Chapter one: The Stance of Islam Regarding Persecution of Non-Muslims:

   It is not familiar to talk about a certain case of persecution without providing lines of evidence to prove it first and then comes the discussion of the real stance of Islam regarding persecution. However, the writer of this paper belongs to Islam (i.e., Quranism) and is keen on clearing the name of this great religion of any accusations. The author of this research paper is an expert in history and traditions of 'Muslims' (or rather, the Muhammadans, as we call them); this entails that this paper must begin with showing the real stance of Islam regarding persecution in order to clear its name of the heinous crimes committed by some of the Muhammadans who think of themselves as 'Muslims'. Later on, the writer must state actual facts of such events and situations of persecution and those responsible for such crimes. The writers sees that the historical context goes along with his viewpoint; Islam emerged with its reformation, liberating call first, and then, the early 'Muslims' had manipulated Islam to unify Arabs of Arabia to establish an empire by conquests that took great care to follow all items imposed by rule, politics, dominance, and pragmatism and NEVER trying to apply Quranic teachings at all. Sadly, religious scholars and clergymen of all eras used to forge, fabricate, and author hadiths, narratives, and fatwas to justify and legitimize such crimes, aggressions, and transgressions that blatantly violate and contradict the Quran. Such fabrications, falsehoods, lies, and false narratives annulled all Quranic teachings, tenets, and rules by making them useless and nullified, under the pretext that they have been replaced by fatwas, hadiths, and narratives authored by a great number of clergymen, imams, and scholars with the passage of time in many eras. We are witnessing nowadays in Egypt (i.e., in the 1990s) the reviving of persecution which was a main feature of the Middle Ages. Typically, those who sponsor, supervise, and incite persecution are religious fanatics that raise banners of Islam; but Islam is innocent of such crime. This is why we feel bound to start this paper with elucidating the stance of Islam against persecution. We will NOT repeat the rhetoric of often-quoted phrases about tolerance as a main value in Islam, as such phrases are repeated ad infinitum ad nauseam by media figures of the 'civil' trends of the Wahabi extremism after each acts of violence, discrimination, and terrorism perpetrated against Egyptian Copts. Such Wahabi media figures would fill souls of Egyptians with fury and blind fanaticism, but once acts of violence and bloodshed have been committed, they would wash their hands from blood of the victims and would talk and rant about tolerance as a value in Islam and would denounce criminals. Let us tackle the Quranic facts below. Indeed, tolerance in Islam is clearly derived and deduced from certain Quranic verses, but such Wahabi media figures never talk about controversial and contradictory false hadiths and narratives ascribed forcibly to Prophet Muhammad decades after his death, which are the bases of all religious terrorism, extremism, and fanaticism. They never clear the names of Muhammad and Islam of such atrocities and such false narratives. They never denounce the misinterpretations of the Quranic text manipulated by Wahabi terrorists and authored by Middle-Ages scholars within eras of darkness and fanaticism. In elucidating the stance of Islam against persecution, we will adopt a new methodology; we will answer certain questions with ascertained Quranic tenets and facts as well as inherited and passed down historical facts. These historical facts include the one that the Egyptian people – especially its Copts – are peaceful violence-hating nation who bear patiently with injustices of rulers and rarely revolt against these rulers. How does the Quran describe such peaceful people? They are described in the Quran as a Muslim believing people. Islam and belief in terms of behavior mean peaceful demeanor with all people as well as safety and security. Note well that the Arabic verb (to believe) in terms of its usage in the Arabic tongue and in the Quranic text has two meanings: ''to believe in'' and ''to believe with". This entails further explanation.

1- The Quranic verb ''to believe in'' means ''to have faith in'', as we read in the following verse: "The messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, as did the believers. They all have believed in God, and His angels, and His scriptures, and His messengers: "We make no distinction between any of His messengers."…" (2:285).  This refers to the inner faith/belief inside one's heart and mind and in terms of how devout believers deal with Almighty God, and all people differ in that respect even those who follow the same creed and or doctrine; the Quran asserts the postponement of judging others in terms of faith differences until the Day of Resurrection; see 2:113, 3:55, 10:93, 16:124, 5:48, 39:3, and 39:46.

