‘I Will Kill You, You Are Dirt’: Egypt‘s Coptic Christians Live in Fear as Islamist Gov’t Takes Control
This is a crosspost from Beliefnet.com.
Burned-out rubble is all that’s left of Christian shopkeeper Abskharon Suleiman’s appliance store in the northern Egyptian village of Sharbat. His home was destroyed as well as shops owned by his adult children – all targeted because they are Christians.
Ten-year-old Romany Rashed remembers being terrified during the attack. The fourth grader told the the Christian Science Monitor ’s Kristen Chick of fleeing to a room “where his family huddled together, afraid for their lives, as a violent mob attacked their house.
“His family had fled to this room on the top floor, where pictures of Jesus and Coptic saints hang on bare cement walls. His parents dragged heavy furniture to the door, barricading it as they heard people try to break in below. The mob was throwing rocks at the windows, and he heard gunfire, says Romany. They were cursing Christians.
“We kept praying that God would be with us,” the boy told the Monitor reporter. “And He was.”
As the mob set fire to the home of a Christian family across the street, Muslim neighbors saved Romany’s family, hustling them out of their house by a back entrance, into a car, and out of the village, until it was safe enough to return.
After his church was burned to the ground in a village nearby, a local clergyman was sentenced to six months in prison for rebuilding the church 7 feet taller than the building permit allowed. Incredibly, as he appeals the verdict, no legal action has been taken against those who burned he church or the Muslim imams who inflamed their passions at local mosques, inciting a mob of 3,000 to burn down the church building.
In the southern Egyptian town of Qena, Dr. Alfy Adly, an obstetrician who is a Christian, describes a mob that attacked a Christian landlord and another that drove out the elected governor of the area, who was also a Christian. Dr. Adly has videotape of a neighbor’s threats to kill him, but says police refuse to take any action.
Another mob attacked a church in the Nile delta village of Meet Bahsar, destroying the pastor’s car after rumors spread that a 14-year-old girl had been kidnapped by Christians and was being held in the church. The rumors were disproven, but no charges have been made by police for the car burning.
Are Christians in Egypt being targeted? Yes, says the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a secular activist group that is tracking attacks on Egypt’s religious minorities..
Most Egyptian Christians are Copts, who consider themselves to be the original Egyptians before the Arab conquest in 641 A.D. The Copts trace their Christian faith back to Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus’ escape to Egypt when King Herod ordered all the male babies around Bethlehem murdered.
As recently as 1952, Copts prospered in Egyptian society – holding more than 50 percent of the wealth. But many lost everything when Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew King Farouk and nationalized businesses. In addition, Nasser’s strong pro-Islamic policies further undermined the Copts’ standing. As a result, many Copts left for Australia, North America and Europe.
Those who remain say conditions have gotten steadily worse – and have taken a deadly turn with Muslim hardliners seizing control in the Arab Spring revolution that ousted longtime president Hosni Mubarak. In 1992, there were over 9 million Copts (out of a population of some 57 million Egyptians). Now, thousands have fled in the face of growing tensions and sporadic violence.
They say discrimination against Egyptian Christians is systematic, part of the hardline Islamic practice of dhimmitude, the toleration of non-Muslims while denying them basic human rights. Under shari’ah or Islamic law, non-Muslims suffer many legal inequities intended to motivate them to convert to Islam. In Pakistan and Egypt, this has included forcing Christians to take the worst jobs – such as collecting Cairo’s garbage, repairing sewers and scavenging in trash dumps, professions shunned by Muslims.
In October, thousands of Egyptian Copts demanding equality marched in Cairo – citing their participation in the Arab Spring demonstrations that resulted in the successful revolution that overthrew Hosni Mubarak. However, instead of being recognized and rewarded, the Copts saw their massive demonstration end in a bloodbath. The Egyptian army opened fire and ran protesters over with armored vehicles, leaving at least 27 dead.
Military officials have shrugged off the massacre, saying a “third-party” was responsible for the killings – although no such culprit has been identified and video shows army vehicles plowing into the crowd.
Marching in protest (Photo by Bilo Brown)
But now, Egypt’s influential Maspero Youth Union – a Coptic Christian youth organization – has announced its plans to resume protests, particularly to draw attention to recent court rulings that have jailed Christians for such crimes as repairing church buildings.
