by Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n
FrontPage Magazine<\/em><\/p>\n Inasmuch as the recent death of Coptic Pope Shenouda III exposed the humanity of some Muslims, it also exposed the inhumanity of Islamic teachings.<\/p>\n Consider some examples of Muslim sympathy following his death: Egypt\u2019s\u00a0Al Akhbar<\/a><\/em>\u00a0newspaper called the Pope\u2019s burial \u201cthe funeral of the century,\u201d reporting that a million Egyptians \u2014 likely more Muslims than Christians \u2014 came out to mourn him; \u201cHis death is a tragedy and a great loss for Egypt and its people, Muslims and Christians,\u201d declared Egypt\u2019s Grand Mufti; a recent episode of\u00a0Al Dalil<\/a><\/em>, famous for criticizing Islam, gave several more examples of Egyptian Muslims mourning and sympathizing with their Christian counterparts \u2014 including one Muslim who had tried to give his kidney to the ailing Pope.<\/p>\n In short, human nature took over. Some of Egypt\u2019s Muslims saw in Pope Shenouda a beloved national figure \u2014 much to the chagrin of Islam\u2019s clerics, like\u00a0Khaled Abdullah<\/a>, who, in amazement, said, \u201cI can\u2019t believe it \u2014 what I saw today [the Pope\u2019s funeral], I can\u2019t believe it. If a Companion [of Muhammad, among Islam\u2019s most revered people] died we wouldn\u2019t do this for him,\u201d adding that Muslim participation and mourning in the funeral was \u201churtful to the feelings of 80 million Muslims.\u201d<\/p>\n Accordingly, Islam\u2019s clerics rushed in, pointing out Sharia law\u2019s teachings concerning the death of an infidel, or non-Muslim, like Pope Shenouda. Fatwas appeared, many saying it is forbidden to offer condolences to the Copts, others saying it is permissible \u2014 but through carefully crafted words, and in the hopes of attracting Copts to Islam (reminding one of Sheikh\u00a0Muhammad Hassan<\/a>\u2019s assertion that smiling to non-Muslims is permissible, but only as a way to attract them to Islam). Salafi leader,\u00a0Yassir al-Burhami<\/a>, permitted minor condolences \u2014 mostly by way of\u00a0tawriya<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0using words that console, but that have a generic or pro-Islam meaning \u2014 while insisting it is forbidden to pray for deceased infidels (since all non-Muslims are destined and deserving of hell, Koran 9: 113).<\/p>\n The most vicious condemnations came from Sheikh\u00a0Wagdi Ghoneim<\/a>, formerly a Californian mosque prayer-leader, who, a day after Pope Shenouda\u2019s death, referred to him as an \u201caccursed criminal\u201d and praised Allah for his death: \u201cYesterday [March 17], thanks be to Allah, the head of infidelity and polytheism, this so-called Shenouda, died \u2014 may Allah be avenged on him. He perished, and all were relieved of him \u2014 people, worshippers, trees, and animals; Egypt is relieved of him, for he initiated sectarian strife.\u201d<\/p>\n While Ghoneim engaged in the usual\u00a0lies and projections<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 saying the Pope wanted to create a Coptic state and \u201cset Egypt ablaze\u201d \u2014 there is no denying that Ghoneim\u2019s position on condemning dead infidels is grounded in Islam: the remainder of the cleric\u2019s \u201ceulogy\u201d is riddled with quotes from Islam\u2019s core texts, the Koran, Hadith, and scholarly [ulema<\/em>] consensus.<\/p>\n For instance, he quoted Caliph Omar\u2019s famous ejaculation upon learning that a Muslim had hired a Christian scribe: \u201cWhat is wrong with you \u2014 may Allah curse you?! Have you not heard Allah\u2019s words: \u2018O you who believe: do not take the Jews and the Christians as friends and allies; they are friends and allies of each other\u2019 [Koran 5:51]? Why did you not employ a\u00a0hanif<\/em>\u00a0[a Muslim]? The man replied, \u201cI profit from his [the Christian\u2019s] writing, and his religion is his own affair,\u201d to which the pious Omar rebounded, \u201cI will not honor them, when Allah has humiliated them, nor will I be close to them, when Allah has cast them away.\u201d<\/p>\n Incidentally, Omar is the same \u201crighteous caliph\u201d who gave the contradictory commandment to \u201cHumiliate them [Christians] but do not wrong them\u201d \u2014 as if humiliating people does not also \u201cwrong\u201d them. (For more Islamic quotes, see this\u00a0fatwa<\/a><\/em>.)<\/p>\n All this hate is in keeping with\u00a0doctrines<\/a>\u00a0that command Muslims to have enmity for infidels; Koran 60:4 has the famous Muslim position concerning non-Muslims: \u201cEnmity and hate shall forever reign between us \u2014 till you believe in Allah alone.\u201d Indeed, according to\u00a0other\u00a0fatwas<\/em><\/a>, even cursing dead infidels, as Ghoneim the Pope, is legitimate \u2014 with the caveat that the curse should only be made public if not detrimental to Muslims (in increasingly Islamist Egypt, Ghoneim must have concluded his maledictions for the beloved leader of some 15 million Copts would have no negative repercussions for Muslims).<\/p>\n When it comes to how Muslims should feel about Pope Shenouda\u2019s death, the question is, who is right \u2014 the Muslim clerics, learned in Sharia, or the many nominal Muslims? As Wahid of\u00a0Al Dalil<\/a>\u00a0concluded, \u201cInasmuch as many Egyptian Muslims were kind and sympathetic to us Christians, there is no doubt that the clerics, like Ghoneim, have Islam\u2019s teachings on their side.