Important foundations in the case of "Coptic history and the claim of persecution!"

** Persecution! .. Its concept and types!

Anyone who is knowledgeable about the claim of "persecution" issued by the Christians of the diaspora and those who follow them from the Christians of Egypt, will find in it a deliberate exaggeration to gain planned gains and interests through the claim of "persecution". The Christians consider any action that would establish a state and organize civil and personal status among its members as persecution!! They have forgotten what persecution is, the bitterness of which they have tasted throughout the ages, after they enjoyed the garments of freedom, justice and tolerance, under the shadow of Islam and its state!!

In his encyclopedic book (The Story of Civilization) in the book “Caesar and Christ” p. 380, the writer “Will Durant” mentions an example of the horrors that Christians were subjected to at the hands of Emperor Diocletian in the year 303 AD: (Eusebius confirms to us, and perhaps he does so in a fit of rage, that people were flogged until their flesh was separated from their bones, or that their flesh was peeled off their bones with shells and salt or vinegar was poured into their wounds, and their flesh was cut off piece by piece and thrown to the animals standing waiting for them, or they were tied to crosses so that the hungry beasts could tear their flesh piece by piece, and a sharp stick was driven into the fingers of some victims under their fingers, and the eyes of some were gouged out, and some were hung by their hands or feet, and molten lead was poured into the throats of others, and some were beheaded or crucified, or beaten with thick sticks until they died, Some were torn to pieces by having their bodies tied to temporarily bent tree branches. All of this has come down to us from the Christians, but the pagans did not pass anything on to us about this.

The Coptic History Committee of the Egyptian Orthodox Church told us about the persecutions that took place after Diocletian: (... After Diocletian, Emperor Maximian rose up and made the Christians taste bitter cups of persecution, as he killed thousands of them and destroyed their churches) (Summary of the History of Christianity in Egypt, p. 76).

Older than this persecution was the persecution of Nero in the year 64 AD: (The reason for this was that after Nero burned Rome, he accused the Christians of this fire. The last four years of this tyrant’s rule were years of danger and destruction in all parts of the Roman Empire, where they excelled in torturing the Christians. They put some of them in the skins of wild animals, threw them to dogs who tore them apart, and crucified some of them in clothes covered with pitch and made them into torches to light themselves at night. Nero himself walked by the light of these human torches) (previous source, p. 95).

Dr. Nabil Luka Bebawi says about the persecutions practiced by the Roman Catholic Church against the Orthodox Christians of Egypt before the Islamic conquest of the country: (In the year 631 AD, Heraclius, the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, tried to unify the Christian faith once again in all the states affiliated with his empire according to the Arian doctrine of the two natures of Christ, and he sent a new ruler, Al-Muqawqis, who burned them alive - that is, the Orthodox - and pulled out their teeth, to the point that the brother of Anba Benjamin, the Patriarch of the Orthodox Copts in Alexandria, the Roman soldiers burned his brother Matthias and set him on fire alive for his refusal to recognize the decisions of the new Emperor Heraclius. All historians agree that these foolishness on the part of Al-Muqawqis made the Copts in Egypt hate the rule of the Byzantine Empire, and they prayed to be saved from the evils of the Roman soldiers. Due to the severity of the persecution by the Roman soldiers, the Patriarch Anba Benjamin fled and left the city of Alexandria and fled to Upper Egypt after he saw what It happened to his brother and to the Orthodox Copts, and in this tragic and bloody atmosphere where Coptic history books mention that the blood of the Orthodox Copts reached the horses’ knees of the Roman soldiers, and in the year 639 AD, Amr ibn al-Aas came with his army to Egypt with four thousand fighters, and conquered Egypt in this tragic atmosphere in which the Orthodox Copts lived from the woes of killing and torture on the Roman soldiers) (The Spread of Islam by the Sword between Truth and Slander, pp. 157-158).

Shortly after the era of Constantine, the Christians prepared a forged document in his name – that is, Constantine – in which violence against infidels and atheists was permitted, and during the following century, under this slogan, they eliminated followers of other religions and everyone who disagreed with the Catholic Church.

Rationalist encyclopedia, p442

After the Christians "the majority" finished with the infidels and the atheists "the minority", they turned to the Jews under the slogan of avenging the blood of Christ, and under this pretext the Jews were killed and their property was stolen, and they were forced to leave their homes, and the famous Pope "Hailbrand" said, encouraging the Christian rulers to kill the atheists, infidels and Jews: "He who prevents his sword from killing these is cursed!"

