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COPTIC CHRISTIANS: INQUIRY INTO THEIR CONTEMPORARY

STATUS IN EGYPT

----------KUNDAN KUMAR

kundandaniel@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION

The fame of that great nation from which the Copts mainly derive their origin renders

these people objects of much interest, especially to one who has been a curious observer

of history throughout his life and who has gone through the history of the great ancient

monuments of Egypt. Undoubtedly the Copts are the living memorials of the ancient

Egyptian civilization. They are the native Egyptian Christians. “Coptic Christians are

Egypt’s largest religious minority, constituting at least 10 percent of the population, or

about 6 million out of 64 million.”1 Certain Coptic circles, based on church statistics, put

their percentage of population at 18 percent, i.e. 11 million.2

Copts: A Brief Historical Background

Before the Advent of Arabs

The Copts are the oldest Egyptians and the oldest Christian communities in the West

Asia. Although integrated in the larger Egyptian nation, the Copts have survived as a

distinct religious community forming today between 10 to 15 percent of the native

population. They pride themselves on the apostolicity of Egyptian church whose founder

was the first in an unbroken chain of patriarchs. According to an ancient tradition,

1 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 2000: Egypt, Washington, D.C., U.S. Department

of State, Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour, 2000, at

http://www.state.gov/www/global/human rights/irf/irfrpt/irfegypt.html 2 Barret, David B., ed., World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions in

the Modern World, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982, p.2740.

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Christianity was introduced to the Egyptians by Saint Mark in Alexandria shortly after

the ascension of Christ. The legacy that Saint Mark left in Egypt was a considerable

Christian community in Alexandria. From Alexandria, Christianization of the rest of

Egypt progressed slowly. However, by the beginning of the 3rd century A.D., Christians

constituted the majority of Egypt’s population, and the Church of Alexandria was

recognized as one of the Christendom’s four Apostolic Sees, second in honor only to the

Church of Rome.3 Thus one can say that the Church of Alexandria is the oldest church in

Africa.

The Copts contributed immensely to the formation of the worldwide Christian mind. The

Catechetical School of Alexandria was the oldest catechetical school in the world,

founded around 190A.D. and monasticism was created and organized by Copts. In the

first three Ecumenical Councils, namely the Council of Nicea, the Council of

Constantinople, and the Council of Euphesus, the Egyptians played the most prominent

role in defining orthodoxy. The patriarchs of Alexandria were given such important tasks

like the determination of the yearly date of Easter.

In 451 A.D., following the Council of Chalcedon, the Church of Alexandria was divided

into two branches. Those who accepted the terms of the Council became known as

Chalcedonians or Melkites. Those who did not abide by the Council’s terms were labeled

non-Chalcedonians or Monophysites and later Jacobites after Jacob Baradaeus. The non-

Chalcedonians, however, rejected the term Monophysites as erroneous and insisted on

being called Miaphysites. The majority of the Egyptians belonged to the Miaphysite

branch, which led to their persecution by the Byzantine invaders in Egypt.

After the Invasion of Arabs till the Coming of Muhammad Ali

In 641 A.D., Egypt was invaded by the Arabs who faced off with the Byzantine army, but

found little to no resistance from the native Egyptian population. Local resistance by the

Egyptians however began to materialize shortly thereafter and lasted until at least the 9th

3 http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pentarchy

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century. Examples include the Revolt of the Beshmorites, a large-scale national

resistance staged in the mid-8th century in the Nile Delta. It was crushed by Marwan II,

the Umayyad Caliph. The last armed resistance of the Egyptians against the Arabs was

towards the mid 9th century, which was brutally crushed by Al-Ma’mun, the Abbasid

Caliph. The Arabs imposed a special tax, known as Jizya, on the Christians who acquired

the status of Dhimmis, and all native Egyptian were prohibited from joining the army.

Egyptian converts to Islam in turn were relegated to the status of Mawali. Heavy taxation

was one of the reasons behind Egyptian organized resistance against the new occupying

power, as well as the decline of the number of Christians in Egypt.

The Arabs in the 7th century seldom used the term Egyptian, and used instead the term

Copt to describe the people of Egypt. Thus, Egyptians became known as Copts, and the

non-Chalcedonian Egyptian Church became known as the Coptic Church. The

Chalcedonian Church remained known as the Melkite Church. In their own native

language, Egyptians referred to themselves as rem-en-kimi, which translates into those of

Egypt. Religious life remained largely undisturbed following the Arab occupation, which

can be corroborated by the rich output of Coptic arts in Monas centers in Old Cairo

