The Costly Call, Part 2 of 4

The Costly Call: These are the tales of the untold heroes of the Christian faith, those rejected, tortured, and killed because of the One they chose to follow. Hassan, Aisha, Wan Mae, Adahiem . . . from Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, China, Egypt . . . and many others.

In this chapter entitled LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON, read more of Hassan's inspiring story. The story will continue the rest of this week in a four-part series.

Life during the year after my father’s release from prison was stressful. Part of the release agreement was that he had to dissolve all of his partnerships and remove himself from any influence in local politics. Within that first year, every partnership was sold or bought out by Malaysian officials. Our family was forced to sell additional personal property in Port Dickson, as well as in Malacca and Kuala Lumpur. My father was directed also to sell all his lucrative commercial property, which he had owned for years.

In the meantime, I watched my father’s reactions to the economic and physical persecution that affected our family. Instead of becoming angry or bitter, he lived in complete serenity, comforted by reading his Bible for hours every day. When I talked to him about these troubles, he told me that he never regretted following Jesus. On one occasion, I overheard my father exclaim to a Malaysian official, “Yes, I would do it again. My faith in Jesus is worth more to me than even my life.” This firm commitment to Jesus and the Bible led me to be interested in what had such an impact on my father. I had seen him receive beatings, and that could have embittered me against him. But I respected my father more for his boldness and commitment. My father was my hero.

Two weeks after my thirteenth birthday, I prayed to receive Jesus as my Lord. Not long after, our family began to experience severe distress. Within a month of my conversion, three Malaysian officials paid our family an unexpected visit. Questions were being raised around the community about why the family was absent from Friday prayers. My father was notified that our family would have to begin attending the call to prayer. The three men met with our family for over two hours, and as they left the house, I overheard one of them tell my father, “It will cost you. If you refuse our offer, Mustafa, it will cost you.” Later that evening my father was arrested again. Unlike the previous arrest, this one was not violent, but it was, nonetheless, a cause of great anxiety for me; I had just surrendered my own life to Christ and had become an infidel in the eyes of those in authority. My father once again paid a fine, this time in excess of twenty thousand dollars, but he refused to attend a mosque.

As it turned out, one Malaysian official had secretly befriended our family. He kept warning the family of dangers and protected my father from those who demanded that he be executed. This official did everything in his power to keep our family from being totally destroyed, but there was only so much he could do.

Six months later the police returned. This time the violence was worse than before. Instead of attacking the men of the family, the police concentrated on my mother. Two policemen approached her while she was still in bed and beat her. I hastily called for an ambulance, which raced my mother to the local hospital. She died four hours later. Although all of her body was badly beaten, the fatal injuries were to her head. Her skull was cracked in four places. My father was in prison and could not attend to my mother’s body. My siblings and I buried our mother alone.

I was forced to live with my grandfather, a devout Muslim who attended the mosque daily at the noon call to prayer. I had to attend the noon prayers against my wishes. I was ordered to bow my knee and pray to a god I did not believe existed. My grandfather tried to take custody of me in order to reeducate me in the ways of Islam. Ashamed of his own son, my grand-father explained to me, “Your father is dead. Do you understand me, boy? He is dead! I have no son. You have nowhere to go, so grow up and accept your responsibility as a good Muslim. Your father is dead!”

My father, though, still had money at his disposal, and he was able to secure his release by paying the hefty “fine” of seventy thousand dollars. Upon his release, I gladly moved back home.

Check this blog tomorrow for more of this story!

About the authors:


Emir Fethi Caner (Ph.D., University of Texas at Arlington) is currently dean of The College at Southwestern (Southwestern Seminary) as well as professor of history and director of the Center for Free Church Studies. An award-winning and best-selling author, he speaks regularly on apologetics, world religions, and theology around the world and on such media outlets as NPR, PAX, and Billy Graham's Decision Today radio program. His past experience includes pastoring, overseas missions, and church planting. His other books include Unveiling Islam, Christian Jihad, More Than a Prophet, and The Costly Call, Book 1.


H. Edward Pruitt (M. Div., Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary), coauthor of The Costly Call: Modern-Day Stories of Muslims Who Found Christ, has traveled nearly two million miles and worked extensively with missionaries in more than sixty countries. He is the associate director of the Center for Great Commissions Studies at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest. He is currently working toward a doctorate of theology at the University of South Africa. Ed speaks at mission conferences globally, and has been interviewed through numerous media outlets nationwide.

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