Christians asked to bow in submission to Allah - 'We are in the extreme minority in the crowd, it is intimidating'
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Feb 22, 2011, 1:33:57 AM2/22/11
to Bible Prophecy News
Faith Under Fire......
Christians asked to bow in submission to Allah - 'We are in the
extreme minority in the crowd, it is intimidating'
Posted: February 21, 2011
9:46 am Eastern
By Aaron Klein
JERUSALEM – In what Egypt's Christians fear may be a sign of things to
come, a senior Islamic cleric asked Christians to bow in Muslim prayer
in an act of submission to Allah.
On Friday, famed Egyptian theologian Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a spiritual
leader to the Muslim Brotherhood who hosts a popular Islam-themed
television show on Al Jazeera, led the Islamic prayer services in
Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of Egypt's uprising.
While he repeatedly offered nods to Egypt's Coptic Christians,
unmentioned in most news media accounts of the ceremony was that
Qaradawi asked all in attendance, specifically singling out
Christians, to bow in Islamic prayer.
A Coptic Christian at the event said that the request was
intimidating.
"Whether he meant to or not, this was asking Christian to bow in an
act of submission to Islam and Allah," said the Christian, who asked
that he named be withheld.
"There were maybe 250,000 people at the rally. Almost all were
Muslims. So when we (Christians) are asked to bow, and we are in the
extreme minority in the crowd, it is intimidating."
The Christian witness said thousands of Christians in attendance at
the rally did not bow.
A Coptic Christian leader said that he believes Qaradawi's request may
reflect a larger emerging Islamic role in Egypt.
Qaradawi's speech was, in part, focused on political Islam, replete
with his quoting verses of the Quran.
While he asked the entire rally to bow in Islamic prayer, he also used
his speech to reassure the Christian minority of their place in Egypt,
telling the crowd that "in this square sectarianism died."
He discarded the customary Islamic clerical opening of "Oh Muslims,"
in favor of "Oh Muslims and Copts."
He praised Muslims and Christians for standing together in Egypt's
revolution and even hailed what he called the Coptic Christian
"martyrs" who once fought the Romans and Byzantines.
Then he asked the Christians to bow in Muslim prayer.
"I invite you to bow down in prayer together," he said.
Egyptian Christians fear implementation of Islamic law
Qaradawi had been a vocal opponent of deposed Egyptian rule Hosni
Mubarak. He has lived in exile in Qatar for decades. His return to
Egypt is seen as evidence of a change in favor of the Muslim
Brotherhood.
He is banned from entering the United States and Britain for his
support of violence against Israel and American forces in Iraq.
Last week, we reported that members of the Coptic Christian community
in Egypt quietly met with U.S. officials to object to the inclusion of
the Muslim Brotherhood in a committee that is forming a new Egyptian
constitution.
Egypt's ruling military council last week appointed a committee to
amend the Egyptian constitution. The new committee consists of eight
members, including Sobhi Saleh, a lawyer and a senior member of the
Muslim Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood seeks to establish Islamic law in Egypt. Both Hamas
and al-Qaida are violent offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood.
A top source in Egypt's Coptic Christian community told WND he and
other Coptic Christians held a meeting last Monday with officials at
the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to raise objections about the inclusion of
the Brotherhood in the constitutional committee.
The source said the Christian community pointed out that the official
Muslim Brotherhood charter, amended in 2007, calls for the imposition
of Islamic law in Egypt.
Among other things, the charter, states that non-Muslims cannot hold
government positions and must pay to the state the jizya, or special
Islamic protection tax.
The constitutional committee held its first meeting on Tuesday with
the president of Egypt's military council. It is mandated to complete
its work within 10 days, with a referendum on the amended constitution
to take place within two months.
Reawakened terrorist wing
We were the first to report an Egyptian Islamist terrorist
organization founded by the Muslim Brotherhood is re-establishing
itself amid the political upheaval in Cairo.
Both Egyptian and Israeli security officials said the group, Al-Gama'a
al-Islamiyya, is being reconstituted at the direction of the Muslim
Brotherhood.
The officials affirmed Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya serves as the de facto
"military" wing of the Brotherhood, which originally founded the
group.
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya is suspected of involvement in the 1981
assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, and it took credit
for the 1995 attempted killing of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. It
has carried out scores of deadly terrorist attacks, some targeting
foreign tourists.
Last week, an Egyptian security official was quoted in the news media
stating Egyptian troops had arrested two armed Palestinians from Hamas
who entered the country illegally from the Gaza Strip.
The security official told reporters the men had crossed from Gaza
into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula using smuggling tunnels and that they
were arrested in a stolen car in the town of el-Arish, near the
border, along with three Egyptian smugglers.
The official told the Associated Press the two Hamas men were caught
with weapons, hand grenades, two RPGs and about $8,600 in cash.
