All too often, Christians can’t get licenses to build churches, and then are punished for not having them. Islamic law forbids Christians to build new churches.
“Christians in Egypt Jailed for Worshipping in Unlicensed House,” Morning Star News, September 6, 2018:
(Morning Star News) – Authorities yesterday ordered 15 more days of jail for Christians arrested on Aug. 22 in Egypt for worshipping in a house without a permit, rights activists said.
After Muslim mobs demonstrated against the Virgin Mary and St. Mahrael church in Luxor Governorate, 435 miles south of Cairo, police accused five Coptic Catholics of worshipping without a permit, according to Coptic rights activist Safwat Samaan.
Police closed the church in Al-Zeneeqa village, in Esna, which has been holding worship services at the site for 18 years, according to Samaan. Five Muslims were also arrested, with another 10 arrested on Aug. 24 as they prepared another demonstration against the church, according to U.S.-based Catholic publications The Tablet.
The Copts were arrested even though they did not take any action against the demonstrators, the Catholic outlet reported. Besides charging the Christians with worshipping in an unlicensed venue, they charged them and the Muslims with illegal gathering, disrupting public peace and inciting sectarian strife, according to local media.
The church was the third one in Luxor closed in four months after Muslim extremists protested their existence, giving police the pretext of “security” threats for shuttering them. Hundreds of churches have submitted applications for legalization under a law passed on Sept. 28, 2016 regulating church construction, with little hope of obtaining licenses soon.
In the past 11 months, authorities approved only 220 of the 3,730 church and other ministry buildings that have applied, Watani newspaper reported on Aug. 26. Many churches have already waited 15 years for decisions on their applications for permits, and at the current rate, it will take 17 years to obtain decisions on applications from “unofficial” churches, according to Watani.
Human Rights Watch has described the 2016 law’s restrictions over construction and renovation of church buildings discriminating against Christians.
“The new law empowers provincial governors to approve church building and renovation permits, previously the domain of security services,” The Tablet reported. “However, it grants a governor the right to deny a building or renovation permit on security and public safety grounds, which allows mob violence to dictate the matter. Usually, such mob attacks serve as a pretext for closing the church, especially in upper Egypt where perpetrators act with impunity.”
In Beni Suef Governorate, a member of the security forces responsible for protecting St. George Church in Zaytoun village, some 75 miles south of Cairo, on Aug. 25 charged into their building and shouted, “You are infidels …All of you are infidels,” the Catholic outlet reported….
Guy Forester says
Any laws our court decisions that appear to protect non-muslims are strictly for show, with no intent to enforce them. I have met some very nice Egyptians at home and abroad. However, overall, Egypt is not our friend.
I would not recommend anyone to go there for tourism in the current political situation. I would also recommend that the US stop all financial aid to Egypt. I am sure that Russia and China would rush to fill in the gap, but would soon tire of the endless demands for support. It is a failed country. Let the wealthy OPEC neighbors bail them out.
When all is said and done, the only thing you can be sure of, is that Al Sisi will all he can to make sure his throne remains on top of the poop pile there.
Lydia Church says
That’s the thing, nothing can stop a true Christian from worshiping the true God!
If they martyr us for it, we will be worshiping Him in heaven right away!
We never lose.
For Love is Lord of All says
Ultimately, all fascist Islamic states are failures on so many levels. How could anyone expect a successful outcome for countries that follow the teachings of a murderer, rapist, sex slave owner, and child molester. I don’t think even Nazi Germany’s leader fit all those categories. It takes great
courage to peer into the darkness and horror of this twisted cult. Obviously, many
leaders of the still free world don’t posses
such courage.
Carol the 1st says
The Apostate Prophet will make it easier to decide between the two (but only if you must):
Hitler & Muhammad (Short)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs5C3iccSho
Rarely says
“Muslim force Church closed”. Not newsworthy. Too common like “Dog bites man”.
Now ” Muslims support opening of Church”. Newsworthy like “Man bites dog.”
gravenimage says
Egypt: After Muslim mobs demonstrate, Christians jailed for worshipping in unlicensed house
………………………..
God, I hate Islam.
And think how much worse things would be in Egypt if the Muslim Brotherhood was still in power. This is what “moderate” Muslims are like…
Muslim2018 says
This will continue until these copts pay the jizyah. This is what the Muslims need to lobby for so that they have the protections mandated under Islamic law. The men will not be allowed to join the army, only the man who is the head of the home pay the tax.
The prophet Muhammad (p) said in a narration, “Anyone who harms a person who is under protection he will not smell the fragrance of paradise.” Prophetic tradition.
This is the only system that will protect their places of worship etc. There has to be a covenant because as long as this doesn’t exist then they will always be viewed with suspicion, always be accused of working with the west to undermine Islam. Hence there needs to be a dhimmi contract for them.
boakai ngombu says
SHARIA is a slaver’s tool. the slaves of the allah god of islam (unknowable; the best of all deceivers) WILL NOT protect that which defiles them … such as Kafirs
so easy it is to violate the covenants and so easy it is to “encourage” another to violate the covenants
Muslim2018 says
If this was the case then there would be no Christianity in Egypt or in other lands in the Middle East for over 1,000 years so your claim is false.
FYI says
The Copts should NOT be forced to pay anything.
The Jizya tax is a form of islamic THEFT.It is like a protection racket:pay up.. or else..
