MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

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.

The history of forced conversions in Islam extends all the way back to nearly 1400 years ago, and, truth be told, even as far back as nearly 14 seconds ago …

By Raymond Ibrahim – “Finding and connecting similar patterns of behavior throughout Islamic history is one of the most objective ways of determining whether something is or is not part of Muslim civilization.

Consider the issue of forced conversion in Islam, a phenomenon that has a long history with ample precedents. Indeed, from its inception, most of those who embraced Islam did so under duress, beginning with the Ridda wars and during the age of conquests, and to escape dhimmi status. This is a simple fact.

Yet, when one examines today’s cases of forced conversions with those from centuries past, identical patterns emerge, demonstrating great continuity. Consider:

Days ago in Pakistan, two Christian men were severely beaten with iron rods and left for dead by a group of Muslims, simply because they refused to convert to Islam. According to Compass Direct News, they were returning from a church service when they were accosted by six Muslims. After they discovered they were Christian, the Muslims:

then started questioning them about their faith and later tried to force them to recite the Kalma [Islamic conversion creed, ‘There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger’] and become Muslims, telling them that this was the only way they could live peacefully in the city. They also offered monetary incentives and ‘protection’ to Ishfaq and Naeem [the Christians], but the two refused to renounce Christianity.

‘After cajoling the two Christians for some time,’ the Muslims pretended to go away, only to ram their car into the Christians: ‘The Muslims [then] got out of the car armed with iron rods and attacked Ishfaq and Naeem, shouting that they should either recite the Kalma or be prepared to die…severely beating[ing] the two Christians, fracturing Ishfaq Munawar’s jaw and breaking five teeth, and seriously injuring Masih…. [T]he two Christians fell unconscious, and the young Muslim men left assuming they had killed them.’

Contrast this contemporary account with the following anecdote from some 500 years past (excerpted from Witnesses for Christ, pgs.62-64):

In the year 1522, two Christian brothers in Ottoman Egypt were denounced by local Muslims ‘mostly out of jealousy and envy’; so the emir arrested them and ‘began flattering them and asking questions about their faith.’ The brothers made it clear that they were firm adherents of Christianity. ‘The Muslims in the audience became enraged with the brothers when they heard their answers, and they began screaming and demanding they must become Muslims.’ The brothers responded by refusing to ‘deny the faith we received from our forefathers, but we will remain unshaken and very firm in it until the end.’

The Muslim judge deciding their case told the Christian brothers that if they simply said the Kalma and embraced Islam, they ‘would be given many honors and much glory’; otherwise, they would die.” Read more.

An addendum to this story …

By Chana Ya’ar – “Egypt is back to ‘business as usual’ with the Islamic majority harassing and attacking its Christian minority.

A group of Muslims burnt down part of a church Friday – the Islamic Sabbath – in the village of Marinab, according to a report published in the daily Al Masry Al Youm. The village, situated close to the town of Edfu in the Aswan Governorate, is located some 800 kilometers south of Cairo.

Security sources said Muslims rampaged through the village in what appeared to be a pogrom, clashing with the Christian residents and destroying their shops. Central Security Forces cordoned off the village ‘to control the clashes,’ according to the newspaper report.

Christian websites reported in September that a group of Salafi Islamists had threatened the Christians, warning them not to leave their homes in the village unless they first removed the church dome. Saint George’s Church had been restored earlier in the month, according to the report.

A gang of Salafi Muslims boasted to a victim they were torturing in March, ‘We won’t leave any Christians in this country,’ according to a report published several months ago in the Wall Street Journal. The attackers were never arrested…

Since the revolution, there have been numerous murders by Muslims visited upon the Coptic Christian community, which comprises about 10 percent of the 83 million-strong Egyptian population.” Read more.

Report: 100,000 Christians Have Left Egypt Since March Due to Escalating Intimidation and Attacks From Islamists – “The Egyptian Union of Human Rights Organizations (EUHRO) published a report today on emigration of Christians from Egypt, saying that nearly 100,000 Christians have emigrated since March 2011. The report, which was sent to the Egyptian cabinet and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), warned that this emigration has been prompted by the escalating intimidation and attacks on Christians by Islamists. ‘Copts are not emigrating abroad voluntarily,’ said Naguib Gabriell, the director EUHRO, ‘they are coerced into that by threats and intimidation by hard line Salafists, and the lack of protection they are getting from the Egyptian regime.’” Read more.

In an effort to somehow ‘justify’ killing Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, Iran scampers to change the crime punishable by death from ‘apostasy‘ to ‘rape’.  Not only does the suicidal death cult of the Iranian leadership wish to destroy the Western world because we’re all unbelieving ‘infidels’ who reject Islam, they must also want us dead because, apparently, they believe we’re all stupid, too …

By Daniel Tovrov – “Iran said on Saturday that Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was sentenced to death for rape, not for the crime of abandoning Islam.

