MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“(AINA) — On Monday, October 3, Muslims surrounded St. Mary’s Church in the Upper Egyptian village of Elmadmar, Tema district, Sohag province, in an effort to demolish it. The Muslims blocked the road to the church and hurled bricks at the building. Church personnel contacted the authorities. ‘For the first time, security came and in big numbers,’ said activist George Bouchra.

None of the assailants were arrested.

According to the priest of the church, Muslims came early before 8 AM and held banners with ‘No to the Church’ and demanded that no prayers be held. He described the assailants as young people under the leadership of some village Muslims, ‘whom I know by name.’

The Muslims insisted that it was never a church but a house that was turned into a church. This was refuted by the priest, who said the church was built eight years ago, to be used as a church and belongs to the Coptic Diocese. ‘It has state security approval to operate, but its license is still pending.’ The church was used once a month and a mass has been held every Saturday for five months. Muslims claim that we hold a mass every day at 4 PM, and we ring the church bell, which the church does not have, besides singing hymns, which they claim disturbs them.'” Read more.

“JAKARTA, Indonesia – 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, director general of Islamic Community Guidance under the Ministry of Religious Affairs. ‘There’s a need to re-explain the concept of jihad.’

Pino Damayanto, aka Ahmad Yosepa Hayat, who blew himself up wounding over 20 members of the Sepenuh Injil Bethel Church (Bethel Full Gospel Church) in Solo on Sept. 25, apparently believed it was his religious duty to kill ‘the enemies of Islam,’ according to his understanding of ‘jihad.'” Read more.

Indonesia: Radical Islam infiltrating top universities says counter-terror agency – “Radicalism has found its way into several of Indonesia’s top universities, according to the national counter-terrorism Agency (BNPT) says. ‘We are seeing a massive increase in radicalism. It is penetrating some top-quality and favourite universities such as [the University of Indonesia] and [the Bandung Institute of Technology],’ BNPT chief Ansyaad Mbai said Tuesday.” Read more.

Indonesia arrests Muslim militant suspected of plotting suicide attacks at church – “Indonesia’s anti-terrorism squad has arrested one of the country’s most wanted Muslim militants for allegedly plotting suicide attacks. Local police chief Lt. Col. Lufti Martadian said Sunday that Beni Asri was captured without a fight on Friday near his parents’ house in Solok of West Sumatra province.” Read more.

Indonesia: Islamic movement protests against shoppings malls – “Members of the Indonesia’s Islamic Student Assocation (HMI) clashed with riot police during a rally in front of the Kediri Regional Representatives Council (DPD) office on Thursday. ‘Open the gates or we’ll break them down,’ protesters yelled. The students were rallying against the mushrooming of modern shopping and karaoke centers in Kediri. The malls, they said, had caused the demise of other smaller shops.” Read more.

By Mathias Hariyadi – “Jakarta (AsiaNews) – A group of extremists from the Islamic Defender Front (FPI) have shut down a Protestant church in Jatinangor, in Bandung sub district, last Friday, the Muslim day of prayer. As in previous occasions in which Christian places of worship were seized and religious activities interrupted, the fundamentalists were aided and abetted by the local administration.

Recently, rumours spread according to which the Protestant church was a haven for a ‘community of newly baptised’. Extremists also accuse Rev Bernard Maukar, head of the Christian community, of engaging in proselytising in a predominantly Muslim area.

Arief Saefolah, village chief in Mekargalih (where the church is located), said he had the right to close down the place of worship as ‘illegal’ because it was within his jurisdiction. ‘This area is under my authority,’ he told the Christian community. ‘Please, get out as soon as possible.’

Tensions had been rising until last Friday’s showdown. Saefolah and other local security officials (Satpol PP), plus 30 FPI members, seized all Christian properties, including chairs, musical instruments, tables and cars.” Read more.

