THE GLOBAL GENOCIDE OF CHRISTIANS

Stamatiou 0

Stamatiou 1

Alexandros Stamatiou

Dr. Lisa O’Neil

PL 230

12 May 2015

The Global Genocide of Christians

Freedom is a word that is often used to describe our natural

state of being. It is our inalienable right to pursue life,

liberty, and happiness, which no government is permitted to take

away. So began the Declaration of Independence, as written by

Thomas Jefferson. The ideas he said, were intended to be “an

expression of the American mind”. Our inalienable rights cannot

be bought or sold, or transferred from one individual to another;

they are our personal rights, not attached to any particular

group, culture or government; they are our inalienable, natural,

God given rights, the right to use our own power, for the

preservation of our own nature. The second set of rights that

individuals of a free democratic society utilize are legal

rights, those rights given to an individual through a legal

system decided upon by the appointed or elected individuals of

that system. These laws, such as The Constitution, The Bill of

Stamatiou 2

Rights, The U.S. Code of Conduct, are all repealable under

extraordinary circumstances, unlike our natural rights.

To understand political power right, and derive it from

its original, we must consider what state all men are

naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom

to order their actions and dispose of their possessions

and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of

the law of nature; without asking leave, or depending

upon the will of any other man. (Locke)

Within this subtext, this paper will reveal the plight of

Christians under the yolk of Islam worldwide who are not afforded

these basic rights. I will illustrate that the political power of

Islam is derived from the original, authentic religious

teachings, which profess that the state of perfection, are the

words spoken by the prophet Muhammad as given to him by Allah.

The life of Muhammad and the spoken words of God are to be

followed by every Muslim individual, in order to establish a

worldwide ummah, under the banner of an Islamic State, a world

governed by Islam. The way this is accomplished is through jihad

as revealed in this essay. (Majid)

Stamatiou 3

For the purpose of this paper, I will not give a historic

account of Islam, nor list individual Islamic persecutions on

Christians, but I will include a comprehensive list of attacks on

Christians by Muslims since 9/11 worldwide, as an addendum. I

will focus on relevant texts that promote and command Muslims to

subjugate, discriminate, persecute, punish, and fuel a never-

ending war against Christians. To facilitate this endeavor, an

explanation of Islamic texts is required, and the definition of

certain terminology is needed, to help the reader understand the

correlation this terminology has to the religiously sanctioned

behavior towards Christians, as dictated by the texts.

This terminology is found in the Trilogy of writings that

comprise all Islamic texts. Islam is defined by the words of

Allah in the Koran, and the words and actions of Muhammad, called

the Sunna. The Sunna is found in two collections of texts, the

Sira, Muhammad’s life, and the Hadith. The Koran states ninety-

one times that Muhammad’s words and actions are considered the

divine model for all humanity. (Warner) A hadith, or tradition,

is a brief story about the prophet or the way of the prophet.

Muhammad is in no way worshipped, or considered divine, but he is

Stamatiou 4

the model of excellence for all Muslims in how they should

conduct themselves. This places maximum importance on the

Hadith and Suri. There are many compilations of hadiths, but the

most influential of these are the Bukhari, Sunnah, and the Abu-

Muslim.

The Trilogy of writings is the Koran, the Sira, and the

Hadith. The Trilogy is the foundation of Islam. Most people think

the Koran is the bible of Islam, but as this graph shows it makes

up only fourteen percent of the Trilogy. No one text of the

Trilogy can stand by itself; they each play a supporting role to

each other. They are the infallible words of Allah, and teachings

from Muhammad. For Christians these infallible words prevent the

pursuit of life, liberty, happiness, or any expression of the

mind that would deviate from these teachings.

Stamatiou 5

Two words need to be defined for a clear understanding of

what they represent. Bill Warner, from the Center of the Study of

Political Islam explains the significance of the term Kafir

because there is an overwhelming percentage of texts that are

devoted to this type of individual. More importantly, and more

troubling, is the content of the texts that command jihad against

the Kafir.

