Islamic texts justify sex slavery

Perhaps you have seen the important NY Times article which has gone viral this week: 'ISIS Enshrines a Theology of Rape'. To those unfamiliar with Islamic history or jurisprudence, the revelations in the landmark article are shocking, mind-blowing. But to those of us who have been studying Islam for at least a little while, the NY Times piece seems long overdue.

Following my recent post of the article by Fr George Maximov, 'Women Saints Who Suffered Under Islam', I was thinking of doing some followup posts on the theme of Islam's treatment of women. First in the series has to be the below excellent article by Robert Spencer, in which he comments on the NY Times article and expounds on the theological foundations of sex slavery in the Quran and the example of Muhammad.

Why should Christians be made aware of this satanic component of Islam?

1) To shine light into the darkness, and expose the lie that the "god" of Islam is the same as the True God revealed to the world in the Person of Jesus Christ;

2) To wake up well intentioned but uninformed Christians, who have been led to believe that Islam is basically "almost the same" as Christianity. One Orthodox hierarch in the Middle East openly teaches that "if you are a Christian and you know a lot about Islam and love what you know, your heart will embrace the Muslims around you and if you are educated, you will hold in esteem much from their religion and openly recognize the truth that is in their religion." This kind of thinking is the leaven of apostasy;

3) To equip Christians to refute Muslim preachers and proselytizers, so instead of being silent before them, Christians may point out to them the errors in their beliefs, and hopefully, by God's grace, lead them to repent, that, as St Silouan prayed for the peoples of the whole world, "they may come to know Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit."

�He Said That Raping Me Is His Prayer to God�

It must be faced: in Islamic texts and teachings, the theological basis for this horror exists.

by Robert Spencer, PJ Media � April 14, 2015

There have been reports of hundreds of Yazidi women and children being sold at jihadi slave markets. In this picture a displaced Yazidi girl takes shelter at a school in Dahuk - See more at: http://en.alalam.ir/news/1645633#sthash.NqKlikgm.dpuf

�He told me that according to Islam he is allowed to rape an unbeliever. He said that by raping me, he is drawing closer to God. � He said that raping me is his prayer to God.�

These extraordinary statements come from girls who were kept as sex slaves by jihadis of the Islamic State, as reported in a lengthy and revealing New York Times piece that was published Thursday.

Not only does the piece illustrate the horrifying ordeal that Yazidi and other non-Muslim women endure at the hands of the Islamic State when they are forced into sexual slavery, but � most surprisingly � the article explains in detail how these monsters believe they are pleasing their bloodthirsty god by destroying these girls.

Reported the Times� Rukmini Callimachi:

In the moments before he raped the 12-year-old girl, the Islamic State fighter took the time to explain that what he was about to do was not a sin. Because the preteen girl practiced a religion other than Islam, the Quran not only gave him the right to rape her � it condoned and encouraged it, he insisted.

Both before and after he raped her, he prostrated himself in Islamic prayer:

�He told me,� the girl recounted, �that according to Islam he is allowed to rape an unbeliever. He said that by raping me, he is drawing closer to God.�

This was no isolated incident. A fifteen-year-old girl who had been forced into sex slavery recalled:

�He kept telling me this is ibadah� � that is, worship of Allah. �He said that raping me is his prayer to God. I said to him, �What you�re doing to me is wrong, and it will not bring you closer to God.� And he said, �No, it�s allowed. It�s halal.��

All this is reminiscent of Hamas� statement:

�Killing Jews is worship that draws us closer to God.�

What kind of god is this?

What kind of moral blindness has overtaken non-Muslim leaders? They sit and drink tea and �dialogue� with Muslim clerics while being careful to avoid mention of anything like this � if they�re even aware of it at all � much less ask them what they�re doing to combat within Muslim communities the theological basis for sex slavery.

It must be faced: in Islamic texts and teachings, such a theological basis manifestly exists.

The Times quotes Kecia Ali, an academic Islamic apologist at Boston University:

In the milieu in which the Quran arose, there was a widespread practice of men having sexual relationships with unfree women.

�Unfree women�: for some reason, Ali doesn�t want to say the word �slave.� She goes on to claim:

[I]t wasn�t a particular religious institution. It was just how people did things.

However � and surprisingly, considering the track record � the Times had the integrity to cite Cole Bunzel of Princeton University. The article noted that Bunzel points out:

[There are] numerous references to the phrase �Those your right hand possesses� in the Quran, which for centuries has been interpreted to mean female slaves. He also points to the corpus of Islamic jurisprudence, which continues into the modern era and which he says includes detailed rules for the treatment of slaves.
�
There is a great deal of scripture that sanctions slavery. You can argue that it is no longer relevant and has fallen into abeyance. ISIS would argue that these institutions need to be revived, because that is what the Prophet and his companions did.

Bunzel is right: the seizure of infidel girls and their use as sex slaves is sanctioned in the Qur�an.

According to Islamic law, Muslim men can take �captives of the right hand� (Qur�an 4:3, 4:24, 33:50). The Qur�an says:

O Prophet! We have made lawful to you your wives to whom you have paid their dowries, and those whom your right hand possesses of those whom Allah has given you as spoils of war (33:50).