Over 50 Christian churches shut down in Indonesia since 2010 – “Jakarta (Agenzia Fides) – In 2010, 47 churches were shut down in Indonesia and in the first 4 months of 2011 9 Christian places of worship have been shut down or demolished: this is what ‘Jakarta Christian Communication Forum’ (FKKJ) reports to Fides, these churches are considered ‘illegal’ or ‘unauthorized’, and this is why the civil authorities, in Java and other provinces of Indonesia, imposed the closure and suspension of all activities of worship. In a note sent to Fides, the Forum of Christians in Jakarta, which includes leaders of all denominations, asks itself ‘why is this only applied to the Christian churches and not other places of worship’, noting a discriminatory practice, which implies a subtle pressure on the believers in Christ. Local authorities sometimes fail to give an answer to this question. The official reasons for the closure of churches speak of ‘houses used as places of worship, without a license’ or without the minimum number of 60 faithful. But it is, in most cases, the measures taken following protests from Muslim radical groups…” Read more.

By Luiza Oleszczuk – “A Christian teen was reportedly raped in Pakistan by three Muslim men while she was working, it emerged Tuesday and her case, according to an international advocacy group, is part of a troubling trend in which Muslim men use sexual assault as a weapon against Christian girls.

The International Christian Concern (ICC), an advocacy group, reported the event on their website Tuesday, after an investigation. Regional Manager for South Asia, Jonathan Racho, told The Christian Post that one of the organization’s reporters talked to the young woman in person.

The incident took place on Sept. 16, ICC has established. The 18-year-old girl, whose name was not revealed for security reasons, was working alone on a Muslim farm in the Village of Muphat Pura, in Kasur district. At 5 p.m. local time, three relatives of her Muslim employer came to her and allegedly raped her.

Later, they warned her not to report the rape to anyone or else they would kill her and her brother, who also works on the farm, the teen told ICC.

‘I am very sad about what happened to me,’ she reportedly said.

She explained that if she reports this case, it will be difficult for her and her family to live in the area.” Read more.

Christine M. Flowers: The very real persecution of Christians in the Arab world – “… while Christians are free (and in some cases pressured) to convert to Islam, Muslims are barred from converting to Christianity. In a notorious case now in the headlines, Yusuf Naderkhani, a Christian pastor, has been sentenced to death in Iran for refusing to renounce his faith, to which he’d converted as a teen. And Gabriel Said Reynolds recently wrote in Commonweal that an Egyptian Christian who petitioned the government to allow his daughters to receive a Christian education was forced into hiding after receiving death threats when his request was made public. So Christians in the Middle East can be forgiven if they don’t embrace the Arab Spring with as much fervor as their Muslim brothers and sisters because – to put it bluntly – the devil they know is at least more predictable than the devil they don’t – which is, without a doubt, Islamic fundamentalism.” Read more.

Sura 8:12b, “… terrorize and behead those who believe in scriptures other than the Qur’an.”

By Herbert Pinnock, The Christian Post – “Islamic militants with suspected ties to Iranian security forces have been terrorizing evangelical Christians with threats to ‘repent’ or die, it was reported Sunday.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide has reported that 11 Iranian Christians who fled Iran in the wake of a government campaign against Christianity have received threats via email to ‘repent’ or face extrajudicial execution, from a group identifying itself as the ‘The Unknown Soldiers of The Hidden Imam.’

The threatening emails that were sent to each individual on Sept. 14 aspired to extend the arm of Iranian Islamic militancy beyond the borders of Iran by implying that, although the recipients have left Iran, they have not escaped the ‘acute eyes of the unknown soldiers.’

The emails conclude by offering the 11 Christians ‘the opportunity to repent and ask forgiveness from the presence of the Hidden Imam,’ defined as the 12th Imam, the Messiah-figure in Shia theology, and the Great Allah. Otherwise, each individual would be killed according to the Fatwa given by Mehdi the Hidden Imam.

According to CSW, the Rev. Samuel Yeghnazar of Elam Ministries, who has been closely involved in the house church movement in Iran, has indicated that he and his network of churches are taking the threat very seriously.

This threat is similar to the coercion of Youcef Nadarkhani, an Iranian Christian pastor who was tried and found guilty of apostasy in September of 2010 due to the charge that he abandoned his Islamic religion and converted to Christianity.” Read more.