(Fustat) and throughout Egypt. “Conditions, however, worsened shortly after that, and in

the 8th and 9

th centuries, during the period of the great national resistance against the

Arabs, Muslim rulers banned the use of human forms in art, taking advantage of an

iconoclast conflict in Byzantium, and consequently destroyed many Coptic paintings and

frescoes in churches.”4

The Fatimid period of Islamic rule in Egypt was tolerant with the exception of the violent

persecutions of Caliph Al-Hakim. “The Fatimid rulers employed Copts in the government

and participated in Coptic and local Egyptian feats. Major renovation and reconstruction

of churches and monasteries were also undertaken. Coptic arts flourished, reaching new

heights in Middle and Upper Egypt.”5 Persecution of Egyptian Christians, however,

reached a peak in the early Mamluk period following the crusader wars. Many forced

4 Kamil, Jill, Coptic Egypt: History and a Guide, Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 1990, p. 41. 5 Ibid.

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conversions of Egyptians took place. Monasteries were occasionally raided and destroyed

by marauding Bedouins, but were rebuilt and reopened.

The Modern Period: 1798-1952

The position of Copts did not begin to improve until the rule of Muhammad Ali in the

early 19th century, who abolished the Jizya and allowed Egyptians, Copts as well as

Muslims, to enroll in the army. Their position began to improve “under the stability and

tolerance of the Muhammad Ali dynasty.”6 Conditions continued to improve throughout

the 19th century under the leadership of great reformer Pope Cyril IV, and in the first half

of the 20th century, known as ‘Golden Age’ of the Copts, during Egypt’s liberal period.

“In 1866, the Copts served in the inaugural session of the Consultative Council,

establishing a process of Coptic integration into the Egyptian political system.”7 Copts

participated in the Egyptian national movement for independence and occupied many

influential positions. Two significant cultural achievements include the founding of the

Coptic Museum in 1910 and the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies in 1954. Some

prominent Coptic thinkers from this period are Salma Moussa, Louis Awad and Secretary

General of the Wafd Party from 1927 to 1942, Makram Ubayd. Following the 1952 coup

d’`etat by the Free Officers, the conditions of the Copts have been slowly deteriorating

and their human rights are often consistently violated.

Today, members of the non-Chalcedonian Coptic Orthodox Church constitute the

majority of the Egyptian Christian population. Mainly through emigration and partly

through European, American, and other missionary work and conversions, the Egyptian

Christian community now also includes other Christian denominations such as

Protestants, Roman and Eastern Rite Catholics, and other Orthodox Congregations. The

term Coptic remains exclusive however to the Egyptian natives, as opposed to the

Christians of non-Egyptian origins. Some Protestant churches for instance are called

‘Coptic Evangelical Church’, thus helping differentiate their native Egyptian

6 Carter, Barbara L., The Copts in Egyptian Politics: 1918-1952, Cairo: The American University in Cairo

Press, 1986, p.9. 7 Patrick, Theodore Hall, Traditional Egyptian Christianity: A History of the Coptic Orthodox Church,

Greensboro, N.C.: Fisher Park Press, 1999, p.133.

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congregations from churches attended by non-Egyptian immigrant communities such as

Europeans or Americans.

Nomenclature: Aspects of Etymology

The Copts are undoubtedly descendants of the ancient Egyptians, but not an unmixed

race; their ancestors in the earlier ages of Christianity having intermarried with Greeks,

Nubians, Abyssinians, and other foreigners. Their name is correctly pronounced as either

‘Kubt’ or ‘Kibt’; but more commonly, ‘Gubt’ or ‘Gibt’, and in Cairo and I its

neighbourhood, and in some other parts of Egypt, ‘Ubt’ or ‘Ibt’. In the singular it is

pronounced as ‘Kubtee’, Kibtee’, ‘Gubtee’, ‘Gibtee’, ‘Ubtee’, or ‘Ibtee’. But it is

generally believed that the name of ‘Kubt’ is derived from ‘Coptos’ once a great city in

Upper Egypt, now called ‘Kuft’, or more commonly, ‘Guft’, to which vast numbers of the

Christians Egyptians retired during the persecutions with which they were visited under

several of the Roman Emperors.

The word ‘Coptic’ originally meant ‘Egyptian’ but its etymology has shifted over the

centuries to mean more specifically Egyptian Christian. In modern usage, it is frequently

applied to members of the Coptic Church irrespective of ethnic origin. Thus Ethiopian

and Eritrean Christians, and even Nubians before their conversion to Islam, were

traditionally referred to as Copts, though this has been falling out of use since their

Tewahido churches were granted their own patriarchs. The English word Copt is from

new Latin Coptus, which is derived from the Arabic word qubti (an arabisation of the

Coptic word kubti and or kuptaion). This word is in turn derived from the Greek word

aiguptios or aiguptos. The etymological meaning of the word therefore pertains to all

people of Egyptian origins. Medieval writers before the Mamluk period often used the

words Copts and Egyptians interchangeably to describe all the people of Egypt whether

Christians or Muslims. After the bulk of the Egyptian population converted to Islam, the

word Copt came to be associated with Egyptians who retained their Christianity. In the

20th century, some Egyptian nationalists and intellectuals began using the term Copts in

the historical sense. For example, Markos Pasha Semeika, founder of the Coptic

Museum, addressed a group of Egyptian students in these terms: “all of you are Copts.