It is not only illegal to build new churches in Egypt, but even to repair courtyard walls or gates keeping vandals out. So, it was extraordinary that in the village of el-Marenab, Coptic priest Makarious Boulos’ congregation was given a permit to rebuild their church after it was torched by a mob. But then he was jailed. The youth union told the Egyptian independent news agency Bikyamasr that their first protest will be at the general prosecutor’s office in the Supreme Court building to demand that Boulos be freed.
The priest was fined and given a six-month prison sentence on charges the newly reconstructed building was too tall. The Maspero Youth Union notes there are no such restrictions on mosque construction or repairs – and says this double-standard must end as Egypt embraces democracy. They say the double standard was glaring as Bolous was sent to jail while none of the leaders of the mob that burned down the church has even been arrested.
Local officials said the newly constructed church was 2.5 meters taller than what they had approved in the architectural drawings. After the violation was denounced from mosque pulpits, a mob of 3,000 burned the new building to the ground, then razed four nearby homes and two businesses, all Christian-owned.
“I feel it is unjust,” Bolous has said. “It’s not fair,” noting that a significant percentage of construction projects in Egypt are done without permits. Even when permits are issued, adherence to their stipulations is casual and enforcement is lax. The village where the church building once stood is surrounded by homes that have two or three extra floors built outside of permitted specifications and by others that were built with no permit at all, noted the Christian advocacy group Compass Direct News. “The whole village is full of people who are building against their licenses,” Bolous told the court. “So the whole thing is, ‘Why did they only cite the church and pick on the extra bit of building?’”
Bolous’ attorney, Osama Refaat, pointed out to the court that law contractors, not property owners, are responsible for permit violations.
“Imams in more than 20 mosques called for crowds to gather and destroy the church and demolish the houses of the Copts and loot their properties,” reported Michael Ramzy, a villager from El Marenab.
That came after Muslim villagers had begun blockading the entrance to the church building and threatening Copts on the street – in effect making them hostages in their own homes. Their complaint? Crosses were visible from outside the church. A meeting was held with military leaders and village elders in which the local leadership of the church agreed to remove all crosses and bells outside the building.
“Peace returned briefly to the village, but by early the next week, the Muslim villagers abandoned the agreement and went back to harassing local Christians,” reported Compass. “They demanded the removal of domes newly constructed on top of the church building, and the hard-line Muslims called for it to be burned.”
Christians march in the streets
The governor of Aswan, Mostafa al-Sayyed, has sided with the rioters. He blames the attacks on the Copts, saying they had provoked the violence by offending Muslim sensibilities – displaying crosses and building the domes too high — and that he had not approved the building permit. But documents produced by church officials and independently verified by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, showed that al-Sayyed signed off on the construction permits.
After the building was destroyed, the Egyptian government announced that it would fund and build a new church structure to replace the old one. However, those funds have not been forthcoming.
“It’s been six months now,” said Bolous, and even after officials “gave the permission to rebuild the church, I cannot go back to the church or hold any prayers there or even go to the village at all.”
Bolous said that al-Sayyed instead has blocked all attempts to build the replacement. “He keeps saying, ‘Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the day after – we are going to do it,’ but it never happens.”
The villagers who burned down the church building and have escaped criminal prosecution, Bolous said, are the same ones blocking the construction of a replacement. Because he can’t go back to the village, approximately 40 Coptic families in El Marenab are without a priest and cannot conduct church services.
Coptic leaders accuse the Egyptian government of playing a colluding role in the violence by not enforcing the law, which requires imprisonment as a penalty for acts of sectarian strife, “thuggery” and vandalism of private property. They ask why the only person jailed has been the Coptic clergyman.
His sentencing came less than two weeks after another Christian was jailed for six years on charges of “showing contempt of religion” and “insulting the Prophet Mohamed.” The court, in the southern Egyptian province of Assiut, said that Makram Diab, a school employee, had made offensive remarks against Islam’s prophet.
Christian activists told the Bikyamasr new agency that Diab’s sentencing was an “attempt to create divisions” between Muslims and Christians in the country. Noha el-Hennawy, a political studies student at Cairo University and activist who regularly participates in demonstrations for Coptic rights, said the government is “continuing the policy of Mubarak by jailing and even putting these people in front of a court. It is unacceptable for a country where we hoped for free speech.”
Copts point out the growing numbers of incidents such as the burning of Abskharon Suleiman’s appliance store in Sharbat, the destruction of his home and then of the shops owned by his adult children.