Kafir is not merely someone who does not agree with

Islam, but a Kafir is evil, disgusting, and the lowest

form of life. Kafirs can be deceived, hated, enslaved,

tortured, killed, lied to, and cheated. Therefore, the

usual word “unbeliever” does not reflect the political

reality of Islam. There are many religious names for

Kafirs: polytheists, idolaters, People of the Book

(Christians and Jews), Buddhists, atheists, agnostics,

and pagans. Kafir covers them all, because no matter

what the religious name is, they can all be treated the

same. What Muhammed said and did to polytheists can be

done to any other category of Kafir. Islam devotes a

great amount of energy to the Kafir. The majority (64%)

Stamatiou 6

of the Koran is devoted to the Kafir, and nearly all of

the Sira (81%) deals with Mohammed’s struggle with

them. The Hadith (Traditions) devotes 32% of the text

to Kafirs. Overall, the Trilogy devotes 60% of its

content to the Kafir.

In the Koran, chapter 33, verse 60, reflects the posture a Muslim

must adhere towards the Kafir: “They will be cursed, and wherever

they are found, they will be seized, and murdered. It was Allah’s

same practice with those who came before them, and you will find

no change in Allah’s ways”.

Amount of Text are devoted to Kafir:

Stamatiou 7

http://cspipublishing.com/statistical/TrilogyStats/AmtT

xtDevotedKafir.htmlJIHD

There is much debate in the media, and amongst Islamic

apologists concerning the meaning of Jihad. Its relevance among

Islamic scholars is lucid and without contradiction as to the

importance of waging this holy war against the Kafirs, therefore

it is important to expose the promotion of jihad to Muslims by

Islamic leaders. In1928 Hasan Al-Bani founded the Muslim

Brotherhood, which today is the most powerful Sunni organization

in Egypt, the Middle East, across Europe, and the United States.

Al-Bani emphasizes Islamic thought on Jihad in this manner: “All

Muslims must make Jihad. Jihad is an obligation from Allah on

every Muslim and cannot be ignored nor evaded. Allah has ascribed

great importance to Jihad, and has made the reward of the martyrs

and the fighters in His way a splendid one. Only those who have

acted similarly and who have molded themselves upon the martyrs

in their performance of jihad can join them in this reward”. (Al-

Bani) The emphases on jihad, death, and the espousing of molding

oneself to past martyrs is a staple in the promotion of Islam,

with great reward. Compare Al-Bani’s words to Muhammad’s words in

Stamatiou 8

the Muslim, Book 20, Number 4696; “the man who dies without

participating in jihad, who never desired to wage holy war, dies

the death of a hypocrite”.

Bill Warner from the Center for the Study of Political Islam

explains it, as a duality of ethics that were established in

Islamic texts treating Muslims one-way and kafirs another, is the

basis for jihad.

Duality of ethics was the basis for Mohammed’s greatest

single innovation−jihad. Jihad is dual ethics with

sacred violence. The key religious element of the dual

ethics is that Allah sanctifies violence for complete

domination. The Kafirs must submit to Islam. Jihad is

usually called “holy war” but this is far too narrow a

view. Jihad means struggle or effort and is a process

that is epitomized by the life of Muhammed, the perfect

jihadist. In Mecca, Muhammed demonstrated the initial

practice of jihad when Islam was weak: persuasion and

conversion. When he moved to Medina, he demonstrated

how jihad worked when Islam was strong: using

immigration against inhabitants, creating political

Stamatiou 9

power by struggling against the host, dominating other

religions, using violence, and establishing a

government. (Warner)

Let us consider the doctrine of dualism as spoken by Muhammad in

the Bukhari Volume 4, Book 2, Number 72: Muhammad told us that

Allah revealed to him that “any holy warrior killed will go to

paradise”. Umar asked the prophet “is it true that Muslims killed

in battle will go to paradise, and Kafirs who are killed in

battle will go to hell?” Muhammad said “yes”.

Amount of Trilogy Text Devoted to Jihad:

http

://cspipublishing.com/statistical/TrilogyStats/Percentage_of_Tril

ogy_Text_Devoted_to_Jihad.html

Stamatiou 10

Robert Spencer writing for the Horowitz Freedom Center

summarized Jihad:

Jihad is not, as some Western apologists claim, simply

a striving for individual perfection. Nor is jihad

merely a series of unrelated clashes involving groups

of Islamists, each with their own limited objectives.

