Posted on 05/31/2004 9:00:49 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia, May 31 (Reuters) - A Christian Arab who was held captive by al Qaeda militants in Saudi Arabia said on Monday he lied to them about his faith and praised their battle against the West, to save his life.
Nizar Hajazeen, a Jordanian software businessmen who was at the Tower hotel in the Oasis compound during the 25-hour drama in Khobar, said the militants lectured him about Islam and their aim to liberate Saudi Arabia from "infidels and crusaders".
The complex where the militants held about 50 foreigners -- including some Westerners -- was their last target in the violence in the eastern Saudi oil city in which they killed at least 22 people.
Hajazeen, 32, had tried to call a cab to go to work on Saturday but the phone lines were jumbled.
"I went down and the Filipino receptionist told me there were terrorists in the compound and gunshots were heard," he told Reuters.
He tried to help security guards close the hotel entrance gate but the lock did not work and a manager recommended he hide, Hajazeen said.
"I went to the room of a Jordanian colleague. Someone banged violently on the door. We opened and there were two men, one with a machinegun, another with a revolver. They were wearing black track suits," he said, adding that one had a wounded arm.
Both were in their twenties.
"They asked us if we were Arab or Westerners. We told them: 'We're Arab'.
"One then asked if I was a Christian or a Muslim. I told him we were Muslims and showed him my colleague's Koran as proof. I told him we supported them and that we were against America and Europe. I had to say that."
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY"
Residents of the compound said the attackers asked everyone they encountered if they were Muslim or Christian, before taking them hostage or killing them.
An Oasis manager said the gunmen shot and killed several Westerners as soon as they entered the complex.
The gunmen made two Indian hotel staff with master keys show them where the Westerners were, Hajazeen said.
His brother called him on his mobile phone to wish him a happy birthday -- a day late -- just as the militants were saying their motive was to drive Americans and Christians from their country.
"They asked me to turn off my mobile but did not take it away as they did with others," Hajazeen said, adding that they told him and his colleague to stay in the room and left.
"We stayed locked in our room. One of us was hiding in the shower, another one was hiding in the bathtub," Hajazeen said, adding that from time to time they sneaked back into the bedroom to watch the news on television.
He said that before commandos freed them on Sunday, compound security guards called his mobile to ask him to check if the militants had rigged his floor with explosives. He found nothing.
"Before the commandos came, there was heavy gunfire and one explosion shook the hotel. We could hear glass being smashed, screams... It sounded like someone was giving out orders."
Saudi security forces later called them out, saying: "Do not be scared."
Making his way to freedom he saw the bodies of four Indians and an Italian cook.
"They had been shot dead. Some were on the staircases."
bttt
I wasn't making that implication at all. It simply shows the growth in Peter's faith from the time he denied Christ in fear for his own life until the time he gave his life for Him in like manner to his Lord.
Who knows the heart of a man? I certainly don't.
I'm not disagreeing with you. I was simply expounding on the story a bit.
This is pretty funny, Mr. Pot.
Yes Mr. Kettle, but you came right out of the gates being obnoxious, declaring that some Christian facing death has just lost eternal life. I figured if you were such a hard taskmaster you might want to clean up your act a little bit.
Hasn't it occurred to you yet that like many people, they tended to hear what they wanted to hear and over look what they didn't?
Part of Christianity is redemption and forgiveness. This Catholic believes that God will judge this man on how he leads the rest of his life.
I'm not disagreeing with you either. I posted your name along with the other since you were addressing the issue also.
"Another interesting question: Assuming you're a Christian, what would you do?"
Good post. Some here are in full-on Pharisee Mode, they've got their PhD in Damnation off the wall and are shoving it in our faces: "See? It says here I am equipped to judge the state of your soul! And guess what? You're DAMNED! Next."
Others are in tune with mercy, and are sitting there thinking, "Hey, that could be Me! I hope I would know what to do! Lord, have mercy on him."
I think most of us have some of both in the flesh, but God forbid we should settle into the mindset of Phariseeism.
The headline writer got the reaction he wanted I think.