In that case, the Suleiman family was not even the target of a mob that had been inflamed by rumors of adultery between a Coptic Christian man and Muslim woman – each of them married to someone else, Muslim merchant Magdy Abu Sheashaa told National Public Radio.
Sheashaa told NPR that the Christian man had suggestive photos of the woman on his phone. Sheashaa admitted not actually having seen the pictures. However, the rumor was enough to send a frenzied mob to the alleged offender’s house near the Suleiman family’s property.
Sheashaa said that one of Suleiman’s adult sons fired a handgun into the air to try to disperse the mob, which then shouted insults at the Coptic family and demanded they leave the village where they had lived for two decades.
“They threw rocks through the windows and set our building on fire. I was sure we were going to die,” recalled Um Suleiman, the elderly wife of the merchant.
“The violence in Sharbat began as many sectarian conflicts in Egypt do – with rumors of an affair between a Christian man and a Muslim woman. It ended with eight Christian families forced to leave the village, their property and belongings left to be sold on their behalf by a local committee. The punishment for those who looted and burned Christian properties? None.”
That decision as well as the selling of the Christians’ property at auction was the outcome of a “reconciliation meeting,” in which the fate of the accused is determined by locals rather than the law. The Copts say such sessions always favor the Muslims – with the Christians losing everything with no recourse.
“Mubarak may have been ousted a year ago, but methods haven’t changed,” reported the Monitor. “Members of Egypt’s new Islamist-dominated parliament sat in on some of the Sharbat meetings, effectively sanctioning the use of extrajudicial means.
Ishak Ibrahim, a researcher for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights who wrote a report on the incident, says rule of law is the only solution – not local cronyism.
“If Islamic parties, and all parties, insisted on applying the law, and don’t accept the results of these reconciliation meetings – if we do that, I think it may have a positive effect on sectarian incidents,” he says. “Because one would know if he torched or destroyed houses or shops of Christians, he will go to court and be charged.”
He says the “reconciliation” meetings were illegal, because the law demands a criminal investigation into arson. Those who sponsored the agreement, he says, “flagrantly violated the law.”
Furthermore, refusing to stand up for justice for Christian victims in Sharbat, he said, could have dangerous implications for future religious strife in Egypt.
Samir Rashad, Romany’s father, says the recent violence in Sharbat was not the first case of tension between Christians and what he calls radical Muslims there. But it was the worst. At least three Christian homes were completely destroyed after crowds lit them on fire, and at least 10 shops owned by Christians were looted, including the Suleiman family stores and Rashad’s tailoring shop. Some were burned.
Rashad says there are many honorable Muslims in the village and some intervened to save Christian families like his. But he blamed the violence on radicals. “This was just an excuse for them to generalize everything against Christians and say we want to get them out of the village,” he says. “Those radical Muslims have been meaning to do something like that. They were looking for a reason to attack the Christians.”
Witnesses say police officers watched the attacks and did nothing. Instead, Muslim neighbors and friends intervened. They formed a protective cordon around the Christians and brought them to their own homes. Sheashaa took in the Suleiman family.
Sheashaa says a group of Muslim elders later came to express their sympathy that the Suleiman homes and shops had been destroyed, but they urged the Christian family to move out of town – that they felt it was no longer safe for Suleiman and his family to stay in Sharbat.
They stayed with Sheashaa for a few days, then moved into a cramped apartment an hour’s drive away. Suleiman’s eldest son told NPR they want to go back home, but are afraid of being attacked again – even though a committee sent by the Egyptian parliament has decreed the family has the right to live in Sharbat.
Ihab Ramzy, a Coptic Christian lawmaker who was a member of the committee, says he understands the family’s fears.
“Is there an extremist wave that is identifying Christians and trying to drive them out of Egypt? Personally, I doubt it, but you know, maybe I’m naive,” says Mahmoud Sabit, an Egyptian historian living in Cairo.
Marching for equal rights (Photo by Photos of Daily Life)
He told NPR that Copts get nervous when Islamist candidates talk about incorporating more Islamic law into Egyptian society. “So this I think is one of their great fears, is a reversal and suddenly finding themselves as second-class citizens,” he said.
Last December on a talk show on Egyptian TV, a Christian caller who gave her name as Mervat accused the guest — an ultra-conservative Muslim — of trying to drive Christians out of Egypt.
