Copts versus Muslims

CAIRO: A recent wave of violence between Egypt’s Coptic Christian population and Muslims have given reason for Egyptians to worry a battle is brewing between the two majority religious communities in the country. One of those institutions on the frontlines of the battle for – literally – souls are the American Evangelical Christian churches and missions that have spread across the North African nation.
Unlike the Catholic missions in Egypt who offer services to both Muslims and Christians in an open fashion, Evangelical churches in the country deal mainly with Coptic organizations, which is making resentment among the masses grow.
“There is often stigma surrounding the Christian organizations here, especially with us refugees, but the Catholic services are the most open and most in the community don’t have a problem with them,” said Abdullah Osman, the director of the Somali refugee organization SOMO.
“But, at the same time, we understand that many Christian organizations try to convert Muslims.”
Whether it is simply misunderstood perceptions or well-founded disapproval of Christian, and largely American expatriate community, churches Egyptians are tired.
“I believe it is these churches that have created much of the problems between the Copts and us [Muslims],” says Mohamed, a 25 year-old Master’s student at Cairo University.
“They get all the foreigners to come here and then those same foreigners start to talk about how bad the Muslims are, pointing at ‘look at what they did’ as if we are some savage they have come to save.”
His assertions, whether correct or not, highlight the ongoing anger being directed at Western churches in Egypt that are seen as proselytizing first and conducting community programs second.
Nancy Wagih, a spokesperson for the Evangelical Church of Egypt, says that while at the beginning of any Christian organization in the country the aim was to develop among the already present Christian groups, this has changed in recent years.
Talking of outreach programs, she says that the church “started out as predominantly a Christian development for Christians, but has moved outside the church recently to encompass all Muslims and Christians.”
Programs aside, foreign attendees to these institutions often espouse a belief that the issues facing the Coptic-Muslim relations would be alleviated if the Muslim community would “stop discriminating against the Christians” as one churchgoer said.
He argued that the ways Muslims treat the Coptic population is a form of oppression.
“What we see here, and what the ministers and church says is that the Muslim community wants to ensure the Copts cannot grow, cannot establish their holy places,” he began, asking not to be named, adding that “in other countries this would be seen as outright oppression of a minority group, but here, when the Copts try and do something, Muslims simply attack them.”
The blame game seems to be picking up, with many of the foreigners living in Egypt – who subsequently hold the strings in terms of money and development – siding with their fellow Christians.
The American, who works in Cairo, says that Islam is also an evangelical institution that aims to convert.
“Look at history, Islam has been a religion of conversion and now, by not allowing the Copts to build their churches and continue their faith openly, they are doing the same thing today as they have done for centuries,” he argued, letting thousands of years of Islamic tolerance of “Peoples of the Book” go to waste.
Islam has long stated forced conversion is not allowed and that Christians and Jews should be allowed to practice their faith openly and without contestation.
Much of the difficulties facing Egypt, many observers argue, are not based on religion per se, but are disputes between individuals who happen to be of different faiths.
“I think a lot of what is going on in the media is an attempt to make something out of nothing,” said George Ishaq, a leading activist and Coptic scholar. He argues that certainly some of the cases are religiously based, a vast majority have arisen between Egyptians, irregardless of religion.
“People fight all the time over different issues, and Egypt is no different. Because Islam is a ‘bad thing’ to the West, media often takes advantage of this to play up the conflicts,” he continues, “and the governments in the West need to do something about this.”
For its part, the American Embassy in Cairo has done little to quell anti-Christian sentiments. Over the past few years, Muslims have complained that the Coptic interviewers have limited the number of Muslims given visas to the United States.
While the American Embassy vehemently denies such allegations, Muslims argue the facts cannot be dismissed.
“I had all the proper documents. Enough money, but still I was refused and I feel it was because I am Muslim,” said Ahmed, a 30-year-old Cairo-based language teacher who routinely travels to Europe.
“One Egyptian at the Embassy simply told me off,” he continues, “and I believe it was because I am not Coptic.”