I had found her!"

Yet it was only the beginning of their nightmare.

Joyce: One of the other kidnappers, Mohammed, told me that wherever I will go, they would find me, and that I would eventually come back to their side, [their faith]. I will remember him forever, what he did to me.

CBN News: They would track you do down, anywhere, [while doing] anything?

Joyce: Yes.

Four days after Joyce was rescued, she was indeed kidnapped again by the same group. This time, she landed in the hands of Sheikh Azzani Khalid Hamdan.

Hamdan is a prominent radical Muslim who runs the group UAMSHO. He said, "We help educate the new converts and give them guidance on how to live as a good Muslim."

He wants to turn Zanzibar into what Afghanistan used to look like under the Taliban. The kind of island where sharia law – which includes punishments such as amputation, stoning, and beheading – would be the law of the land.

Hamdan explained, "Sharia law is the basis of all law. It allows us to render judgment based on the Koran against those who don't follow the laws of Allah."

The majority of Zanzibar's population, 97 percent, practices the Islamic faith. The remaining mix is a combination of Christian and Hindu. But Hamdan is not satisfied. He wants everyone on the island to convert to Islam.

Hamdan insisted, "We don't kidnap the Christian children and force them to convert to Islam. We only educate them on the ways of Islam once they have converted on their own."

Peter Ninja disagrees. For years, Ninja has tracked the activities of Hamdan. Today, he runs a ministry trying to rescue children like Joyce.

Ninja explained, "Their [UAMSHO] objective is to have as many good Muslims as possible who advocate the sharia. And, in doing so, they think they are doing a sacrifice to god, if they get as many of these children into their congregation [as they can]."

Several Christian girls have disappeared in recent years.

Flora said, "Many Christian parents are worried that what happened to Joyce could happen to their children."

After being kidnapped for the second time, Joyce spent the next several weeks in an Islamic school. Day after day, she was forced to memorize the verses of the Koran in Arabic. They even made her change her name.

CBN News: What was your new name?

Joyce: Yoha Suleiman Mohammed.

It is illegal under Zanzibari law to convert a Christian girl under the age of 18. Flora said the authorities showed complete disregard for this law and even threatened her.

Flora added, "I was warned that if I continued looking for my child they would arrest me. In fact, I met some police officers who were Muslims. And they said to me how happy they were that my daughter had become a Muslim. They don't care about what is going on to the Christian children on this island. They want to see more children converted to Islam."

In the meantime, Joyce's kidnappers were preparing to smuggle her out of the country. Flora said, “They got a passport for her and wanted to ship her to Saudi Arabia."

But After Flora hounded the kidnappers for weeks, Joyce was finally released. She told me, "My daughter's childhood has been robbed. I cannot take back what has happened to her. I wish I could. But I thank God that I have my daughter back!"

So far, no one has been charged with Joyce's kidnapping. Hamdan is awaiting trial for his alleged role in a string of bombings against churches on the island.

Although Joyce is still on the road to an emotional and psychological recovery, she says she has hope.

CBN News: What makes you so strong?

Joyce: Jesus.

CBN News: What have you learned from this entire experience?

Joyce: It has helped me to be strong and forget the things that have happened to me.

CBN News: Have you forgiven those that did this to you?

Joyce: Yes. I know that if I don't forgive them, God will not forgive me for leaving my Christian faith. But if I forgive them, God will forgive me.