The Coptic Christian caller accused Hazem Salah Abu Ismail — who is a presidential candidate — of inciting hatred and violence by demanding Christian women wear veils. She said that if Christians don’t comply, they will be attacked.
Dr. Adly, the Coptic obstetrician, says such attacks are already happening in his hometown of Qena in the south. He recounts how a mob cut off the ear of a Coptic landlord and drove out the Coptic governor last year.
He adds that one extremist in his neighborhood has been stalking his family and has threatened to kill his daughter. Dr. Adly videotaped some of this on his cellphone.
In the tape, the man screams: “I will kill her under the stairs here, I will show you. I swear to my mother I will kill you, you are dirt.”
The man then breaks the door to Dr. Adly’s house. The obstetrician says he’s gone to the police in Qena numerous times with such evidence, but nothing has been done.
Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, says he understands their frustration over the lack of justice.
Meanwhile, Copts say it’s far more than frustration – it’s fear for their lives.
In the village of Meet Bahsar in the Nile delta, a mob of 5,000 attacked a church after being told that Christians had kidnapped a 14-year-old girl and were holding her against her will in order to convert her back to Christianity.
The 14-year-old girl’s father, an ethnic Copt who converted to Islam, had stirred them up on the mistaken notions that his daughter had converted to Islam and that Christians had kidnapped her, the church priest told Compass.
“Things are partly calmer now, and parishioners still go to church but they are a bit hesitant,” said the Rev. Gerges Gamil of the Church of the Virgin Mary. “Some things got broken in my house, because they threw rocks and stones at the house, and my car was destroyed, but thankfully no one in my family was hurt.”
Coptic priests are allowed to marry and have families.
The girl was not in the church building. Her father, Khalil Ibrahiem Mouhamed Abd Allah, converted to Islam in 2009, and then divorced his Christian wife and married a Muslim woman. He claims his daughter converted to Islam in October, then in February, the 14-year-old was engaged to marry a Muslim man in her father’s village.
“After the engagement she disappeared,” Abd Allah told local media. “So, I immediately thought that the Christians kidnapped her.”
Marching in the street (Photo by Photos of Daily Life)
Actually the girl ran away and is living with friends in Cairo. After finding out about the attacks and the reports that she was being held against her will, she contacted police. Her location was not made public, but she reportedly asked not to be returned to her father or mother.
She told police her father treated her poorly and that she never converted to Islam. She confirmed the engagement but said that ultimately she couldn’t continue with it because the groom-to-be was Muslim. Egyptian newspapers reported that she was either in state care or the custody of an uncle.
Similar rumors of kidnappings or relationships between Christians and Muslims have incited other attacks against Christians. In May 2011, an attack in downtown Cairo left 12 people dead and at least one church building in ruins.
But much of the discrimination against Egyptian Christians is subtle – a constant application of dhimmitude – making life so bad that they will renounce Jesus and embrace Islam.
Once the wealthy business families of Cairo, now Copts are the garbage collectors – who pick through the city’s refuse to scratch out a living, report Margaret Evans, Evan Mitsui and Manmeet Ahluwalia, for the Canadian Broadcasting Company.
“Coptic Christians make up 11 to 15 per cent of Egypt’s population and are the largest Christian community in the Middle East,” they reported on Canadian radio. “The Zabbaleen, known in Arabic as ‘the garbage collectors,’ are one of the largest single concentrations of Coptics in the country.
“Using donkey carts, and more recently pickup trucks, they transport mountains of refuse back to their communities in the hills to be sorted and eventually sold.
“Father Samaan Ibrahim is head of the Samaan Church, which presides over the Zabbaleen’s ‘garbage city.’ Built in the 1970s, the church has supported many of the social services that are vital to the Zabbaleen people.
About 50 years ago, the Zabbaleen settled on the edge of Cairo for its low cost land and relative religious freedom.
The Church of Saint Simon the Tanner – the largest church in the country – was built in 1975, carved into the cliff face of Moqattam mountain during a period of loosened restrictions.
In Cairo’s the Coptic slum of Helwan, sewage filth settles into a swamp of black liquid off the main street. Near the ditch, heaps of garbage blanket the dusty road. Five and six-year-olds guide donkey carts filled with massive sacks of the city’s refuse.
It would appear the government works to keep the Christians poor, as it did during the swine flu endemic by slaughtering the community’s pigs which were used by the collectors to dispose of organic waste.