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Some of you are Muslim Copts, others are Christian Copts, but all of you are descended

from the ancient Egyptians.”8

Numerical Strength

The Copts at present, constituting the largest Christian minority in the vast region of

West Asia and North Africa, compose almost 7 to 10 million population of Egypt.

Majority of them reside in the metropolis. In some parts of Upper Egypt are villages

exclusively inhabited by the persons of this race, and the district called ‘Feiyoom’

particularly abounds with them. The vast number of ruined convents and churches

existing in various parts of Egypt shows that the Copts were very numerous a few

centuries ago. Due to the embracement of the faith of al-Islam, and due to intermixing by

marriage with Muslims, the number of genuine and Christian Copts has been reduced to a

small amount. This transition from the status of ‘majority’ to ‘minority’ has certainly

taken a long span of time. More than 95 percent of the Copts belong to the Coptic

Orthodox Church. The remaining, around 500,000, is divided between the Coptic

Catholic and the Coptic Protestant churches. In fact the number of Copts in Egypt has

been subject to many controversies. Coptic sources put forward figures ranging from 14

percent to 20 percent i.e. between 10 and 15 million, but the Egyptian government

sources insist that the Copts represent only about 6 percent i.e. 4 million of the Egyptian

population. Part of the controversy can be attributed to the increasing number of Copts

born outside Egypt and who do not carry Egyptian passports, to the government

unwillingness to provide authentic data, or to the large scale emigration of the Copts from

Egypt due to many reasons. The 2006 World Fact book estimates that 7.6 million or 10

percent of Egyptians are Christian in which 9 percent are Coptic and 1 percent is of other

denominations.9

8 Hussein, M., National Trends in Modern Literature, Translated by Graham Jones from Arabic, Vol.2,

London: The Free Press, 1954, p.41. 9 CIA World Factbook: Egyptian People Section

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/eg.html#people

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Geographical Distribution

The official account of the geographical distribution of Copts in the population is less

open to doubt. Though present in all areas, they are in the majority in none. Over 60

percent of them live in Upper Egypt, and over half of these in the provinces of Assiut and

Minya, the Copts’ traditional strongholds. A majority of the Copts in Upper Egypt are

still peasants. A few villages in Upper Egypt are almost entirely Coptic. But the effect of

the drift to the towns has been marked among Copts, and they form a higher proportion

of the population in towns in Upper Egypt than they do in the countryside. “Roughly 25

percent of Egyptian Copts live in Cairo and 6 percent in Alexandria.”10 The rest of the

Coptic population is spread around the Nile Delta, and the Suez Canal and desert

provinces, the majority of which are town dwellers.

Occupational Pattern

“The largest occupational group among the Copts is the peasants who, religion apart,

tends to live a simple life indistinguishable from that of Muslim peasants.”11 In the urban

areas or the cities, Copts stand at all income levels. They form the majority of the

zabaleen, Cairo’s free enterprise rubbish cleaners, at the very bottom of the social scale

or hierarchy. Copts are especially numerous in the private sector, both as owners of

businesses and as employees. They constitute around 80 percent of pharmacists, 30-40

percent of doctors, and a high proportion of lawyers and engineers. “They are represented

in all social classes in Egypt, with a considerable number in the middle and upper classes,

a result of their interest in education.”12 Great advances in education, in earlier times,

were coupled with intense cultural activities. In the last decades of the 19th century, “the

Copts held about 25 percent of Egypt’s total wealth and constituted 45 percent of its

public service.”13

10 Pennington, J.D., ‘The Copts in Modern Egypt’, Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.18, No.2, Autumn 1981,

p.158-59. 11 Ibid, p.159.

12 Ibrahim, Saad Eddin, ed., The Copts of Egypt, London: Minority Rights Group International, 1996, p.6.

13 Meinardus, Otto, Christian Egypt: Ancient and Modern, Cairo: American University in Cairo Press,

1977, pp.105-6.