Qur�an 4:3 and 4:24 extend this privilege to Muslim men in general. The Qur�an says that a man may have sex with his wives and with these slave girls:

The believers must win through, those who humble themselves in their prayers; who avoid vain talk; who are active in deeds of charity; who abstain from sex, except with those joined to them in the marriage bond, or those whom their right hands possess, for they are free from blame. (Qur�an 23:1-6)

The rape of captive women is also sanctioned in Islamic tradition:

Abu Sirma said to Abu Sa�id al Khadri (Allah he pleased with him): O Abu Sa�id, did you hear Allah�s Messenger (may peace be upon him) mentioning al-�azl? He said: Yes, and added: We went out with Allah�s Messenger (may peace be upon him) on the expedition to the Bi�l-Mustaliq and took captive some excellent Arab women; and we desired them, for we were suffering from the absence of our wives, (but at the same time) we also desired ransom for them. 

So we decided to have sexual intercourse with them but by observing �azl (Withdrawing the male sexual organ before emission of semen to avoid conception). But we said: We are doing an act whereas Allah�s Messenger is amongst us; why not ask him? So we asked Allah�s Messenger (may peace be upon him), and he said: It does not matter if you do not do it, for every soul that is to be born up to the Day of Resurrection will be born. (Muslim 3371)

It is also in Islamic law:

When a child or a woman is taken captive, they become slaves by the fact of capture, and the woman�s previous marriage is immediately annulled. (Umdat al-Salik O9.13)

One Islamic State jihadi, when challenged over his sexual abuse of a twelve-year-old girl by a woman who pointed out �she�s just a little girl,� replied:

�No. She�s not a little girl. She�s a slave. And she knows exactly how to have sex. And having sex with her pleases God.�

The savage exploitation of girls and young women is, unfortunately, a cross-cultural phenomenon, but only in Islamic law does it carry divine sanction. Until this is confronted, many, many more young girls� lives will be destroyed at the hands of men who think that in doing so they are bringing a smile to the face of their angry, vengeful, violent god.

Women Saints Who Suffered under Islam

In this article, Fr George Maximov cites some historical examples of Muslim persecution of Christian women. Two were killed by their own families or fellow villagers, becoming martyrs � witnesses � for Christ by their faith. The first example cited, the Martyr Argery, was imprisoned for seventeen years until her death because she, a married Christian woman, rejected the lustful advances of a Muslim man. 

Islam's brutal and horrific treatment of young Christian girls and women, has its roots in the Quran and the example of Muhammad. Hence rape of captive women, the taking of sex slaves, and forced marriage and conversions to Islam are codified in Islamic law.

The status of women in Islam in general is extremely demeaning, especially when contrasted with the exalted status of women in Christianity. 

How a culture views and treats its most vulnerable members reveals much. Islam's sub-human view of women, as stated in its holy texts, and its treatment of women as witnessed around the world via honor killings, spouse abuse, acid attacks on women, clitorectomies, epidemic rape, stoning of adulterers, etc., goes a long way towards proving Islam to be a false religion.

For contemporary examples of women saints under the yoke of Islam, see the lives of New Martyrs Helen the Accountant and Mary the Copt.

Women Saints Who Suffered under Islam

by Fr. George Maximov, Pravoslavie, via Pravmir � October 3, 2008

If we have not found ourselves in a Muslim environment due to increased migration and conversion to Islam, many of us have Muslim neighbours. Like all people, these neighbours are different but as a rule they don�t hide their faith or their conviction in its superiority but often make attempts to acquaint people with it.

It is a sad event when, as often happens, an Orthodox girl or woman marries a Muslim and perhaps even adopts Islam.  Those who do not adopt it personally have to be prepared for their children becoming Muslims � such are laws of Islam. Practice shows that this results in family misfortune and the suffering and grief of these women.

If we think about it, this is not surprising. After all, it is not by mere chance the church forbids marriage between those of different faiths. Such marriage will not be consecrated by the church canons and therefore will not be blessed by God.  Perhaps the main issue is that a married couple should be united in everything.  It is a natural law and the desire of human souls. But if such unity is missing in the most essential thing � faith � it will not be present in other things. In the beginning mutual affection disguises this lack but without real unity as a foundation affection fades away fast.  When this happens, inner discord inevitably shows up on the surface and under this or that pretext it will start darkening the marriage more and more as time goes on.

Some unhappy women, realizing this by intuition, adopt Islam. But practice shows that such a step doesn�t make the tempted women happy as apostasy is a heavy sin which, if not repented of, creates a heavy burden in this life. A lot of terrifying examples are known from the life of such �Russian Muslim women� whose husbands threw them out of their homes, took away their children, beat them, treated them as beasts.  God cannot be profaned:  we reap what we sow.

However there are cases, although not many, when an Orthodox girl convinced her Muslim fianc� to convert to the true faith. And after baptism and a church wedding such marriages were very strong and happy. To support these decisions we will recall several cases when Orthodox women of strong faith and love for Christ, after suffering from conflict with the Islamic world, could bring the great fruit of sacredness and prove the superiority of the true faith.

Saint Argery (Argyrie)

Icon of Saint Argery (Orthodox

church of St Cosmus and St Damian.

Avignon, France)

In the early 18th century in the Ottoman Empire, in the provincial town of Prusse there lived a beautiful Greek girl called Argery. She was brought up by pious parents and when she was young she met her love � a kind Greek youth. They got married in the church and their honeymoon was happy. But their Turkish neighbour was inflamed with lust towards Argery and tried with his sweet words to talk her into committing adultery in the absence of her husband. The pious wife declined his advances. Then the embittered Turk slandered her before the judge of Prusse by telling him that she had promised to become Muslim. According to the laws of Sharia, a person who expressed the wish to become Muslim must adopt Islam; if he denies thereafter he must be punished: for a man � death penalty, for a woman � life imprisonment. The judge, having believed the plaintiff, immediately put Argery into prison. Her husband, who thought the judgment was biased, demanded its transferal to Istanbul.