It is in effect,STEALING, sanctioned by your moon god,allah the deceiver{ k3:54}in his commandment-of-God violating,theologically ludicrous,’holy’ book,enforced by the intellectually-challenged,religious mafia of the islamic murder cult.
Stealing,like murder,lying,adultery etc are concepts difficult for moslems to obey:that there are actual commandments condemning such evils and that these laws must be obeyed{the whole point of the Torah!!}, are beyond the capacity of the supremely ignorant islamic brain to even fathom.
Perhaps,since allah claims to have written the Bible{koran 3:3}, the moslem should follow allah’s advice given to muhammed in koran 10:94,that if in doubt,he is to consult the “scripture before thee”{the Bible}…
There you will see a formal listing of those essential Laws in Exodus 20:1-17.
Go back from the Bible{which allah claims to have written}to the koran{which allah claims to have written}:do you notice that allah teaches the EXACT OPPOSITE??
{thou shalt kill k2:191,may commit adultery k33:50,steal k48:20,lie k3:28 etc.So the laws of God revealed in the Bible are contradicted and negated,thus defeating the whole purpose of the Torah!!}?Can you see the problem with allah’s koranic errors in his “perfect” book that moslems,of course,say has no errors in it?
No?Too much cognitive dissonance for the islamic brain to fathom?
The warped commandment-of-God violating koranic teachings of allah defeat the whole purpose of the Torah!{which allah claims he wrote}
allah also claims {in koran 3:3 to have written the Gospel} so you would expect that moslems respect and understand that.But then allah{who is the author of the koran}curses Christians for believing in Jesus koran 9:30?
[But WAIT! allah wrote the Gospel didn’t he?koran 3:3.Did he write the ‘Lord of the Rings’ and’ war and peace’ too I wonder..since after all..allah claims to have written lots of things he never wrote]
The “prophet” muhammed you mention: Did you miss ABU DAWUD 4390,where perfect mo the mass-murderer had a great time butchering and HARMING the innocent,violating God’s 6th commandment{see allah’s advice to mo:read the Bible.}
mo also admitted,apparently ,to being a fraud and a false prophet
Al Tabari 6:111
A mass-murderer like perfect mo,who according to Abu dawud 4390,HARMED lots of innocent people, would surely not be smelling of fragrant Roses,would he?
[prophetic tradition]
It’s a shame perfect mo didn’t know any of God’s commandments, but then he couldn’t read{koran 7:157}: a fact that allah seems to have missed..
“WE shall make thee read o muhammed so that thou shalt not forget” k87:6
Perhaps if muhammed had READ and OBEYED those essential laws of God in the Torah{the revelation of which and the importance of OBEYING them are emphasised in the Bible..}History would have been different.
The problem with islam is that allah{who wrote the koran} totally CONTRADICTS the allah who claims he wrote the Bible.
Besides moslems wouldn’t know an actual prophet if they saw or heard one.
Muslim2018 says
Your interpretation of all the verses and hadith is false. It does not follow the criteria as understood by ijma (consensus) hence once people come to understand Islam and how it is interpreted they will gravitate towards the truth.
It seems you are coming from an Orientalist – Christian Missionary approach which have all been debunked.
Carol the 1st says
Muslim2018…Sounds like a great big fantasy AL CAPONE in the sky is the excuse for rapacious muslims to be self-deceiving and to coerce those who might otherwise choose simple decency to instead come along with them for the persecution games on fellow humans.
You shroud your evil from your own eyes with pretended ‘religious’ superiority. We are objective and see you quite clearly.
dumbledoresarmy says
The vile Dhimma system is a system of ABuse. pLain and simple. Extortion.
The lot of a dhimmi was HORRIBLE. It was a state of near-slavery, bought by crushingly extortionate payment of ‘protection money’.
The lot of a Dhimmi was one of humiliation, degradation, and continual physical peril. Their children were stolen, their wives and daughters raped and force-converted, and at any moment – spewing lies – the mohammedan despot or mohammedan mobs would fall upon them *anyway*, no matter *what* they did.
You are advocating absolute evil.
Let’s turn things around. How about we institute a dhimma-like system for Mohammedans in the west.
First rule: NO new mosques. You can’t build anY. You can’t fix any old ones – no paint, no plumbing repairs, no nothing.
Then: we get to shove you into the gutter if we pass you in the street.
Oh, and when you pay your exorbitant – too expensive for many to afford – ‘protection’ money each year – ransom money, more like – people get to kick you around, slap you and spit at you, wallop you on the back on the neck.
You’d like that? You think that would be just fine.
Oh, you don’t get to defend yourself, even if someone is trying to *kill* you or yours.
And your testimony doesn’t get heard in court, if you’re testifying against a non-Muslim.
Like that? Would you like to live like that? You wouldn’t? BUT.. THAT was what it was like to be a dhimmi, you vile apologist for evil.
I spit on the dhimma. It is one of the cruellest and most horrible systems of oppression, extortion and ABUSE ever invented by wicked men with which to make other human beings miserable.
Muslim2018 says
The jizyah is the only way in an Islamic society that will offer protection to the Christians. Only the male in the household pay it and it is only once a year far lower than the taxes in the west.
Berengaria says
Why won’t Christian Pastors or Catholic Priests speak up about the Plight of Christians All Over The World? We have a problem in the USA, too., the Christian Flock is not instructed in the Evil of Islam & given any indication of the Fate that awaits them. Most leave Church, thinking that the “Mosques are just Churches”. Unbelievable, that most Christians Do Not Want to even hear anything against GW Bush’s “Religion Of Peace”