CAIRO – Muslims set fire overnight to at least 10 houses belonging to Coptic Christians in a village in southern Egypt over rumors that a Christian resident had an affair with a Muslim girl, security officials said Tuesday.
The officials said security forces sealed off the village of al-Nawahid in Qena province, some 290 miles (465 kilometers) south of Cairo, to prevent the violence from spreading to neighboring towns. They said several people were arrested.
The attacks started after locals spotted a young Copt and a Muslim girl together at night inside the village cemetery, the officials said. They added that both were put under police custody as authorities investigate.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.
The village was calm by nightfall, after religious leaders from both communities appealed to their followers to end the confrontation. Some residents said they felt the situation had cooled enough that the extra police forces could leave.
Clashes between Christians and Muslims occasionally occur in southern Egypt, mostly over land or disputes over church construction. But sectarian tensions have also been on the rise recently in the capital.
Last year in Qena, a Coptic man was accused of kidnapping and raping a 12-year-old Muslim girl. The alleged assault led to widespread protests by the Muslim community and increased tensions between the two religious groups, which culminated in the murder of six Copts and one Muslim security guard at a church on Jan. 6.
Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population of 80 million. Copts and Muslims generally live in peace, though tension and violence occasionally flare.
Human rights groups say attacks on Copts are on the rise, underscoring the government's failure to address chronic sectarian strains in a society where religious radicalism is gaining ground.
The government insists Christians enjoy the same rights as Muslims. (Source)
10 comments:
I doubt there was an affair, but even if there was, it takes 2 to have one. And, it totally makes sense for Muslims to kill because of the injustice of a man having supposedly (most probably not true) raped a 12 year old girl, right? It's not like Muhammad had sex with a 9 year girl or anything...
The Fat Man said... (Commenting on Coptic Justics)
For 1400 years the Coptic Christians have suffered under islamic persecution. For 1400 years they have carried the cross of Christ, being disgraced, humulated being DIHIMMI's in their own country. We can learn alot from the COPTS. Lets hope this leasson of Islamic tolerence does not go un heeded.
January 14, 2010 6:04 AM
My Egyptian brothers and sisters in Christ are in my prayers.
My sympathies to the Copts. I hope my country Malaysia would not be like Egypt once we the minorities become less than 10%.
My prayers are with them and may God keep them safe.
In The Name of Allaah,
The Most Gracious,
The Most Merciful.
Peace be unto you.
@warrior4truth: Muhammad was married to Aysha, the greatest Islaamic scholar of all time and the Mother of the Believers (May Allaah Be Pleased With Her) when she was 6 years old. The marriage was consummated when she was 9 as was the custom at the time.
@shafsha: What exactly do you suggest should be done?
@Jabari: I pray that we are all guided towards humane moral conduct with one another. Ameen.
@Chris: My symphathies go out to any oppressed or abused people in your country whether they are muslim or not.
Dear Yusuf,
I would like to thank you for asking for my suggestion. I believe the optimal solution for islamic violence, is that all muslims should immedicately leave islam since it has already been shown that it is the consistent source of violence amongest muslims.
Yusuf,
You say (to warrior4truth) that it was the custom at the time for Arabian men to sleep with nine year old girls to whom they were married, so it was OK for Muhammad to do it, but I find this problematic and here's why.
It's true that you can't judge the past by today's standards, but even so, I find Muhammad's action in having sex with Aisha to be behaviour that doesn't befit a prophet of God.
You're absolutely right that men consummated marriages with young girls, but I don't think they were usually as young as 9, because usually at 9 years old, girls have yet to enter puberty. In fact, girls reach puberty much younger today than they did 1,400 years ago, and even today the vast majority of girls enter puberty later than 9.
There is also a lack of evidence to show that Aisha had reached puberty; in fact, if you search the articles on this site or over at answering-islam, you'll see that there are hadiths of Bukhari and others, incidences from the Sira, and verses from the Qur'an which present quite a strong case that she was prepubescent.
You may think Aisha's age is a non-issue, but look at the damage it has done. In some Muslim majority countries today, child marriage is a huge issue. Lots of girls die from internal injuries or suffer physically all their lives, caused by sex or childbirth at far too young an age. There are groups who campaign to raise the legal age of marriage in these countries, but they are often strongly opposed by imams and scholars who believe that because Muhammad married slept with a 9 year old, the legal age of marriage for girls should be the onset of puberty whenever it arrives. This occurred, for example, in Yemen, where women who campaigned to raise the legal age of marriage to end child marriage were condemned by Islamic clerics.