But it didn�t help. Both Argery and the Turkish plaintiff came to the court of the capital where the Muslim witnessed against her, giving the false evidence about her before the judge. Argery replied that she had never said anything like she was charged with She also said that she was not going to betray her faith; she was a Christian and wanted to die as a Christian. According to the judge�s order she was beaten and sentenced to life imprisonment.

She had fear, bitter separation with her beloved husband, the uncomforts of imprisonment, not to mention the regular insults from the Muslim criminals around her cell. Torment of the body, of the soul, of the heart, every day without interruption. And she could stop all this at any moment if she agrees to adopt Islam�

But spiritual joy helped her to overcome the sufferings and temptations. The martyr herself exhausted her body with fasting and other kinds of abstinence as was witnessed by other Christian women who were imprisoned together with the saint and later released.

So, she laboured in the prison during seventeen years. The saint�s heart was filled for joy because she labored for Christ.  She considered her imprisonment such consolation that when one Christian called Manuil Curtsibasis offered her freedom she refused, choosing the prison rather than honor and freedom. In such a way, imprisoned for the sake of Christ, she passed away on 30th April 1725. Her holy relics were laid in the church of St. Paraskevi by the blessing of Patriarch Paisios and up until today the faithful venerate them.

Martyr Khadijah-Maria

A Rodopian martyr, Khadijah-Maria, stands apart among Bulgarian new martyrs.  Born to an Islamized Bulgarian family in the 19th century, Khadijah came back to the Orthodox Church.  She was baptized in an old chapel so that her conversion was kept secret.  The priest Konstantin (future bishop and metropolitan of Xanphia Illarion), baptized her in a big barrel.  The new Christian concealed her baptism for a whole year.  She sent candles and blessed bread to the church while she prayed at home.

But rumour was spreading all over the whole village. Women secretly called her Tijah-Maria (Tijah is the Bulgarian version of the girl�s Turkish name), because her baptismal name was Maria. When her fanatical brothers came to Derekjoy, they heard this rumour and confronted her to find out if it was true.  She denied that she had been baptized.  The next year Tijah-Maria was preparing herself for Pascha: colouring the eggs, cooking the Easter cakes, making candles, kneading dough for the Communion bread. Her brothers who lived in another village came secretly to check the rumours. On Holy Thursday she came back from the church and stepped away to her neighbours.  Meanwhile her brothers entered her house. There they found the coloured eggs, Easter cakes, and burning icon-lamp.  They became sure that she had become �infidel�. Her brothers hid themselves in the hay. In the evening Tijah-Maria returned and, after long prayers, went to bed and fell asleep. While she slept, her embittered Muslim brothers began to strangle her.  When she was half-strangled, they filled her mouth with rags, took her out of the house and under the big blossoming plum tree and shot her twice. The next morning the women sent their children to find out what had happened in Tijah�s house. They saw her lying dead under the blossoming plum tree. She lay there as she was for three days since everybody was afraid to come and see that she was dead. A rose was planted on her grave and on St. George�s Day the women picked flowers from the rose bush, which they kept throughout the year for healing.

Martyr Platonide

About the same time, there was a Russian girl living in a Tartar family. Having learned from missionaries about the Orthodox Faith and loving Christ with all her heart, she decided to be baptized. However, her parents decided to marry her to a fellow-villager without asking her opinion or consent.  Her love for Christ was stronger than her love for her parents and so on the eve of the wedding she escaped from home.

She took shelter in a woman�s monastery. There she was baptized, learnt the church canons and in time took the veil under the name Platonide. Some years later she was blessed to live the life of a hermit.  She left for the solitary places of the Yekaterinburg region and in the wild forests close to the town of Revda she built a cell.  She prayed, and a spring appeared nearby. There she laboured, filling her life with spiritual deeds.

Fanatic natives of her home were seeking for the chance to kill her but for the sake of holiness of the ascetic a bear protected her. Later the bear was killed and they succeeded in shooting her, as they were afraid to approach her closely. Thus, in witnessing for Christ, she received the martyr�s crown.

She was buried in the place of her struggles. Her followers erected a chapel over the Matushka�s grave, which stood until the Revolution. Her spring, called by the name of Platonide, became famous as wonder-working.  Before the Revolution, and even in Soviet times, many pilgrims came to it to worship the martyr. Even today we know of wonderful miracles worked through it.  For example, last year the local newspaper had a story about a little boy who had been lost in the forest and found safe by the spring of Platonide. This is how God glorified his follower.

Today many Muslim girls and women follow these saints in accepting Christ and finding the joy which relieves all burdens. For example, in Perm Tartar parents drove their daughter out of her home because she was baptized. The Kazakh artist of culture, documentary filmmaker Elza Dilmukhammedova was converted to Orthodoxy. Recently Nazima Khanafi Muhammed, the direct granddaughter of Imam Shamil, the head of Chechen people in the war against Russia in 19th century, has also been converted to Orthodoxy. Thus the power of God overcomes human frailty and wins over all adversities.

Neo-Martyr St. Argyri: 'She Regarded Her Hardships as Comforts'

For Christian women and even young girls in Islamic lands, persecution often takes the form of unwanted advances from Muslim men, abductions and rape, and attempts at forced conversion to the false religion of Muhammad.

In Neo-Martyr Argyri we see a powerful witness � martyria (Greek) � who suffered 17 years of prison and torture, and ultimately death, for rejecting a Muslim man's advances and refusing to deny Jesus Christ.

