Ok

By continuing your visit to this site, you accept the use of cookies. These ensure the smooth running of our services. Learn more.

19 October 2007

Why Do The Copts of Egypt Fear Friday?

By Jacob Thomas

 I noticed a very intriguing title of an article on the plight of the Christian community in Egypt : "Why Do the Copts of Egypt Fear Fridays?" The writer, himself an Egyptian now living in France , gave a realistic explanation that should stir our thoughts, and make us fully aware of the suffering of this brave minority. I share with the readers of FFI excerpts from the article, and follow with my analysis and comments.


"Islamists have taken upon themselves the responsibility to stoke the fires of religious discord and civil strife whenever they had been extinguished. The result is that Egypt becomes the victim, and both Muslims and Christians end up being the losers. It is quite evident that Islamists don't want the attacks against the Copts to stop.

"The last attack on the Copts took place on
Friday, 11 April, 2007 , in the village of Behma, of the El-'Ayat Township, in El-Giza Province . Rumors had spread that Christians were about to make an addition to their church building. Five hundred Islamists gathered, and attacked Christians in their homes and places of business. They shouted Allahu Akbar, as they embarked on their new ghazwa (conquest), resulting in the torching of 27 homes and places of business. They proceeded to loot the contents of the shops, taking all they could find of precious metals and jewelry. After all, why not engage in the plunder, having been assured by the Islamists' fatwas that the Christians' possessions were legitimate war booty?! Thankfully, they stopped at that point, and did not take Christian women captives as a prize of their ugly ghazwa; however, many Christians in that village were injured.

Why Afraid of Fridays?

"When I was in
Zurich, Switzerland, attending the "Conference on the Plight of Women and Minorities in the Middle East and North Africa ,"* an Egyptian Coptic correspondent told me, 'We Copts, worry about our own safety and possessions on Fridays, can you tell me why?' I answered her, 'Certainly, you must know that the Islamist virus has been spreading in Egypt , in our media, in our educational institutions, and in the Friday sermons at the mosques. Islamists have altered the very nature of the Friday sermons, changing them from messages on religious and moral issues that are meant to ennoble human beings by elevating their souls toward their Creator, and enabling them to become tolerant in their relations with their fellow human beings. On the contrary, the Friday sermons have become lessons in hatred and envy of the 'Other' declaring him to be a Kafir, and calling for war against the 'children of apes and pigs,' i.e. Christians and Jews. Thus when a Muslim leaves the mosque he has become like a time-bomb, ready to explode on any Christian he encounters on his way. This is why the Friday sermon has become a very dangerous matter.

"I don't know why we have never seen a Christian, who leaves his church on Sundays, goes ahead and sets fire to a Muslim house, or assaults a Muslim and kills him! I cannot understand why anyone who kills a Copt and burns his possessions nowadays is regarded as mentally ill! Actually, Islamists have succeeded in employing religion for their political goals. In my discussion with a historian of contemporary Egyptian history, he told me, 'The Muslim Brothers (al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun) regard Copts as an easy prey; so whenever the government arrests one of their members, they attack a church, or the Christian population. These acts come to the attention of the world public opinion, causing the Egyptian government to stop persecuting the Ikhwan. In other words, Islamists use the Copts as a means to get their members released from prison!'

"Whenever attacks on Christians take place, the Egyptian police seem to be absent! And when they finally appear at the scene, it is too late. By then the Islamists would have attacked Christians, beaten them, and robbed them of their goods. I remember when I was in Muharram Beik, Alexandria, a Muslim told me, not realizing that I was a writer, that a policeman who guarded a church building told the attackers, 'go ahead and attack the church, but only from its back door; then, I won't interfere with your act!'

"The Islamist International**
, under the leadership of Yousef al-Qaradawi, Rashed
Al-Ghanoushi, and Fahmi Houweidi,
issued fatwas allowing for the murder of women, children, and the unborn, in Israel. But they have been silent about the killing of civilian Muslims in
Morocco and Algeria , and equally silent about attacks on our Coptic brothers. These attacks receive the silent assent of the Islamist fuqaha who approve the killing of innocent Muslims and peaceful Christians, as long as the murderers are Islamists like themselves!


Analysis

The writer of the article draws the attention of the wide readership of Elaph to this unbelievable state of affairs in
Egypt, where Copts fear the advent of every Friday. This sixth day of the week has become the occasion for attacks on their persons, homes and property; almost immediately after the worshippers leave the mosques!

Comments

Many readers may find it difficult to see a connection between worship at a mosque and the destructive acts that follow. Actually, this has become a regular experience of many Christians in
Egypt. This is why Copts have come to dread Fridays.

I must confess that I was rather surprised to read these words from the article: "Islamists have altered the very nature of the Friday sermons, changing them from messages on religious and moral issues that are meant to ennoble human beings by elevating their souls toward their Creator, and enabling them to become tolerant in their relations with their fellow human beings."


The writer manifests an extremely idealistic picture of what a Friday khutba (sermon) should be. I have listened to many sermons broadcast over the airways from
Cairo, Riyadh , Rabat, and Damascus. The moral and spiritual elements within a typical Friday khutba are quite often, minimal. Rather, what the khateeb (preacher) proclaims is a list of the past glories of Islam, the ills that have befallen the Islamic world since the beginning of the 20th century, and a call for rallying the forces of Islam to regain their glorious past. Added to that, are the usual imprecations that are hurled against the enemies of Islam with a ferocious intensity!

