As a fundamental moral practice, Muslims always protected Christian churches in the lands they occupied, on the contrary of what the extremist tend to do with Christians in Iraq and Egypt.  In a letter to Simeon, the Archbishop of Rifardashir and leader of all the bishops of Persia, the Nestorian Patriarch Geoff III wrote:

‘The Arabs, to whom God has given power over the whole world, know how wealthy you are, for they live among you.  In spite of this, they do not assail the Christian creed.  To the contrary, they have sympathy with our religion and venerate our priests and saints of our Lord, and they graciously donate to our churches and monasteries. (Arnold, Thomas, ‘Invitation To Islam,’ p. 102)