Notice in her 'Life' how we are told that even though in prison, "she humbled her body through fasting. Her heart was filled with such love for Christ that she regarded her hardships as comforts."

Neo-Martyr Argyri gave her life for Christ three centuries ago, yet the same barbaric Muslim persecutions against Christians are occurring today throughout the Islamic world. Let us pray for our Christian brothers and sisters as they climb their Golgotha and bear witness to our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ!

OCA via Lessons from a Monastery � April 30, 2015

Icon of St. Argyri at a monastery
near Giannitsa in Greece

The holy New Martyr Argyri (or Argyra, commemorated April 30) lived in Proussa, Bithynia, and came from a pious family. She was a beautiful and virtuous woman. When she was eighteen, she married a pious Christian, and they moved into a neighborhood inhabited by many Moslems.

After only a few days, she was approached by a Turkish neighbor, the son of the Cadi (magistrate). He boldly declared his love for her, and tried to convert her to his religion. She rejected his advances, saying that she would rather die than be married to a Moslem. She did not tell her husband, fearing that he would go after the Turk and then be punished for it.

The Moslem brought her to trial and testified that she had assented to his advances, but then had laughed and said she was only joking. His lies were corroborated by false witnesses, and Argyri was sent to prison.

The saint�s husband, hoping to get her a fair trial, appealed to Constantinople. There the accuser repeated his lies before the judge. St Argyri said that she was a Christian, and that she would never deny Christ. The judge ordered her to be flogged, then sentenced her to life in prison.

She was often taken from her cell, interrogated, beaten, then returned to prison. This continued for seventeen years. The saint was also insulted and tormented by the Moslem women who were incarcerated for their evil deeds. The Evil One incited them to annoy St Argyri with these torments and afflictions, but she endured all these things with great courage and patience.

According to the testimony of many Christian women who were in prison with her, she humbled her body through fasting. Her heart was filled with such love for Christ that she regarded her hardships as comforts.

A pious Christian named Manolis Kiourtzibasis sent her word that he would try to have her released, but St Argyri would not consent to this. She completed her earthly pilgrimage in the prison, receiving the crown of martyrdom on April 5, 1721.

After a few years her body was exhumed, and was found to be whole and incorrupt, emitting an ineffable fragrance. Pious priests and laymen took her body to the church of St Paraskeve on April 30, 1735 with the permission of Patriarch Paisius II.

Her relics remain there to this day, where they are venerated by Orthodox Christians from all walks of life, to the glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

*St Argyra�s name comes from the Greek word for silver (argyre). The New Martyr Argyra (1688-1721) by P. Philippidou (which also contains a Service to the saint) was published in Constantinople in 1912.

Indonesia enacts Sharia Law for Public Schools and Universities

� Latest measure is part of authorities� �efforts to implement sharia law fully.� 
� Sharia law rulings apply to all Muslims AND non-Muslims. 
� The Sharia movement led to demolition of 20 Christian churches in 2012 alone.


Related: Indonesian Orthodox Mission thrives despite Muslim Death Threats and Persecution

by THOMAS D. WILLIAMS, PH.D.

Breitbart News � 6 May 6, 2015

Proponents of stricter Islamic regulations in Indonesia have scored another victory with the passage of sharia measures mandating the separation of sexes in educational institutions and certain social situations.

On May 5, the North Aceh Parliament imposed a strict separation between the sexes in educational institutions, including middle and high schools, colleges and universities. The separation extends to both classroom and extracurricular activities on school property and will go into effect in a year.

The president of the North Aceh province, Fauzan Hamzah, said that the latest measure is part of authorities� �efforts to implement sharia law fully.�

Drawing its inspiration directly from Islamic law, the new measures mandate the prohibition of mixed classes in the whole territory. The new qanun (local law) enacted Tuesday will require a substantial reorganization of educational practices in the region.

The Regency will continue to allow coed classes in elementary schools, but mandates absolute separation from seventh to twelfth grade. The new law states that universities are �strongly recommended� to study and take lessons in single-sex classes.

Among other provisions included within the same qanun is a ban against males and females traveling on the same motorbike, unless the two are husband and wife. An exception to the ban is made where the transport is carried out �on an emergency basis.�

�Unmarried people sitting closely together on a motorcycle is clearly against Islamic sharia as it could lead to sinful acts,� Hamzah said.

Fauzan Hamzah also explained that the rules serve to reduce the cases of adultery, which include �underground� prostitution and extra-marital relations. The school requirements also aim at strengthening young people�s attention to their studies. Students will attend sessions of Islamic prayer after school, while older students will carry out their devotions outside the school in the appropriate places of worship.

Another provision of the new measure forbids retailers from exposing mannequins in shop windows, or figures that evoke the animal world.

Indonesia is the world�s most populous Muslim nation, and often the scene of attacks or acts of intolerance against minorities, including Christians, Ahmadi Muslims, or people of other faiths.

The Aceh province, one of the earliest centers of Islam in Southeast Asia, has some of the strictest applications of Sharia law in the entire country, following a peace agreement between the central government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). The province has progressively adopted more extreme Islamic provisions in local law.

In April 2012, a regent in Aceh ordered the demolition of 20 places of Christian worship, which was interpreted by many as a signal of growing intolerance toward religious minorities. The order mandated the closure and destruction of 17 Protestant churches, two Catholic churches, and one place of worship belonging to followers of a local nondenominational faith.

The decree said that the churches lacked the necessary permits and ordered members of the different Christian congregations to tear down the churches by themselves, but added that if the church members refuse to comply, the administration itself would demolish the buildings.