Previous reports indicated that Nadarkhani was found guilty of apostasy because he converted to Christianity as a teenager. Nadarkhani has been sentenced to death by hanging for the crime, which is technically not in Iran’s penal code but is a religious doctrine enforced by an official fatwa.

‘His crime is not, as some claim, converting others to Christianity,’ Gholomali Rezvani, the Gilan province deputy governor, told Farsn news agency. ‘He is guilty of security-related crimes.’

However, a December 2010 court ruling issued and signed by Supreme Court judges Morteza Fazel and Azizoallah Razaghi mentions the religious charges against Nadarkhani and nothing more.

‘Mr. Youcef Nadarkhani, son of Byrom, 32 years old, married, born in Rasht in the state of Gilan, is convicted of turning his back on Islam, the greatest religion the prophesy of Mohammad at the age of 19,’ the document states.

‘He has often participated in Christian worship and organized home church services, evangelizing and has been baptized and baptized others, converting Muslims to Christianity. He has been accused of breaking Islamic Law that from puberty (15 years according to Islamic law) until the age of 19 the year 1996, he was raised a Muslim in a Muslim home.

‘During court trials, he denied the prophecy of Mohammad and the authority of Islam. He has stated that he is a Christian and no longer Muslim. During many sessions in court with the presence of his attorney and a judge, he has been sentenced to execution by hanging according to article 8 of Tahrir–olvasileh.’

After the subpoena, the Supreme Court eventually ruled that the death penalty, on grounds of encouraging ‘other Muslims to convert to Christianity,’ should be upheld.” Read more.

Where are the protests over Pastor Nadarkhani? – “It is obvious that, faced with mounting outrage around the world – there have been protests from the White House, for example — the Iranian regime has resorted to trumping up spurious accusations against a man they are persecuting on account of his Christian faith. By seeking to deny the verdict of apostasy that was handed down two years ago, they are trying to conceal above all that Pastor Nadarkhani has been imprisoned for two years and is sentenced to hang because of an Islamic religious precept. In other words, this barbarism is yet another religious crime being perpetrated by the regime against an Iranian citizen for no reason other than he has transgressed the laws of Islam enforced by a fanatical regime of religious zealots… It is still possible to save this man’s life if enough protest is made. British political leaders should be making their voices heard very loudly against this barbarity by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Have you been hearing them? No, nor have I.” Read more.

By Wayne King – “A group of hard-line Muslims attacked a church building in Upper Egypt this afternoon, torching the structure and then looting and burning nearby Christian-owned homes and businesses.

The 3,000-strong mob of hard-line and Salafi Muslims gutted the Mar Gerges Church in the Elmarenab village of Aswan, then demolished much of its remains, multiple witnesses at the scene said. The mob also razed four homes near the church and two businesses, all Christian-owned. Looting was also reported.

Michael Ramzy, a villager in Elmarenab, said the attack started shortly after Muslims held their afternoon prayers.

‘Imams in more than 20 mosques called for crowds to gather and destroy the church and demolish the houses of the Copts and loot their properties,’ Ramzy told local media.

The Mar Gerges burning is the third church in Egypt in seven months to be burned down by a mob. Additionally, numerous other churches have been looted or otherwise attacked this year, including a New Year’s Eve bombing at the Two Saints Church in Alexandria that left 23 dead and scores critically wounded.

No casualties have yet been reported in today’s attack.

The tension in Elmarenab started the last week of August, when Muslim extremists, many of them thought to be members of the Salafi movement, which patterns its belief and practices on the first three generations of Muslims, voiced anger over renovations taking place at the church and anything perceived as a Christian symbol that could be seen from the outside.

To force the Copts to acquiesce to their demands, the Muslim extremists blockaded the entrance to the church and threatened Copts on the streets, in effect making them hostages in their own homes.

On Sept. 2, a meeting was held with military leaders and village elders in which the local leadership of the Coptic church agreed to strike all crosses and bells from the outside of the church. Normalcy returned briefly to the village, but by early the next week, the same people making demands for the removal of the crosses demanded the removal of newly constructed domes.” Read more.

“KHARTOUM, Sudan, September 29 (CDN) — Failure by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allied Islamic militia to distinguish between combatants and civilians in territorial battles in South Kordofan state is due in part to a desire to rid the area of Christianity, local Christians say.

A Christian in the Leri East area of Kadugli who escaped SAF Intelligence agents 18 days after his June 20 arrest from his home said he saw six other Christian detainees taken away, one by one, to be executed over the course of two weeks.

