Shackled: One Woman's Dramatic Triumph Over Persecution, Gender Abuse, and a Death Sentence

Sentenced to Death for Her Beliefs Mariam Ibraheem was finally rising above her difficult childhood and building a new life for herself. Born to a Muslim father and an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian mother, she grew up in poverty in a refugee camp in Sudan. Her father left the family when she was only six, and her mother raised her in the Christian faith. Left without family after the deaths of her beloved mother and sister, she was beginning to move past her grief--earning a medical degree, marrying the man she loved, and having a baby boy. But one day in late 2013, her world was shattered when an unknown relative on her father's side reported her to the police. The authorities said she was considered a Muslim because of her father's background. She had broken the law by marrying a Christian man, and she must renounce her Christian beliefs and abandon her marriage. Under intense pressure, Mariam repeatedly refused to deny her faith. She was charged with apostasy and adultery, and she was imprisoned with her nine-month-old son, Martin, on Christmas Eve. There, awaiting sentence, she learned she was pregnant with her second child. A few months later, Mariam was sentenced to 100 lashes and death by hanging by a Sharia court. Shackled is the stunning true story of a courageous young mother who was willing to face death rather than deny her Christian faith. Mariam Ibraheem took a stand on behalf of all people who suffer from religious persecution and all women who are maltreated because of their gender and beliefs. Follow Mariam's story from refugee camp to life under Islam, through imprisonment and childbirth while shackled, to her remarkable escape from death following an international outcry and advocacy involving diplomats, journalists, religious freedom activists, human rights groups, and even Pope Francis.