Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians (6 page)

Restrictions on expressions of worship:

• Building new churches or repairing old ones was banned.

• Displaying “idolatry” or “paganism” was banned. Thus crucifixes, Bibles and other Christian books, Christian prayers, church singing, bells, cymbals, and Christian funeral processions all were banned from public display.

Restrictions on freedom:

• Proselytizing Muslims was banned.

• Blasphemy—often loosely interpreted as criticism of or offense towards Islam, its prophet, or even Muslims in general—was banned.

• Apostasy was banned—any Muslim who converted to Christianity was subject to the death penalty.

Inferior social status:

• Dhimmis had to adopt a humble demeanor and always respect Muslims.

• Dhimmi testimony was not valid against a Muslim in court.

• Raising one’s hands to a Muslim—even in self-defense—was banned on pain of death.

• Dhimmi blood was not equal to Muslim blood. While killing a Muslim was punished by death, Muslims were not liable to the death penalty for killing dhimmis.

• Preventing a fellow Christian’s conversion to Islam was banned. (Such conversions to Islam were encouraged by the preferential treatment converts would receive, especially vis-à-vis those who remained Christians. The convert to Islam would be granted custody of children, inherit the family’s property, not have to pay jizya, and so forth.)

• Dhimmis could not hold public office, or in any way be in positions of authority over Muslims.

• Intermarriage between Muslims and Christians was banned, except when the man, who has ultimate authority, was Muslim and the woman was Christian—a reminder of the Christians’ “submissive” role—never vice-versa.

• Christians were forbidden to bury their dead anywhere near Muslims, alive or dead.

• Dhimmi homes had to be smaller and lower than Muslim homes.
³⁹

The restrictions above are described in the past tense, as they were established during Islam’s early years. But they apply in the present tense as well—or perhaps we should say
again
—as the Islamic world rediscovers its identity. These debilitations and humiliations, which were inflicted upon the Christians of the Islamic world in the past, are at this moment being inflicted upon the Christians of the Islamic world in the present, as a natural consequence of Muslims returning to the authentic teachings of Islam. Those teachings, as we have seen—and will see more fully—are fundamentally hostile to non-Muslims and their religious worship.

Indeed,
The Conditions of Omar
, far from being merely a historical or theoretical text, is still very much on the minds of Muslims. Compare the above text of the
Conditions
with the following words of Saudi Sheikh Marzouk Salem al-Ghamdi, spoken during a Friday mosque sermon:

If the infidels live among the Muslims, in accordance with the conditions set out by the Prophet—there is nothing wrong with it provided they pay Jizya to the Islamic treasury. Other conditions are . . . that they do not renovate a church or a monastery, do not rebuild ones that were destroyed, that they feed for three days any Muslim who passes by their homes . . . that they rise when a Muslim wishes to sit, that they do not imitate Muslims in dress and speech, nor ride horses, nor own swords, nor arm themselves with any kind of weapon; that they do not sell wine, do not show the cross, do not ring church bells, do not raise their voices during prayer, that they shave their hair in front so as to make them easily identifiable, do not incite anyone against the Muslims, and do not strike a Muslim. . . . If they violate these conditions, they have no protection .
⁴⁰

 

Such is the continuity of Islam’s hostility to Christianity. The
Conditions
and related Sharia law justify countless attacks on Christians today. As we shall see, churches in Muslim countries are regularly bombed, burned, or simply denied permits to renovate or even to exist. Crosses are burned and Bibles are confiscated. Muslim converts to Christianity are often violently attacked and sometimes executed. Christians accused of committing “blasphemy”—which can mean simply discussing Islam, or even Christianity—are assaulted and killed. Jizya is exacted from Christians once again. Christians are forced to convert to Islam. Christian women and children are abducted and raped. The following pages are witness to hundreds of modern-day examples of Christian persecution that conform perfectly to Koran 9:29,
The Conditions of Omar
, and, in a word, to Sharia—the “way” of Islam.

Not to build a church in our city—nor a monastery, convent, or monk’s cell in the surrounding areas—and not to repair those that fall in ruins or are in Muslim quarters;

 

 

Not to prevent Muslims from lodging in our churches, by day or night, and to keep their doors wide open for [Muslim] passersby and travelers;

 

Not to harbor in them [churches and monasteries] or our homes a spy, nor conceal any deceits from Muslims;

 

Not to clang our cymbals except lightly and from the innermost recesses of our churches;

 

Not to display a cross on them [churches], nor raise our voices during prayer or readings in our churches anywhere near Muslims;

 

Not to produce a cross or [Christian] book in the markets of the Muslims;

 

Not to congregate in the open for Easter or Palm Sunday, nor lift our voices [in lamentation] for our dead nor show our firelights with them in the market places of the Muslims.
¹

After reading this treatise from beginning to end, I have found it to be very valuable [he later adds that he has ordered its further publication and dissemination far and wide]. In it, the author documents all mention concerning churches, monasteries, and other places of idolatrous worship as found in the prophetic hadith and other books and the words of the ulema of the four schools of law. . . . Without a doubt, the subject of this treatise is very important—especially in this era, when interaction between infidels and Muslims has increased, including Christian activities to build churches in some of the Muslim countries, and especially in the Arabian Peninsula.

The ulema—Allah have mercy on them—have agreed that it is forbidden to build churches in Islamic lands; that it is obligatory to demolish them if they are built; and that building them in the Arabian Peninsula, including the Hijaz, Gulf Countries, and Yemen, is the greatest sin and offense. For the Prophet, followed by his Companions, ordered the expulsion of all Jews, Christians, and idolaters from the Arabian Peninsula, and forbade other religions from being practiced.