In February 2014, the Aceh provincial administration approved the Qanun Jinayat, obliging every Muslim and non-Muslim in Aceh to follow sharia, the Islamic legal code.

�The qanun does indeed oblige everyone in Aceh to follow sharia without exception,� said councilor Abdulah Saleh, who was involved in the deliberation of the qanun in the council.

The decision to toughen the laws, regulations, norms, and behaviors has met with resistance from a large share of the local population.

Among the decisions challenged by the people of Aceh are prohibitions against women wearing jeans or tight skirts, dancing in public, and celebrating Valentine�s Day.

�There are some clauses banning women from dancing in front of men because doing so could incite negative perceptions and sometimes trigger sexual arousal,� said Hamzah.

On April 24, an unmarried couple was subjected to caning by order of the Bener Meriah Regency administration in Aceh after they were found guilty of fornication. The caning was carried out in public after Friday prayers at Al-Amin Pante Raya grand mosque in Bukit District, in accordance with the sharia law.

New Martyr Helen the Accountant (�March 15, 2013)

MYSTAGOGY , March 17, 2015

John Sanidopoulos at MYSTAGOGY blog has translated to English from the original Greek an amazing account of a young Russian woman, Helen Machankova, raised in an atheist home in Siberia, who moved to Asia Minor to find work among the Russian emigr� community there. She eventually met a man and fell in love. He was a Muslim; they married in a mosque.

Her conscience was wounded when her husband expressed how glad he was that Muslims were killing Christians in Syria, and she began to despise him for his hatred of the innocent Christians. He became violent and abused her. Helen left her husband and went to live with her friend Anna, whom she knew from the Russian Church.

Her heart was softened and warmed by the love shown her by her Russian Orthodox friends, and she was led to Christ by their kindness. Helen attended frequently the Divine Liturgy, and asked her friends to teach her how to pray, and about what happens during the Liturgy.

Helen's faith continued to deepen. She began wearing a pendant her family had given her with an icon of St Seraphim of Sarov. When she happened to encounter her husband in the town, he saw the pendant and asked her if she had changed her religion. She did not deny, but answered yes, and bravely confessed Christ. He began to curse at her, as he had considered her to be a Muslim, since they had married in the mosque.

About this time, Helen had a dream about Christ calling to her. This gave her great peace, and when her husband called her and wanted to meet with her, she agreed to do so, telling his niece, "Whatever happens, happens." Those were her last known words.

Helen's husband "slaughtered her with a knife," and told police that this was his "offering to Allah."

Do read and share the full account of Helen's Christian conversion and martyrdom, written by an Orthodox Christian monk in Greece, which is greatly edifying, while at the same time revealing consistent patterns in how Muslims deal with family who leave Islam and become Christians. The Islamic penalty for apostasy and blasphemy is death, and honor killings are deeply rooted in Muslim culture.

O Holy New Martyr Helen, pray to God for us!

Orthodox Christian Nun warns against Islam, slams media silence (with video)

�The reason for all this disaster is the Qur�an.� Sister Hatune Dogan - See more at: http://pamelageller.com/2014/09/muslims-slice-off-the-breasts-of-kidnapped-christian-girls-in-syria-and-iraq.html/#sthash.Os3VIOmb.dpuf

"The reason for all this disaster is the Quran." 

� Sister Hatune Dogan

via 'Muslims Slice off the Breasts of Kidnapped Christian Girls in Syria and Iraq'
Sharia Unveiled, September 16, 2014

Sometimes it takes a David to defeat a Goliath � or, in this case, unassuming nuns to speak where the media remain silent. Speaking out for Christians persecuted in the Middle East, Mother Olga Yaqob and Sister Hatune Dogan slammed the American media for keeping silent. 

The nuns spoke with MRC (Media Research Center) during the In Defense of Christians (IDC) Inaugural Summit in Washington, D.C. Sept. 9-11. Both told the stories journalists ignore: of refugees displaced and Christian girls �repeatedly raped� and �misused� � some as young as 5-years-old. 

Mother Olga of the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth, an Iraqi native recognized by the Iraqi government for her care of the poor, recently established a religious order in Boston.

Raised in Germany after fleeing from Turkey, Sister Hatune Dogan, is an Orthodox Christian nun who aids Christians in Syria and Turkey through her organization, �A Helping Hand to the Poor.� Addressing the American coverage of Christian persecution in the Middle East, Mother Olga stressed, �In the early months, there wasn�t much coverage.� �Some of the Christian networks � media networks � were covering [the persecution]. But not very much the secular media.�

Sister Hatune expressed similar dismay. �The media make a mistake,� she began, �Because they don�t say the truth.� She criticized, �But the media has big duty to tell the truth, to make Americans see what is really going on.�

That truth, she explained, consists of �slaughtering, raping, kidnapping, taking ransom, killing, crucifying, and ridding the Christians of what they need.�

As one of her �thousands of stories� of Christian persecution, Sister Hatune began:

 �I met an Iraqi girl, five-and-a-half-years maybe, and they kidnapped her. I met her at seven-and-a-half-years. Until today, she [will not] say, no one knows, what happened to her, because she was misused. They [were] paid $30,000 dollars to release her. They released her, but under that condition. I am sorry for her. That was the youngest girl that I met. She was misused.�

Sister Hatune also told of meeting a 21-year-old Christian girl from Jordan. Once a captive, her abductors �every day� �were raping her all night.� When they weren�t satisfied with her ransom money, they �cut her face in different ways.� 

Another time, Sister Hatune met 280 girls. She described how they were �misused� by their kidnappers, some of whom �cut breasts and other [sensitive areas].� �I saw them with my own eyes,� she emphasized. 