2- The Quranic verb ''to believe with" means to trust and feel safe and secure toward something or someone. This meaning is repeated in the Quranic text especially within the Quranic stories; for example, within the story of Noah, the arrogant disbelievers had told him the following: "… "Shall we believe with you, when it is the lowliest who followed you?"" (26:111). This meaning is repeated within the story of Abraham: "Then Lot believed with him, and said, "I am emigrating to my Lord…" (29:26); Joseph: "…But you will not believe with us, even though we are being truthful." (12:17); and Moses: "But if you do not believe with me, keep away from me."" (44:21); "They said, "Are we to believe with two mortals like us, and their people are our slaves?"" (23:47). This meaning is repeated about Muhammad in Yathreb, among other many verses: "And believe with none except those who follow your religion." Say, "Guidance is God's guidance.…"" (3:73); "Do you hope that they will believe with you, when some of them used to hear the Word of God, and then deliberately distort it, even after understanding it?" (2:75). Of course, this level of meaning refers to belief in terms of peaceful behavior: to feel secure and safe as per overt demeanor of people; a believer here is any peaceful, non-violent person, regardless of inner faiths/beliefs (or even lack of them), as this is God's concern alone during the Day of Judgment. 

3- Both Quranic verbs ''to believe in'' and ''to believe with'' occur in one verse about Muhammad: "…he believes in God and believes with the believers…" (9:61). This means that Muhammad believed in the One True God and he used to trust peaceful believers. To apply these Quranic facts on the Egyptian nation, we assert here that generally, the Egyptian people are believers in terms of peaceful demeanor and leaning toward peace, security, and safety, and they often bear patiently with unjust rulers because of this inclination. As for faiths and reeds, they for God (not mortals) to judge on the Last Day. What should concern us here is peaceful demeanor and assuring security and safety overtly in all aspects; God never gave any mortal the right to speak on His behalf to judge people's faiths (or lack of them) in this world, by means of inquisition or to establish a day of judgment on earth before the Last Day ordained by God to occur inevitably. Hence, inquisition-like interrogations of others about faiths/beliefs is totally unacceptable; those criminals who do it are committing the sin of deifying themselves within flagrant contradiction and violation of the Quranic teachings. When we apply Quranic verses talking about overt meaning of belief in terms of peaceful demeanor, we see that they apply to Egyptian Copts within their long history; their generations, past and present, have suffered persecution and discrimination patiently, when both were inflicted by the Romans (especially Caracalla and Diocletian) and within later eras by the Umayyads, the Abbasids, and the Mamelukes. We never describe such eras as 'Islamic', because Islam has nothing to do with injustices committed by Arabs and rulers. Sadly, persecution and discrimination are still inflicted on Copts and they bear patiently with it until now, and they have inherited elements of passivity, apprehension, and fear as well as being over-cautious and seeking security and safety at any costs. This means that they are peaceful more than Egyptian Muhammadans (Sunnites and others) and thus, Copts are believers in terms of peaceful demeanor and seeking safety and security. The aggressors who commit acts of violence, discrimination, and persecution of Copts are disbelievers in terms of both faith and lack of peace. Aggressions and crimes of that sort are flagrant violation of the Quran, as we will explain below. Belief in terms of demeanor means peaceful behavior toward all people indiscriminately.      

What is the share of Egyptian Copts in the meaning of Islam as peaceful behavior?

