The cross is an affront to Islam. The Qur’an claims that Jesus was not crucified, although in somewhat equivocal language for what is supposed to be the perfect word of an omniscient god:
“And their saying, ‘Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.’ And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but another was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.” (4:157)
And a hadith depicts Muhammad saying: “The Hour will not be established until the son of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you as a just ruler, he will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizya tax. Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it (as charitable gifts).” (Bukhari 46.37.2476)
This means he will destroy Christianity (break the cross), force the Christians to obey the Islamic food laws (kill the pigs) and end the second-class dhimmi status (abolish the jizya) that Islamic law specifies for Christians, such that they will either have to convert to Islam or be killed.
In any case, many Coptic Christians have cross tattoos, and many are in danger if Muslims see them.
Why does the al-Sisi regime allow this, even as it has pledged to protect Egypt’s Christians? Either al-Sisi cannot stop this ongoing Muslim persecution of Christians, or he will not. If he cannot, then he is a weak and ineffective ruler. If he will not, it may be that he is practicing steam control, as did Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak before him. That is, despite his affirmations of support for the Christian community, he could be quietly allowing this escalating Muslim persecution as a way to placate the pro-Muslim Brotherhood elements within Egypt, and to keep them from turning in force against his regime.
Meanwhile, Christian leaders in the West largely remain silent about this ongoing persecution, so as not to harm the “dialogue” they’re enjoying with Muslim leaders that has thus far not prevented one Christian from being persecuted or one church from being attacked.
“Leave them; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14)
“Egypt: Sinai militants pledge to ‘kill more Copts’ after murdering man over cross tattoo,” World Watch Monitor, January 15, 2018:
Militants belonging to the ‘State of Sinai’ group in Egypt have promised to “kill more Copts” after murdering a 27-year-old Coptic man because of the tattoo of a cross on his wrist.
Bassem Herz Attalhah, also known as Haythem Shehata, was on his way home from work in El-Arish, capital of North Sinai governorate, on Saturday evening (13 January), with his brother Osama and neighbour and friend Mohamed, when they were stopped by three armed men, aged between 23 and 25.
“We thought they were policemen because they weren’t masked… They were wearing black jackets,” Osama, 38, told World Watch Monitor. “They approached us and asked Bassem to show them the wrist of his right hand, and when they saw the tattoo of the cross, they asked him: ‘Are you Christian?’ Bassem answered ‘Yes, I am Christian’, and repeated that again in a loud voice.”
The men then asked Mohamed his name and made him show his wrist. When they saw he had no tattoo, he was allowed to leave.
Then they turned to Osama.
Osama is a common name, also among Muslims, and the men didn’t know he was Bassem’s brother.
“Bassem told them that I had children,” Osama recalls. “They asked me to show them the wrist of my right hand and, when they didn’t see any cross, they thought that I was Muslim.” The men didn’t see the cross that Osama has tattooed on the top of his hand because it was hidden under his sleeve.
“They fired two shots on the ground close to my legs and asked me to leave,” he recalled. “And then they shot Bassem in the head. I could not believe what happened to my brother. He fell on the ground in front of me and I was unable to do anything.”
On his way to find help, Osama says his legs gave way from the shock. Their mother, upon hearing the news, fainted and had to be taken to hospital.
“We lost a person dear to our hearts. My brother Bassem was a very good and kind man. He had a strong relationship with God. He was always reading in the Bible, praying and going to the church. He was loved by all people,” Osama said.
String of killings
When Bassem’s close friend Milad Wasfi heard he had been killed, he couldn’t believe it and called his friend’s phone. His call was answered, but not by his friend.
“The terrorists answered me and said they belong to State of Sinai and promised to kill more Copts before they put down the phone,” he told World Watch Monitor.
Scores of Coptic Christian families left for Ismailia and Suez, about 200km away, after a string of killings in El-Arish last year – including one incident where a woman witnessed her husband and son killed by a gunman who then ticked them off an IS hit-list. In March 2017 it was estimated that 70 per cent of the 160 Coptic Christian families living in the city had left.
Bassem, Osama and their parents had been among those who fled the city. Struggling to find work in Ismailia, however, the two brothers left for Cairo, and when things did not work out for them there either, they decided to return to El-Arish in September….
RichardL says
many Egyptian Christians, especially the younger, have crosses tattooed on their wrist, where thumb meets the wrist to be precise. I once saw a girl at Cairo’s only mixed swimming pool, the oddly named Muhammad Ali Club on the Nile, who had a big (10 inches) Coptic cross on the back of her neck and back.
It takes a lot of courage to display your Christian faith to everyone and my observations are that it is more common in richer Christians (because being rich offers protection) or in local strongholds of Christianity like Shobra and Mokattam.
J D S says
Murder! Rape! Theft! Slavery! and on and on with the problems that I see in Islam. Any religion that promote the things should be driven from the face of the earth.
MFritz says
Another day another crime against Christians in Egypt. While our media remains silent and our politicians do nothing.