Those are the stories the media should report � the �human face of this tragic reality,� as Mother Olga described. 

Mother Olga compared the news coverage of Christian persecution to the coverage of NFL player Ray Rice�s abuse scandal. �I know he�s probably a famous player, and this [football] team, it�s a big, big issue in America, but this is a personal life of two people.� While, at the same time, she continued, �200,000 people are displaced� and �people are dying from hunger� in the Middle East.

�It�s just like I try to put in perspective these kind of things,� she explained. �I�m just surprised how much sometime our secular media they cover some things over and over and they miss such a big picture.� Raised in Kirkuk, Iraq, Mother Olga had some stories of her own. �My old parish, and other parishes, and my sisters� home and lot of church communities there and houses,� she said, are �full of refugees from Nineveh region, from Mosul.� The locals, �are cooking meals every day, and bringing mattresses and pillows.� �It�s too big of a reality,� she concluded.

She called for �raising awareness� in the States. �People are just frustrated with our own politics here,� she acknowledged, �so we don�t have time to worry about the foreign policies.� But, she added, �If we don�t stop this, this is dangerous for the whole Middle Eastern region.�

�Now it�s Iraq, but if we don�t stop it, it will impact the whole Middle Eastern region, and it will impact us in the West,� she continued.

She offered an additional warning on the silence of Christian persecution:

�Only recently, after, unfortunately, the tragedy of beheading two of our American journalists we realize now how many we have foreigners who are, whether American, Canadian, Australian, British, who have joined ISIS. And they have access to come back to the Western countries, and so, if they have such a radical mentality, and this is what they�re doing in the Middle East, do we think we will be safe here?�

Sister Hatune similarly concluded, �The media have to condemn this, and to be a witness, and to tell the truth.�

�What is going on here?� she asked at one point. �We are human beings.�

Instead, the networks prefer royal baby anticipation to things like Iraqi Christians given one week to �leave, convert to Islam or face the sword� or videos of Iraqis desperately escaping ISIS terror.


For Mother Olga�s full interview, please click here.

British Muslimahs Now Lead ISIS Brigade in Charge of "Brothel" of Yazidi Sex Slaves

Answering Muslims � September 11, 2014

Muhammad's teachings in action. Muhammad allowed his followers to rape their female captives, and the Qur'an guarantees the right of Muslims to use their captives for sex. Politicians and the media condemn the practice, but they praise the religion that promotes the practice. This is madness. 

In Iraq, Yazidi women have been confined to a "brothel," where they are raped by jihadists. Who's in charge of controlling the sex slaves? A brigade of female jihadis, many of them British. 

Daily Mail�Thousands of Iraqi women are being forced into sex slavery in brothels run by a 'police force' of British women jihadis, it has been reported. 

As many as 3,000 women and girls have been taken captive from the Yazidi tribe in Iraq as Isis militants continue their reign of terror across the region.  

Sources now say that British female jihadis operating a religious police force called the al-Khanssaa brigade, that punishes women for 'un-Islamic' behaviour, have set up brothels to for the use of Isis fighters.  

 A source told the Mirror: 'These women are using barbaric interpretations of the Islamic faith to justify their actions.  

'They believe the militants can use these women as they please as they are non-Muslims. It is the British women who have risen to the top of the Islamic State�s sharia police and now they are in charge of this operation.  

'It is as bizarre as it is perverse.' (Continue Reading.)

Hmmm. Where on earth did these "militants" get the "perverse" idea that they can use non-Muslim women "as they please"? Odd that reading the Qur'an and believing exactly what it says now qualifies as a "barbaric interpretation." 

More here, with video...

Is Insisting Every Adulterer Must Get Stoned REALLY "Extremist" in Islam?

"The 'prophet' of Islam sanctioned stoning for adultery; the practice was legal praxis in many Islamic societies across the 14 centuries from his time to today; and clear majorities of Muslims in many countries approve of it.  How, then, is it 'extremist'?"

by Timothy R. Furnish, Mahdi Watch � July 20, 2014

A few days ago the Iraqi-Syrian caliphate meted out the punishment of stoning for a woman accused of adultery.  Predictably, many media outlets decried the "extremists" who carried out such a heinous sentence.

But is stoning in such cases really "extremist" according to Islamic doctrines and public opinion?  No. There are at least five authoritative hadiths--sayings going back to Islam's founder, Muhammad--which mandate such a method of execution for adulterers. 

[Such as this:

�Umar said, �I am afraid that after a long time has passed, people may say, �We do not find the Verses of the Rajam (stoning to death) in the Holy Book,� and consequently they may go astray by leaving an obligation that Allah has revealed. Lo! I confirm that the penalty of Rajam be inflicted on him who commits illegal sexual intercourse, if he is already married and the crime is proved by witnesses or pregnancy or confession.� Sufyan added, �I have memorized this narration in this way.� �Umar added, �Surely Allah�s Apostle carried out the penalty of Rajam, and so did we after him� (Sahih Bukhari 8.82.816).

See this article for comprehensive proof of stoning in Islam.]

And according to Pew data from 2012, in many Muslim countries of the Mideast, Africa and South Asia large majorities want shari`ah to be implemented, and most of them in turn favor stoning for adulterers/adulteresses:

The "prophet" of Islam sanctioned stoning for adultery; the practice was legal praxis in many Islamic societies across the 14 centuries from his time to today; and clear majorities of Muslims in many countries approve of it.  How, then, is it "extremist?"  Brutal, harsh, vindictive, bloody, barbaric, outmoded--but according to Islamic history and modern sentiments, stoning is not "extremist" at all.