   Islam thus has two levels of meaning; the covert, inner level is submission to God alone in terms of faith, act of worship, piety, righteousness, devoutness, etc. and this is the message of Allah to all people in all languages conveyed by all messengers and prophets of God, until the last message, the Quran, that was revealed in Arabic. Literally, Islam in terms of faith means to submit one's soul, heart, and mind to God. God has told Muhammad to say the following: "Say, "My Lord has guided me to a straight path, an upright religion; the religion of Abraham the Monotheist, who was not a polytheist". Say, "'My prayers and my worship, and my life and my death, are devoted to God, the Lord of the worlds, no associates has He, thus I am commanded, and I am the first of those who submit.'" (6:161-163). This is inner Islam within one's heart and mind in terms of faith/belief, to be judged only by God during the Last Day, and God will never accept any religion but to submit to Him and His will and to obey Him alone: "Religion for God is Islam (i.e., literally submission to Him)…" (3:19); "Whoever seeks other than Islam (submission to God) as a religion, it will not be accepted from him, and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers." (3:85). Thus, Islam is submission to God, in all divine messages, tongues, eras, and locations. Sadly, in Egypt, religion is merely a section in IDs and formal papers, and NOT a peaceful behavior that prevents one from committing injustices. God does NOT care about divisions, epithets, and descriptions that one assign to oneself, such as: (non)believers, Jews, Christians, Mandaeans, Sabians,…etc. the last epithet is mentioned in the Quranic text to indicate those who deserted and left the prevalent, common religions of the majority of their people. The Quran asserts in two verses that ''believers'' means those who deal peacefully with their fellow human beings and believe in God alone without any other deities, and that those are really the allies of God, weather they believe in the Quran or not: "Those who believe, and those who are Jewish, and the Christians, and the Sabians - any who believe in God and the Last Day, and act righteously-will have their reward with their Lord; they have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve." (2:62); "Those who believe, and the Jews, and the Sabians, and the Christians-whoever believes in God and the Last Day, and does what is right-they have nothing to fear, nor shall they grieve." (5:69). This means that those who believe in God alone and the Last Day while doing good deeds are considered by God as Muslims or submitters to Him, regardless of their sects. Hence, as the Last Day is the Judgment Day, humans are not to judge one another in terms of religion or faith (this is self-deification, which is abhorrent and loathsome to God); this will be done exclusively by God in the Hereafter. To submit to God alone within one's heart is a unified universal tongue among people in all eras and places within all languages.  The other meaning of Islam is peaceful, non-violent demeanor with all our fellow human beings, as per this verse: "O you who believe! Enter into peace wholeheartedly…" (2:208). This is clearly a divine command to all real believers to adhere to peace all their lives. "Peace!'' is the way of greeting within Islam and the term "Peace" is one of the Sacred Epithets of God. These are clear indications that Islam is the religion of peace. This is asserted as well by the fact that the Arabic term ''belief'' also means security and safety; hence, no persons are to be considered real believers unless they apply security, safety, and peace in dealing with everyone and they would never commit aggression or acts of violence. Those real believers deserve security in the Hereafter as well, and when they combine this with real faith in God alone within their hearts and minds, they deserve peace in the Hereafter, as we deduce from this verse: "Those who believe, and do not obscure their faith with wrongdoing-those will have security, and they are guided." (6:82). This verse indicates clearly that real believers are those who believe in god alone in terms of faith and never committed injustices against any person, and they will be rewarded in the Last Day by security and peace. This is their deserve as per their deeds in this transient life. This is way God describes Paradise dwellers as such: "…and they will reside in the Chambers, in peace and security." (34:37).  God says the following about those who adopted peaceful behavior in this life and never committed injustices against anyone while dedicating their faith to God alone, submitting to Him: "For them is the Home of Peace with their Lord…" (6:127). This peace they will enjoy in Paradise, because they adopted peace with everyone during their lifetimes on earth. This is why angels will say the following to them at the gates of Paradise: "Enter it in peace and security." (15:46). Therefore, Islam (peace) and belief (security) in this life will be rewarded in the same way in the Hereafter; Paradise dwellers will be those who were peaceful believers during their lifetimes on earth. What does this have to do with our country: Egypt?

