Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Candidate: Christians Should 'Convert, Pay Tribute or Leave'

According to the popular Egyptian website El Bashayer, Muhammad Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate competing against former Mubarak official Ahmed Shafiq in the runoff election to become Egypt's new president, has declared that he will "achieve the Islamic conquest of Egypt for the second time, and make all Christians convert to Islam, or else pay the jizya [Islamic tax required of non-Muslims]," the Gatestone Institute reports. Morsi allegedly made these comments while speaking with a journalist at the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, adding, "We will not allow [Shafiq] or anyone else to impede our second Islamic conquest of Egypt." When the journalist pointed out that the first Muslim conquest of Egypt was "carried out at the hands of Amr bin al-As [in 641]," he asked Morsi who the second Islamic conqueror would be. Morsi replied, "The second Muslim conqueror will be Muhammad Morsi, and history will record it." When asked what he thought about many Coptic Christians voting for his opponent, Morsi reportedly said, "They need to know that conquest is coming, and Egypt will be Islamic, and that they must pay jizya or emigrate."