There is a shortage of water. At a church-run school, a teacher scrubbed a girl’s feet and washed her face. “This is the only place children can wash,” the teacher said. “Many diseases are spread through cuts in the feet when sorting through trash. We must keep them clean and treat their diseases. Christ tells us that the greatest leader must also be the greatest servant.”
Education is the chief method to reverse the cycle of poverty for the community’s children. “Garbage collectors have existed for generations. Unless you give these kids a chance at something better, they too will collect garbage,” said the school administrator. “To be very poor is to have no decisions. We offer these kids the opportunity to make a decision.”
The school also seeks to instill a firm foundation in the children’s faith. “After kindergarten, these kids will go to a state school and be forced to memorize the Quran. We want them to have a personal relationship with Christ first.”
Talking with CBC, Father Samaan is uneasy about the future. Attacks have increased over the past year and conditions in the community have not improved even after the fall of Mubarak’s government.
“We are awaiting the new constitution that we might expect something good for us in it…. especially the article concerning building churches in Egypt,” he told CBC.
The newly elected Egyptian parliament will select a committee charged with writing a new constitution for the country. The questions remain as to whether Egypt’s laws limiting the construction of new churches and making repairs to existing ones will even be considered by the committee.
“We’re waiting to see what’s going to happen,” Samaan said.
Article courtesy of Beliefnet.com, the distinct online resource for inspiration and spirituality where you’ll find thousands of inspiring features, uplifting stories and access to other great resources.
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Comments (91)
Miyegombo Bayartsogt
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:20amMuslims give a big boost to the atheist movement. Every time they publicly practice their peculiar brand of squalid, sordid, smoke-in-the sky religion they they giveaway the show. Seems everyday the news is filled with believers in the One True God amok in the streets doing the most horrific things for faith. It is difficult for rational people to explain this religion-based burning and terror. Without it being excused because God ordered churches be burnt, no one would get away with this nonsense. Christians in America bash atheists for being godless but then they proudly proclaim worship of the same God Muslims kill for. In fact, Bible readers will tell you Islam is just a bad plagiarism of the Old Testament and its God of vengeance and cruelty and spite. Moderate Christians clearly have a tough time keeping the faith. All too often the atrocities committed by religious fundamentalists are done because the fundamentalists believe the same fundamentals preached in their religion. Only a god-fearing true believers would burn down buildings merely because a different set of faith-based people might meet there. If judged by their actions, religious people are often bad examples of civilized behavior. Maybe, given the facts on the ground, alternatives to belief in hoary myths of benighted Bronze Aged nomads should be explored.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:26amAtheist’s have never burned people out, Right??
Report Post »Atheist’s are tolerant of others faiths.,Right??
Just like a Barry speech, lots of words. garbled message, HATE Speech
Locked
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:33am“Christians in America bash atheists for being godless but then they proudly proclaim worship of the same God Muslims kill for.”
You’ll have to pull teeth and tear off fingernails for most Christians to ever admit this, even though it‘s true that that’s what Muslims believe (that Allah = God).
Report Post »4truth2all
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:44amYo Miyegombo:
I’m probably wasting my breath here, but I will make a simple attempt. Islam and christianity are about as similar as light and dark, and as close as the east is to the west. We DO NOT believe in the same god. They call us satanic and we say they are. We cannot both be correct. we can however both be wrong. That would make atheists correct. Neither facts nor history or science defend the atheists. Which means you are defenceless. Along comes the muslim … convert or kill; they say … along comes the christian eternal life or eternal death; they say… YOU”RE CHOICE.
Report Post »<<>>
ChiefGeorge
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:45amAnd they say Israel is an apartheid State! Whats happening here is not being reported anywhere except for here and a few other small outlets. This is Nazi Germany all over again!
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:52amThe muslim pigs are just following their leader… Obama .
Report Post »The_Jerk
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:52amFact is, killers kill, religions do not. Another fact is, our media has a very strong pro-Israel and Jewish bias, which is why you are selectively presented story after story like this one. Just one week ago I could have written the headline, “Jews want to kill Muslims as Israel continues its bombing offensive in Gaza: Palestinians live in fear.”
It’s all pro-Israel propaganda for a purpose.
Report Post »BSdetector
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:54amChanting: “This is what Democracy looks like!”
