and with those who follow them in righteousness until the Day of Judgment.
He replied:
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. As for their claim that the Muslims wronged them by closing these churches, this is a lie that contradicts the consensus of the Muslims. The Muslim scholars of the four schools—those of Abū Hanīfa, Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Ahmad—and other imams, such as Sufyān al-Thawrī, al-Awzāʿī, al-Layth ibn Saʿd, and others, together with their predecessors among the Companions and Successors—may Allah be pleased with them all—agree that if the ruler demolished every church in territory conquered by force, such as Egypt, the Sawād region of Iraq, the Syrian mainland, and similar territories, exercising his legal judgment and following those who hold this view, he would not thereby be acting unjustly. Rather, those who hold this view are obliged to obey him and assist him in doing so. If they refused to submit to the Muslims’ ruling concerning them, they would be breaking the covenant, and their lives and property would thereby become forfeit.
As for their assertion that these churches have stood since the time of the Commander of the Faithful, ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb—may Allah be pleased with him—and that the Rightly Guided Caliphs allowed them to retain them, this too is a lie. For it is known through mass transmission that Cairo was built more than three hundred years after ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb—may Allah be pleased with him. It was built after Baghdad, Basra, Kufa, and Wāsit. The Muslims have unanimously agreed that, in cities founded by Muslims, it was not