Rather jihad is a radical, expansionist, totalitarian

ideology that seeks to establish a global Islamic

state, ruled by Islamic law, or Sharia. The adherents

of this ideology are willing and able to commit acts of

violence to bring about their goals. They also use the

democratic freedoms in Europe and the U.S. to advance

their objectives by stealth means, agitating for

special rights as “aggrieved minorities” (Spencer)

Islam is a literature-based ideology that relies heavily on

academic Islamic scholarly interpretation, Islamic jurisprudence,

and authoritative scholars of Sharia Law for commentary. One such

authoritative, most respected scholar on Sharia law is Majid

Khaduri (1909-2007). He has written that jihad is defined as

Stamatiou 11

warfare to subjugate the non-Muslim world (Kafir’s, Infidels).

“Jihad is regarded, by all Muslim jurists, with almost no

exception, as a collective obligation of the whole Muslim

community” (Khadduri). Another such Islamic intellectual is Ibn

Khaldun (1332-1406). Khaldun is a Muslim historiographer,

philosopher, who is also considered a founding father of modern

sociology, and economics. (Doniger) Khaldoun is considered the

Aquinas of Islam. He wrote:

In the Muslim community, the holy war [jihad] is a

religious duty, because of the universalism of the

Muslim mission and the obligation to convert everybody

to Islam either by persuasion or by force. The other

religious groups did not have a universal mission, and

the holy war was not a religious duty for them, save

only for purposes of defense. They are merely required

to establish their religion among their own people. But

Islam is under obligation to gain power over other

nations. (Khaldun)

It is important to note particular Islamic verses, which

these excerpts are extrapolated from, and is the basis for

Stamatiou 12

Islamic attitudes and behaviors towards Christians. The meaning

of word Islam is submission. This is the footing upon which

actions against others is taken when they do not submit to the

will of Allah as the texts themselves command. There is a

theological foundation for Islamic bigotry against Christians and

Jews within these texts. The institute for Christian persecutions

by Muslims has been established, first, by naming the enemy, the

Kafir, and secondly by religiously sanctioning the act of jihad

as the tool to persecute, fight, convert, or kill the Christian.

The third divine blessing needed is to indict the Christian as a

blasphemer, polytheist, or as one who joins companions with God.

The following texts from the Quran give the conviction needed to

wage jihad against the Christians.

5:17; in blasphemy indeed are those that say that God

is Christ the son of Mary. Say: who then has the least

power against God, if His will were to destroy Christ

the son of Mary, his mother and all; everyone that is

on earth? For to God belongs the dominion of the

heavens and the earth, and all that is in between. He

Stamatiou 13

creates what he please. For God has power over all

things.

5:73; they do blaspheme who say; God is one of three

in a Trinity: for there is no god except One God. If

they desist not from their word [of blasphemy] verily,

a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among

them.

5:77; Say: O people of the Book [Christians and Jews],

exceed not in your religion the bounds (of what is

proper), trespassing beyond the truth, nor follow the

vain desires of people who went wrong in times gone by;

who misled many, and strayed themselves from the even

way.

4:171; O people of the book! [Christians and Jews]

Commit no excuses in your religion: nor say of God

anything but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary

was no more than a messenger of God, and His word,

which he bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from

Him: so believe in God and His messengers. Do not say

“Trinity”: desist, it will be better for you: for God

Stamatiou 14

is one God; glory be to Him, above having a son. To Him

belong all things in, and on earth. And enough is God

as a Disposer of affairs.

What we see emerging is a duty based, supremacist, bigoted

ideology that is focused on renouncing and removing the Christian

doctrine of the Trinity, delegitimizing Christianity, and

defrocking Jesus Christ. This is the purpose of Jihad; holy war

against the blasphemer, polytheist, Kafir, and the Christian who

joins partners with Allah. This becomes more visible in the

following verses, and gives the sanctioning, which is the basis,

of all the unspeakable brutality we witness today against

Christians worldwide at the hands of Muslims.

3:151; soon we shall cast terror into the hearts of the

unbelievers, for that they joined companions with God, for

which He had sent no authority: their abode will be the

fire, and evil is the home of the wrongdoers.

This speaks directly to the polytheists such as Hindu’s, yet it

also includes Christians, since they believe in the trinity. The

actions of ISIS are viewed as radical, extremist, not Islamic,

perverting the religion. They are none of the above. They are

Stamatiou 15

however, savage, barbaric, and evil, but they are

quintessentially Islamic. They are casting terror into the hearts

of the unbelievers, as does ISIS when giving Christian’s three

choices when they invaded their towns in Iraq, convert, pay the

jizya, or die. Consider the following Koranic, and Hadith texts:

8: 39: and fight them until there is no more Fitnah

(disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping others besides

Allah), and the religion will be all for Allah alone. But if

they cease (worshipping others besides Allah), then

certainly, Allah is all-Seer of what they do.

