and Muslim’s, and similar works. The teachings of the imams are expounded there, and Allah’s pleasure is invoked upon the Rightly Guided Caliphs. Before that, however, they had been among the worst of people. Among them were people who worshipped the stars and observed their movements, and Dahrī heretics who believed in neither the Hereafter, Paradise, nor Hell, and did not consider prayer, zakat, fasting, or pilgrimage obligatory. The best among them were the Rāfidīs, yet the Rāfidīs are the worst of the groups that profess allegiance to the qiblah.
For this and similar reasons, new churches were built in Cairo and elsewhere. There had already been old churches in the Egyptian countryside, but the Muslims allowed them to retain those churches when they conquered the land, because the farmers were all Christians, not Muslims; only the troops were Muslims. They allowed them to remain, just as the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—allowed the Jews to remain at Khaybar after conquering it, because the Jews were farmers while the Muslims were occupied with jihad.
Later, during the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattāb—may Allah be pleased with him—when the Muslims had grown in number and no longer needed the Jews, the Commander of the Faithful expelled them from Khaybar, as the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—had commanded when he said:
“Expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula.”
Thus, not a single Jew remained in Khaybar.
The same applies to a village whose inhabitants are Christians, with no Muslims or Muslim mosque among them: if the Muslims allow them to retain their existing churches, that is permissible, as the Muslims have done. But if Muslims settle there