Muhammad was 'a mercy to all creatures', and 'the best example' for mankind, yet because of his actions in sleeping with a 9 year old, girls continue to die or be injured in childbirth and may be married off as soon as they have their firt period. Muhammad's example of living has not been 'a mercy' to these girls. He set a poor example here that has caused a lot of suffering, so he is not the 'best example'.
'He was just doing what was normal 1,400 yeras ago' is no excuse for prophet. For a normal man, maybe, but not a prophet, because Muslims are expected to emulate him in every way.
If Muhammad was a prophet of God, then God must have known that in the future, many girls would be married off too young and suffer horribly, because Muhammad set the precedent of child marriage as prescribed to him by Allah. As a prophet who was 'a mercy', he should have known how much damage it does to girls - how much damage it no doubt did to Aisha - to sleep with them so young.
So you cannot explain away his actions by saying 'it was the culture of the time'. It is not a small issue you can brush aside. He should have set a high standard, yet instead he set a low standard for his future followers by having sex with a little girl who still played with dolls. A true prophet would challenge the harmful behaviours of his time, rather than accepting them, if he was really the best example for mankind. Even if it was a custom for men to sleep with 9 year olds, it was a dangerous custom.
In The Name of Allaah,
The Most Gracious,
The Most Merciful.
Peace be unto you.
@Shafsha:
In your last post you stated:
"I would like to thank you for asking for my suggestion. I believe the optimal solution for islamic violence, is that all muslims should immedicately leave islam since it has already been shown that it is the consistent source of violence amongest muslims."
As I do not cause violence to others (whether they are muslim or not) and live a pretty average life, are you suggesting that I should be forced to apostate and leave Islaam or that I should apostate and leave Islaam willingly on my own?
If I chose not to apostate and leave Islaam willingly (despite the fact that I am respectful to others regardless of their belief), what should be done with me according to you?
If I chose to apostate and leave Islaam against my will, would you want me to pretend as if I believed in Christianity even though I didn't? Would you want me to be forced to live as a insincere Christian?
I mean no disrespect, I just want to make sure that I understand you correctly.
Salaam
I am a Coptic Orthodox Christian, and converted from being a Catholic. I am your average mutt of an American man, and recently exposed to the battle lines between Christians and Muslims. It is very interesting how many peaceful Muslims call violence wrong, I commend you for that, but I honestly do not believe you. The problem I have is that in my study of the Islamic faith, I find that in reality it speaks not of peace but of world domination of the Islamic faith over all others, and by force and violence. The killing of Christians and Muslims goes both ways I have to admit. I watch as Muslims kill Christians, then Christians fire back killing Muslims. But the battle is lopsided in the Muslim's favor. Far more Christians have been killed in the name of Islam then the other way around. If you want to see the violence first hand, ask a Muslim to debate you over the Bible and their book. Ask a Muslim to defend the freedom of speech we have in the USA and then make any statement critical or insulting Muhammad. I watched a rally in DC of Christians against the killings in Egypt recently, and saw Muslims protesting the Christians and the words throw at the Coptic was violent and insulting. I watch a protest rally by Muslims over the cartoon of Muhammad, and watch thousands come out to protest a cartoon, but when Muslims were asked to stand against the terrorist, I watch the numbers go drastically down to under 100. Where were all the peaceful Muslims that the US is told do not support the terrorists? I am sorry, but I didn't see peaceful Muslims that day. I saw a minority in the Islamic faith say they were peaceful, while the majority of Muslims made it very clear that Violence is the way of Islam against all non-believers.
Christ taught me to love my neighbors as I would want to be loved, even the ones that wish my death. Christ taught me to do no evil in return for evil done to me, for in so doing, I may lose my life, but I will openly expose the one doing evil for the wicked person they are, and Christ was a loving man, and our savior. God Bless You All.
robert,
god bless you and help your fellow coptic brothers and sisters in egypt. my church suffers greatly in the middle east from islam as well.
i know how you might feel.
everybody,
i spend a lot of time thinking in quiet places and a lot of time thinking about muslims and islam.
has anyone ever thought...how could such a large amount of people not see the violence and indecency in this religion? how can even one person defend this, especially one who lives in the west and visits this website? i cannot fathom how it is possible no matter how much i try and the only way i could is to honestly believe that mohammed was visited by the devil in that cave and is the reason why he came out of it trembling saying he thought he had been demon possessed and that muslims either are ignorant about what their religion preaches or in some way the devil has a hold on their minds just like he had on mohammeds.
muslims please go somewhere quiet with your koran, hadith, and tafsir and think. please do this and think hard. would god want the death of others? would god want you to have sex in heaven with many women and have handsome young male servants?
if you just go think about these things i believe you can free yourself from the enslavement of islam. and maybe after that you can welcome jesus christ into your life and i promise you will be happier than ever.
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