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Language

The Copts have not altogether lost their language; their liturgy and several of their

religious books being written in it: but the Coptic has become a dead language,

understood by very few persons, and the Arabic has been adopted in its stead. The Coptic

language is the last stage of the Egyptian language. In the words of the writer of History

of Coptic Language, Henry M. Takla, “Coptic should more correctly be used to refer to

the script rather than the language itself. Even though this script was introduced as far

back as the 1st century B.C., it is usually applied to the writing of the Egyptian language

from the first century A.D. to the present day.”14 Today, Coptic is the liturgical language

of the Egyptian church and is also taught in Egypt and worldwide in many prestigious

institutions of the world. There are many dialects of the Coptic language. For instance,

Sahidic (spoken by Theban or Upper Egyptian), Bohairic (dialect of the Nile Delta and of

the medieval and modern Coptic Church), Akhmimic, Lycopolitan or Subakhmimic,

Fayyumic, Oxyrhynchite etc.

Coptic Calendar

The Coptic calendar, also known as the Alexandrian calendar, is used by the Coptic

Orthodox church and also by Ethiopia as its official calendar, though with different

names. This calendar is based on the ancient Egyptian calendar. For avoiding the

calendar creep of the latter, a reform of the ancient Egyptian calendar was introduced at

the time of Ptolemy III through the Decree of Canopus in 283 B.C. which consisted of the

intercalation of a sixth epagomenal day every fourth year. However, this reform was then

opposed by the Egyptian priests, and the idea was not adopted until 25 years B.C., when

the Roman Emperor Augustus formally reformed the calendar of Egypt, keeping it

forever synchronized with the newly introduced Julian calendar. To the purpose of

distinguishing it from the ancient Egyptian calendar, which remained in use by some

astronomers until medieval times, this reformed calendar is called as the Coptic calendar.

14 Takla, Henry M., History of Coptic Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991, p.36.

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Its years and months coincide with those of the Ethiopian calendar but have different

numbers and names.

Human Rights Question

The religious freedom of Egypt’s Coptic community is hampered by discriminatory and

restrictive government policies. Copts have faced increased marginalization after the

1952 coup d’`etat led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. Despite recent improvements, reports

released by international human rights organizations indicate that Copts are still

minimally represented in law enforcement, state security and public office, and are

discriminated against in the workforce on the basis of their religion.15 Until recently,

Christians were required to obtain presidential approval for even minor repairs in

churches. This law was eased in 2005, but major repairs or additions still require

governmental approval, a procedure not required for building or repairing mosques.16 The

Coptic community has also been the target of hate crime and physical assault, incident

that gained worldwide attention following a series of knife attacks on three churches in

Alexandria that killed one Coptic citizen and wounded 17 others.

COPTS IN MODERN EGYPT

Copts in Pre-Revolutionary Egypt

Copts and the Civil Service

The 19th and early 20

th centuries were times of relative prosperity and progress for the

Coptic community. The Mohammad Ali dynasty interfered in church politics but were

generally disposed to them, and ready to employ whatever skills the Copts had. Some

government departments came to be dominated by Copts, and by the end of the 19th

15Freedom House: Egypt’s Endangered Christians

(http://www.freedomhouse.org/religion/publications/endangered) also Human Rights Watch, Egypt:

Overview of Human Rights Issues in Egypt (http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/1/18/egypt12212.htm),

2005. 16 Compass Direct News, Church Building Regulations Eased,

(http://www.compassdirect.org/en/newslongen.php?), 13th December 2005.

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century they provided almost 45 percent of all civil servants. “At the start of the 20th

century the percentage of the occupied posts in the civil service by the Copts was 37%,

by 1937 it dropped down to 9.1%. The higher percentage of the Copts was found in the

Ministries of Communication and Public Works. They were employed by the Post office

and the railway or as engineers in the irrigation service. Quite a few worked at the

Ministries of Justice, Public Health and the Interior. Even fewer were employed by the

Ministries of Education, defense, Social Affairs and Foreign Affairs.”17 In general, the

Copts had good access to Junior and intermediate positions. All important civil service

posts were reserved for the Moslems. All access to position of influence in other

ministries, which had power over the Copts, was limited. Few Copts reached top posts in

any ministry and few reached positions as directors of departments or sub-departments.

Here the two points need to be mentioned: although Copts had better chances than before

in governmental posts, those posts were not influential, thus still eliminating the Copts

from any real contribution. Despite the tolerance expressed the Copts did not enjoy their

full status as citizenship with the right to hold powerful positions. The other point is the

political life.

The free market economy of the times helped them and a number of Coptic business and

land-owning families became very wealthy and influential. In response to the liberal

spirit of that period, and to the possibility of the European criticism, the government

abolished the tax Jizya and also the requirement that Copts would have to wear special

clothing. They became liable to the military service. “In 1866, when the first Egyptian

consultative assembly was established, Copts and Muslims were given the same electoral

rights.”18

Copts and Egyptian Nationalism

The Egyptians, both Moslems and Copts, were living under different foreign rulers for

many continuous centuries. Egypt’s modern history started from 1798-1805. By then

17 http://www.copts-united.com/Case_Studies/minority%20study.doc.

