Muslim mob stones Copts, tries to set church ablaze

Over the weekend, a Muslim mob in Egypt’s Fayoum Province threw stones at Copts and then tried to set their church ablaze, according to Morning Star News.

Four Copts, including their priest, suffered minor injuries.

A mob of about 25 Muslims gathered outside the Church of Mar Girgis after Friday evening services and began pelting the building with rocks; after breaking the church windows, the mob lobbed Molotov Cocktails at them, but after failing to set the building on fire, they gained entry into it by knocking a hole through a mud-brick section of wall; once inside, the mob destroyed icons, crosses and enough of the church's supporting structure to collapse its dome.

After Friday's attack, Muslims again tried to set the church afire on Saturday, but according to witnesses, a water storage unit on the church roof burst open and extinguished the flames after its supporting struts, previously damaged in Friday's attack, suddenly gave way.

The weekend attacks were instigated by a Muslim who lived in a house that shared a wall with the Coptic church. The Muslim owner claimed it was against Islamic law for a church building to exist next to a Muslim residence, but when the congregation offered to buy his home, he insisted that they abandon their building.

During a reconciliation meeting, the congregation's priest was forced to agree that he would not expand the church building, but during recent church renovations, their uncooperative neighbor — who was reportedly spying on them through a hole in the wall that they shared — misconstrued it as an expansion of the church and then spread the rumor amongst his fellow Muslims that the Christians had broken their word.