Christians in the Middle East: a vanishing community?

“Are you Muslim?” asks a Daesh member of a Christian couple. When the husband answers in the affirmative, the terrorist instructs him to recite from the Quran. The man recites from the Bible. Upon hearing the Arabic, the guard says “Yallah” and motions them through.

The man’s wife later says: “I can’t believe the risk you just took,” says the wife. “Why did you lie? If he knew, he would have killed us.”

Answers the husband: “Don’t worry! If they knew the Quran they would not indiscriminately kill people” answered the husband.

Unfortunately, church leaders and rights groups are now beginning to seriously question whether Christianity is on its way to extinction from its birthplace.



Indeed, their plight at the hands of Daesh, other extremists and to a lesser extent even some of the major Western allies in the region is no laughing matter. Of course, it’s not only in the Middle East that Christians face oppression (Indeed the plight of Christians and other minorities in Pakistan is also deplorable — but that will be subject of another column).

The crisis situation was highlighted at a conference this summer in Toronto attended by top Christian leaders from the Middle East. Speaking at the event, the Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church, Ignatius Joseph III Younan, said: “Our Churches go back to the first Christian communities, in their liturgy, traditions, culture and language. They are now a kind of endangered species, that could be wiped out for good.”

Indeed, an in depth The New York Times piece last year concluded that extremists across the region are enslaving, killing and uprooting Christians, with no aid in sight. ‘‘Everyone has seen the forced conversions, crucifixions and beheadings,’’ David Saperstein, the US ambassador at large for religious freedom, said. ‘‘To see these communities, primarily Christians, but also the Yazidis and others, persecuted in such large numbers is deeply alarming.’’

Not to minimise the plight of Christians, even other Muslims who are branded as kuffar (unbelievers) for deviating from extremist interpretations are subject to the same fate.

History bears witness that Islamic rule included both periods of co-existence and of intolerance. Yet the fact remains that the extremist treatment of minorities is not consistent with Islamic teachings. Indeed, a letter attributed to the prophet states:

“This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them. Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them.

No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries.

No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses. Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.

No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray.

Their churches are to be respected… No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world).”

Though scholars disagree on the authenticity of the document or the wording, the gist of it is consistent with the Quran, prophetic traditions and even state conduct. For instance, upon accepting the surrender of Jerusalem in 637, Umar Ibn Khattab, the Caliph, was invited by the Christian leader, Patriarch Sophronius, to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Caliph refused for fear that it may be converted into a mosque in the future.

This status applied initially only to Christians and Jews, but eventually extended by jurists to others, including the Sabians, Zoroastrians, and Hindus. Though they did not enjoy full citizenship rights (and in fact were discriminated against from our vantage point today), their treatment was progressive for the time and certainly negates the widespread oppression today.

The thriving minority communities throughout the region prior to the extremist onslaught are testament to their acceptance in history. Indeed, millions of Christians and others lived in peace. Now there is a serious fear that Christianity may be wiped out in parts of the Middle East. As of 2015, about a third of the 2.1 million Christians in Syria and Iraq have had to flee. Overall, the proportion of Christians has dropped today.

Extremists and fringe groups are rightfully attracting contempt, but what about the official state policies of many countries in the region whose treatment of Christians and others violates basic human rights?

Saudi Arabia a leading Western ally and allows Christians to enter the country for work, business and I presume tourism, but draws the line at extending them freedom of worship, a fundamental human right. According to a Pew study earlier this year, similar though less strict conditions exist in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates which have seen an influx of Christians over the last few years but do not extend them much in terms of religious freedom.

International calls for the UN Security Council to investigate Daesh’s crimes is a good first step, but the world must also call out the treatment of minorities by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. With respect to Saudi Arabia, the UN General Assembly should heed the calls from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to suspend Saudi Arabia’s membership rights on the UN Human Rights Council until they address their dismal human rights record in a broad range of contexts.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 19^th, 2016.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.