Herbert Muller: use of the past pp.86-87; Cambridge modern history (1907), vol.10, p. 152; Rationalist encyclopedia, p.270

One of the tricks that the Christians exploited to persecute Muslims and Jews and those who differed with the Catholic Church is what was known as the "Inquisition". In the name of this trick, many innocent men, women and children were killed, too many to count, by slaughter, hanging and burning, which is considered a dark page in the history of all humanity!

In light of these examples of injustice, persecution and torture, researchers were forced to say:
“Christianity is distinguished among other religions in that it killed its deniers and oppressed them in terms of quantity and quality to the point that no other religion can compete with it.”

Rationalist encyclopedia, p441

There is what is known as "intellectual persecution", which is represented in a cultural intellectual war, which restricts thought, knowledge and science, such as that practiced by the Catholic Church against its philosophers, thinkers and scientists in the Middle Ages, as the era of the prosperity and spread of Christianity is considered what almost all Christians agree to call the "Dark Ages". The incident of the persecution of Bruno and Galileo is not far from us, as they were two of the most prominent astronomers in the Middle Ages. The first was burned alive, and the second, due to his old age, was severely tortured and forced to exonerate himself from his blasphemous ideas, the most prominent of which was that the sun represents the center of the solar system instead of the earth, and this was later scientifically proven!

Bruno and Galileo were not only victims of this era, but the popes of the church expanded the circle of discontent to the general public, so they burned whoever they wanted, claiming that he was a "fortune teller"!

Rationalist encyclopedia, pp. 622-623.

Likewise, what the two churches did: the Catholic and Orthodox churches through councils and church trials of their most prominent men, whenever they came out to the Christian world with ideas and opinions that contradicted the church’s doctrinal heritage, so the term “heretics” appeared, that term which was sufficient when applied to individuals or groups, to burn them and their writings and to warn against their transmission or circulation, and to punish anyone who possessed these writings or advocated what they advocated of opinions and ideas by killing or burning!

When did something like this happen to Christians or even a tenth of them under the rule of Islam over them?!

** The Copts and the claims of their persecution! .. Its causes and objectives!

What I have quoted - for example - from the Coptic History Committee, as well as Will Durant and Nabil Louka, is undoubtedly an ethnic genocide, expressed by a word that is equivalent to it and equal to it, which is "persecution", and what Christian history has witnessed of intellectual terrorism, cultural suppression, and scientific confinement, we do not find a truth to describe it with except "intellectual persecution"!

As for what we see through the Christians' allegations of Islamic persecution of them under the Islamic state, it is a ridiculous claim expressed by a spoiled child in the eyes of those responsible for her care, who forgot what she was facing of disobedience, severity, psychological and physical insults, and poor upbringing at the hands of her original parents, so whenever those responsible for her care advised her and directed her to what is in her best interest, and wanted to prevent her from continuing her insolence, aggression, and brutality towards them, she claimed that they were persecuting her!

If we took the jizya from adult Christians who were able to bear arms, as a reward for their protection and sufficiency, they would consider that to be persecution!! They were the ones who were paying taxes against their will, and without any exemption for the old or young of both sexes, and not for the sake of protection and sufficiency!!

And if we changed the official language of the country as Abdullah bin Abdul Malik bin Marwan did in Egypt, may God honor it, they would consider that to be persecution!! We do not know what persecution is in that, and Egypt has become an Islamic state governed by a clear Arabic language, represented in the Book of God and the Sunnah of His Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, which guaranteed freedom of belief and religion for the People of the Covenant themselves. Moreover, this matter has happened repeatedly whenever a new civilization arose that wanted to lead for itself, prove itself and create its glories, and no one claimed "persecution" as a result of that action!

The experienced observer knows that the claim of persecution in this regard is intended to obliterate the sources of Islamic legislation. We would like to remind you that Abdullah bin Abdul Malik did not forbid speaking Hebrew, Coptic, Latin or Greek inside churches or when performing Christian or Jewish religious rituals or even among non-Muslims. We have never heard of a Christian or Jew being killed or burned because he spoke a language other than Arabic!

