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Nov 28, 2020
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Captured ISIS Mufti Of Mosul Shifa Al-Nima: The Christians Of Mosul Were Offered To Stay And Pay Jizya But Preferred To Leave; We Confiscated Their Property

#8503 | 02:30
Source: Al-Iraqiya TV (Iraq)

The following video is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.

On November 28, 2020, Al-Iraqiya TV (Iraq) aired an interview with the captured ISIS Mufti of Mosul, Shifa Al-Nima in which he discussed the Christians of Mosul and how they had left the city. Mufti Al-Nima, whose real name is Shifa Ali Bashir Muhammad Gerges, explained that he was asked by the ISIS Department of Mosques to deliver a Friday sermon about the Christians. In his sermon, he talked about the Pact of Umar and said that the "People of the Book" can remain if they paid the jizya poll tax, but the Christians preferred to leave the city. Consequently, their property was confiscated by ISIS. Shifa Al-Nima was captured in January of 2020 and he was sentenced to death by hanging.

Narrator: "The terrorist Shifa Ali Bashir Muhammad Gerges was born in Mosul, 1962. He has operated within terrorist groups since 2003. He renewed his pledge of allegiance to Al-Badhdadi in 2014. Known by his nickname 'Shifa Al-Nima,' he served as a mufti and a judge in the ranks of the criminal ISIS. He was caught in 2020."

Shifa Al-Nima: "We welcomed the takeover of ISIS because they wanted to implement the shari'a. and to establish the Islamic Caliphate. We welcomed them and encouraged them to implement the [rules of] the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad."

[...]

Narrator: "In July 20, 2014, the city [of Mosul] was completely emptied of its Christians. This was an initial step, after ISIS terrorized the Christian minority and threatened them with slaughter and confiscation of their property. In practice, they were driven out of the center of Mosul and the Nineveh Plains. Afterwards, the criminal organization turned to confiscating their property – private houses, businesses, and other properties – marking them with the (Arabic) letter nun."

[...]

Al-Nima: "When the issue of the Christians and their leaving Mosul surfaced, the mosque department asked me to address the issue of Christians. So, I delivered an ordinary Friday sermon, and after it read the Pact of Umar. I said that I am only conveying what is already written in the books of jurisprudence.

[...]

"I read the Pact of Umar to the people [at the sermon]. The Pact of Umar basically says that Islam protects the People of the Book, and in return, they have to pay the jizya poll tax. This way, they can keep their religion and their religious practice. The Muslims, in return, will protect them and receive their jizya poll tax. No Christians remained [in Mosul]. They all left."

Interviewer: "And their houses?"

Al-Nima: "All the houses were taken."

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