  Egypt is the only place, second only to Mecca, that the Quran mentions as linked to security and safety. Within the story of Joseph, he received his parents and brothers in Egypt while saying: "… "Enter Egypt, God willing, safe and secure."" (12:99). Egypt is not merely a geographical location or a piece of land; it is mainly people living inside it in peace, safety, and security. This historical fact about Egyptian people colors the seven millennia of Egyptian civilization; namely, during the last 70 centuries in Egypt, its blessed soil hosted many guests of non-Egyptians and they enjoyed safety, security, and peace inside Egypt. Among them was Joseph and his family; God says the following about Joseph when once entered Egypt: "…We thus established Joseph in the land…" (12:21). Hence, the Egyptian people is the most nation rightly deserving to be described as a peace-loving and peace-seeking nation; this applies mostly to Egyptian Copts who always incline toward peace and lean toward security and safety. This indicates clearly that they are Muslims/believers in terms of peaceful demeanor, regardless of faiths and tenets, judged only by God in the Hereafter, without deputizing any mortal to judge them on earth on His behalf or to ridicule others' faiths and beliefs. It is an essential part of the art of dialogue within Islam to accept the fact that judgment is only God's on the Last Day. As for the many Quranic verses tackling tenets, beliefs, and faiths of others, this pertains to God's right to say anything related to Himself and His religion and to refute what mortals assert about Him. We are to bear in mind that the Quran asserts to Muhammad himself – after showing the Quranic view of Jesus Christ as a mortal prophet – that if anyone would come to him to debate the same issue, both parties should supplicate God to curse deniers of truth; hence, God has not commanded Muhammad to accuse anyone of being a disbeliever; see 3:33-61. Thus, Muhammad had no right to accuse others of being ''infidels'', ''disbelievers'', etc. and so does all people after Muhammad's death; we are only to discuss and make dialogue in the best possible manner, using wisdom and politeness, as per repeated Quranic commands; see 16:125, 17:53, 41:34, and 34:24. Muhammad has been commanded by God in the Quran to forgive those who differed with him and wait patiently their judgment, and his, on the Day of Resurrection; see 15:85, 43:88, and 45:14. If such Quranic commands apply to all polytheists who commit aggressions against peaceful believers in all eras and locations, they apply as well to peaceful People of the Book (i.e., the Quranic term referring to Jews and Christians) to discuss and debate with them gently and in the best manner possible, as most of them lean toward peace and security, and Muslims are to tell them they believe in the Torah and the Gospel as divine books and that all of the three parties believe in One God: "And do not argue with the People of the Book except in the best manner possible, except those who do wrong among them. And say, "We believe in what was revealed to us, and in what was revealed to you; and our God and your God is One; and to Him we are submissive."" (29:46). This means that Muhammad himself used to say so to those Jews and Christians who came to debate with him about Islam. In modern times in Egypt, fanatics who appear on T.V. and other media, or the televangelists of the Wahabi Sunnite religion, love mostly to declare Coptic Christians as 'infidels', 'polytheists', and 'disbelievers', and they declare all non-Wahabis as such and as apostates, resulting in inciting the mob to commit acts of violence and aggression, especially murder and theft, against those 'infidels'. Those fanatics are theoreticians of religious terrorism who misuse and misinterpret the Quranic verses to massacre Copts in Egypt; they ascend pulpits in mosques to incite hatred and animosity against Copts by quoting and deliberately misinterpreting the following verse: "O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies; some of them are allies of one another. Whoever of you allies himself with them is one of them…" (5:51). The fanatics deliberately overlook the real meaning of alliance in this Quranic context; it means to ally oneself to fighting enemies; at the time some Jews and Christians fought Muhammad and early believers who sought refuge in Yathreb to flee persecution inflicted by the Meccans of Qorayish. The fanatics forget on purpose the fact that all legislations of self-defense fighting in the Quran do NOT aim at any sort of aggression or harm against the innocent, peaceful people; they are only to deter aggressors and to explain how to deal with them. Hence, 5:51 has nothing whatsoever to do with Copts in Egypt and has nothing to do with peaceful Jews and Christians who do not commit acts of violence or aggression against the Quran-believing persons; rather, 5:51 applies when outside foreign enemies attack Muslims, and they are commanded in the Quran not to ally themselves to such aggressive enemies who are bent on invading and occupying one's homeland. To further understand the notion of alliance and Quranic legislations concerning self-defense fighting, let us be reminded of the history of early believers in Mecca