MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

Muslim authorities who insist on Islamic teachings for Muslim students shouldn’t be allowing Muslims to attend Christian schools. It seems to me that they’re allowing this, however, for the express purpose of raising the issue of “regional bylaws” in an effort to rid Indonesia of Christianity one school (and one church) at a time …

By Mathias Hariyadi, AsiaNews – “Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Municipal authorities in Blitar, a town in East Java province, are threatening to shut down six Catholic schools ‘by 19 January’ if the latter do not provide Islamic courses and readings of the Qur’an to their Muslim students, in accordance with regional bylaw n. 8 of 2012, which requires all Muslim students to receive Islamic courses in school. The latter is based on a national law, the National Education Act n. 55 of 2007.

The six Catholic schools at risk are the Diponegoro Catholic High School, the Catholic Vocational Training High School, Saint Mary KG, Saint Mary Elementary School, and Yos Sudarso Catholic Elementary and Yos Sudarso Catholic Junior High School.

The schools received the municipal injunction in the final days of 2012, but their administrators have refused to comply with the directive by 19 January, this according to the head of the local department of the Religious Affairs Ministry.

So far, school administrators have not released any official statement on the matter because of the sensitive nature of the issue. Before expressing any opinion, they are set to take part in meetings with Catholic leaders.

Sources within the schools note however that Muslim students and their families had accepted their teaching programmes ‘without complaining.’ No one has ever ‘objected on religious grounds’.

In fact, it has been a long established practice that Indonesia’s private Christian schools, including those run by the Catholic Church, are not required to offer courses on Islam or readings of the Qur’an as in public schools. Instead, they provide courses and seminars on Christianity and catechism.

Muslim students who attend these schools can for their part take courses on Islam sponsored by their respective Muslim group.” Source – AsiaNews.

Flashback: Massive Increase of Radical Islamism Spreads Throughout Indonesia, Including ‘Top-Quality’ Universities – “The suicide bombing of a church in Central Java on Sept. 25 pointed not only to a new level of attacks on religious minorities in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country but to a political bent that accommodates Islamist extremism. ‘Radicalization of Islamic teachings and understanding is a problem in Indonesia,’ admitted Dr. H. Nasaruddin Umar …” Read more.

AINA – “Hundreds of Muslims came out of mosques today with hammers and destroyed a social services building belonging to the Coptic Church while chanting Islamic slogans. Security forces arrived after the building was completely razed. The 100 square meters social services building in the village of Fanous, Tamia district in Fayoum province, 130 KM south west of Cairo, had all the necessary government permits; it had a reception hall on the first floor and a kindergarten on the second.

But the Muslims insisted that it would become a church.

A meeting had taken place beforehand between the village mayor and elders from Muslim and Coptic sides and it was agreed that only the first floor was to remain and the second be demolished.

Mosques in surrounding villages called on their microphones this afternoon on Muslims to go and help their Muslim brethrens in the village of Fanous, because Christians were ‘building a church.’ According to rights activist Nader Shukry of Maspero Coptic Youth Organizations, nearly 5000 Muslims took part in demolishing the church property with their hammers, while shouting ‘Allahu Akbar.’ He said no one was arrested, not even the imams who called on Muslims to demolish the building; their calls fall under the crime of ‘enticement to violence.’

The district of Tamia and neighboring Senousen is home to a large congregation of Islamists. Shoukry said that the Coptic Church had previously warned the security authorities of the danger of the Islamists provoking sedition in Tamia and neighboring areas.

A witness from Fanous village said they were working on the building site, which had started two months ago, removing the wood which was intended for the second floor when a Muslim man started insulting the Copts, then they were assaulted by the village women. The mob of Muslim men followed with their attack saying that the whole building has to be demolished. He said that the Muslim elders pretended to be peacemakers, but to no avail. ‘The Muslims with their hammers and spare pipes were demolishing also the walls of the ground floor, leaving nothing standing,’ said the witness. The village mayor and Muslim elders made excuses for not honoring their agreement of leaving the ground floor intact by saying the ‘youth take unreasonable actions.'” Read more.