18 Pennington, op.cit. p.160.

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Nationalism was a lost concept. The French invasion helped formulate many nationalist

ideas at the time. ‘Coptic Legion’ was formed by a Copt, Yaqoub, to fight against the

presence of the Mamluks and Turks. Yaqoub was willing to play all factors against each

other for the country’s independence. He opted for the help the French could provide to

accomplish his objective. Unfortunately he died on the boat on his way to France to

discuss his project. After his death, “Egypt regained its previous position as an Ottoman

Province but the flame of Nationalism and Independence was already kindled.”19

In early 1800 A.D. Mohamed Ah became the Wali (Governor) of Egypt. He fought for

the separation of Egypt from the Ottoman Empire. Under him the Copts enjoyed more

citizenship rights than ever. The Jizya ‚ the symbol of discrimination and division of the

nation was waved off. Citizenship was more important to determine the identity of the

subject and his religion. Loyalty to the state is no more a question of religion. Copts were

enrolled in the army alongside their Moslems compatriots. In short, the integration of the

Egyptian nation started under him. What Yaqoub failed to achieve in the l8th century was

achieved under Mohamed Ali in the l9th century, as the field was then ripe to accept the

idea.

The word nationalism has forced another concept: ‘Watan’ (homeland). In the project of

independence of Yaqoub he made lots of allegations to the concept of 'Watan' and

'Nation'. In this project he visualized the government to be 'just, severe and national'‚ here

national is taken as independent. For Yaqoub the unity of the Nation (Watan) is based on

the equilibrium of its different sects. The concept 'Umma' is a political Islamic term based

on the Moslem community; the totality; the individuals are not linked together by

ethnicity or race but by religion. The Chief of the ‘Umma’ is Allah (God) alone. If Allah

is the Chief no human being has got right to legislate any law except those revealed to the

prophet Mohamed.

We can see here the conceptual conflict between both terms. lt was Rifaah Al-Tahtawi,

the first thinker of both modern Arab and Islamic world that embraced the term 'Watan'

19 http://www.copts-united.com/Case_Studies/minority%20study.doc.

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and preached it in his writings. For him 'Watan' is what links a believer (Moslem) with

his co-believer and with other members of the same 'Watan'. The national fraternity to

Tahtawi was above that of the religious fraternity and was considered superior. This was

the ideology that dominated the Egyptian society from the second half of the l9th century

to the beginning of the 20th century when the Islamic fundamentalists became active

under the teaching of Jamal Al-Din Al Afghani and Mohamed Abduh. “The Copts’

reaction to the British occupation and the challenge of Egyptian nationalism was

mixed.”20

Political Involvement

The 20th century started with the new ideology of Jamal Al-Din Al- Afghani and

Mohamed Adbuh (1884). They were preaching the purification of traditional Islam and

the revival of the Islamic governments through Islam; ‘il faut rallier les coeurs, unir les

Musulmes, barrer la route à la decadence, susciter un nouveau depart’‚ They called for

the religious and social lives to be inseparable, the return to the source with Koran the

unifying factor.

At the same time there were consecutive nationalist movements that of Urabi, Saad

Zaghlul and Mustafa Kamil who were fighting for the liberty of Egypt. The Copts played

a remarkable role in these movements alongside with their Moslem compatriots.

On the political arena the Copts were highly active in the different parties despite the

anti-Coptic propaganda that dominated the Egyptian political life and led finally to their

withdrawal from the political life.

The Wafd Party (1915): The first national party: Forty percent of its members were Copts

but this representation did not remain that high due to the growing anti-Coptic feeling of

the 20‘s and 30‘s. Even Saad Zaghlul, the national hero, was criticized for allying with

the Copts.

20 Pennington, op.cit., p.160

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Under Mustafa Kamil the party lost partly its secularism as all other parties were using

Islam in their political campaigns and the Wafd feared loosing its supporters to other

parties so they started to follow their suite. As a result many Copts dropped out from the

Wafd.

The Liberal Constitutional Party (1922): Four Copts were elected to the party’s executive

committee at its founding. By 1935 all these men have left the party. The party’s anti-

Coptic feeling started as early as 1923 through the statements it published always in its

press. This gave no chance for new members to join and for the old ones to withdraw.

The Sadist Party (mid 1930s): Copts were well represented in the party despite its anti-

Coptic propaganda. Their situation was even improved in the elections of 1945-1950.

The Wafdist Bloc (1942): Founded by Makram Ubayad, a Copt and an ex-activist

Wafdist. Although founded by a Copt it was fully political. Even if he showed interest in

lessening the sectarian tensions, the weakness of his party could only allow him to do

nothing but praise his party for being a good example of the Copt-Moslem unity.

