These actions enraged local residents, who held a protest in which they shouted slogans against ISIS, carried the cross in a procession and attempted to restore it to its place.
In a September 27 tweet, a Twitter account associated with ISIS announced: “Al-Raqqa province: The cross hanging over the Annunciation church in Al-Raqqa was broken in adherence with the Prophet’s order to ‘Ali: ‘There wasn’t a cross I didn’t break’…”
The following document will review arguments made in defense of church demolition and desecration made by ISIS supporters.
Al-Qaeda Leader And Prominent Cleric Object To Harming Christians
It should be noted that in a recent statement, Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri warned jihadis from acting violently against non-Muslims, saying that “If they transgress, then a response proportionate to the transgression should suffice.”
Furthermore, in an edict issued with regard to an identical situation, a prominent Salafi-jihadi cleric chastised a jihad fighter that damaged a cross hanging over a church in Syria. The cleric, Abu Mundhir Al-Shinqiti, wrote: “The prohibition on showcasing the cross is a valid Omari rule [one of the conditions laid down by the caliph Omar ibn Al-Khattab for Christians in Muslim lands]. However, with relation to the reality of the mujahideen in Syria today it is not commanded for the grave damage it entails… The scholars agree that it is not permissible to change a wrong if that would bring about a greater wrong, since this is corruption rather than improvement.”
ISIS Spokesman: We Threatened To Bomb The Church, But Cross-Breaking Was An Individual Act
Speaking on the radical Sunni Safa channel on September 30, 2013, a spokesman for ISIS admitted that the group threatened to bomb the churches in Al-Raqqa in retaliation to provocations on behalf of the city’s Christians. However, he claimed that ISIS did not carry out its threat; instead, he said the tearing down of the church’s cross was an act by individuals pretending to belong to the group. He said: “Since the presence of Assad in Al-Raqqa ended formally and practically, a church there began to do a specific act: we know that churches all around the world ring their bells only on Sunday, correct?… This is their time of prayer and worship to God and it is their business… The Prophet ordered us to keep their freedom of worship, of religion and of faith, since there is no compulsion in religion… [But] these churches started to do something strange, brother, as though they sought to express their mourning over Bashar Al-Assad… Every time the calls for prayer sounded in Al-Raqqa – the [church] bells rang… After this happened four days in a row, [ISIS] sent them a message and told them: ‘Neighbors, what is this act you are doing? Why are you doing this? Is it sorrow over Bashar, or what? If you do this again, we will destroy the churches and blow them up. [They said this] in public. You have three days to cease this act.’ Then we [ISIS] left. Then, on the second day, a group of men pretending to belong to ISIS came along and did what they did. If we did it, we would have said so – we are afraid of nobody but Allah…”
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Special Dispatch No. 5575 Read The Full Report
ISIS flag hanging over the Bishara [Annunciation] church in Al-Raqqa