Here's an interesting question for those who say it would be better to lie than to have one's life taken:
If you were a POW soldier in an enemy country, and were asked to denounce your country, America, would you do it? What about on television?
Repentance has been subjected to the same intellectual/liberal parsing as all other moral absolutist words of our time, so you are right to demand an accounting of the definition. I like to go back to the original Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic to get it straight.
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/repentance
"Repentance is the feeling and act in which one recognizes and tries to right a wrong, or gain forgiveness from someone that they wronged. In religious contexts it usually refers to repenting for a sin against God. It always includes an admission of guilt, and also includes at least one of: a solemn promise or resolve not to repeat the offense; an attempt to make restitution for the wrong, or in some way to reverse the harmful effects of the wrong where possible.
In Biblical Hebrew, the idea of repentance is represented by two verbs: shuv (to return) and nicham (to feel sorrow). The underlying idea has been expressed in Greek by the noun (metanoia), a word which denotes "change of mind and heart."
The whole page is an awesome page. It includes tons of scripture, with examples from ancient texts and other writings, and since you like that stuff I figured you'd find it to be cool too.
And Peter regretted it for the rest of his life. He was eventually crucified (hanging upside down), at which time he refused to deny his faith.
It would be hard to NOT lie if your life hung in the balance. However, it is my personal hope/belief that nothing on earth could make me deny my faith. I hope to never be put to that test.
If they try and I see it comming, they'll hafta "pry my cold dead fingers off my gun" first. (And that's one reason they'll never get my gun.)
But he was not close to dying. He was not supposed to die. Because he did not.
People can make all the guesses they want about the story in question. Some have been so bold as to point fingers at others here regarding their faith. As if they are more of a Christian than others. Maybe they are more Christian, maybe they are not. That's not my call.
I say that the reason this man lied to the moslem was because the Lord wanted him to. So he would live and be able to help others by checking for "rigged explosives". And that the Lord wanted his story to reach us here and for us to dicuss it. To think about our own faith.
I could be right or wrong. Others could be right or wrong. But nobody here will be able to prove it one way or another.
ROTFL! Thanks for the diversion.
OMG, I did too. But he survived and can witness to others. He also confessed his faith later (not at gunpoint)... I'm hoping/praying for forgiveness for him. He's worth more alive as a Christian than he is dead.
The God of the Cross and the Bible is not situationally ethical. There is no other situation that more graphically puts Jesus' words to the test about denying Him than when one's life is on the line. If one doesn't believe Jesus meant what He said, what's the point in believing in Him?
Does He have power to save souls and deny them heaven, or does He not?
Having said that, I want to add a most precious aspect of God's grace to the balance. As long as there is breath, there is time to repent of sin. The Arab hostage sinned, about as egregiously as possible. It was a failure of love. Jesus said, "If you love Me, obey My commandments." Yet the Arab can turn this tragic event into repentance and therefore, into being received again by Jesus.
At the day of the Great Judgment, this denial will be replayed. But so will any later act of repentance for the denial. I'm sure he'll think differently about it then than he does now, because then he'll be standing in the face of Perfect Love that refused life and chose death, to save his soul. Jesus' command to us is no more or less than His Father's command to Him to lay down His life for us.
God understands the depth of our love for Him and how far it will take us. From what I know of the Father's love, He is wanting to draw this man closer to Him than ever. I pray God breaks his heart with the true understanding of what he has done, and gives him grace to repent deeply, to make him into a new man, one who would willingly lay down his life for the One who died for him.
British public school children even until Churchill's day read Fox's Book of Martyrs in class. We have lost our institutional hold on the price of Christian faith; alongside this tidying up has come situational ethics that result in the various elements of belief expressed so widely in the church. A further effect of choosing to forget our heritage of laying down one's life for his friends is the utter squeamishness so many in the world feel today toward military service. Dear Lord, how could we have fought World Wars I and II without this inner strength? May God bring us back to the simple, exquisite depth of His love for us.
BTW, when you read the whole chapter, note that Abraham and Sarah had their conspiracy going on for some time, and apparently used the same scheme more than once. God's ways are above our ways.
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