Prayer need! Convert, Leave or Die!!
Islamic State sets new rules, raising possibility of martyrdom.
Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Saad Sirop of Baghdad has confirmed a troubling report from Mosul that the Islamic State is now presenting Christians in that city with a final ultimatum of conversion, subservience or death.
According to sources known to Aleteia, but kept anonymous due to security concerns, a number of mosques in the city of Mosul, and through loudspeakers, called on Christians Friday to leave the city. They said in their appeals that the reason was due to the rejection of the bishops to meet elements of the Islamic State to dictate terms to the Christians, which is to pay a special tax or convert to Islam.
According to sources known to Aleteia, but kept anonymous due to security concerns, a number of mosques in the city of Mosul, and through loudspeakers, called on Christians Friday to leave the city. They said in their appeals that the reason was due to the rejection of the bishops to meet elements of the Islamic State to dictate terms to the Christians, which is to pay a special tax or convert to Islam.
Christians have until tomorrow to leave, or face execution.
Bishop Sirop has confirmed the veracity of the report to Aleteia partner Aid to the Church in Need.
“We are speechless because what happened is really shocking,” he said this morning. “The Christians in Mosul for centuries and those families were suddenly torn away from their city, their home, their life. We are really worried about the future of Christians in this country…. In the last hours, the jihadists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) have forced the few remaining Christians in Iraq’s second city to leave their homes. Desperate, Christians immediately fled but were stopped at checkpoints by militias who have looted cars and all their belongings and then summoned them to continue on foot. Most of the families headed to the North, in the city of Dahuk.”
The bishop said Christians in Mosul have never been driven from their homes as if they had no rights—until now.
Since yesterday, he said, the militia has asked Christians to convert to Islam or leave Mosul.
“Our worst fears are coming true, and we do not know how to react,” he said. He pleaded with the international community to exert pressure on the Iraqi government to find practical solutions.
“With a greater internal stability, there will be no place for these groups of fanatics who claim to govern our country,” he said. “And then you have to help these poor people without a home and robbed of all that he had. It’s really a tragedy.”
The Islamic State reportedly called Christians leaders to a meeting this week to apprise them of the rules of the caliphate, But the leaders did not show up.
Then the Islamic State issued a communique to let them know that Christians would be given the chance to convert to Islam. If they did not want to do so , they would have to pay special taxes. And finally, i f they refused, “their destiny is the sword.”
The letter continued: “The prince of the faithful, Caliph Ibrahim, is allowing them however, to leave on their own, outside the limits of the Caliphate. They have until 12 noon (Saturday), and after that, there is nothing between us and them except of the sword!”
The ultimatum may actually be working for the Islamic State. Fides News Agency is reporting today that the last Christian families still present in Mosul are leaving the city and are heading towards Erbil, Dohuk and other areas of Iraqi Kurdistan which are considered safer.
“This is confirmed by sources of the local Chaldean community to Fides Agency,” the report said. “The new exodus has accelerated in the past two days, after Sunni insurgents and militants of the Islamic Caliphate began to mark with letters of recognition the homes of Christians and Shiites. As reported by the website www.Ankawa.com, the evacuation of the last Christians is also due to the intensification of the bombing carried out by the military government on many areas of the city, especially at night. In many villages of the Nineveh Plain, the main emergency is currently represented by the suspension of water supply, made even more unbearable due to high temperatures.”
The bishop said Christians in Mosul have never been driven from their homes as if they had no rights—until now.
Since yesterday, he said, the militia has asked Christians to convert to Islam or leave Mosul.
“Our worst fears are coming true, and we do not know how to react,” he said. He pleaded with the international community to exert pressure on the Iraqi government to find practical solutions.
“With a greater internal stability, there will be no place for these groups of fanatics who claim to govern our country,” he said. “And then you have to help these poor people without a home and robbed of all that he had. It’s really a tragedy.”
The Islamic State reportedly called Christians leaders to a meeting this week to apprise them of the rules of the caliphate, But the leaders did not show up.
Then the Islamic State issued a communique to let them know that Christians would be given the chance to convert to Islam. If they did not want to do so , they would have to pay special taxes. And finally, i f they refused, “their destiny is the sword.”
The letter continued: “The prince of the faithful, Caliph Ibrahim, is allowing them however, to leave on their own, outside the limits of the Caliphate. They have until 12 noon (Saturday), and after that, there is nothing between us and them except of the sword!”
The ultimatum may actually be working for the Islamic State. Fides News Agency is reporting today that the last Christian families still present in Mosul are leaving the city and are heading towards Erbil, Dohuk and other areas of Iraqi Kurdistan which are considered safer.
“This is confirmed by sources of the local Chaldean community to Fides Agency,” the report said. “The new exodus has accelerated in the past two days, after Sunni insurgents and militants of the Islamic Caliphate began to mark with letters of recognition the homes of Christians and Shiites. As reported by the website www.Ankawa.com, the evacuation of the last Christians is also due to the intensification of the bombing carried out by the military government on many areas of the city, especially at night. In many villages of the Nineveh Plain, the main emergency is currently represented by the suspension of water supply, made even more unbearable due to high temperatures.”
It may be the end game Christians have feared for some time, especially since militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria took over the historic Christian center in northern Iraq in early June. Since then, things have gotten progressively worse for Christians. The Associated Press has also reported that the Islamic State has begun seizing the houses of Christian and Shiite families who fled Mosul and giving some of them to Sunni families uprooted from areas like Tikrit and Diyala. “They mark these houses with signs reading Islamic State Properties,” AP reported today. “A resident of a north Mosul neighborhood said three masked gunmen knocked on his door Wednesday, asking whether he knew of any Christian or Shiite homes in the area. The resident spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals.”
No comments:
Post a Comment