who were persecuted and harmed in every possible manner by the Qorayish polytheistic tribesmen merely because they deserted the religion of the vast majority and adopted a new religion. This persecution reached the level of driving the early believers out of Mecca, their homeland, and to leave their property and folks. Those folks were either persecutors or weak ones who were silenced and could not defend early believers. Hence, after immigration od early believers to Yathreb, the Meccan polytheists took over their property and land and trade etc., especially within the two annual trade caravans of Qorayish in winter and in summer; see the Quranic Chapter 106. The aggressive polytheists attacked and raided many times people of Yathreb to cause more harm to early believers and the Yathreb dwellers who converted to the new religion as well. Those early peaceful believers bore patiently with it for months and never fought back because God did not give them permission (within Quranic revelation) to engage into self-defense fighting. Months later, this permission was given in a certain Quranic verse: early believers had the permission to fight in self-defense endeavors to deter polytheistic aggressors. This is understood within this verse containing the divine permission: "Permission is given to those who are fought against, and God is Able to give them victory." (22:39). This implies that early believers faced unjust aggressions of Meccan fighters of the Qorayish tribe, and god has permitted the wronged party to engage into self-defense fighting. The very next verse shows one aspect of the persecution suffered by the early believers in Mecca before polytheists fought them later on within Yathreb: "Those who were unjustly evicted from their homes, merely for saying, "Our Lord is God."…" (22:40). Within other Quranic verses, self-defense fighting legislations link commands with rules and purposes. Hence, the verse about not to ally oneself to aggressive enemies was revealed within the context of such military fighting. Naturally, it is forbidden in all eras and locations in cases of war that one would act treacherously against one's homeland by allying oneself to the aggressive enemy: this is considered high treason. Thus, God has forbidden believers in Yathreb to ally themselves with aggressive Meccans of Qorayish as well as aggressive Jews and Christians who lived near Yathreb at the time who attacked early believers in Yathreb at the time as it was treason to conspire and plot with the enemy against one's brethren. Further details of such wars against Yathreb are found in the Quranic Chapter 60; in the eighth verse of it, God commands that believers are to act fairly and kindly with non-Muslims who are peaceful and never expelled early Muslims from their homes; God here never describes them as polytheists because they were non-violent and non-aggressors: "As for those who have not fought against you for your religion, nor expelled you from your homes, God does not prohibit you from dealing with them kindly and equitably. God loves the equitable." (60:8). The very next verse prohibits allying oneself to those who committed aggressions and fought against early believers: "But God prohibits you from befriending those who fought against you over your religion, and expelled you from your homes, and aided in your expulsion. Whoever takes them for friends-these are the wrongdoers." (60:9). We assert here that those who manipulate the name of Islam for transient possessions and gains badly need to understand fully the Quranic sharia legislations whose priority is to prevent bloodshed, especially to spare the lives of peaceful, non-violent persons; those persons include Egyptian Copts, of course, as they are believers in terms of peaceful demeanor and they never commit violence or aggression. Those peaceful ones cannot commit the crime of murder; but like most people anywhere anytime, one might be accused of manslaughter. Thus, this Quranic verse apply to them like the rest of peaceful people worldwide: "Never should a believer kill another believer, unless by error…" (4:92). Hence, true believers are never to kill intentionally or to commit murder at all; rather, believers have the right of self-defense and would kill aggressors/attackers who might want to kill them, as such attackers are criminals and non-believers because of their aggressions. This applies to self-defense fighting; every human being has the right to defend one's homeland. Aggressions and transgression is when one attacks and/or murders the innocent, peaceful, and harmless persons; such aggressors are never Muslims/believers however vehement they might assert their belief. Of course, manslaughter is punishable by paying diyya money, as per 4:92. As for intentional killings or murders of the innocent, peaceful, and harmless persons (i.e., believers in terms of peaceful behavior), it is punished with Hell in the Hereafter and the capital punishment as the penalty in this life: "Whoever kills a believer deliberately, the penalty for him is Hell, where he will remain forever. And God will be angry with him, and will curse him, and will prepare for him a terrible punishment." (4:93); "…a life for a life, an eye for an eye…" (5:45). We notice the strength of curses and