‘They were insulting us, saying that this land is an Islamic land and that we were not allowed to be in this land,’ he told Compass. ‘I saw them take my fellow Christians brothers and shoot them in the forest near the place where we were detained.’

While the SAF and its paramilitary allies have targeted members and supporters of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement forces, the Christian, who requested anonymity as he is still in hiding, said he was detained simply because he was a Christian. A convert from Islam 10 years ago, he said he was scheduled to be executed the day he escaped.

‘I was already dead, so I did not fear being shot dead – I was not worried about my safety any more; after all, I was under their mercy as they thought, but God was in control,’ he said.

A former aid worker with a Christian humanitarian agency, he said he was praying throughout the ordeal.

‘I was praying despite the fact they were threatening me that I would face the same fate of the six brothers who were shot dead in the forest,’ he said.

After the miracle of being able to escape during a lull in their vigil, God rescued him from other potential dangers in his trek to freedom, he said.

‘I was interrogated three times at three different check-points, but God covered their eyes to keep them from discovering me,’ he said. ‘I think God is teaching me that I still have a mission to accomplish; that was why he rescued me from the hand of Muslims.'” Read more.

More and more it is no longer a question of if, but when …

By Reza Kahlili – “The terrorist group Hezb’allah, based in Lebanon, is establishing ‘resistance cells’ worldwide under the direction of Iran, according to Mohammad Hussein Babai, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the province of Golestan.

The cells are already infiltrating the United States with the help of Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez and drug cartels.

The Iranian Student News Agency, which is close to the Guards, reported last week that Babai, during a press conference, revealed that these jihadist cells began forming after the 2006 Lebanon war between Israel and Hezb’allah, and with the current Islamic Awakening, they have expanded their operations.

Their mission, Babai said, is to help create an Islam-dominated world.

This is the first time that a high-ranking Revolutionary Guard commander in the Islamic regime of Iran has revealed the presence of such jihadist cells in the world.

‘Today we are a witness to our power and authority in the world,’ Babai said, ‘and because of our Islamic Revolution [of 1979], now there is an Islamic Awakening that, with the leadership of the dear supreme leader, Ayatollah [Ali] Khamenei, will become stronger and more resilient.’ The West refers to the Islamic Awakening as the Arab Spring.

Hassan Rahimpour Azghadi, who is a member of the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution and an important theorist of the Islamic regime in Iran, said in a televised speech last Friday that ‘today we must get ready for a global operation, and our forces should expand their operation throughout the world.'” Read more.

Flashback: ‘What Are You Waiting For?’ – Al-Qaeda Calls on US Muslims to Buy Guns and Start Killing Americans – “I’ve believed for some time now that when this does come it will, with the right ‘triggering event’, not be isolated. It will be wide-scale. As we all know, there are millions upon millions of Muslims living in Western nations today. If an event were to occur in the world that would be eschatologically pivotal for Muslims this would be sure to awaken any radical elements within the Muslim population, regardless of where they live, and even radicalize some of those who were previously considered ‘moderate’. The arrival of al Mahdi, for example, could become the ‘triggering event’ that has the potential to precipitate a sudden surge in Islamic terrorism all over the globe. If we are complacent into believing that any such scenario could never happen or is highly unlikely, we don’t need to look far before we come face to face with the sobering reality that Islamic terrorist cells are, today, already forming within our own borders.” Read more.

Don’t worry, now that Hosni Mubarak has been ousted, the Egyptian Revolution will one day bring true freedom to the people of Egypt, including women.  Some day.  Maybe.  Right? …

“(AINA) — A Christian girl was prevented for over a week from entering her school in Beni Mazar, Minya province, because she refused to wear a veil. ‘The school management described her as ‘flaunt’ for not covering her hair,’ said Coptic activist Nader Shoukry, who uncovered the story.

‘Coptic students were forced to obey for fear of the school management’s threats,’ said Mr. Wagdy Halfa, the attorney for the girl, ‘except for 14-year-old Ferial Sorial Habib, whose family refused this decision because it is inconsistent with religious freedom and a blatant Islamization of education.’

Ferial was prevented from entering her school by the social worker, Ms. Ola Abdel Fattah, for eight consecutive days.

Her father went to school on September 17 to protest this decision, but the school filed a police complaint against him on charges of libel and defamation.

Mr. Wagdy Halfa, the student’s attorney, said the school administration of Shaikh Fadl Secondary School, a public school in Bani Mazar, had sent a warning to Christian students compelling them to wear a head dress, similar to the Hijab, and not to reveal their hair, otherwise they would be refused entry to school.