9: 29; fight those who believe not in Allah nor the last

day, nor hold that forbidden which has been forbidden by

Allah and his Messenger, nor the religion of truth, even if

they are the people of the book, until they pay the Jizya

with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

9: 5: but when the forbidden months are past, then fight and

slay the pagans (polytheists) wherever ye find them, and

seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in

every stratagem of war; but if they repent, and establish

Stamatiou 16

regular prayers (Islamic) and practice regular charity, then

open the way for them.

2: 191: And slay them wherever you catch them, and turn them

out from where they have tuned you out; for tumult and

oppression are worse than slaughter; but do not fight them

at the sacred Mosque, unless they fight you there; but if

they fight you slay them. Such is the reward of those who

suppress faith.

2: 193: and fight them until persecution is no more, and

religion be only for Allah. But if they desist, then let

there be no hostility except against the wrongdoers.

Appropriately, one can see that killing, or jihad, is not an

option. It is mandatory, because it is Allah’s command. Every

Muslim must capitulate to fulfil his faith. The only exceptions

are those who are disabled, blind, and crippled. (Surah 4: 95)

Jihad is carried out in order to achieve the ultimate goal of

Islam, to establish Islamic authority over the whole world.

Islam teaches that Allah is the only authority; therefore,

political systems must be based on Allah’s teaching, and nothing

else. This is further confirmed by the Sahih Muslim; the Hadith.

Stamatiou 17

Sahih Muslim 1: 33: The Messenger of Allah said: “I have

been commanded by Allah to fight against people till they

testify that there is no God but Allah, that Muhammad is

the messenger of Allah, and they establish prayer and pay

zakat”.

Sahih Muslim 19:4294: When you meet your enemies who are

polytheists (which includes Christians), invite them to

three courses of action. If they respond to any of these,

you also accept it and withhold yourself from doing them

any harm. Invite them to accept Islam, if they respond to

you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against

them. If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them

the jizya (ransom money). If they agree to pay, accept

it, and from them hold off your hands. If they refuse to

pay the tax, seek Allah’s help and fight them.

Osama Bin Laden uttered those same words in his 1996 Fatwa,

the “Declaration of War” against the United States; “Does

Islam, or does it not, force people by the power of the sword

to submit to its authority corporeally if not spiritually?

Yes. There are only three choices in Islam. Either submit, or

Stamatiou 18

live under the suzerainty of Islam, or die”. (Source: The Al-

Qaeda Reader p.19-20) Bin Laden was characterized as an

extremist, radical, the face of evil, were some of the

adjectives used to describe him. Quite the contrary Bin Laden

was an Islamic purist who practiced authentic Islam, Muhammad’

Islam. The doctrine of convert, pay the jizya, or die, is

deeply rooted in Islamic doctrine, dogma, and theology. Islam

was born from the blood of Christian martyrs, but Islam was

not born to co-exist with other religions; it seeks to be the

only religion. Muhammad was clear in his teachings.

Bukhari 8:37, Allah’s apostle said: I have been ordered

to fight the people till they say: None has the right

to be worshipped but Allah. And if they say so, pray

like our prayers, face our Quibla (the direction

Muslims should face when praying), and slaughter as we

slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred

to us and we will not interfere with them except

legally, and their reckoning will be with Allah.

The authoritative commands that every devout Muslim must

follow, according to the work cited, thus far in this essay, does

Stamatiou 19

not bode well for Christians around the world living in Muslim

lands. Life for Christians under Islam was determined in the

campaign of 634 that sacked the entire Gaza region, including

Jerusalem, and up to Caesarea, by Umar al-Khattab. Four thousand

Jewish, Christian, and Samaritan Peasants were massacred while

trying to defend their lands. (Ye’or) To understand the plight of

Christians under Islamic rule today, we must start with Umar al-,

Khattab, who was responsible for the massacre. He was named

second caliph after Abu-Bakr, and reigned from 634-644. He is the

author of The Conditions of Umar, which was agreed upon between the

caliph and the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sophronius in order to

spare the lives of the remaining Christians, Jews and Samaritans.