warning in 4:93 is never repeated in any other Quranic verse; this indicates the enormity of the heinous crime of murdering innocent, peaceful persons. The very next verse shows the meaning of the term ''believer'' whose life is cared for by God in the Quran: "O you who believe! When you journey in the way of God, investigate, and do not say to him who offers you peace, "You are not a believer,"…" (4:94). This verse talks about military fighting between believers (i.e., the wrong party; Muslims: peaceful submitters) and their enemies the polytheists (i.e., aggressors who attacked the peaceful ones to persecute them religiously and fight the new religion). Hence, we understand that real believers should NEVER fight unless in the case of self-defense against aggressors who began their transgression and violence first. This is why the verse 4:94 warns against killing peaceful, innocent persons even during self-defensive war fighting; hence, it is of vital importance to verify enemies and non-enemies during battle. Non-enemies include the ones who utter the word of peace, and those are believers as they adhere to peace and stick to non-violence. Thus, we are to verify and ascertain believers NOT based on beliefs and faiths in their hearts (or lack of it) but on peaceful demeanor and overt lack of violence, regardless of their faiths, tenets, doctrines, creeds, etc. Moreover, even if someone is on the side of the aggressive enemy during battle, but he/she utters the word of peace, he/she is a believer that ought to be saved and protected, and if someone killed this person, the killer deserves God's curse and eternal suffering in Hell within the Hereafter. Let us remember that the above Quranic verses were revealed within an Arab Bedouin society which was bellicose and belligerent; desert-Arabs and Bedouins who used to siege the Yathreb city-state ruled by Muhammad at the time are described in the Quranic text as the most disbelieving and hypocritical people. Yet, God commands saving their blood and souls if they merely and overtly utter the word of peace, as they would be then deemed believers in terms of adhering to peaceful behavior and non-violence and their seeking security and safety. The same goes for self-surrendering soldiers or fighters who are on the side of the enemy; they are to be spared and delivered home in safety after listening to the Quranic verses: "And if anyone of the polytheists asks you for protection, give him protection so that he may hear the Word of God; then escort him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know." (9:6). Such are the Quranic rules or legislations about saving blood and souls of the enemy's fighters in battlefield and all civilians during battle even if they are suspected to be collaborators in previous aggression, such as the case with desert-Arabs or Bedouins who are described in the Quran as the most disbelieving and hypocritical people, as they connived and conspired against early believers in Yathreb many times. If this be the case when engaging in self-defense fighting, what about Copts? Egyptian Copts are believers in terms of peaceful demeanor and within the last 20 centuries, their generations have witnessed nothing but patience, suffering, harm, and persecution. We are in the modern age and Copts should no longer suffer such atrocities; how come that their assaulters, attackers, and persecutors would dare to claim they are 'Muslims' who adhere to the Quran?! Any act, deed, or words showing and/or inciting persecution, discrimination, or aggression against Copts is against the Quran, as we have shown above. Islam is innocent of those who misuse its name and manipulate and misinterpret Quranic verses to commit heinous crimes under the banner of Islam. We hope that all parties concerned must read, ponder, reflect, and contemplate deeply these verses: 4:92-94, to discern and realize how the Quran cares about the souls of peaceful persons even if they are fighters among desert-Arabs who were hypocritical, treacherous, disbelieving, violent, and belligerent raiders seeking loot. The Quran tells believers never to kill any of them during fighting in battle once they utter the word of peace overtly, let alone Copts who lived in their homeland, Egypt, for tens of centuries in peace, security, safety, and while hosting many guests generously and granting them safety (like Joseph and Jacob) throughout past eras. Those who kill Copts in Egypt deserve punishments in 4:93 as Egyptian Copts are believers, within the Quranic concepts, in terms of peaceful demeanor and adhering to non-violence and non-aggression and who stick to security and safety. The heinous crime of murdering Copts is made worse still when these Hell-deserving and God's curse-deserving criminals claim they perpetrated their crime as a form of 'jihad' for God's sake. Another accomplices with such criminals within such atrocities are those who incite, plan, and legitimize hate crimes, aggressions, and murders against Copts, and so are those clergymen and scholars who are reluctant to purge the Islamic call from the so-called hadiths, narratives, and fatwas which are poisoned fabrications making Islam (i.e., Quranism), the religion of peace with people and submission to God, accused of terrorism and extremism.