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The following are excerpts from an address by Egyptian cleric Safwat Higazi on the incident in which Copts were killed at Nag'a Hammadi, Egypt. The address aired on Al-Nas TV on January 18, 2010.
Safwat Higazi: I categorically reject the incidents that took place. Moreover, I say that the people who carried out these actions should not be executed by hanging or by a firing squad. If it is proven that they are the ones who committed this crime, the Islamic haraba punishment should be implemented on them.
This is the punishment for people who spread corruption in the land: They are crucified, their hands and legs on alternate sides are chopped off, and they are left to die this way. Alternatively, they are banished – but in this case, they should not be banished. They should be killed, be crucified, and have their hands and legs on alternate sides chopped off, because what they did constitutes the spreading of corruption in the land.
[The Nag’a Hammadi incident] is not just another killing. It was an attempt to generate strife in this country, which has never known such a thing. I say to our Christian brothers in Egypt: we are sorry, and we apologize for this.
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Some people say that they are fighting us, but this is absolutely false. Has any Christian ever brandished a weapon against you just because you are a Muslim? I would like to make an important point. We have been living in Egypt all our lives. During that time, thousands of Muslim men have raped Muslim women. What is the difference between the rape of a Muslim woman by a Muslim or by a Christian? What is the difference? There is no difference whatsoever – not in man-made law, nor in the law of our God.
You should not be enraged because it is a Christian who raped a Muslim woman. Why aren’t you enraged when a Muslim man rapes a Muslim woman? Do Muslim men have the right to rape Muslim women, while Christians do not? In both cases, this is wrong and unacceptable.
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Why do we get angry when a Muslim renounces Islam? Would it benefit the Muslims in any way if he remained a Muslim? We keep quarreling about this, and people say that apostates must be killed. Fine. Why don’t you kill a fornicator? Is there any question that according [to the shari’a], a married fornicator should be killed? Why don’t you kill him?
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Why don’t you kill a murderer? A murderer should be killed according to Islamic [law]. But are the Islamic punishments implemented by the state? No. since the Islamic punishments are not implemented – why talk about the punishment of an apostate?