One week before the bombing of St. Peter’s cathedral which left at least 25 Christians dead, hostility for Christian churches was being shown in the usual, less spectacular way. Egyptian authorities and politicians held a meeting sponsored by Al Azhar, the nation’s topmost authority on Islam, in the village of Naghameesh, Sohag. Those present included leading authorities, such the governor of Sohag and the security service.
The topic of discussion was the latest round of attacks on the Coptic Christian minorities of the village—who were beat and their properties looted and burned—because they were “illegally” praying and worshipping in a building that they had long used as the Church of St. George, before authorities shut it down.
As usual, the meeting highlighted the “brotherhood of all Egyptians”—Christians and Muslims—the need for them to get along, etc. But when it came to the question of giving their fellow Christian brothers the same right to worship that Egypt’s Muslims enjoy—especially now, when Coptic Christians are looking forward to celebrating Christmas mass—the majority of Muslim leaders and family members staunchly refused to permit the local Christians to assemble, pray and worship in the building, which must remain shut down.
They cited the well-known law of Islam that forbids the building and even renovation of churches wherever Islam holds sway. As usual, the governor of Sohag and other leading authorities did nothing to support the Christians and acquiesced.
One local Christian explained how they had been “using this building to pray in and offer charitable services for some time,” and how they had submitted all the necessary paperwork to register the building as a church, “but instead they illegally shut it down.” Wondered the unnamed Christian: “We don’t understand what is so dangerous about the Copts praying and exercising their legal rights in this matter.”
The Copts of Naghameesh are just one of many Christians who face countless legal restrictions and red tape bureaucracy designed to deny them the right to build a church to pray in. And on those very rare occasions when they do get the necessary paperwork signed off, Muslim mobs riot and attack Christians and burn their homes, which local authorities cite as reason to revoke the permit and keep peace in the village.
Soon after the meeting, Egyptian governmental figures boasted of how they are opening 10 new mosques every week; that 3,200 mosques are closed and in need of renovation and the government is currently working on 1,300 of them; that it will take about 60 million Egyptian pounds to renovate them and the government has allotted ten times as much, although a total of 3 billion will eventually be needed; and that the Egyptian government is dedicated to spending that much—for “whoever abuses public funds [which should be used for Islamic worship], enters a war with Allah,” in the words of Dr. Muhammad Mukhtar Gom‘a, Minister of Awqaf, or endowments.
But when the nation’s more than 10 million Christian minority seeks to build a church to worship in—and pay for it from their own pockets—all is woe in Egypt.
It should be remembered: the animus that always causes large Muslim mobs to form and torch buildings on the mere rumor that they are being used as churches, is the same animus that causes more “pious” Muslims to bomb churches.
Such is the plight of Egypt’s Christians.
I know why Christians praying is dangerous: ‘The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.’ James 5:16
Christians can pray and prayer is good but we also have to pray that US and the Western countries should stop backing the jihadists in the ME and beyond.
Please watch the video clip below as Clinton admits that US actually created Al-Qaeda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqn0bm4E9yw
U.S. Christian Groups Support Muslim Refugees, Ignore Persecuted Christians.
Shame on them! Read it below:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/261302/us-christian-groups-support-muslim-refugees-ignore-raymond-ibrahim
Excellent article Raymond Ibrahim. Keep them coming.
The US government gives Egypt foreign aid every year. For 2017, we are projected to give Egypt over $1bn dollars ($1,456,800,000 – to be exact). How about we tell the Egyptian governement that if they don’t protect and allow the Christian people to live in peace, then they won’t see anymore taxpayers money. Simple. I hope Trump admin steps up unlike the Omama admin.
That is exactly what is needed. Our western politicians must directly address these muslim attacks on christians worldwide. Starting with the OIC in the UN, making them responsible for the muslim wars.
America and the West, including Western “Christian” Churches keep baking and treating muslim jihadist mass-murderers as victims while ignoring to even lift a finger to help the persecuted Christians and other minorities in the islamic world. In fact, America who is arming and training various barbaric islamic ihadist groups in Syria and elsewhere in the world have consistently refused to arm the only Iraqi Christian militia known as (Dwekh Nawsha). Please read more of this on the link below:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/260821/dc-refuses-arm-persecuted-christians-fighting-isis-raymond-ibrahim
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/world/middleeast/egypt-isis-bombing-coptic-christians.html?_r=0
The sad thing is that UK, France and US along with head-chopping Saudis and the genocidal Turks are training, supporting and arming international jihadist mercenaries who could overthrow the Syrian president of Assad and his government and then the West want to replace him with the jihadists who will mass-murder the millions of Christians who are today protected under Assad’s government. There are few sensible people in both the US and the UK governments who want to stop this madness but they are hopelessly outnumbered. Please pray that the islamic jihadists backed by the West will not win the war in Syria. Please watch the video below as this US congress woman
tries to stop the US government from supporting the jihadists in Syria:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36431160
That does not surprise me at all. Copts had hope that Sisi would make things right for the Copts. After all they were the main reason for his enthroning Egypt. I kept telling them, he is Muslim and I do not trust any Muslim. The Cathedral is a very important Coptic Church. No one can convince me that the authorities in Egypt cannot protect a building. And that is not all. He promised that ALL ruined by the Muslims will be repaired by the State. He just go to the church once a year at the Coptic Christians 7th January to congratulate the simple loving Copts. And they fall in love with him. NOT ME. I need to see results.