Public stoning in Qajar Iran (19th century).  

Apologists can sputter all they want, but the fact is that many of the world's Muslims would not feel that what ISIS just did is beyond the pale; on the contrary, like the Taliban or Boko Haram, ISIS at least has the courage of its Qur'anic and Muhammadan convictions--appalling as that may be.

For those (liberals and Muslims) who stupidly maintain that there is no difference between Islam and Christianity, between Muslims and Christians--I leave you with this clip from "Jesus of Nazareth." 

Metropolitan Tikhon of the OCA issues stirring pastoral appeal for Meriam Yehya Ibrahim

�May we join with people of faith the world over in praying for Meriam and her family, that our Lord will comfort and strengthen them as they endure their most unimaginable ordeal,� Metropolitan Tikhon said.  �At the same time, may we reflect on our own commitment to our own faith in our all-merciful Savior, asking ourselves whether we would have the fortitude and tenacity to echo her bold words, and those of countless Christian martyrs through the ages��I am a Christian, and I will remain a Christian��if we found ourselves in a similar position..."

via Prayers and petitions for Ethiopian Orthodox woman sentenced to death

OCA.org � May 31, 2014

The young mother stood before her accusers and boldly stated without reservation, �I am a Christian, and I will remain a Christian.�

These words, which sound as if they had been lifted straight out of an early Christian martyrology, were proclaimed in mid-May 2014 in a Sudanese courtroom by Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, 27, as she was condemned to death by hanging for allegedly apostatizing from the Islamic faith.  The court further convicted her of adultery and sentenced her to 100 lashes because her marriage to a Christian man is considered void under Sharia law.

But Meriam had not, in reality, apostatized.  While the court insisted that she was Muslim�the faith of her Sudanese father�her mother was an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, the tradition into which Meriam was baptized and raised.  As such, she remained adamant that she will not renounce Christianity, even if it means saving her own life.

The court�s decision immediately drew swift outrage from civil, religious and human rights organizations and countless concerned individuals around the world.  Meanwhile, Meriam, eight months pregnant at the time, returned in shackles, her 20-month-old son Martin by her side, to prison where, on Tuesday, May 27�one day before Orthodox Christians celebrate the Leavetaking of Holy Pascha�she gave birth to a daughter.

Despite her unimaginable circumstances, her husband, Daniel Wani�an American citizen�stated in an exclusive May 30 interview with CNN that Meriam is �holding firm to her beliefs.

�There is pressure on her [to] return to the faith,� Wani continued. �She said, �How can I return when I never was a Muslim?  Yes, my father was a Muslim, but I was brought up by my mother.��

While the sentence is not likely to be carried out for some time�in past cases involving pregnant or nursing women, the Sudanese government waited until the mother weaned her child before carrying out any sentences�Meriam and her two children are likely to continue to endure in prison as the world awaits her fate.

During the last week of May, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, called upon the clergy and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America to pray fervently for Meriam and her family, as well as all who are �suffering persecution for their faith in Jesus Christ.

�May we join with people of faith the world over in praying for Meriam and her family, that our Lord will comfort and strengthen them as they endure their most unimaginable ordeal,� he said.  �At the same time, may we reflect on our own commitment to our own faith in our all-merciful Savior, asking ourselves whether we would have the fortitude and tenacity to echo her bold words, and those of countless Christian martyrs through the ages��I am a Christian, and I will remain a Christian��if we found ourselves in a similar position.

�So often, we perceive martyrdom as something that occurred ages ago, in some other place,� he continued.  �The example she offers us today presents us with a new and personal challenge that we cannot ignore, especially as we conclude our celebration of Pascha and prepare to receive the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, to recommit ourselves all the more to Christ and His People, and tests us in embracing our Lord�s comforting words, �Do not be afraid.�

Numerous petitions in support of Meriam and her family have been circulating of late on the internet and via social media, including that found on the White House web site.

Read related article here.

Pray for Meriam

This is almost verbatim the confession of faith most used by the Holy NeoMartyrs under the Ottoman Muslim tyranny:

She appeared again before the court and declared openly and emphatically: �I am a Christian, and I will remain a Christian.�

Pray for Meriam
by Fr Daniel C. Kovalak � OCA.org � May 22, 2014

�...for once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light, (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true)��Ephesians 5:8-9

Here�s a widely-reported and very troubling �breaking news� story from today�s headlines. It�s about a 27-year-old woman in Sudan, Meriam Ibrahim. She was born to a Muslim father and an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian mother. Her father abandoned the home when she was a young child. Nevertheless, in Sudan, children are expected to follow the religion of their fathers.

Three years ago, Meriam married a professing Christian man and about a year later gave birth to a son. She�s now expecting another child and is eight-plus months pregnant.

Sudanese law prohibits women from marrying non-Muslims, although men can marry whomever they want without any penalty whatsoever. So on May 11, 2014 (ironically Mothers� Day) Meriam was convicted of apostasy for rejecting Islam and was given four days to recant, which would save her life.

But unlike countless others who�ve faced similar sentences in Sudan and elsewhere, she refused to renounce her faith and convert to Islam. After four days, on May 15, she appeared again before the court and declared openly and emphatically: �I am a Christian, and I will remain a Christian.�

In response, Judge Abbas Khalifa pronounced his verdict. �I sentence you to be hanged to death.� As if this weren�t horrific enough, Meriam was also convicted by the court of committing �zena��an implication of adultery for marrying a non-Muslim. And for this alleged crime, she was also sentenced to receive 100 lashes�before the imposition of the sentence of hanging!