(Ibrahim)

These conditions hold true in all fifty-six member

countries, to various degrees, of the Organization of the Islamic

Conference (OIC), the Islamic organization of United Nation

member states. These conditions are responsible for the Islamic

cultural bigotry that is practiced against Christians worldwide.

The conditions and related Sharia laws justify countless attacks

on Christians today. Churches in Muslim countries are routinely

Stamatiou 20

bombed, burned, vandalized, or simply denied permits to renovate,

and rebuild, even when destroyed by Muslims, or even to exist.

Crosses are burned and Bibles are confiscated. Muslim converts to

Christianity are violently attacked, and/or executed. Christians

that are accused of committing blasphemy, which can simply be

discussing Islam, without any proof, are assaulted and killed,

and the jizya is once again extracted from Christians. Christians

are forced to convert to Islam. Christian women and children are

abducted raped, and forced into marriages with Muslim men.

Christian women are flogged for being accused of improper dress.

(http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/ChristianAttacks.htm)

This hatred for Christians is breed by the Conditions of Omar,

Islamic texts, and by Islamic teachers who seek to dethrone,

displace, uncrown, and remove Christianity from existence. This

undertaking has been highly successful due to the lack of

leadership needed to defeat this threat. This is clearly

evidenced by the persecutions witnessed recently, and in the past

decades.

The Conditions of Umar read as follows:

Stamatiou 21

When you came to our countries, we asked you for safety for

ourselves and the people of our community, upon which we

imposed the following conditions on ourselves for you:

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 for 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, monasteries] or our homes a

spy, nor conceal any deceits from Muslims;

Not to clang our cymbals except lightly and from the inner-

most 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 produces a cross or [Christian] books in the markets

of the Muslims;

Stamatiou 22

Not to congregate in the open for Easter of Palm Sunday, nor

lift our voices [in lamentation] for our dead nor show our

firelights with them near the market places of the Muslims;

Not to bring near to them [Muslims] pigs or alcohol;

Not to display any signs of polytheism, nor make our

religion appealing, nor call or proselytize anyone to it;

Not to take anything of [or “be involved with”] the slave

conquered by the Muslims;

Not to prevent any of our relatives who wish to enter into

Islam;

distinguish ourselves wherever we are and not to resemble

Muslims in dress–whether in headgear, turbans, sandals,

hair-parting, or modes of transportation;

Not to speak like them [Muslims], nor adopt their surnames;

To clip our foreheads and not part our forelocks;

To tighten our zunanir [a type of belt] around our waists

and not to engrave our signet rings in Arabic nor ride on

saddles;

Not to possess or bear any arms whatsoever, nor gird

ourselves with swords;

Stamatiou 23

To honor the Muslims, show them the way, and rise up from

our seats if they wish to sit down;

Not to come upon them in their homes, nor teach our children

the Koran;

one of use shall do business with a Muslim unless the Muslim

commands it;

To host every traveling Muslim for three days and feed him

adequately;

We guarantee all this to you upon our descendants, our

spouses, our neighbors, and ourselves and if we change or

contradict these conditions imposed upon ourselves in order

to receive safety, we forfeit our dhimmi [covenant], and we

become liable to the same treatment you inflict upon the

people who resist and cause sedition.

(http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/pact-umar.asp)

In a recent Friday sermon at a Mosque in Mecca, Sheikh

Marzouq Salem Al-Ghamdi, a Saudi Islamic scholar, spelled out

Sharia’s injunctions for Dhimmis (a subjugated second-class

status citizenship for Christians living in Islamic lands):

Stamatiou 24

If the infidels live among the Muslims, in accordance

by 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 monastery, do not rebuild ones

that were destroyed (by Muslims), 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 (as did

the Nazi’s with the Jews), do not incite anyone against

the Muslims, and do not strike a Muslim. If they

violate these conditions, they have no protection.