A senior Egyptian security official said an investigation found the
two Hamas men were aiding in the reorganization of Al-Gama'a al-
Islamiyya, which, he said, is attempting to reconstitute itself under
the direction of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Egyptian security official said Hamas is helping Al-Gama'a al-
Islamiyya organize into divisions and to arm itself with weapons
currently in the Sinai waiting to be smuggled into Gaza.
Both Israel and Egypt say Hamas has amassed a large quantity of
weapons in the Sinai Peninsula, where the Islamic group has been
attempting to smuggle the weaponry into Gaza.
Now, the Egyptian security official said, some of those weapons are
going to arm the reconstituted Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya.
Notorious terrorist attacks
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya is classified as a terrorist group by the U.S.,
European Union and Egypt. Like the Muslim Brotherhood, the group was
dedicated to the overthrow of Mubarak, seeking to replace his regime
with an Islamic state.
The group has carried out numerous deadly attacks.
The group's leader has talked publicly about collaborating in planning
the murder of Anwar Sadat with the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which was
blamed for the killing.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya carried out scores
of terrorist acts in Egypt, including the murders and attempted
murders of prominent Egyptian writers and intellectuals. The group
also targeted tourists and foreigners.
In 1997, it carried out the notorious Luxor massacre in Luxor, Egypt,
killing 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
went on a shooting rampage in that attack, even reportedly mutilating
the bodies of victims. A note praising Islam was found inside one
disemboweled body.
One year earlier, in 1996, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya carried out a
shooting rampage at the Europa Hotel in Cairo, killing 18 Greek
tourists.
In 1995, the group took responsibility for a car bomb attack on the
Egyptian embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, murdering 16 people.
After a massive Egyptian crackdown on the group in 1997 following the
Luxor attack, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya brokered a deal with the Egyptian
government that is known as the Nonviolence Initiative, in which some
leaders of the movement said they renounced violence.
Still, exiled leaders of Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya maintained the group
would not give up its violence.
Brotherhood declares war on U.S.
Prominent U.S. commentators also have been claiming the Muslim
Brotherhood is a moderate organization and denying any Islamist plot
to seize power.
In November, the Brotherhood's new supreme guide, Muhammad Badi,
delivered a sermon entitled, "How Islam Confronts the Oppression and
Tyranny."
"Resistance is the only solution," stated Badi. "The United States
cannot impose an agreement upon the Palestinians, despite all the
power at its disposal. [Today] it is withdrawing from Iraq, defeated
and wounded, and is also on the verge of withdrawing from Afghanistan
because it has been defeated by Islamist warriors."
Badi went on to declare the U.S. is easy to defeat through violence,
since it is "experiencing the beginning of its end and is heading
toward its demise."
Christians asked to bow in submission to Allah - 'We are in the
extreme minority in the crowd, it is intimidating'
Posted: February 21, 2011
9:46 am Eastern
By Aaron Klein
JERUSALEM – In what Egypt's Christians fear may be a sign of things to
come, a senior Islamic cleric asked Christians to bow in Muslim prayer
in an act of submission to Allah.
On Friday, famed Egyptian theologian Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a spiritual
leader to the Muslim Brotherhood who hosts a popular Islam-themed
television show on Al Jazeera, led the Islamic prayer services in
Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of Egypt's uprising.
While he repeatedly offered nods to Egypt's Coptic Christians,
unmentioned in most news media accounts of the ceremony was that
Qaradawi asked all in attendance, specifically singling out
Christians, to bow in Islamic prayer.
A Coptic Christian at the event said that the request was
intimidating.
"Whether he meant to or not, this was asking Christian to bow in an
act of submission to Islam and Allah," said the Christian, who asked
that he named be withheld.
"There were maybe 250,000 people at the rally. Almost all were
Muslims. So when we (Christians) are asked to bow, and we are in the
extreme minority in the crowd, it is intimidating."
The Christian witness said thousands of Christians in attendance at
the rally did not bow.
A Coptic Christian leader said that he believes Qaradawi's request may
reflect a larger emerging Islamic role in Egypt.
Qaradawi's speech was, in part, focused on political Islam, replete
with his quoting verses of the Quran.
While he asked the entire rally to bow in Islamic prayer, he also used
his speech to reassure the Christian minority of their place in Egypt,
telling the crowd that "in this square sectarianism died."
He discarded the customary Islamic clerical opening of "Oh Muslims,"
in favor of "Oh Muslims and Copts."
He praised Muslims and Christians for standing together in Egypt's
revolution and even hailed what he called the Coptic Christian
"martyrs" who once fought the Romans and Byzantines.
Then he asked the Christians to bow in Muslim prayer.
"I invite you to bow down in prayer together," he said.
Egyptian Christians fear implementation of Islamic law
Qaradawi had been a vocal opponent of deposed Egyptian rule Hosni
Mubarak. He has lived in exile in Qatar for decades. His return to
Egypt is seen as evidence of a change in favor of the Muslim
Brotherhood.
He is banned from entering the United States and Britain for his
support of violence against Israel and American forces in Iraq.
