After meeting with Matta, our first full day continued with an introduction to Bishoi*. Bishoi is our tour guide for the week. He’s a trained archaeologist, brilliant storyteller, and lover of Jesus. Our first trip out from the hotel is to Old Islamic Cairo to learn more about when Islam first came to Egypt.
The highlight of the ancient buildings and bazaars we visited was spending time in the beautiful eleventh-century Al-Hakim mosque. While seated in the inner courtyard of the mosque, Bishoi quietly told us the story of how Al-Hakim became Caliph. He was a brutal leader known by some as the “mad Caliph” or “Nero of Islam”. Al-Hakim was fixated on destroying Christianity.
To say that Christians were marginalised was an understatement during his reign. Christians that chose not to convert to Islam had three further “choices”:
1/ Be killed.
2/ Stay home.
3/ Only leave your homes if you are willing to wear a heavy iron cross around your neck.
Christians chose the cross. This makes sense – Jesus said anyone who comes after him must carry their cross. These believers were literally called to carry a cross. And it left a mark. Literally. The weight of the cross left a chain mark on the back of their necks. They were ridiculed with the name ‘blue bones’ – but again, these brothers and sisters took the insult as an honour to be considered worthy to suffer disgrace for Jesus’ sake.
Throughout history, Egyptian Christians who refused to convert to Islam had a cross tattooed on their wrist by the authorities and were forced to pay a tax. And yet, rather than shrink from wearing this symbol, subsequent generations of Christians have chosen to mark themselves with the cross – showing that they are unashamed to belong to Christ crucified.
Bishoi had already been conscious of not projecting his voice too loudly in the mosque; as he drew things to a conclusion, he invited us to lean in further and listen carefully to his whisper. And he said these unforgettable words,
“Every stone around you has witnessed the killing of Christians. And yet here we are. Talking about Jesus and the ongoing spread of Christianity while sitting in a mosque.”
What a powerful moment to experience. The reality? The more that rulers and authorities in this world try and stop the spread of Christianity, the more the message spreads.
As we read Psalm 2, we know those who come against the LORD’s Anointed do so in vain. As we heard this morning from Matta, our message is victory in Christ. He is the one who has conquered the grave. He is the one whose kingdom and throne will be established forever.
The invitation remains to respond rightly to this king:
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2:10–12 ESV)
What a blessing to take refuge in him!
I know that the goal of this afternoon was to be immersed in the millennia-old religious history of Cairo. Still, I hadn’t forgotten about my secret quest: to meet my favourite soccer player – Mohammad Salah. He’s everywhere on t-shirts and billboards, and for a few moments, I thought he was standing in front of me! But then I realised it was a statute. A stunning statue. But also a statue I’d struggle to get back through customs.
It’s only the end of our first full day, but I’m already learning so much from the rest of the Open Doors team about how to process the stories we are experiencing together. Praise God for his kindness.
*Name changed for security purposes.
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Read the rest of the series here.