This is how the allegations of persecution are made, as they are intended to distort the image of Islam, and completely close the avenues for its implementation in all aspects of life, and to obtain gains that are not guaranteed to them by their religion itself as much as they are guaranteed to them by the tolerance of the religion of Islam, that tolerance that has deceived a group of Christians, whose ambitions increase day after day, until they achieve their ultimate goal, which is to convert Muslims to Christianity and eliminate the great Islam, without which their Christianity would not have existed!

The "persecution" repeated by some Christians in Egypt and abroad is in itself a persecution of Muslims, because they want, through these false allegations, to terrorize Muslims inside their countries, and to destabilize their security and stability, by encouraging fanatics to intervene to stop this alleged persecution!

Islam has never intellectually subjugated Christians - or even Jews - or deprived them of their faith, but rather Islam left them the ideological, intellectual and cultural sphere, and honored their intellectuals and scholars, and gave them the most prominent scientific and religious positions. History witnesses the flight of every researcher and student of knowledge and culture from Europe to the Islamic state during the ecclesiastical rule of Europe in the dark Middle Ages, so the Islamic world was filled with Christian philosophers and clerics!

** Important foundations about Islamic rule!

Despite all that has been said, we do not claim infallibility for anyone except for God and His Messengers, may God’s prayers and peace be upon them all. As for the rulers and those in authority, they are not infallible, but whoever rules among us according to God’s law is the just one who establishes God’s limits, and whoever violates the law or neglects to apply it is the oppressor of himself, his nation, and his people of all sects. So any injustice that befell the Christians – assuming it occurred – without justification at the hands of a Muslim ruler or a group claiming Islam and carrying its banner, Islam is innocent of them, and this is not considered persecution in the sense that is well-known among them – that is, among the Christians – but it is an incidental problem in which the ruler or Muslim violates the teachings of his religion and constitution in his treatment of non-Muslims, and even in his treatment of his fellow Muslims. We have already mentioned the great position of Islam regarding its covenant people, and how it guaranteed them what their religions did not guarantee them!

There are matters that should be noted. We do not prevent a Muslim ruler from “persecuting” a certain group at any given time. This is of course contrary to Islam and its Sharia, and Islam does not bear the burden of it. However, it may happen, unfortunately, as we do not attest to the infallibility of our rulers – in any era – at all. This is a matter of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s!

As we also mentioned, the history of Muslims has not known an injustice that befell the People of the Covenant and continued for a long time. Public opinion – and scholars with it – has always been against the oppressors and deviants, and the truth quickly returns to its rightful place. We have mentioned examples of this.

We also do not say that the Islamic state is infallible as a ruling state, but it was afflicted with shortcomings and weakness and its subjects, regardless of their religious affiliations, suffered some injustice and oppression in some times and eras, especially the Muslim majority. However, we say that the sources of legislation in the Islamic state are infallible: the Holy Qur’an, the pure Prophetic Sunnah, consensus, analogy, etc. Whenever Muslims resort to these sources, prosperity and justice have been achieved for them, for their kinsmen, and for every living being who lived under their protection. History bears witness to this in the clearest testimony. Laxity in applying these sources in ruling the state, even if it carries the slogan of Islam, is the reason for the shortcomings and weakness that afflicted it in some times. God’s law in His creation is still in effect, so to the extent that we adhere to these sources and resort to them, goodness, justice, progress, and advancement are achieved. On the contrary, you see failure and failure prevailing and spreading throughout the state. These are not slogans that we claim like others, but every word we claim has a practical historical reality that testifies to it and supports it. And God's law in His creation is still in effect!

** Persecution or harvesting what their hands have planted?!

We should not forget that the matter is related to the Christians’ commitment to the covenant and pact taken from them, and not to go against the rule of Islam, which guaranteed them – without a doubt – their right to live, earn, and worship freely, and not to attack, harm, assault, or deceive Muslims or surrender their necks to their enemy!

They have no right to touch any of the foundations of Islam and its sanctities, such as the Qur’an, the Sunnah, belief, worship, morals, and historical axioms. They have no right to insult, curse, mock, or ridicule, or to stir up religious strife, or to attack the values, history, and civilization of Islam, or to attack honor and dignity!