Infidel says
And the mad Pope is shockingly silent and washes the feet of these horrible Muslims. SHAME ON HIM for not even as much raise an eyebrow on these murders…But the Pope will be the first person to preach Christianity to Hindus like me.. when Hindus would NEVER DO such a thing to Christians. All the Christian channels in India will now pretend as if nothing has happened and spend their entire day preaching Christianity to Hindus… But they dare not convert even a single Muslim…
WorkingClassPost says
Yes, fear has made him madder than mohamed.
esther aron says
it’s worse than you imagine – INFIDELJI—–the fact that Christian proselytizing is sorta legally
frowned upon in India is a matter of IINTENSE CRITICISM by many many Christians—–described
as “HINDU PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS” indignantly in many Christian publications——but the
forced conversions and destruction of hindu temples and artifacts ——–does not get so much as a
mention. Sorry—–but face the facts of the overt CONCILIATION offered by your very own most
prominent leaders. I am, by no means, suggesting a PAY BACK——but a little intellectual response
seems logical to me——–nothing wrong with hindu proselytizing IMHO
CRUSADER says
Jesus is mentioned more than Mohamhead is in the Quoran….
Jesus is to have worked miracles, not Mohamhead….
Jesus is to come back at the appointed time in the End of Days, not Mohamhead….
Hmmm……
gravenimage says
CRUSADER, the Muslim “Jesus”–really, “Isa”–is nothing like the Jesus of the Gospels. His main role in Islam is to *kill Christians*.
CRUSADER says
Oh, well, the bit about Jesus in the Quoran was enough to convert this fellow:
==========================================================
Imam converts after reading about JESUS in the QUORAN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI24GM28QLs#action=share
Muslim Imam converts away from Islam after reading about Jesus in the Quran!
LeftisruiningCanada says
I’d certainly say that the Lord used the koran, despite it’s many lies about Jesus, to draw this man away from islam. But he doesn’t mention converting or ‘accepting’ Jesus until having also studied the New Testament, specifically the first chapter of John.
That’s a great video Crusader, thanks for posting it up here. I like that guy very much. Life from death indeed!
Ibrahim needs this!
mortimer says
Crime: walking while Christian.
THIS IS GENOCIDE.
gravenimage says
That’s exactly what it is, Mortimer. And this is happening to Christians in Muslim lands all over the Levant, the Mahgreb, and the Middle East.
LeftisruiningCanada says
‘nother sh*thole where only the criminals are free to walk around armed and attacking the law abiding.
disgusting evil beasts, hand puppets of satan, tools of depravity, ghouls, demons in men’s flesh dripping with condensed hatred and burning with black fires of anger.
can’t wait until all this is thrown into the pit to enjoy itself for ever.
gravenimage says
Egypt: Muslims murder Christian for having cross tattoo, vow to “kill more Copts”
………………….
This poor man and his family. This horror should not surprise, though.
As for the Cross tattoo, this is quite common among Copts, and is used to show the depth of one’s Christian convictions. Here is one example:
http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c5bb353ef015392fe6df2970b-pi
Having one’s non-Muslim faith tattooed on one’s body in Dar-al-Islam is an act of incredible bravery.
LeftisruiningCanada says
+1
Lydia Church says
If I were there I would get one too, and I’m totally against tattoos, but just for putting a permanent cross on display as they do, I would do the same.
Either way I’m branded as belonging to Jesus.
I wear crosses all the time, and not only the small kind either, and will do so no matter where I am in the world. My Christian faith is public and NOT hidden in any closet!
DHazard says
Christian genocide just doesn’t matter to Muslim loving morons. They do not care about PEOPLE. They care about their own IDEAS. Muslims are a part of their victim story where Christians, males and white people in general don’t matter.
Manny says
Good Lord, may he Rest In Peace. A real martyr. Not the fake killing kind that Islam produces.
Twerzig says
And a good kind man.
George Joseph says
Hello everyone, please listen,
The quote from Koran used by Robert in this article is enough to prove that the Koran is fraudulent, for two solid reasons. I shall explain.
The Koran quote is: “And their saying, ‘Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.’ And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but another was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.” (4:157)
Now, Mo (Allah) is allegedly quoting the Jews as saying this. But the Jews, as a custom, always name the father of the child and not the mother. They will never say “son of Mary” but “son of Joseph”. This clearly shows that Muhammad, who had heard a lot about Jesus from Christians of Arabia, had quoted the Christians and attributed it to the Jews without realising the subtleties of theology involved here. He just blundered. If the Jews really left out Joseph and used to say “son of Mary”, then they would have been admitting to the virgin birth of Jesus.
Secondly, would any Jew with intelligence say “we have killed the ‘Messiah?” They might say “we have killed Jesus”. If the Jews believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and that he was a messenger of God, it would have been madness on their part to kill him. Remember that the Messiah had a higher status than even the Prophets. And the Jews of the First Century and their forefathers, had been waiting for the Messiah’s arrival for more than 400 years.
So, this clearly proves that the quote from the Koran is just gibberish without any historical or theological underpinning. Clearly, these are the words of a confused, ignorant Muhammad.