“It’s not that they’re bad because they’re Muslims,” he said. “Our problem was with their teaching of Islam.”

No, the problem is with the teaching(s) of Islam. Two letters, big difference. By asking for equal rights he'd challenged the dhimma - under Islam he had it coming. As for torture, well didn't the Prophet of Peace do just that on at least one occasion?

Posted by: Interested at January 13, 2006 7:04 AM

This story of Majed El Shafie is inspiring and reminds me very much of the persecution of the early Christians.

Even the reference,
"It was literally an underground church, worshipping in caves near the outskirts of the city.",
is reminiscent of the catacombs in Rome.

His final message to all governments that persecute Christians,

“The persecuted Christians are dying, but they’re still smiling. They’re in a deep mine, but they’re holding the light of the Lord. You can kill the dreamer, but you can’t kill the dream.”,

could have come from the lips of a Christian 2000 years ago as they died for their faith in the Roman Colliseum.

These Muslim apostates often show incredible courage and faith, like the recent martyr Ghorban Tori.
They provide a lesson in true faith, hope and Christianity to we pampered western Christians.

Posted by: Mike_W at January 13, 2006 7:38 AM

This is a case where the word "martyr" is not being prostituted unlike the traditional islamic use of the word to describe someone who dies purely to be able to kill others.

I have no faith but i can admire those who are willing to die for theirs. But only if it is for a pacifist relgion and not one of constant opportunistic and pragmatic violence.

People like this give me hope that the world may not be doomed.

Posted by: Zathras at January 13, 2006 8:34 AM

it is through education that these muslims will leave their religion or totally change it, either way torture and or death will await for those who are truly brave! Naseem where do you stand on this?
do you pray for those who chose to leave this cult of death you call islam?

Posted by: Lulu at January 13, 2006 9:00 AM

Mr. El Shafie is a very strong man who suffered under *real* persecution. CAIR should be ashamed of itself for its allegations of "backlash against Muslims" in light of what this man and other Christians go through in Muslim countries.

Doubtful that CAIR would ever feel shame, though.

Posted by: Darius LaMonica at January 13, 2006 9:06 AM

What a brave young man.....where can I send a donation to help his cause

Posted by: marilyn at January 13, 2006 10:08 AM

It’s not that they’re bad because they’re Muslims...

Huh?

With Christian Martyrs like this, who needs lions? This guy sounds like a real battler.

He's probably on his knees right now in front of a bench of Moslems, working his way down the line doing the toenails of each.

Posted by: Alarmed Pig Farmer at January 13, 2006 10:18 AM

And this is the country that the United States gives the 2nd largest aid package to every year for over thirty years, The aid package (jizya tax) is nearly 2 billion dollars a year which amounts to nearly a 50 billion jizya tax since the mid 70s'.

I can still see the meeting between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and President Bush at his Texas ranch around a year and a half ago. Mubarak smiling for the cameras and waiting for his annual jizya gift.

And what do we really get for it? Persecution of Coptic Christians,persecution and death for muslims trying to convert to Christainity,no real evidence of any democratic reform (jizya tax request), and now with the Gaza strip giving an access gate to the Palestinians, weapons are passing through the Philadelphi Gate . It was supposed to help with stability in the region (naught). and allow US ships to pass through the Suez Canal(such generosity). Let us remember that The ringleader Mohammed Atta and four of the 9/11 hijackers came from Egypt.

These funds clearly are not being earmarked for what was required even though part of it was to keep a peace treaty in place with Israel and now that is in violation with the opening of the Gaza strip between Egypt and Palestinians.

Posted by: Mackie at January 13, 2006 10:32 AM

I live in Toronto and unfortunately, have never heard of Majed El Shafie or One Free World Ministries. I have bookmarked his website and will follow it. It appears mainstream media (are you listening CBC) have ignored this issue, it doesn't fit their worldview after all.

Posted by: johnb at January 13, 2006 10:46 AM

An uplifting story.