As for the Palace dominant parties, Copts had less chance in developing and exercising

genuine independent power.

Constitution of 1923

Many any Copts feared that the constitution might reinforce the religious differences and

perpetuate the Copts' inferior Status. There was nothing in the constitution that dealt with

the question of minorities. The constitution contained 3 articles, article 3, 12 and 13,

which emphasized the equal rights and duties of all Egyptians and the freedom of belief

and freedom of worship. I here quote article 3, ‘Tous les Egyptiens sont égaux devant la

loi. Ils jouissent également des droits civils et politiques et sont également soumis aux

charges et devoirs publics, sans aucune distinction de race, de langue ou de religion.

Seuls, ils sont admissibles; les fonctions publiques, civiles et militaires; les étrangers n‘y

sont admis que dans des cas exceptionnels déterminés par la loi.’ According to the

political analysts this article confirm thee discrimination of the two-confession nation.

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According to the Minister of Justice himself at the time, he confirmed the fact that there

were certain jobs that were reserved to Moslems only. Also the point for political rights

was explained as being the right to vote and not the political life itself.

Another article that is worth mentioning, article 149, states Islam as the religion of the

state and Arabic its official language. This article was then criticized for the violence that

the Copts were subject to following the constitution. Up to date article 149 is blamed for

the division of the nation. The Copts still demand a secular state free from religious

limitations. On the other hand, the validity of article 3 is permanently questioned.

“The Coptic community strode prosperous in the twentieth century, the church limped.”21

Another example of Coptic activity in political arena can be observed in their response to

the Muslim Brothers. A reform movement, Al-Umma al-Qibitiya (The Coptic Nation)

was established in 1952 by a law student, Ibrahim Hilal. It sported its own flag and

uniform, encouraged members to learn the Coptic language, and demanded a radio station

for Copts.22 Due to its large following, the government ordered its dissolution in April

1954. No doubt that the first half of the 20th century saw the new attitudes of cooperation

and unity which helped the Copts integrate into Egyptian society. This period witnessed a

distinct unity between Copts and Muslims against the British occupation. Ahmad Lufti

al-Sayyed was the enlightened father of Egyptian nationalism “who emphasized that

Egypt is for the Egyptians and that religion should have no role in Egyptian politics.”23

Zaghlul, the leader of the revolution also inspired the communal harmony. “His tolerance

and lack of any connection with pre-war communal tensions inspired the Copts to trust

him and Muslims to welcome Coptic participation.”24

21 Wakin, E., A Lonely Minority: The Modern Story of Egypt’s Copts, New York: The Free Press, p.241.

22 Carter, op.cit. p. 76-78.

23 Kyriakos, Mikhail, Copts and Muslims under British Control, London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1911, p.65.

24 Carter, op.cit. p.65.

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Copts under Gamal Abdal Nasser

Copts in Government

Nasser’s revolution and his ascension to the ruler of Egypt as its president did not help

the Copts. Religious questions did not interest Nasser and the Copts presented no threat.

The Revolutionary Command Council included one or two officers, among them Anwar

al-Sadat, who were thought to be sympathetic to the Muslim Brothers but not Copts.

Because of the long-standing government discouragement and the Copts’ own lack of

interest, there were very less Christian officers. Under the new revolutionary regime a

wide range of top civilian posts were held by soldiers. Copts were not unknown among

them. For example, Kamal Henry Abadeir, was Minister of Communications for some

time in 1960s. But these cases were very rare.

Copts as Ministers of Government

“Partly to fill the gap, and partly as a token of religious tolerance, the regime took to

appointing in each government a single Christian cabinet minister. In addition to their

departmental responsibilities such ministers, of whom Kamal Ramzy Stino was the

longest serving, kept an eye on the Copts’ problems and put their views to the

government, and the government’s wishes to the Copts. They were officials, selected for

their pliancy and technical suitability for the ministry they headed. They had none of the

political weight of the pre-revolutionary ministers from the now discredited prominent

Coptic families.”25 In the first election to be held in revolutionary Egypt in1957, not even

a single Copt was elected. In the next election, the government tried an informal

arrangement whereby Muslim candidates withdrew in certain constituencies to ensure

that there would be at least one or two Copts in the assembly. In spite of the success of

this device in attaining its immediate objective, it was very much unpopular with

Muslims, and with Copts also who argued that it marked them out as separate from the

rest of Egyptian society. Avoiding the embarrassment, Nasser, in subsequent assemblies,

25 Pennington, op.cit. p.164.

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contended himself with exercising his presidential prerogative and appointing eight or ten

Copts among the non elected members of the assembly.

