History Repeats Itself
Sectarian tensions have recently been on the rise in Egypt. This has been a case for concern for Coptic Christians in the country which constitute only 10% of the population.
The sectarian divide in Egypt is very clear. Citizens are unequivocally labeled as ‘Muslim’ or ‘Christian.’ There is constant mockery between both sects and the latter has been under constant scrutiny. The future of the Coptic Christians’ social status in Egypt was brought under further scrutiny once the Muslim Brotherhood gained power in last September’s parliamentary elections.
The Coptic Christians have a good reason to worry. The Muslim Brotherhood advocates the use of the Islamic Sharia law which cannot be possibly used to govern other minorities. Both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan enforce Sharia law, however their populations are almost entirely Muslim and therefore the issue of the governance of minorities is not a concern. The opposite is true in Egypt.
Coptic Christians are certainly a minority in Egypt, constituting (as aforementioned) 10% of the population or the equivalent of 7.5 million people. Their minority is in terms of numbers, but they own a substantial wealth of the country – for example, the Sawiris family who own Orascom Telecom (MobiNil), Orascom Construction Industries and Orascom Development are ranked on Forbes’ 100 richest people in the world with an approximate net worth of $6 billion.
What will happen if the Muslim Brotherhood assumes full authority in the next presidential and parliamentary election?
Coptic Christians already face a variety of restrictions which affects their quotidian life. They require a formal authorization from the government to build churches whereas Muslims do not. In a recent clash between Muslims and Christians in a small village south of Cairo, eight people were injured because Muslims became agitated when they assumed that the Christian community wanted to turn a community centre in to a church.
Where does the problem lie? Is this simply a case of bigotry? The oppression of minorities has constantly repeated itself in the world’s history – the Jews were persecuted, the Kurds murdered and the Ethnic Albanians massacred. Is this déjà vu? Does the future of Coptic Christians look grim?
Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt are vital for general Arab affairs. After the horrendous global row (which still continues today) over Jyllands-Posten’s publication of the cartoons which depicted blasphemous pictures of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), Muslims need to redeem themselves.
They can certainly start domestically by pro-actively attempting to improve inter-faith relations within Egypt’s borders.
The sectarian divide in Egypt is very clear. Citizens are unequivocally labeled as ‘Muslim’ or ‘Christian.’ There is constant mockery between both sects and the latter has been under constant scrutiny. The future of the Coptic Christians’ social status in Egypt was brought under further scrutiny once the Muslim Brotherhood gained power in last September’s parliamentary elections.
The Coptic Christians have a good reason to worry. The Muslim Brotherhood advocates the use of the Islamic Sharia law which cannot be possibly used to govern other minorities. Both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan enforce Sharia law, however their populations are almost entirely Muslim and therefore the issue of the governance of minorities is not a concern. The opposite is true in Egypt.
Coptic Christians are certainly a minority in Egypt, constituting (as aforementioned) 10% of the population or the equivalent of 7.5 million people. Their minority is in terms of numbers, but they own a substantial wealth of the country – for example, the Sawiris family who own Orascom Telecom (MobiNil), Orascom Construction Industries and Orascom Development are ranked on Forbes’ 100 richest people in the world with an approximate net worth of $6 billion.
What will happen if the Muslim Brotherhood assumes full authority in the next presidential and parliamentary election?
Coptic Christians already face a variety of restrictions which affects their quotidian life. They require a formal authorization from the government to build churches whereas Muslims do not. In a recent clash between Muslims and Christians in a small village south of Cairo, eight people were injured because Muslims became agitated when they assumed that the Christian community wanted to turn a community centre in to a church.
Where does the problem lie? Is this simply a case of bigotry? The oppression of minorities has constantly repeated itself in the world’s history – the Jews were persecuted, the Kurds murdered and the Ethnic Albanians massacred. Is this déjà vu? Does the future of Coptic Christians look grim?
Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt are vital for general Arab affairs. After the horrendous global row (which still continues today) over Jyllands-Posten’s publication of the cartoons which depicted blasphemous pictures of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), Muslims need to redeem themselves.
They can certainly start domestically by pro-actively attempting to improve inter-faith relations within Egypt’s borders.
posted by The Egyptian Observer at 10:03 PM
2 Comments:
EO,
It is a case of bigotry.
Muslims in Egypt have absolutely nothing to fear from Christians. Even if Christians received government funds to help them build churches, there is no possibility for them to take over the country.
The NDP has managed bigotry by isolating Christians into a corner, thus not completely depriving Christians of their rights, while appeasing the Muslim extremists.
The problem is that Muslim extremists (and tragically much of the Muslim street) are ridiculously insecure. The only way they can feel good about themselves is if everyone else is thoroughly oppressed. And yet still, they worry about a Coptic or Shia or Western or Jewish conspiracy to bring them down.
Oddly enough, in the Hamas case there is a conspiracy to bring them down, but it's not because they are Muslim.
It troubles me to think that perhaps Bernard Lewis was right. Perhaps insecurity really is the primary problem in the Arab/Muslim world. Muslims have nothing to be proud of besides their religion. They can't remember the last time a Muslim did something great. Even more tragic is that this is happening in the land of Muhammad Ali and Muhammad Abduh.
It really does seem like Islam is heading down the wrong path. The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which is the democratically elected face of Islam, can only put forth oppressive measures for future development.
Perhaps I'm naive, but I don't see how oppressing Christians, banning alcohol, forcing hijab, and destroying Israel will make life any better for Muslims.
Yes, I am despairing right now. It hurts me to see that one of the Dinnieh terrorists was released from prison last summer even though he was convicted of killing Lebanese security officials, and then turns up as one of the chief conspirators behind the Danish Consulate burning.
I thought that these men might choose to make the world a better place peacefully now that they were given a second chance. I was wrong.
I no longer think about Islam, Muslim fundamentalism, and Arabism in the same way after visiting formerly oppressed Kurdish Muslims, and simultaneously seeing my country on fire while there.
I think I might post this on my blog.
@jelsted. You summed up the argument very nicely.
"The problem is that Muslims who come up with new ideas on how to practices their religion in relation to more western values are quickly isolated within their community, especially by Imams who fear loosing their power of interpretation of Islam."
I think that is an excellent observation. In essence, compromising Muslims quickly face a conundrum of integration - Do I want to be fully integrated in Western society while retain Muslim values or do I want to completely isolate myself and live in a very sectarian manner?
The Taliban and Saudi Arabia represent extremist examples of censorship. Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and even Iraq offer an extremely rich culture - both modern and Islamic.
Modern Egyptian cinema and theatre has swept the entire Middle East region with popular soap operas and films. In fact, Egyptian movies have become progressively more influenced by Western ideals. It is not taboo anymore for a man and a woman to be kissing on screen - in fact some movies revolve primarily around sex.
The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt said they would ban such movies if they rise to power however until then in the case of Egypt, Western ideals and social norms and slowly inflitrating in to society.
There are mixed feelings in Egypt on whether the allowance of Western influences to seep through the country's porous borders is in fact beneficial. Similar phenomenons are occuring in Lebanon and even in the Gulf.
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