Mohabat News – “According to CP , In his letter, written from the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran and addressed to his wife Naghmeh, the 32-year-old pastor said he was uncertain about his fate.

‘This is the process in my life today: one day I am told I will be freed and allowed to see my kids on Christmas (which was a lie) and the next day I am told I will hang for my faith in Jesus,’ Abedini wrote. ‘One day there are intense pains after beatings in interrogations, the next day they are nice to you and offer you candy.’

However, the pastor sees God’s hand in the midst of persecution. ‘I always wanted God to make me a godly man. I did not realize that in order to become a godly man we need to become like steel under pressure. It is a hard process of warm and cold to make steel,’ he said, referring to the mixed responses he is receiving in prison. ‘These hot and colds only make you a man of steel for moving forward in expanding His Kingdom.’

Abedini’s letter, which has been posted on the website of Assemblies of God USA, also speaks about torture.

‘When for 120 days you are asleep in a room with one big light that is constantly lit and does not separate day or night and when you can only see true sunlight for a few minutes a week, that’s when you are becoming His Workmanship and you can be a vessel in bringing His Kingdom in a dark place and you are able to share the Gospel of Peace and Life to the dying world,’ wrote the pastor ‘in chains for our Lord Jesus Christ.’ ‘And this is where you learn you can love your enemies with all of your heart.’

The American Center for Law and Justice, which is representing Abedini’s family in the U.S., has also said the pastor’s life is ‘in grave danger,’ as he is facing one of Iran’s notorious ‘hanging judges,’ Pir-Abassi, known for issuing death sentences.

‘And now facing one of Iran’s most notorious judges, Pastor Saeed is in a real sense an American abandoned in Iran. The U.S. State Department has done very little to help this U.S. citizen,’ ACLJ Executive Director Jordan Sekulow said in a report shared with The Christian Post. ‘When you read Pastor Saeed’s own words, you understand that Iran has absolutely no regard for human rights and religious freedom.’

Abedini’s case has been transferred to Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, and he is now in the hands of Judge Pir-Abassi, who was named in 2011 by the European Union as an individual subject to sanctions for human rights violations. The judge has reportedly presided over a number of cases against human rights activists, often handing down long prison sentences and even several death penalties.

Despite the hardships he is facing, Abedini remains strong in his faith.

‘Saeed’s letter is nothing short of a modern-day Pauline epistle,’ AG General Superintendent George O. Wood said on the church’s website. ‘As I read his letter through several times, I could only marvel at how God’s faithfulness transcends time as the same Holy Spirit that was with Paul in his times of desperation is fully evident in the words of our brother Saeed.'” Read more.

AsiaNews – “The criminal court of Beni Suef (115 km south of Cairo) has sentenced an entire family to prison for converting to Christianity. Nadia Mohamed Ali and her children Mohab, Maged, Sherif, Amira, Amir, and Nancy Ahmed Mohamed abdel-Wahab will spend 15 years in prison. Seven other people involved in the case were sentenced to five years in prison.

The case of the family of Nadia Ali Mohamed began in 2004 when, after the conversion, she and her children decided to replace their Muslim names on their identity cards with their Christian names and city of residence change. To do this she was aided by seven Registry office employees e. Born Christian, she had changed her religion to marry her husband Mustafa Mohamed Abdel-Wahab. After the man’s death in 1991, Nadia decided to return to her religion of origins and to push her seven children to convert. In 2006, one of the boys was arrested by police in an information center in the city of Beni Suef. Suspicious of the young man from the documents he as carrying, where he had changed its name to Bishoy Malak Abdel-Massih, police agents interrogated him for hours until he confessed his conversion to Christianity as desired by the mother. The judges then decide to stop not only the woman, but all of her children and seven clerks from the registration office, responsible for changing the documents.

An individuals religious faith is listed in Egyptian identity cards. Christians, converted to Islam for various reasons that attempt to return to the religion to which they belong have enormous difficulty in correcting their names on the documents. This leads many people to forge them, risking prison. The reverse process, ie the transition from Christianity to Islam is not hindered, and in many cases is favored by the very Registry officials.” Source – AsiaNews.