Hardships Suffered by the Copts and Their Migration

Copts suffered financially as a result of the revolution. Land reforms split up the estates

of big families of Copts like Wissa, Khayyat and Andraos. The nationalizations which

followed hit large businesses dominated by Copts, such as the Magar and Morgan bus

companies and the Banque du Caire. The squeezing of the private sector hit Copts lower

down the economic scale by diminishing business activity and restricting the career

opportunities open to them. “The new regime at first took measures to replace influence

with merit as the main criterion for advancement, and this benefited the Copts with their

generally higher standard of education. But this was soon checked by the authorities. The

recruitment of Copts was reduced. The slim chances of getting jobs in government, or in

public sector, or in university, and the dormant private sector resulted in the emigration of

thousands of middle class Copts to the U.S., Canada and Australia. This process was at

its height in the late 1950s and 1960s, but still continues. “In 1980 Coptic sources

estimated that there were 90,000 Copts in North America and 20,000 in Australia, as well

as smaller communities in Western Europe. The Copts also suffered a loss of prestige. In

the eyes of Muslims, they were associated with the previous regime. The stress of a

succession of wars and confrontations with Israel and the West made the Copts feel that

they were an alien minority. The departure of smaller non-Muslim minorities like Jews,

Greeks and Western Europeans, left hem potentially an exposed target.

Coptic Patriarchy and Nasser

It would however be wrong to suggest that the effects of the Revolution were uniformly

negative for the Copts. Nasserite ideology was more secular than Islamic. Due to reasons

completely unconnected with Coptic anxieties Nasser vigorously suppressed their highest

bugbear, the Muslim Brothers. For most part, his policies were helpful to the narrower

interests of the Church hierarchy. Successive Patriarchs had resented the existence of the

Maglis al-Milli, but the leading members of the laity who sat in the Maglis cut more ice

17

with the government. In 1962, Nasser abolished it, leaving the Patriarch again an absolute

monarch, and leaving the Coptic laymen who sat in the assembly fell back on the ancient

practice of dealing with the representative of the Coptic opinion, the Patriarchate.

Church and State

As far as the relations between the church and the state under Nasser is concerned, there

was little confessional tension or trouble except one or two incidents. In 1955, during the

interregnum between Anba Yasub’s deposition and Anba Kyrillos’ accession, Nasser

abolished the Christian and Muslim religious courts. The bishops precipitated an

unsuccessful confrontation with the government in an attempt to change the new personal

status law so as to discourage conversions to Islam for purposes of divorce. Another

incident is in the form of a story that in 1960s, Anba Kyrillos had aborted a plot backed

by a western intelligence agency to set up a Coptic state based in Assiut.

Apolitical Character of the Patriarch, Reforms and Relations with Other Churches

The relative confessional peace of the Nasser period was due partly to the grip exercised

by the regime and also partly to the character of the Patriarch. The latter was a reserved

person who avoided involvement in national politics. But his name was used when the

government needed formal support from religious leaders, for example over moves

towards socialism or in the war of words with Israel. Far from it, the church saw reforms

under Anba Kyrillos Patriarchate. The Church moved out of its historic isolation and

began to normalize its relations with other Christian churches. From 1954 the Copts

attended meetings of the World Council of Churches, represented by Anba Samuel who

threw himself energetically into the ecumenical movement. Dialogues were started with

Rome. Relations with the theoretically tributary church of Ethiopia were regularized, but

the Ethiopian Church continued to recognize the spiritual supremacy of Alexandria and

its Patriarch as First in the Church.

18

Material Achievements of the Coptic Church

The miniscule Cairo seminary was expanded and in 1960 Kyrillos decreed that all future

priests must be graduates of it. A large number of priests were sent overseas to study. The

Higher Institute of Coptic Studies, a centre for post-graduate study in Coptic history, art

and social studies, founded by the Maglis al-Milli in 1954, began work. These material

achievements were accompanied by a revival of religious feeling. Sunday schools and

youth groups increased in popularity. Coptic students began to form faculty associations

called, Usar for religious and social activities. Adult voluntary organizations proliferated.

It caught momentum by the 1967 defeat, which stunned Muslims and Christians alike and

forced both to be preoccupied with religion.

Coptic Influence

The religious trend among young Copts had an impact on the Egyptian left. In the 1940s

and early 1950s, a number of Copts were active in the left, attracted in part by its secular

programme which seemed to provide the best solution to the problems of a religious

minority. Given the small nature of the left, the Copts were probably over represented.