You see? There's still hope.

Posted by: Chatillon at January 13, 2006 1:31 PM

Clearly the billions Egypt receives from the U.S is money well spent.

Posted by: leelion at January 13, 2006 2:31 PM

This is a very inspiring story. Human beings like Majed El Shafie should bring hope to all persecuted Christians, Buddhists, Hindus & other minorities living in Muslim countries.
The Western governments should be 'bombarded' with all the atrocities committed against minorities especially Christians in countries such as Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia & so on and request that they contribute what is given to these governments as aid to the Christian communities. After all its Christian tax payers money, the government doles out to these Muslim countries.
I doubt whether anyone in the West will object to helping out the discriminated Christians communities in Muslim lands.
After all, take a look at the Saudis who dole out our Petro-dollars to Muslims living in the west to undermine our countries and they give only to encourage Muslims in the West to wage war, to build their Mosques and to hate groups like MCB, MAB, CAIR in the guise of human rights organizations.

Posted by: faqi at January 13, 2006 2:41 PM

“The persecuted Christians are dying, but they’re still smiling. They’re in a deep mine, but they’re holding the light of the Lord. You can kill the dreamer, but you can’t kill the dream.”

And they are being willfully ignored by Western governments and media. As an example, the genocide of Christians in Sudan was hidden by the media and Western governments for well nigh 20 years. And yet the the massacres in Darfur came to light in a matter of months. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that if the refugees in Dafur had been Christians, any but the most diligent would have heard of them.

Such is the visceral hatred of Christianity by the liberal media that it is hard to avoid the suspicion that liberals and secularists are ashamed of the fact that all their cherished beliefs are a product of the Christian faith in action.

For sometime now I have advocated The Barnabus Fund. This is one of the few organisations that supports Christians in muslim nations.

Posted by: DP111 at January 13, 2006 5:31 PM

"What a brave young man.....where can I send a donation to help his cause"
Marilyn, send you donation to Barnabas Fund:

http://www.barnabasfund.org/archive/Egypt/15nov05.htm

Posted by: Polish infideless at January 13, 2006 5:58 PM

And while you are on the Barnabas Fund website the book Islam in Britain is still available and is well worth a read.
http://www.barnabasfund.org/islaminbritain.htm
The methodology applies to other countries, not just UK.

Posted by: Granny Weatherwax at January 13, 2006 6:13 PM

I have highlighted the persecutuion of Christians in muslim nations for a long while. This brings to mind Mark Steyn's article -It's the Demography, Stupid - The real reason the West is in danger of extinction.

Europe by the end of this century will be a continent after the neutron bomb: The grand buildings will still be standing, but the people who built them will be gone. We are living through a remarkable period: the self-extinction of the races who, for good or ill, shaped the modern world.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110007760

The thrust of Steyn's article is well known to most of us in JW/DW. The main criticism of this article is that he does not indicate what if any solutions there are to the problem. He fails to recognise that the problem was caused by us allowing muslim immigration and the solution lies in turning it back by some manner. Instead he advocates that Western women try to compete with muslim women in the baby stakes.

I cannot see anyway that our declining birth rates can be reversed - free women will not agree to become baby factories as muslim women are. In fact, even if they could, they could never compete with islamic ones. All that will do is to postpone the inevitable.

A solution is to recognise that there is indeed a dar-ul-islam ie a geographic location for historic islam, and then an exchange of populations - muslims in the West for persecuted Christians in islamic ones. Hard policy option but this is the most benign of them all and solves most of the current problems including the one of this thread.

Faced with deportation to dar-ul-islam, I'm confident that most muslims will become Christian. No doubt of it.

Posted by: DP111 at January 13, 2006 7:31 PM

DP111,

"A solution is to recognize that there is indeed a dar-ul-islam ie a geographic location for historic islam, and then an exchange of populations - muslim in the West for persecuted Christians in islamic ones."