(MEMRI)

There are a few interesting points to make about the

Sheikh’s sermon. He gave his sermon in Saudi Arabia where

Stamatiou 25

Christianity is illegal, and there are no Christians. He repeated

the conditions per-bedim, but stated that these were the

conditions as “set out by the Prophet”, which further legitimizes

bigotry, and persecutions against Christians. Most interesting is

that he did not identify the conditions belonging to Umar, but

rather titled them as Sharia Law. The fact that Christianity is

illegal in Saudi Arabia, combined with the Sheikh’s sermon being

broadcast throughout the Middle East has only but one conclusion;

these words were meant for Muslims living among Christians, for

the sole purpose of inciting Muslims to more violence against

Christians. We have established a theological foundation for

Islamic bigotry. The Koran calls the Jews and Christians who

reject Muhammad “the most vile of created beings” (98:6). It

says, “Polytheists are unclean” (9:28). The Koran claims that

Jews consider Ezra the Son of God, in the same way that

Christians consider Jesus the Son of God (9:30), and that “it is

not befitting for Allah to take a son” (19:35), which in Islamic

theology means that Jews and Christians are polytheists, as are

Hindu’s, and hence, unclean.

Stamatiou 26

Consider the fate of Christians as spelled out in the

following Koranic texts:

5:14: From those, who call themselves Christians, we

did take a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the

message that was sent them: so we estranged them, with

enmity, and hatred between the one and the other, to

the day of judgement. And soon will God show them what

it is they have done.

98: 6: Those who reject the truth, among the people of

the book (Christian and Jews), and the polytheists,

will be in hell-fire, to dwell therein forever. They

are the worst of creatures.

5: 51: O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the

Christians for friends; they are friends of each other,

and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then

surely, he is one of them; surely, Allah does not guide

the unjust people.

5: 80: You will see many of them befriending those who

disbelieve; certainly evil is that which their souls

Stamatiou 27

have sent before them that Allah became displeased with

them, and in chastisement shall they abide.

Those Muslims who befriend unbelievers will abide in hell.

8: 12: I will cast terror into the hearts of those who

disbelieve. Therefore, strike off their heads and strike off

every fingertip of them.

3: 56; as to those who reject faith (Islam), I will punish

them with terrible agony in this world and in the hereafter,

nor will they have anyone to help.

9: 123: O you who believe! Fight the unbelievers who gird

you about, and let them find firmness in you, and know that

God is with those who fear him.

Bukhari 52: 65: The prophet said: he who fights that Allah’s

word, Islam, should be superior, fight’s in Allah’s cause.

This is how the fight was understood at the time of Muhammad, and

his companions, and this is how the fight is understood by the

devout Muslims today fighting in the cause of jihad. Keep in mind

that these commands have a beginning but no end. The end comes

when there is no God but Allah. This is Islamofacism.

Stamatiou 28

Muslim 1: 33: the messenger of Allah said: I have been

commanded to fight against people until they testify that

there is no God but Allah that Muhammad is the messenger of

Allah.

This is known as the Shahada. This is also the profession of

faith that one recites when converting to Islam. It also adorns

the flag of ISIS. The professions are consistent, with the same

goal of one God, under one worldwide Islamic nation, or Umma.

Muslim 1: 30: The messenger of Allah said I have been

commanded to fight against people so long as they do not

declare that there is no god but Allah.

Bukhari 1: 35: the person who participates in Holy War (Jihad) in

Allah’s cause and nothing compels him to do so except belief in

Allah and his apostle, will be recompensed by Allah either with a

reward, or booty (woman slaves; the entire chapter eight of the

Koran is dedicated to spoils of war), (if he survives), or will

be admitted to paradise (if he is killed).

Clearly, Christians, and Jews are hated by Allah to the extent

that they are destined for eternal doom because of their beliefs.

In fact, the Koran plainly commands believers not to take

Stamatiou 29

unbelievers as friends. Islam does not allow for personal

liberty, it does not allow for freedom of thought, or freedom to

choose ones friends under the Sharia. Overall, Islam is very

clear in teaching that there is no equality between believers and

unbelievers, that Muslims are supreme to all others, and hence no

basis for friendship. The Bukhari, 2: 24, reiterates that idea:

“You true Muslims are the best of peoples ever raised up for

mankind, means, the best of peoples for the people, as you bring

them with chains on their necks till they embrace Islam”. Those

who do not profess Muhammad as the messenger are intended to

exist in subjugation to those who do, then spend eternity in

hell. This does not preclude Muslims from acting friendly toward

others, of course, but it does not constitute friendship, as it

is generally understood in the West.