Ferial’s father filed a formal complaint with the state attorney and another with the Department of Education of Bani Mazar, stating the school has turned into a ‘hotbed of militants’ and has acted out of its legal scope by forcing on students what is not specified by law or in the educational guidelines. He asked the authorities to investigate this incident.

According to attorney Halfa schools are only allowed to choose the color of the uniform. He warned of the seriousness of the incident as it confirms the Islamist program to take control of the education system and impose the veil on Christian women.” Read more.

Flashback: Women celebrating International Women’s Day are kicked out of Tahrir Square – “Small groups of women protesting in Egypt’s Tahrir Square to mark International Women’s Day, have been removed from the square by young men who have treated the women aggressively, snatched their placards and thrown them to the ground. Tahrir Square was the focal point of the January 25 revolt in the country. ‘I am very upset. It is not possible that women, whose presence contributed so much to the success of the Egyptian unrest, be denied their rights,’ the former Minister for Families, Moushira Khattab, told ANSA. After arriving in Tahrir Square, Khattab stayed only for a few minutes, disgusted at anti-female slogans being chanted by groups of men.” Read more.

“(AINA) — The Egyptian Union of Human Rights Organizations (EUHRO) published a report today on emigration of Christians from Egypt, saying that nearly 100,000 Christians have emigrated since March 2011. The report, which was sent to the Egyptian cabinet and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), warned that this emigration has been prompted by the escalating intimidation and attacks on Christians by Islamists.

‘Copts are not emigrating abroad voluntarily,’ said Naguib Gabriell, the director EUHRO, ‘they are coerced into that by threats and intimidation by hard line Salafists, and the lack of protection they are getting from the Egyptian regime.’

According to the report, the majority of Copts have emigrated for the US, with some 16,000 settling in California, 10,000 in New Jersey, 8000 in New York, and 8000 in other American states. Nearly 14,000 have gone to Australia, 17,000 to Canada, and 20,000 to the Netherlands, Italy, England, Austria, Germany and France.

EUHRO warned that emigration of Christians out of Egypt will threaten its demographic makeup and national economy. ‘Copts constitute a strong pillar in the economy.’ said Gabriel, ‘Copts who are leaving their homeland are not prompted by their need for work, as they are from the professional and business class, but from fear of the hard line Salafists.’

Attacks on Copts and their religious institutions have spread fear, according to Gabriel. Recent attacks included the killing of Coptic youths in Moqattam (AINA 3-9-2011) and Embaba (AINA 5-8-2011), cutting-off the ear of a Copt, (AINA 3-26-2011), attacks on churches (AINA 3-5-2011), as well as preventing the governor of Qena from occupying his post because he is Christian (AINA 5-3-2011).”

The EUHRO report noted that Coptic emigration escalated since March 19, 2011, after the constitutional amendments in Egypt and the escalation in Salafist attacks on Copts and their intention to implement Hudud laws (Sharia based punishments, which include capital punishment by sword/crucifixion, stoning, amputation and flogging).” Read more.

“MADALA, Nigeria, September 27 (CDN) — Muslim extremists bent on ridding Nigeria’s volatile middle region of Christianity killed five Christians in Niger state on Thursday (Sept. 22) and three others the previous week in the north-central state of Kaduna, including a 13-year-old girl, sources said.

Suspected militants from the Boko Haram Islamic sect in the Niger state town of Madala went to shops owned by Christians at a market at about 8 p.m., ordering them to recite verses from the Quran, eyewitnesses told Compass. If the Christian traders were unable to recite the verses, the gunmen shot and killed them, they said.

The sound of the gunshots compelled Christians to call police in nearby Suleja, and officers arrived to find five Christians had already been killed. Richard Adamu Oguche, a spokesman for the Niger State Police Command in the state capital of Minna, confirmed that five Christians had been killed.

He told Compass the attack was linked to members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect who have recently bombed Christian sites.

Killed in the Madala market attacks were Sunday Emmanuel, John Kalu, Uche Nguweze, and Oliver Ezemah. The identity of the fifth Christian was not immediately known as witnesses could not identify him.” Read more.

More Than 100 Christians Killed in Nigeria’s Plateau State – “The Christian community in Nigeria’s central Plateau state are anxiously awaiting the arrival of some 1,300 additional riot police following weeks of sectarian violence that reportedly killed as many as 100 Christians. In a statement monitored by BosNewsLife Thursday, September 22, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said he ordered the country’s defense chief to ‘take all necessary actions’ to stop a new round of unrest between Christian and Muslim ethnic groups in Nigeria. Jonathan’s order came after two explosions hit the state’s capital Jos late Sunday, September 18, although there were no immediate reports of injuries. Entire Christian families were among those killed in the latest outbreak of violence.” Read more.