Perilous
Times
'Exterminate Christians, close pyramids, Sphinx' - Rising
leader in Egypt has astonishing plans
Posted: August 29, 2011
8:43 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
A rising leader in the radical Islamic movement in Egypt that has
become a major political player since the demise of Hosni
Mubarak's regime says Christian churches may need to be blown up
and Christians exterminated to allow the advance of Islamic law,
or Shariah.
The comments come from Sheik 'Adel Shehato, a senior leader with
the Egyptian Islamic Jihad terrorist group. The sheik was jailed
in 1991 because of his positions but was released earlier this
year in the revolution that removed Mubarak from power.
His interview with the Egyptian daily Roz Al-Yousef was translated
by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
What's up with Islam? Read "Everlasting Hatred: The Roots of
Jihad" and find out
The sheik, a senior jihadist leader, responded to a question about
using violence against Christians, who make up a substantial
minority in Egypt.
"Are you against blowing up churches?" the newspaper interviewer
asked Shehato.
"Yes and no," he replied. "The Christian is free to worship his
God in his church, but if the Christians make problems for the
Muslims, I will exterminate them. I am guided by the Shariah, and
it stipulates that they must pay the jizya tax while in a state of
humiliation."
"These positions of yours frighten us, as Egyptians," the
interviewer said.
"I will not act [in ways] that contradict my faith just in order
to please the people. ... We say to the Christians, convert to
Islam or pay the jizya, otherwise we will fight you. The Shariah
is not based on logic but on divine law. That is why we oppose
universal, manmade constitutions."
MEMRI, which was founded in 1998 to monitor Middle East media, is
an independent, nonpartisan nonprofit group that has offices in
Washington, London, Rome, Jerusalem, Baghdad, Shanghai and Tokyo.
Advisers include winners of Nobels, the President Medal of Freedom
and the U.S. Congress Gold Medal, such as Elie Wiesel, James
Woolsey, John Bolton, John Ashcroft, William Bennett, Paul Bremer,
Alan Dershowitz and Edgar Bronfman.
Among the many assertions made by the senior Islamic leader was
that the Egyptian pyramids need to be closed down to tourists.
"There will be tourism for purposes of [medical] treatment, but
the tourism sites of the pyramids, the Sphinx, and Sharm Al-Sheikh
will be shut down, because my task is to get people to serve Allah
rather than people. No proud Muslim will ever be willing to live
off tourism profits, because the tourists come to drink alcohol
and fornicate. [If they] want to come, they must comply with the
conditions and laws of Islam. We will explain to them that,
according to the Shariah, the pyramids are [from] a pagan and
polytheistic age."
He continued with a description of the new state of arts and
culture in Egypt, should he be in power.
"In Islam, there is no such thing as art. Painting, singing, and
dancing are forbidden. Therefore, in the state there will be
nothing but Islamic culture, for I cannot teach the infidel
culture. … We will return to the decent culture of the Muslims and
the Muslim forefathers, and to Islamic history," he said.
The far-reaching interview included his plans for worldwide
government.
"As Muslims, we must believe that the Quran is our constitution,
and that it is impossible for us to institute a Western democratic
regime," he said. "I oppose democracy because it is not the faith
of the Muslims. … According to Islam, it is forbidden for people
to rule and to legislate laws, as Allah alone is ruler. Allah did
not hand down the term [democracy] as a form of rule, and it is
completely absent from the Arab and Islamic lexicon."
He said, "Once Allah's law is instated (sic), the role of the
people will end and Allah will reign supreme."
A leader like himself would have no need to know what people want,
he said.
"There is no consultation [by government leaders] with commoners,
such as workers and fellahin, nor is there consultation over
issues that contravene the Shariah," he said.
Muslims such as Mubarak who led Islamic nations but without strict
adherence to Shariah were apostate, he warned.
"They are apostate infidels, as opposed to infidels like the Jews
and Christians, and anyone who doubts that they are infidels is an
infidel," he said.
Especially, he warned, Muslims must be wary of Christians and
cannot be friends.
"I must support the Muslim and oppose the Christian," he said. "If
there is a Christian who does me no harm, I will maintain limited
contact with him. Islam [discusses] certain degrees of contact
with the Christian, namely: keeping promises, dealing honestly
with him, treating him kindly, and befriending him. The first
three are allowed, but the fourth is deemed dangerous, for it
contravenes the verse that says, 'O you who believe! Do not take
my enemy and your enemy for friends…"
A worldwide Islamic kingdom, he explained, is a given.
"Of course we will launch a campaign of Islamic conquest
throughout the world. As soon as the Muslim and Islam control
Egypt and implement the Sharia, we will turn to the neighboring
regions, Libya and Sudan to the south. All the Muslims in the
world who wish to see the Shariah implemented worldwide will join
the Egyptian army in order to form Islamic battalions, whose task
will be to bring about the victory …
He said international relations will be simple.
"There are Muslims and there are infidels. We will have
ambassadors in every country. We want to call all other countries
to join Islam, and that will be the task of the ambassadors. If
[they] refuse, there will be war," he said.
We previously reported jihadists are boasting of the "paradise"
the region is becoming since Mubarak was removed from power.
Additionally, there have been reports of a on a growing possibly
jihadi threat not only inside the United States, but inside the
U.S. government.