Rifqa Bary who converted to Christianity over Facebook is living in fear | Daily Mail Online

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Rifqa Bary, the Ohio teen who made national headlines in 2009 when she ran away from her Muslim family after secretly converting to Christianity, writes in her new book that nearly six years after her escape she still lives in fear but does not regret her decision.

Born Fatima Rifqa Bary, the Sri Lankan native moved with her family to the US in 2000, when she was 8 years old, ostensibly to seek medical treatment after an accident involving a toy airplane left her blind in her right eye.

At age 12, Rifqa secretly became a Christian. When her devout Muslim parents discovered her conversion four years later, the teen fled her family’s home in New Albany, Ohio, and sought refuge in Central Florida.

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Bary, now 22, is a college student majoring in philosophy. She still lives in an undisclosed location for fear of retribution.

In her new book, Hiding in the Light: Why I risked Everything to Leave Islam and Follow Jesus, released Tuesday by the WaterBrook Press division of Penguin Random House, Bary details her transformation from a girl growing up in a strict Muslim household to an apostate who, according to some people, shamed her family.

Author: Bary wrote a new memoir tracing her transformation from a girl growing up in a strict Muslim household to an apostate

Author: Bary wrote a new memoir tracing her transformation from a girl growing up in a strict Muslim household to an apostate

‘Those who do understand it, and understand it very well, are those who have wanted me dead. That’s why I have taken, and continue to take, precautions to protect my life and safety,’ she writes, according to Columbus Dispatch. 

Read More  Rifqa Bary who converted to Christianity over Facebook is living in fear | Daily Mail Online.