Should we then be surprised that Muslim worshippers, whether in
Cairo , Alexandria, or Karachi, after having listened to a fiery preacher denounce the enemies of Islam, 'leave the mosque as a time-bomb, ready to explode on any Christian they may encounter on the road?'

*For information about some of the lectures delivered at the Zurich Conference, please consult the following articles posted on the FFI site: "Leaving the Muslim Brotherhood" posted on
14 April, 2007; and "A New Minority in North Africa " posted on 18 May, 2007.

**The Islamist International is a new term, reminiscent of a by-gone organization, "The Comintern," i.e. (The Third International that was formed in Moscow in 1919); which sought to spread Communism all over the globe. Events in the Islamic world, point to the rise of an Islamist International, grouping jihadist organizations, working together for a global jihad, and the resumption of the futuhat of early Islam. 

Source  www.Faithfreedom.org     

22:17 Posted in Egypt | Permalink | Comments (2) |  Facebook |

Comments

I believe you with the totality of my being, that Coptic Christians in Egypt are being persecuted. So many people are hated by radical Muslims, that it grieves me living in such a world. If I didn't know God was real and that God was a loving God, I would kill myself.

Everywhere in the world, Muslims accuse others of hating them when they are the ones who hate others, it is even in their religion to do so.

It grieves me that many Muslims believe that hating others is serving God. Why do Muslims think God is Satan? Only Satan demands obedience onto death, only Satan is a liar, an oppressor, an evil doer, and only Satan hates people. Hating non-Muslims is pure evil.

You can not argue with a billion man made killer bees. They believe they are right and the rest of the world is wrong. They are brainwashed as was Hitler and his people.

All that I wish is for the whole world to take notice of that Islam promotes hatred and wars. It uses every means of law to protect itself. It pretends it is innocent but it is the aggressor.

Hatred, violence, wars, are of Satan, not of God. God has mercy and compassion, and hatred does not reflect either. God created the universe and tenderly waited billions of years for the first flowers to grow.

Each person who resorts to deception, hatred, violence will be held accountable. They cannot use their scriptures as an excuse for their decisions. They cannot be held accountable by the world because the world is powerless. Indeed they will be held accountable by God.

For it is written that God cast out Satan from heaven and hurled him to the earth, soon afterwards, Islam rose to power believing it was God's servant for slaughtering non-Muslims. Satan also believed in God but Satan refused to care for people(bow down), is that not like Islam? Man who uses God to gain booty and slaves truly is Satan.

No matter how many they are, no matter how evil their tactics, Satan is going down. Don't think just because you cannot see God that God is blind to what is happening in our world, indeed, he knew thousands of years ago of these days, and He has prepared for it.

Satan will not win. Muslims who hate non-Muslims yet desires to overtake every nation on earth, will not win, for God will never give Satan, his world. God waited to dam long and worked to dam hard to let Satan destroy it. You can be sure God is with us, and you can be sure Satan has already lost.

God offers us peace, love and joy as well as compassion but hatred, violence, wars are of Satan. Those who butcher innocents, who love fraternal bonding to truth, will know the greatest deception of Satan has been Islam. The greatest evil is ignorance of being evil, and surely that is Muslims who hate and abuse non-Muslims.

Posted by: Whispered-Softly | 20 October 2007

When we quote the Koran to Muslims, they think we are hating them. We don't hate them, it is in their religion to hate us.

No other religion on earth promotes wars but Islam. It states kill the non-believer where you find them. It endorses all that your message has stated.

We don't hate them but they hate us. They cannot see it.

Dearest Coptic Christians of Egypt, you suffer greatly and I suffer with you. Please know that Jesus rose from the dead, to fulfill His eternal promise to be with you.

No prophet was to come after Jesus even Moses said a true prophet will be a Jew, make many miracles and make many prophecies for God to fulfill. Islam protrays non of these qualifications, and that is why they are on the defensive.

Therefore Know with the totality of your being that Jesus has overcome Satan. Know that Jesus is in our world, touching people through intuition, visions and dreams. Know that He is preparing the world for His return.

Ask the Father for the Holy Spirit to guide you in all things and to bring you comfort, because no matter how evil surrounds you to harm you, when you know the Lord is really with you to protect you and to guide you, you will experience immense love and joy even if those who persecute you and hate you, surround you with hate, anger and violence.

Long ago, you absorbed into your Homeland the first Apostles of the Lord, and you became a nation of Christians without a sword at your throat. In those days, you were taught how the Lord is with each person to guide them through intuition, dreams and visions, it is the same today. You need to know without any doubt the Lord is with you, is God almighty, and is on your side.
To the Muslims who come here, I would say to them : Those who show mercy will be shown mercy, but those who judge others will be judged.

I pray dear Coptic Christians who are outnumbered, who are at the mercy of the majority who exhibit only anger and hatred, Trust in the Lord, for your faith in Him has never been in vain. He is with YOU always! He is powerful, and He preforms miracles greater than parting the Red Sea. He is in our world and He knows exactly the hearts and minds of all people in all the world.

Trust in the Lord Jesus and continue in your faith, for God will soon end the hell that is in our world, and all those who are Satan's servants, and the Lord will restore you and your Loved Ones back to Paradise or Oneness with God. Your faith in the Lord has never been in vain, and you are keeping the world from being a pure living hell.

Blessings of Love and Joy to you, and may your hearts and minds open up to heaven within and may you perceive Christ' love and Joy for you.

Posted by: Whispered-Softly | 20 October 2007

The comments are closed.