\u201d<\/p>\n Which leads to the great irony of Islam: while it boasts that it is\u00a0the religion offitra<\/em><\/a>, of \u201cnature,\u201d which is why all humans are supposedly born Muslims, its teachings \u2014 from \u201cadult breastfeeding<\/a>\u201d to \u201cdeath-sex<\/a>\u201d \u2014 often contradict the most natural human impulses. Worse, while many religions try to ennoble humanity, by making them strive to a higher level, here is yet another example of Islam forcing people downwards, to tribalism and egoism, to rancor and hatred.<\/p>\n \u00a92012 Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Raymond Ibrahim FrontPage Magazine Inasmuch as the recent death of Coptic Pope Shenouda III exposed the humanity of some Muslims, it also exposed the inhumanity of Islamic teachings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[29,227],"tags":[192,1035,1017,30],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-cv","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1331,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/collective-punishment-wherever-you-can-reach-them\/","url_meta":{"origin":775,"position":0},"title":"Collective Punishment: “Wherever You Can Reach Them”","author":"victorhanson","date":"December 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Hudson New York During a recent altercation in Egypt, a Christian inadvertently killed a Muslim. This incident, according to an\u00a0AINA report, \"turned into collective punishment of all Copts in the majority Christian village.\" Two Christians \"not party to the altercation\" were killed; others were stabbed and critically\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egypt"","block_context":{"text":"Egypt","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/egypt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6324,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/al-qaeda-flag-flies-high-above-christian-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":775,"position":1},"title":"Al Qaeda Flag Flies High Above Christian Churches","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0Gatestone Institute \u00a0 Days ago, al-Qaeda\u2019s Egyptian leader, Ayman Zawahiri,\u00a0portrayed\u00a0\u00a0the overthrow of Muhammad Morsi and the Brotherhood as a \u201cCrusader\u201d campaign led by Coptic Pope Tawadros II who, according to Zawahiri and other terrorists, is trying to create a Coptic state in Egypt. Since then, not only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egypt"","block_context":{"text":"Egypt","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/egypt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/screenshot_2353.jpg?fit=484%2C312&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1161,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/egypt-cuts-a-deal-christians-fed-to-muslim-lions\/","url_meta":{"origin":775,"position":2},"title":"Egypt Cuts a Deal: Christians Fed to Muslim ‘Lions’","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Hudson New York For centuries, the Copts \u2014 Egypt's Christian, indigenous inhabitants \u2014 have been subject to persecution, discrimination, humiliation, and over all subjugation in their homeland (etymologically, \"Copt\" simply means \"Egyptian\"). In the medieval era, such treatment was a standard aspect of sharia's\u00a0dhimmi\u00a0codes, first ratified under\u00a0Caliph\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":641,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/calls-to-destroy-egypts-great-pyramids\/","url_meta":{"origin":775,"position":3},"title":"Calls to Destroy Egypt’s Great Pyramids","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim FrontPage Magazine According to several reports in the Arabic media, prominent Muslim clerics have begun to call for the demolition of Egypt's Great Pyramids \u2014 or, in the words of Saudi\u00a0Sheikh Ali bin Said al-Rabi'i, those \"symbols of paganism,\" which Egypt's Salafi party has long planned to\u00a0cover\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Egypt"","block_context":{"text":"Egypt","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/egypt\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6357,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/in-egypt-media-sympathizes-with-muslim-brotherhood-persecution-of-christians-ignored\/","url_meta":{"origin":775,"position":4},"title":"In Egypt, Media Sympathizes with Muslim Brotherhood, Persecution of Christians Ignored","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/\u00a0NRO's The Corner While Western media, following the lead of pro-Brotherhood Al Jazeera, continue demonizing the Egyptian military\u2019s attempts to neutralize the Muslim Brotherhood terror bases \u2013\u00a0where people have been tortured, raped, and killed, all according to Islamist fatwas (yes, including the rape, more on this later)\u00a0the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Muslim Brotherhood"","block_context":{"text":"Muslim Brotherhood","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/muslim-brotherhood\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1132,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/christians-behaving-like-islamists\/","url_meta":{"origin":775,"position":5},"title":"Christians Behaving Like Islamists?","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Egyptian Islamists project their own means and methods. by Raymond Ibrahim Hudson New York \u00a0 The\u00a0persecution of Egypt's Coptic minority\u00a0is taking an ironic, and dangerous, turn: Islamist leaders are now projecting the worst traits of radical Islam onto Egypt's Christians. A psychological phenomenon first described by Sigmund Freud, \"projection\" is\u00a0defined\u00a0as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=775"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":776,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775\/revisions\/776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}