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 11:09amSorry there God is NOT my God. They may have the same name, but that does not make any difference to murderers does it. I can proclaim and do anything in the name of my God, that does not mean God willed it or justified it. Just like Atheist can claim that there is NO God, makes what they are saying true.
Don’t confuse, which you all do, on what someone does in the name of their God as coming from God.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 11:48amAtheism… is created by the Ignorant & Illiterate… being the same Religion of Ameba and as adopted by the Soul-less (Sgt Schultz: “we know nothing”)!
Report Post »Islam… on the other hand was Created in 610 ad… based upon the resistance to the Eastern Roman Empire… opposing their Government & Religions!
db321
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 1:15pmStop FEARING – The Bible told us these times were coming – Fear is of the Devil – God promised that he would not put his people through another cleansing of the Earth. We will be called up to meet with the Lord and will return in his Army to destroy the evil doers. I got first crack at Soros when I come back.
Report Post »4truth2all
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 2:35pmYo DB321:
We are not called up until the sound of the seventh trump, if you knew this great, if not my suggestion is you study some more. I do agree that we are not to fear no matter what, but there is no promise anywhere in scripture that His people will not suffer and not have difficulties or be persecuted for their faith, in fact it says ‘blessed are those who are persecuted because of me”… peace
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 2:36pm“Agreement” with muslims?
One word: Taqiyya
Make that two: Stupid
Report Post »From Virginia
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 9:44pmChristians don’t worship the moon-godling the islamists do. The islamists worship an old pagan arab moon godling. They know this and they know we don’t worship the same God.
Report Post »LouC57
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:20amI was very glad to see their muslim neighbors got them to safety–that is remarkable these days. Coptic Christians and Christians in any islamic country are in grave danger. Egypt is particularly dangerous for them and has been for many years.
Report Post »Why have we never heard the truth of the Coptic Christians in New Jersey–the entire family was slaughtered, yet the police said it was a botched robbery–but nothing was taken? That was several years ago. The dad used to speak on PalTalk, trying to convert muslims…which probably led to the family murder…yet NOTHING said, no investigative reporting…nothing.
bemo234
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:45amThis should be heard and investigated, our government is turning a blind eye to christins since we have a mooslim-in-chif
Report Post »Locked
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:47am“I was very glad to see their muslim neighbors got them to safety–that is remarkable these days.”
This caught my eye as well. Glad to hear that neighborly concern can still trump religious fanaticism, even in the heated climate in Egypt.
Report Post »Chuck Stein
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 11:17amYes, it should be investigated. Also, Coptic Christians in Egypt should be offered asylum visas like Cubans can get — seems that the Coptic Christians in Egypt are in a worse spot than people in Cuba.
Report Post »shogun459
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:17am“And the rock cried out, “Oh Muslim! Here is a Jew come and kill him!”
and the tree cried out, “Oh Muslim! Here is a Jew come and kill him!”"
The Koran
Report Post »Lets-do-it
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:34amBut wait, islam is the religion of peace, don’t ya know!
Report Post »Locked
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:44amClose, but not quite right:
“The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews.” HADITH Sahih Muslim [41:6985]
The hadith collection are not part of the Qur’an, but are oral collections from imams a couple centuries after Mohammad. They are roughly (VERY roughly) equivalent to the Book of Revelation, taking place centuries later and talking about (among other things), the end of the world. Namely, in this passage, that Muslims killing Jews will cause the earth itself to speak up, and will herald the last hour of the world.
The more you know! :-)
Report Post »HairRazor
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 11:00amlocked… let me get this straight. do you actually believe what you wrote? the more you don’t know..
Report Post »Locked
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 11:15am@Hairrazor
“locked… let me get this straight. do you actually believe what you wrote? the more you don’t know..”
Sure do! Let’s go over it:
Report Post »1. Hadrith is not part of the Qur’an, as was said above. It was written by later imams, and is not followed by all Muslims (the hadrith is found in Sunni Islam).
2. The passage in question talks about heralding the end of the world.
3. Distinctly states that when Muslims hunt Jews into hiding and the world itself gives them up, it’s the hour of the end.
4. Full quote makes the context relevant. Still not pretty (basically saying that eventually Muslims will hunt down and kill the Jewish people), but hey, Revelation says most of mankind will also be hunted down and killed by armies and natural disaster. It’s a common apocalyptic theme. Not condoning it, but I am drawing parallels in Christianity.