Muslim persecution of Christians is epidemic. It is further

helped along by the 164 versus in the Koran alone, excluding the

remaining Trilogy, that call Muslims

(http://www.answeringislam.org/Quran/Themes/jihad_passages.html),

to war with nonbelievers, Christians, Jews, Hindu’s, Sikhs,

Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, for the sake of Islamic rule.

Stamatiou 30

Muslims who do not join the fight are called hypocrites and

warned that Allah will send them to hell if they do not embrace

jihad. (Muslim Book 20, Number 4696) No place has this been more

evident than in Christendom. According to mainstream Islamic law,

as has been argued within this essay, Christians, and Churches

have been systematically singled out for brutality, as commanded

by Allah. From the incipience of the Muslim conquests, Churches

from Spain in the west, to India in the east, and from the

Balkans in the north, to the fringes of the Sahara desert in the

south, as these were the demarcation lines of the Islamic

conquests. (Ibrahim)

Christian populations are disappearing across the Middle

East, or rather being eradicated by Muslims. The transformation

of Constantinople following the Ottoman Muslim conquest in 1453

illustrates the effects of Muslim bigotry. Before the Muslim

conquest, Constantinople had been the center of the Eastern

Orthodoxy, and the second largest city of all Christendom as the

chief rival to the splendor, and authority of Rome. The Hagia

Sofia Cathedral, built by Justinian in the sixth century was the

grandest and the most celebrated cathedral of all Christianity

Stamatiou 31

until the construction of St. Peters in the Vatican. As recently

as 1914, Constantinople enjoyed a population that was fifty

percent Christian. Today, because of Muslim bigotry, and

systematic Islamic prosecutions, both governmental, and cultural,

the city is now 99.99% Muslim. (Mansel)

In Turkey itself, the Christian population declined from 15%

in 1920 to 1percentage today. In Syria, the Christian population

has declined from 33% to less than 10% in the same span. When the

Turks invaded, northern Cyprus in 1974, and continue to occupy it

to this day, Churches have been defaced of their crosses, and

icons. The Turks have taken over many Churches for secular use,

such as making them stables for animals, and have even tried to

convert the fourth century monastery of St. Makarios into a

hotel. Christian Cypriots are forbidden to come near the

building, much less enter it. (Report) In Tunisia, the early

1950”s saw half of the inhabitants of Tunis being Catholic. When

Tunisia declared independence on March 20, 1956, 280,000 Tunisian

Catholics were immediately expelled. Today there are no more than

a tenth of this number with most Churches no longer in existence.

(Report)

Stamatiou 32

In Bethlehem, the Birthplace of Jesus Christ, the population

of Christians was 85% in 1948, but as of 2006, only 12% of those

remained, and even that miniscule percentage is certainly much

smaller today (current numbers are unavailable ever since the

West forced Israel to turnover Bethlehem to the Muslims:

Statistics are unavailable). (The Times) Islamic bigotry is

driving Christians out of their ancient homelands all over the

Middle East. The purging of Christians in the Middle East is the

civil rights issue of the day. It is as under reported, as it is

widespread. Osama bin Laden launched the jihad in earnest with

his 1996, and 1998 Fatwas declaring genocide against the

unbelievers. (PBS) It represents the greatest ethnic cleansing of

modern times. It has taken place silently, while facile,

desultory, cowardly Western leaders sit idly by, including the

current occupant of the White House rhapsodizing about Muslim

tolerance and, declaring that it is not Islamic.

Bigotry towards non-Muslim populations, along with religious

cleansing, is as old as Islam itself. Islam originated in Arabia

in the late seventh and early eighth centuries. Before its

advent,

Stamatiou 33

Egypt, Libya, and all of North Africa were Christian, and had

been so for hundreds of years.

So were Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Asia Minor. The churches

addressed in the letters of St. Paul, collected in the New

Testament, are located in Asia Minor and modern Turkey as well as

modern Greece. Antioch, Constantinople, and Alexandria in Egypt

were three of the most important Christian centers of the first

millennium. Then came the Arab armies, and ultimately these lands

became Muslim, not because the compelling aspects of Islam

induced large numbers of people to convert to the religion of the

conquerors, but because the non-Muslims were forced to accept a

humiliating second-class status. This was a bigotry enforced by

the sword. Conversion to Islam became the only way to live a

decent life or, in many cases, to live at all, and because of

this, the Christian populations of these areas have disappeared.