Perhaps this is one of the most important reasons for the unrest between Muslims and Christians, especially during the era of the Islamic state. Many Christian historians have testified to this, and this summary testimony was conveyed - indirectly - by one of the most prominent writers who hate Islam and Muslims, the racist Englishwoman "A.L. Butcher" in her book "The History of the Coptic Nation and its Church", as she says:

(The historical events that took place during the eighth generation of the Hijra, corresponding to the fourteenth generation of Christians, are the greatest honest witness that shows us the severity of the severe persecution that the Copts suffered at the hands of the Muslim rulers who ruled Egypt in that generation...
Even though Muslim historians have proven and confirmed that these persecutions were brought upon themselves by the Copts - that is, they were the reason for their occurrence - Christian historians have followed their brothers in proving this without researching the incidents and events to obtain the historical facts, as is the custom of most Frankish historians, as they used the words of the French historian Neil: "It happened because of their mistake" - that is, Copts - However, I have carefully examined these historical facts in the history of Al-Maqrizi, who is considered the most honest Muslim historian, and some other Islamic history books that direct accusations at the Copts. It became clear to me after careful consideration that those historians were not completely confident in proving them... (History of the Coptic Nation and its Church 4/1).

It is enough for us what this racist woman mentioned about the consensus of Christian and Muslim historians on the reasons for the conflicts that occurred at that time. I wonder if the matter is as this woman mentioned, then what prompted Christian historians to go along with Muslim historians according to her claim?! Aren't these people ashamed when they attack the integrity of their ancestors?!

Dear reader, you can refer to Al-Maqrizi’s history to learn the lies and forgery of this woman, and that the claim of examining her carefully is a way of throwing dust in the eyes to deceive the Western reader. Al-Maqrizi did not mention any news of the people in which a calamity befell them except that he mentioned that it was due to what their hands had earned – as was explained previously – until he said, may God have mercy on him: (Their affair - meaning the Christians - is not hidden from the one whose heart God has enlightened, for from their ugly effects, if they gain control over Islam and its people, what the intelligent person knows by means of their evil origin, and the ancient hostility of their ancestors to the religion and its bearers!) (Al-Khitat 3/285, and Al-Qawl Al-Ibrizi, p. 65).

This racist woman, in her aforementioned book, said all of her words without a single piece of evidence to prove the truth of her claims. Rather, she began to spread her poison and hatred, attacking the testimonies of Christian historians who preceded her by hundreds of years without evidence, support, or documentary reference for what she claims. All of this was done in her book under a deceptive title, except for: “Research and Accurate Examination”!! She claims the claim that matches what she wants to promote of hatred and malice, then she claims that this is what she found after accurate research!! This racist did not tell us: Where is the evidence for her research?! What are the sources of her examination?! What is the support for her evidence – if evidence exists at all –?!

Rather, you are surprised by the absence of a single reference that she relies on in her book in most of the news written in it. She cites the news without referring to a specific source or reference to refer to, and she wants us to take her random words as a matter of course and accept them as absolutely true, transmitted and rational!

As for what this woman attributes to a specific reference or source - which is very little - you will definitely find the opposite when referring to this source, and this is the case with all hateful racist writings, as you will find lies and forgery in them that the devils were unable to produce anything like!

What is more amazing than this is that many Christian priests today tend towards these writings when providing evidence, and it is known that these writings filled the hearts of their authors with hatred and Crusader fanaticism against Islam and its Sharia, and against Muslims and their capabilities, deliberately leaving out the most important Christian historical references in this regard, some of which are hundreds of years older than the references of the haters, and from a documentation standpoint there is no doubt about them - for them, not for us - but it is enough for you that their writers were closer to the events, in addition to their Orthodox affiliations and their Arabic language!

Professor Ahmed Abdullah says in one of his studies on this matter: (... When I went back to eighty-two incidents, which are all the confrontations that occurred between Muslims and Christians in Egypt throughout history, I found that behind this strife there is always a Christian man who came to the seat of the church, or a Muslim man who came to the seat of power, wanting to play with his hatred and malice, adhering to his own whims and moods, which contradict the divine books, trying to sever the ties of the historical, human, intellectual, and cultural interaction that is steadfast, silent, and extended, until it became a bond of the bonds of the body of the nation, all of it screaming for it if it is wounded, and feeling pain for it if it is harmed, those screams and groans of pain that afflict the body that is rebellious with that disease that they called “sectarian strife”) (Abu Islam Ahmed Abdullah - The Absent Civilization, History of Christianity in Egypt, p. 7).

I say again: The people do not differentiate between all these matters when they launch the claim of "persecution". They want empowerment even at the expense of the necks of Muslims. If we stop their aggression and insolence, they come out to the world with claims of "persecution"!