Itsjusttim
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:15amWhat? You can’t tear down the house of Christians because their house is invisible. And if you tear down the bodies of Christians then their spirit will still be there. And you will know there spirit is still there because when you don’t have Christians as targets anymore, then you will target each other doing the same things to each other until there isn’t many of you left, and then the spirit of Christians will be born into your descendants.
Report Post »mike_trivisonno
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:24amIndeed. Having your head chopped off and your blood spilled on the altar of Allah only hurts for a couple of minutes.
Report Post »shogun459
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:13amPreview from Israel.
Report Post »Soon we will be accused of Religious intolerance to Islam.
Israel stands accused in the UN of plotting genocide, against the Palestinians.
Iran, Turkey and Russia are amongst those demanding military intervention against Israel.
shogun459
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:19amWill we stand accused of plotting genocide against illegal aliens?
Report Post »Of the environment?
Avigdor
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:10amno one will be able to buy or sell if they do not have the number (6) on the forehead (thoughts) or on their hand (actions). Thus if you do not worship on the sixth day (Juma) then you will not be allowed to sell or buy.
Report Post »mike_trivisonno
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:05amArchimedes cried, “Eureka!” in the city of Alexandria, Egypt.
We are witnessing what happens to non-muslims when Islam ascends and the muslims begin to fully express their religious beliefs.
If we in America do not want this to be our fate, we will outlaw Islam, close every single mosque, and begin deporting muslims.
What is happening in Egypt is what lives in the heart of every muslim in America. The muslims want to do to America what they are doing to Egypt.
They have been telling us exactly what they want and they are working furiously to see America destroyed and forced to submit to Allah, enshrined in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Report Post »skiz
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 11:21amI could not agree with you more! Whether we (USA) believe it or not, they (islam) are getting ready for END TIMES. If there were ANY so called moderate muslims they would have stood up and told us and the middle east the truth by now. If you know a muslim family that you live around dont be decieved. They would chop your head off in a heartbeat and not think twice about it. It is the religion of satan and we need to get it out of our country!
Report Post »shogun459
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:05amThe Religion of Peace, spreading the Love.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:04amRoseEllen
Report Post »Is that you with the torch??
Gonzo
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:45amI haven’t seen her in a few days…she may have detonated her vest.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:59amIf only
Report Post »shogun459
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:02amThis is the way the World Ends,
This is the way the World Ends,
This is the way the World Ends,
Not with a Wimper,
Report Post »But with a Scream,
And the sound of breaking glass.
dgremark12
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:00amAnd we are suppose to respect this so called religion? I think not!
Report Post »amerbur
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:57amThe New Egypt is a disgrace to the nations of free people. May God be with you. The main media in America is too corrupt to report on this. Thank God for The Blaze.
Report Post »AJAYW
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:54amEgypt is becoming just what obama wanted he stands with the muslim brotherhood- the same will happen here if he wins the election. He becomes more enboldened with each passing month. Congress can’t contain him.
Report Post »mike_trivisonno
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:18amWe will lose to the Jihad unless we outlaw Islam, close the mosques, and deport the muslims.
Report Post »Shasta
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 3:25pmI disagree @mike_trivisonno,
We will lose to the Jihad unless we refrain from behaving as they do. We must NOT we outlaw, close, or deport anyone or anything. That is God’s job.
Report Post »From Virginia
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 10:01pm@Shasta – Nonsense. God has said He is a jealous God. We are NOT to permit the worship of the beast in our midst. Muslims worship the beast.
Report Post »kentuckypatriot
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:54amI pray to God He keeps these people safe, as I also pray for my Jewish brothers ans sisters.
Report Post »Jenny Lind
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 12:51pmI hate saying this, but the answer is if they want to live, they need to get out. There needs to be an exodus of these people. The islamists will not them live and it is not worth watching their children die, their daughters raped and the parents slaughtered. The UN won’t do a thing, so it’s up to the Christians in this and other countries to get them out of that hell hole. They will not win this one so close to the end times, the caliphate will be done, and the two sides will be built for and against darkness. There is no place for these people in Egypt or anywhere else in that part of the world.
Report Post »Dexter Alarius
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:52amWow, Achmed the Dead Terrorist got elected to Egypt’s parliament?
Report Post »Jeff Dunham needs better locks on his trunks.
9111315
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:49amWow, who saw this coming?