Flashback: Egypt: Islamist Group Forbids Eating Tomatoes Because They Are ‘Christian’ – “‘Allah’ — the alleged creator of all things in Islam — creating food with crosses, not to mention ‘Zionist’ snowflakes? Oh, the humanity! I wonder how they feel about the fact that the universe itself exists as a ‘Trinity’ of time, space and matter, which are themselves comprised of past-present-future, length-width-depth, and solid-liquid-gas? Will they begin forbidding any discussion about the nature of the universe due to the fact that it was created as ‘Trinities within a Trinity’?” Read more.

Flashback: Egyptian Sheikh: Chevrolet’s Logo Resembles Christian Cross, Issues Fatwa Forbidding Muslims from Buying or Driving Chevys – “If the ‘Cross of Chevrolet’ had anything to do with Christianity, then General Motors wouldn’t have needed to be saved by the Federal Government. After all, the Cross is the only thing that can bail us out. No word yet on whether or not a fatwa will be issued against Mercedes-Benz for being pro-Trinitarian. In the meantime, maybe the Sheikh will recommend a Lamborghini for all Muslims. He obviously has no problem with that logo …” Read more.

“The worst sin and distraction from virtue that I have left for man is woman” – Prophet of Islam, Mohammed, Sahih AlBukhari, 5096

“When I stood on the door of hell, I saw most of its inhabitants were women” – Prophet of Islam, Mohammed, Sahih AlBukhari, 5196

By Yasmine Saleh and Shaimaa Fayed, Reuters – “Many Egyptian viewers were horrified when preacher Hisham el-Ashry recently popped up on primetime television to say women must cover up for their own protection and advocated the introduction of religious police.

That an obscure preacher could get publicity for such views was seen as another example of the confused political scene in Egypt since the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak gave birth to a cacophony of feuding voices.

‘I was once asked: If I came to power, would I let Christian women remain unveiled? And I said: If they want to get raped on the streets, then they can,’ Ashry told Nahar TV last week.

Introducing a Saudi-style anti-vice police force to enforce Islamic law was ‘not a bad thing’, he said, and added: ‘In order for Egypt to become fully Islamic, alcohol must be banned and all women must be covered.’ …

With the economic downturn and rising food prices putting pressure on the government, moderate Muslims, Christians and others worry their new-found political freedom is at risk of being exploited by hardline Islamists bent on imposing their values on a society that has been traditionally moderate.” Read more.

Flashback: Canada: Muslim Cleric Wants To Force All Women In Toronto To Wear Burkas, Head Scarves And Face Veils – “But don’t worry, this enlightened Muslim cleric only wants all non-Muslim women to dress like Muslim women because he cares so much for their safety.  Indeed, nothing shows you care more for the inferior sex than blaming them for being sexually assaulted. Because they’re asking for it, right? Besides, if Muslim men are unable to control sexual temptation, then neither can all non-Muslim men, correct? After all, the prophet of Islam said it, so it has to be true. But here’s an idea: Instead of forcing all non-Muslim women to conform to a Muslim dress code, how about we just force all Muslim men to stay indoors? Wouldn’t women then be much, much safer?” Read more.

Flashback: Top 10 Qur’an Quotes Every Woman Must See – “Islam in its purest form honors and elevates women, we are often told. But does it? All too often, textual reality (the Quran) matches up with the historical reality of seventh—century Arabia. Gender inequality and oppression in the Quran reflect the culture of seventh century desert nomads. If Allah and Muhammad improved on this patriarchy, then they did not go far enough for a religion with a claim to universality. Here are the top ten rules in the Quran that oppress and insult women.” Read more.

Flashback: Iran’s Religious Police: Uncovered Female Hair Releases Mind-Controlling ‘Sex Rays’ – “In recent weeks, 53 coffee shops and 87 restaurants have been closed in Tehran for serving customers with improper hijab or for other gender-related offenses … Iran’s sex cops have this weird belief that uncovered hair releases ‘sex rays’ that drive men wild. One of the strange beliefs of the Islamic religious bigots is that men are not responsible for their conduct when it comes to an impulse to make a sexual assault.” Read more.