For Christians living under the yolk of Islam there is no

freedom of religion, there is no freedom of speech, there is no

freedom of thought, there is no freedom of artistic expression,

there is no freedom of the press, and there is no equality of

people. There is no equal justice under the law, and a non-

Stamatiou 34

Muslim, a Kafir, is never equal to a Muslim. There is no equal

protection under the Islamic Law, Sharia. Justice is dualistic,

with one set of laws for Muslims, and a different set for the

Kafir. There is no democracy, since democracy would mean that a

non-Muslim is equal to a Muslim. This modern day genocide has

been happening unchallenged by any outside entity. One can only

ask; where will it end? It will take leaders with courage who can

name the enemy, and not put political correctness before the

safety of human lives. There is a much larger question looming

that must be asked, and discussed exhaustively; can Islam co-

exist with Christianity, Judaism, or with Western Civilization?

At this very moment throughout the Muslim world, Christians

are being persecuted. A January 2012, Reuters Report, stated an

estimated “100 million Christians persecuted worldwide”.

(www.reuters.com/.../us-religion-christianity-persecution-

idUSBR)... A few years earlier, the British Secret Service, MI6,

had put the number of Christians being persecuted worldwide at

200 million. (www.catholicnewsagency.com) The human rights group,

Organization for Security and Cooperation on Europe estimates

Stamatiou 35

that a Christian is killed every five minutes for his faith.

(www.raymondibrahim.com/in-the-media/one-every-five-minutes/)

These numbers are staggering. The world seems as though it

is on fire, and Rome appears to be burning once again. Western

leaders seem more interested in appeasement rather than

confronting the aggressor, and identifying the enemy. The war on

terror is an ideological conflict, which Christians, Jews,

Buddhists, Hindus, atheists, and secular Muslims have a major

stake. There is much at stake, the survival of our freedom. When

an ideology seeks to control every aspect of our lives, down to

our thoughts, we must not cower, we must not waiver, we must

stand firm, we must not give moral equality to those who seek to

oppress. When criticism, and expression, whether provocative or

not, is silenced for fear of offending, we have given up our

basic right to free thought. When we begin to blame the rape

victim for dressing provocatively, we have succumbed to

unreasoned thinking. When in a free society we are hindered from

speaking the truth for fear of retaliation, we curse the patriots

who fought to give us that freedom. When professing your faith

endangers your life, every war fought in world history has been

Stamatiou 36

done so in vain. We are at a crossroad, and the decision, and the

direction that we must take, is the same decision, and direction

that faced the men who forged ahead against insurmountable odds,

and formed the free thirteen colonies. I firmly believe that our

future is as delicate now, as it was two-hundred and forty years

ago. The stakes are just as high, and the price to be paid for

watching good men stand by and do nothing while evil succeeds,

will be irrevocable.

“You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding

reality”

Ayn Rand

Stamatiou 37

Works Cited

Locke, John, Two Treatises of Government and a Letter

Concerning Toleration. Binghamton, NY. Yale University

Press, 2003.

Khadduri, Majid. War and Peace in the Law of Islam. London.

Oxford University Press, 1955.

Ibrahim, Raymond, Crucified Again. New York. Regnery

Publishing, 2013.

Warner, Bill, The Life of Muhammad: The Sira.

www.cspipublishing.com, printed in the USA.

Khaldun, Ibn, The Muqudimmah: An Introduction to History,

trans. Franz Rosenthal. NY. Pantheon Publishers 1958.

Ye’or, Bat, The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam.

Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, Teaneck, 1996.

Middle East Research Institute (MEMRI), Friday Sermons in

Saudi Arabia Mosques: Review and Analysis, MEMRI special

report NO. Ten, September 26, 2002. www.memri.org.

Mansel, Philip, Constantinople: City of the World’s Desire

1453-1924. St Martin’s Griffin, NY, 1998.

Stamatiou 38

Aid to the Church in Need, “Religious Freedom in the

Majority Islamic Countries”, 1998 Report: Cyprus, op.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/middleeast/

article2602696.ece

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/military-july-dec96-

fatwa_1996/

Spencer, Robert, Jihad: David Horowitz Freedom Center. Los

Angeles, 2007. www.TerrorismAwareness.org, ISBN 1-886442-56-

8