It's a great idea, but it will never happen. The Moslems in the USA have the freedom to move around and use our laws against us. They have made no bones about their goal to take over the entire earth, including the US, so why would they even think about becoming Christians? Their blind arrogance fuels their determination and as they have no concept of charity, mercy or forgiveness, the idea of Christianity would be foreign to them.

True Christianity demands self discipline, self sacrifice and love of one's neighbor. Islam has to implement every kind of outward restriction to maintain any kind of order. There is no love of neighbor, no compassion, no doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. If people are brainwashed into a "religion" with a superiority complex and no humanity, what would possibly make them want to change?

The idea of sacrifice and laying down one's life for a friend is all over the place in Christian literature. My favorite example of this is when Sidney Carlton in Dicken's, "A Tale of Two Cities," trades places with Lucy Manet's husband because Sidney loves her and her family, and he willingly gives his life so that she will not be heartbroken over the loss of her husband. He realizes it is the one thing he can do to show his true love for her and allow her to be happy with the man that she truly loves. And it is not lost on Lucy when she realizes what Sidney has done for her and her family.

Wow.

In everything we've read here or in other links about Islam and in the Koran itself, has anything like that sentiment shown itself? Naseem goes on and on about beauty and tolerance and whatever when it comes to Islam, but she never gives any good examples of true love, charity, humility, self sacrifice. I do have a vivid image in my mind of a picture in a link someone posted here a few weeks ago. It was a middle aged Moslem woman, buried up to her stomach, crying her eyes out and three Islamic men methodically covering her up with dirt, going about their work as if they were putting in a garden. What could she possibly have done to deserve a sentence like that? But then, does poor little 17 year old Nazanin deserve to be hanged because she defended herself against rape by killing one of the three paramilitary pukes who tried to rape her and her 16 year old niece? Where is the compassion there? And where is Naseem to decry this foul behavior of her beloved Islam? She can't, because she knows only too well that these incidents are the norm, not the exception.

But here's to the strength of martyrs everywhere and for all times, who understand that those who live by the sword will surely die by the sword but that the spirit of these martyrs and their precious souls are worth guarding at all costs, even if it costs their very lives.

WE must teach our children well.

Posted by: Isabellathecrusader at January 13, 2006 9:50 PM

I find it sickening that this story is not being widely reported in the media.

Posted by: Kafir Nonbeliever at January 14, 2006 1:06 AM

Kafirr,

Get used to it. There have been stories like this for years. One of the posters above was exactly right. The Sudan conflict has been going on for 25 years and western media sources glossed it as "ethnic." It wasn't and it isn't. Step on a Muslim's toe, and you get nailed. Crap on a Christian, well, he should just learn his place. The same bill of goods was sold to the US public regarding Serbia.

For the holidays now, we don't give out gifts but make donations with the money we would spend to such causes. It seems rather silly to buy gifts for people who by and large are out ther ebuying you gifts. How is that gratuity or grace? Certainly starving and persecuted people from which we can never really get anything substantial in return would benefit far more.

Posted by: American_Palamite at January 14, 2006 1:36 AM

Please someone videotape this meeting and make it available on the net,or at least make it available.

Posted by: mark52 at January 14, 2006 2:49 AM

You can read more about Al-Shafie and the persecution of Egypts Christians at: http://www.copts.net/detail.asp?id=598

http://www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/na.cgi?nationalupdates/060112coptic

http://www.cjnews.com/viewarticle.asp?id=6493

http://www.fltimes.com/main.asp?SectionID=38&ArticleID=10730&SubSectionID=121

Posted by: Provoslavni at January 14, 2006 3:54 AM

Alarmed Pig Farmer:

Re: "It’s not that they’re bad because they’re Muslims..."

This is a man that is able to distinguish between the Sin and the Sinner and not lose his true Christian love for the latter.

Just as the Lord prayed "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" on behalf of those who tortured and crucified Him, Majed El Shafie understands that his torturers are blinded and decieved by Islam into to thinking they are doing what their god wants. Remember, most of those who secretly worshipped with him were ex-Muslims.