Report Post »Atilla
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:19amWho saw this coming? A satirical comment I hope. Most any of us with a half a brain and is the least bit informed by the likes of G. Beck and Limbaugh. Throw in a bit of history like Islamist declard war on Christians in about 14 hundred BC. More recently Osama declared war on the US and Israel and for those who don’t believe that they mean it, shame on you. Almost said obama.
Report Post »Marine25
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:27pm@Attilla
Report Post »The Muslim-declared war on Christianity in about 1400 BC?
1400 years before Christ?
You are obviously informed by the likes of Limbaugh and G. Beck.
From Virginia
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 10:07pm@Marine – Obviously he means that muslims have been doing this for their entire 1400 year history. Nobody needs to listen to Beck, Limbaugh or anyone else for that matter in regards to islams cancerous spread across the planet. Tell me again what the Philippinos have done to warrent their (islams) wrath?
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:49am.
Ten-year-old Romany Rashed remembers being terrified during the attack……
It‘s Obama’s Fault……
And it’s sad to say but I think he wants you Dead too…………
Report Post »barber2
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:47amThe wonderful, progressive Muslim world which has thrown civilization back to the Age of the Crusades. They have brought back a return to religious fanaticism where hate and destruction have replaced tolerance and growth. Anyone who doesn’t “ get this” is as naive as those who thought that Hitler really wasn’t as evil as some people thought , nor did he really mean what he said about “extermination!”
Report Post »Rocky_biskit
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:44amSo this is what Democracy looks like?
Report Post »shogun459
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:07amComing to a Western Civilization Near You!
(watch for coming attractions)
Report Post »4truth2all
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:57amWhere is Gore, Clinton, and Obama on this … not a word ! And the press … just as silent. In fact they want the “Arab spring” to be in season here in America. We are being lead by fools. I keep hoping that we do not show ourselves just as foolish by re-electing these people.
Report Post »Atilla
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 12:29pmWhen Marxist and Islam get together we have real problems and the emanate from the White House
Report Post »fixer
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:41amAnybody else tired of pussyfooting around the muslims and all their demands? I say if they want a war…bring it. It’s time to purge the Earth of this vile “religeon” and everybody supporting it.KIll them all and let Allah sort them out.
Report Post »oldguy49
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:58amah……….well he cain‘t sort them out if they can’t go to paradise…….i use gun oil that is 17% pig fat………….take that obummer
Report Post »sterinn
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:40amIf anybody comes running up to my house with ill intent it won’t be long before the followers behind the original gang-rush become disheartened as they continue to hurdle their dead buddies……
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:36am.
I wonder if those Coptic Christians would be interested in one of my Obama Effigy Burning Kits?…..
There just $19.95 plus shipping & handling Please visit http://www.Obamaeffigyburningkits.com
Report Post »jackiegus
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:31amSo I guess this is what Obama was hoping for? He certainly acted like he knew that by helping those uprising it would be a GOOD thing…I guess good if you are islamic bad if you are christians.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:50am;-) shuuuuuush .. it’s a “secret” ;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMUgNg7aD8M
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:29amEgyptian extremists are beginning to purge the non-muslim of their land; soon enough Obama will use this level of force via mobs (at first) against the Christians and Jewish faiths here in the United States. God help us, or we will have a wave of steel and blood and fire set alight across the nation to rival the bloodbaths of many of histories greatest dictators and madmen.
Report Post »momrules
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 11:09amSnow…….People are so happy that there is an election coming, that maybe we can vote Obama out of office and things will be OK. I pray that I am wrong but I still believe that Obama will not leave office. Things have advanced too far under his administration to destroy America for him to stop now and his plans are not complete.
Report Post »bum
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:28amBUT HEY, feel free to build a mosque every 50 feet here in the states. You know, places like ground zero, we love it.
Report Post »EqualJustice
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 9:35amI know, right? WE are the only ones who have to be TOLERANT. Hey, even make up a word for us if we are not! “ISLAMAPHOBIA” How about CHRISTIANAPHOBIA? See, anyone can make up a word! I say we start throwing THAT word around every time they attack or disagree with us! :)
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 14, 2012 at 10:18am@EQUAL .. I love it … “CHRISTIANAPHOBIA” I am going to use it! THANKS!
OMG 2012!
Report Post »From Virginia
Posted on March 17, 2012 at 10:18pmI’ve heard it called Cristophobe.
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