Currently, with her 18-month-old son and the child in her womb, Meriam remains shackled in a prison, awaiting the carrying-out of the sentences.

Ibrahim�s husband said he�s utterly distraught over the sentence and is fervently praying that it be somehow overturned.

Human rights groups worldwide have condemned the sentence, characterizing it as �heinous� and �abhorrent.� Amnesty International calls it �a flagrant breach of international human rights law.�

The U.S. National Security Council issued a statement, saying: �We continue to urge Sudan to fulfill its constitutional promise of religious freedom, and to respect the fundamental freedoms and universal human rights of all its people.� And a written report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, citing that 60 percent of Sudan identifies as Muslim and that the nation�s president, Omar al-Bashir, seeks to enforce Sharia law, says: �Conversion from Islam is a crime punishable by death, suspected converts to Christianity face societal pressures, and government security personnel intimidate and sometimes torture those suspected of conversion.�

Meriam�s extremely poignant story is yet another contemporary example of the struggles and dangers of living a Christian life. Rightly did the Apostle Paul warn his disciple Timothy: �Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted� (2 Timothy 3:12).

As we draw near the Great Feast of Our Lord�s Ascension, we remember the myriad lessons we�ve received during Lent, Holy Week and Pascha. The Church has offered us more sermons on Jesus Christ as �the Light of the world� than we can begin to count.  Still, we seem insistent and even content to choose the darkness of the world rather than the Light of the world. Though we�re repeatedly called to �lay aside all earthly cares,� we, like spoiled children, enthusiastically chase after them and then complain that we�re simply helpless victims of modern society! We excuse ourselves from sharing real fellowship with certain others, even fellow communicants and family members, because they (for whatever reason) irritate us while we pursue relationships with certain others whose religious faith and ideology are diametrically opposed to what we believe is �good, right and true.� We�re all in favor of human rights and human freedom and human tolerance and human justice for all�- at least until they burden MY life, limit MY freedom, challenge MY opinions, and conflict with MY understanding of justice.

Where is the heartfelt joy�that inner light of our souls�that enables us to see the glory, majesty and miracles of our God and rejoice in thanksgiving for His grace, gifts and the divine forgiveness springing from the life-creating Cross and empty tomb of Our Lord?! Are we so quick to abandon our joy, recant our faith, renounce our Risen Lord, and burn a pinch of incense to Caesar to save our lives at the expense of our souls!?

We need to pray for one another, and especially for Meriam and those like her. We need to let the Light of Christ shine in our hearts that others may see. We need to sing forever with the Church, �Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered. Let those who hate Him flee from before His face.� We need to be able to stand in the midst of the fallen world with enough faithfulness and courage to say: �I am a Christian, and I will remain a Christian.�

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: 'Every form of violence in the name of religion is violence against religion itself'

Which is why Islam fails utterly and is being revealed throughout all the world as a false religion. Violence against Christians and other non-Muslims, and against women, in the name of Islam is part of Islam itself. It is not only permitted but made obligatory in the supposedly eternal and unchanging words of the Quran, the example being established through the Sunnah, the life and sayings (or 'Way') of Muhammad. 

We live in a pivotal age, when Orthodox Christians should hold out to Muslims of good conscience the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and invite them to leave behind their false religion which unleashes such bloodshed and madness upon the entire planet, and come into the Church to work out their salvation with us in fear and trembling. 

In a very subtle way, this is what +Bartholomew is doing. Without being antagonistic, His All Holiness is appealing to those Muslims who retain some measure of their God-given conscience.

Message to Muslims: "Leave falsehood, embrace Truth � Leave Islam, embrace Christ."

Every form of violence in the name of religion is violence against religion itself

What is happening in Nigeria and Sudan is a dual act of wrongdoing.

Pravmir � May 18, 2014

The Ecumenical Patriarchate has witnessed with great pain and distress the recent manifestations of religious violence against women in Northern Africa, which have profoundly and justifiably concerned the global community. It expresses its outright and unequivocal condemnation of the kidnapping in Nigeria of scores of young women, who are forcibly subjected to espouse Islam. Moreover, it professes its wholehearted and unambiguous denunciation of the pregnant young Christian mother in the Sudan for refusing to espouse Islam.

[That last sentence was horribly mistranslated so as to make it sound like His All-Holiness was denouncing the pregnant Sudanese woman (Meriam Ibrahim, who has since given birth in prison) for not adopting Islam. Of course, he is denouncing the Sudanese government for condemning her to death for being a Christian.]

While on an official pastoral visit to Germany, His All-Holiness delivered a message of hope for the release of these women:

We are horrified that, in the early twenty-first century, our world still experiences such horrific and disgraceful acts of religious violence. As we have repeatedly emphasized, every form of violence in the name of religion is violence against religion itself. 

What is happening in Nigeria and Sudan is a dual act of wrongdoing: first and foremost, it is a disgrace against humanity, which we believe and proclaim is created in the image and likeness of God; and second, it is a defamation of the God, whom the great religions of the world worship as divine creator of all life. 

In Northern Africa, both believers of Islam and Christianity are obliged to promote a God of love and compassion. And the political authorities are responsible for protecting their citizens, especially the more vulnerable members of their societies. Such acts are unacceptable from the perspective of religion and morality, as well as by standards of international human rights.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate fervently prays � and urges the prayers of all its faithful, together with all people of good will � for the safe release of the young girls in Nigeria as well as the safety and life of the young mother in Sudan.