Following Christ's command to Love his enemies, bless those who curse him and pray for those who persecute (Matt. 5:44), El Shafie does not see them as bad, only as he was himself before escaping the darkness of Islam. I am sure nothing would bring him greater joy than to embrace all of them as they leave Islam.

This man is a true living martyr who should be honoured, not just by Christians, but by everyone who respects human decency.

Above: I posted links to some websites with more details about his tortute and his current stuggle on behalf of persecuted religious minorites.

Posted by: Provoslavni at January 14, 2006 3:59 AM

I found these photos of the 1968 apparitions of the Virgin Mary at the Coptic church in Zeitoun, a suburb of Cairo, interesting.

http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Religion/Zeitoun.html

Posted by: Mike_W at January 14, 2006 7:09 AM

Wow, Mike, that's awesome.

What will it take for people around the world and at this site to understand this is not a political problem? This is a fight between good and evil and we cannot fool ourselves into believing that the good ole' US of A will come through like it did during WWII and annihilate the enemy. We are not the same people as our parents and grandparents who fought that war. We do not believe the same way they did and we do not have the moral aptitude to take on this enemy the way we think, at this time. This fight won't just be about bombs and swords. It's about beliefs and ideas and so many of the kids who will be of fighting age shortly, who are coming up behind us, don't have any. They stand for nothing. They believe in nothing. When faced with an enemy that is stronger than they are and when the confusion of terror is upon them, what will prevent them from submitting?

We may be approaching our final hour. The signs are there and there are instructions from Our Lady to help us combat this terrifying evil. She told us what to do when she appeared at Fatima in 1917. She told us WWI would end soon if the people prayed to God but that if they did not turn from their evil ways an even worse war would come upon the earth. She said people would know it was coming by strange lights over Europe at night. There was an Aurora Borealis over western Europe a month before Hitler invaded Poland. If you don't believe me. look it up. Go back and check out the Miracle of the Sun that took place in and around Fatima, Portugal on October 13, 1917. It was well documented in the secular newspapers of the time.

For those of you who are tired of hearing about "superstition and phony religiosity" (from another post at Jihad Watch) why don't you offer something better? Why don't you offer an answer?

BTW, if you look at a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe, she is standing on the Islamic crescent. "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; she shall CRUSH THY HEAD, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel." Genesis, 3:15

Posted by: Isabellathecrusader at January 14, 2006 10:39 AM

The atmosphere of fanaticism preceding the appearance of our Lady was incredible. Muslims before the 1967 defeat believed that they will annihilate the Copts soon after they finish off the Jews. The motto of the day was: “today the Saturday people; tomorrow the Sunday people.” Coptic homes and businesses were marked with black crosses and "T" shapes in anticipation of the glorious genocide to follow.

Complete and utter Israeli victory brought down the mood for the celebratory blood-lust fest and the spectacular appearance of the Virgin which was accompanied by many miraculous healings of both Christians and Muslims finished off the bloody exuberance.

Posted by: have_mercy at January 15, 2006 5:31 PM

A small Coptic man was setting inside the Cairo metro reading a collection of Miracles performed through the late Pope, Cyril the sixth of Alexandria. A huge Muslim man, a scary looking fellow walked into the Metro and sat across the little Coptic man. The Muslim man was of incredible size and girth, sporting the typical fashions of a highly devout Muslim, i.e a fanatic. He leaned over, paused and then asked the small Coptic man who must have been put off by his appearance and his interest in the book he was reading: do you know what our Lord Issa (the Muslim prophet name for Jesus Christ) greatest miracle. The Coptic man pondered and answered, resurrecting the dead, walking on water, etc. Each time the Muslim would say that is not it. When the Coptic man asked what was it then? The Muslim replied: “Isaa’s greatest miracle that there are Copts left in Egypt!”

Posted by: have_mercy at January 15, 2006 5:44 PM