Last week, we reported that members of the Coptic Christian community
in Egypt quietly met with U.S. officials to object to the inclusion of
the Muslim Brotherhood in a committee that is forming a new Egyptian
constitution.
Egypt's ruling military council last week appointed a committee to
amend the Egyptian constitution. The new committee consists of eight
members, including Sobhi Saleh, a lawyer and a senior member of the
Muslim Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood seeks to establish Islamic law in Egypt. Both Hamas
and al-Qaida are violent offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood.
A top source in Egypt's Coptic Christian community told WND he and
other Coptic Christians held a meeting last Monday with officials at
the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to raise objections about the inclusion of
the Brotherhood in the constitutional committee.
The source said the Christian community pointed out that the official
Muslim Brotherhood charter, amended in 2007, calls for the imposition
of Islamic law in Egypt.
Among other things, the charter, states that non-Muslims cannot hold
government positions and must pay to the state the jizya, or special
Islamic protection tax.
The constitutional committee held its first meeting on Tuesday with
the president of Egypt's military council. It is mandated to complete
its work within 10 days, with a referendum on the amended constitution
to take place within two months.
Reawakened terrorist wing
We were the first to report an Egyptian Islamist terrorist
organization founded by the Muslim Brotherhood is re-establishing
itself amid the political upheaval in Cairo.
Both Egyptian and Israeli security officials said the group, Al-Gama'a
al-Islamiyya, is being reconstituted at the direction of the Muslim
Brotherhood.
The officials affirmed Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya serves as the de facto
"military" wing of the Brotherhood, which originally founded the
group.
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya is suspected of involvement in the 1981
assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, and it took credit
for the 1995 attempted killing of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. It
has carried out scores of deadly terrorist attacks, some targeting
foreign tourists.
Last week, an Egyptian security official was quoted in the news media
stating Egyptian troops had arrested two armed Palestinians from Hamas
who entered the country illegally from the Gaza Strip.
The security official told reporters the men had crossed from Gaza
into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula using smuggling tunnels and that they
were arrested in a stolen car in the town of el-Arish, near the
border, along with three Egyptian smugglers.
The official told the Associated Press the two Hamas men were caught
with weapons, hand grenades, two RPGs and about $8,600 in cash.
A senior Egyptian security official said an investigation found the
two Hamas men were aiding in the reorganization of Al-Gama'a al-
Islamiyya, which, he said, is attempting to reconstitute itself under
the direction of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Egyptian security official said Hamas is helping Al-Gama'a al-
Islamiyya organize into divisions and to arm itself with weapons
currently in the Sinai waiting to be smuggled into Gaza.
Both Israel and Egypt say Hamas has amassed a large quantity of
weapons in the Sinai Peninsula, where the Islamic group has been
attempting to smuggle the weaponry into Gaza.
Now, the Egyptian security official said, some of those weapons are
going to arm the reconstituted Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya.
Notorious terrorist attacks
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya is classified as a terrorist group by the U.S.,
European Union and Egypt. Like the Muslim Brotherhood, the group was
dedicated to the overthrow of Mubarak, seeking to replace his regime
with an Islamic state.
The group has carried out numerous deadly attacks.
The group's leader has talked publicly about collaborating in planning
the murder of Anwar Sadat with the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which was
blamed for the killing.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya carried out scores
of terrorist acts in Egypt, including the murders and attempted
murders of prominent Egyptian writers and intellectuals. The group
also targeted tourists and foreigners.
In 1997, it carried out the notorious Luxor massacre in Luxor, Egypt,
killing 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
went on a shooting rampage in that attack, even reportedly mutilating
the bodies of victims. A note praising Islam was found inside one
disemboweled body.
One year earlier, in 1996, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya carried out a
shooting rampage at the Europa Hotel in Cairo, killing 18 Greek
tourists.
In 1995, the group took responsibility for a car bomb attack on the
Egyptian embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, murdering 16 people.
After a massive Egyptian crackdown on the group in 1997 following the
Luxor attack, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya brokered a deal with the Egyptian
government that is known as the Nonviolence Initiative, in which some
leaders of the movement said they renounced violence.
Still, exiled leaders of Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya maintained the group
would not give up its violence.
Brotherhood declares war on U.S.
Prominent U.S. commentators also have been claiming the Muslim
Brotherhood is a moderate organization and denying any Islamist plot
to seize power.
In November, the Brotherhood's new supreme guide, Muhammad Badi,
delivered a sermon entitled, "How Islam Confronts the Oppression and
Tyranny."
"Resistance is the only solution," stated Badi. "The United States
cannot impose an agreement upon the Palestinians, despite all the
power at its disposal. [Today] it is withdrawing from Iraq, defeated
and wounded, and is also on the verge of withdrawing from Afghanistan
because it has been defeated by Islamist warriors."
Badi went on to declare the U.S. is easy to defeat through violence,
since it is "experiencing the beginning of its end and is heading
toward its demise."
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