But the Church hierarchy was, and still is, hostile to the left and the Church’s success in

mobilizing the young has led to a sharp decline in the proportion of Copts in the left. “For

majority of the Copts today, religion is the dominant ideology, and the church the main

social outlet.”26

The Copts Under Sadat

Coptic Church Affairs

With Nasser’s death in 1970 and Kyrillos’ in 1971, the election of a new Patriarch was

completed in accordance with the long procedures laid down in 1957. Anba Chenouda

was the next Patriarch. He had studied history at Cairo University, had served as an

officer in the 1948 Arab-Israel war, had a wide experience of different aspects of church

26 Pennington, op.cit. p.167.

19

life, and had maintained his early interest in the Sunday School movement, working in it

from 1950 to 1953. he was severely criticized due to his authoritarian manner and his

speedy nature which did not allow him to make maximum use of the very considerable

power and influence at his disposal.

Policy of Economic Liberalism and the 1973 War

Sadat’s encouragement of a liberal economy was in the interests of the businessmen and

shopkeepers who make up an influential sector of the Coptic community and the

revitalization of the private sector gave new hopes of jobs. His right-wing pro-western

policies fitted in well with the more influential sections of the Coptic community,

including the higher clergy. they shared the country’s relief when Sadat went to war with

Israel in 1973. but like Muslims, they tired thereafter of the prolonged confrontation with

Israel, and welcomed his attempt to make peace. they had never been entirely happy with

the rhetoric of Arabism and were if anything less upset than the Muslim majority by the

break with the Arab states.

Copts and State

Sadat was careful to demonstrate his Islamic piety, but he was also careful to stress his

sympathy for the Copts. In his speeches, he always talked about his years spent in Coptic

school and the Copt’s contribution to Egyptian civilization. His later governments

included two, or even three, Christian cabinet ministers. Fikry Makram Ebeid, Deputy

Prime Minister for parliamentary affairs, and Butros Ghali, Minister of State for Foreign

Affairs, held important and sensitive posts. In the 1979 parliamentary elections, the

governing party ensured that two or three Copts were elected, in addition to the usual

quota of appointed Christian deputies. Fouad Aziz Ghali, a Copt, commanded one of the

Egyptian armies on the Canal front during the 1973 war.

Discrimination with Copts

Copts are particularly underrepresented in the higher grades of the civil service. In 1977,

out of 600 under-secretaries in the government service only 14 or 15 were Copts. Out of

20

360 heads of the state-owned companies, only 10 were Copts. Some sensitive

government departments like the General Intelligence Service were totally closed to

Copts on the ground that they could be a security risk. There were very few appointments

in the foreign service. But in the army, the Copts were less discriminated with. Copts

used to do well in exams for government scholarships overseas, but an interview was

included in the selection procedure, and the number of Copts chosen dropped. In 1973,

after this change was made, 2 percent of students sent abroad were Copts. Their chances

of reaching the very top were almost nil. There were legal discriminations against Copts.

Confrontation between State and Church under Sadat

the first major confrontation between the regime and the church centered on a very long-

standing grievance i.e. government restrictions on church building. In Sadat’s period, the

church officially needed presidential permission to build a new church, which sometimes

resulted in incidents like Khanka incident in 1972, when Muslims set fire to a church. In

1977 relations between church and state entered a new and more difficult phase. Coptic

anxieties began to reflect the increasing strength of the Islamic right in Egypt, and the

particularly Islamic stamp Sadat had given to his regime. The Copts were very much

angry with the government’s toleration of Islamic fundamentalist groups in the

universities, and its willingness to toy with the proposals from the religious right in the

people’s assembly for the more widespread application of Islamic law. What most

alarmed the Copts in 1977 was the proposal concerning apostasy. If this had been

enforced, Muslim converts to Christianity, or Copts who changed their religion and

subsequently returned to Christianity, would in theory have been liable to death penalty.

This led to protest by the Christians followed by attacks on the churches.

Confrontation between Copts and Muslims under Sadat

In 1978, there were disturbances in Assiut and Minya, the provinces with the highest

percentage of Christians. Violent incidents between Muslim and Christian students

continued. The Christians were generally harassed by the Muslim students in the

21

universities. In March 1979, the ancient Qasriyat al-Rihan church in old Cairo was burnt

down. Attacks on Copts in the fundamentalist pamphlets were unrestrained. The

attacking groups seldom discriminated between the Western Christian imperialism and

the Eastern Orthodoxy of the Coptic Church. Such attacks inevitably encouraged abuse

of, and violence towards, Copts in the universities. They also created an atmosphere

which gave new menace to everyday cases of friction between members of the two

communities. In early 1980 in Minya, a clash between Muslim and Christian peasants led

to serious student violence in the city of Cairo. In January 1980 an extreme Muslim

fundamentalist group, Hizb al Jihad, attempted to place bombs in two crowded churches

in Alexandria.

Copts Under Mubarak

In Mubarak’s period till date, the Coptic Church has received only 17 permits for

building new churches. At the same time, like in the period of his predecessors, Nasser

and Sadat, private mosques can be built at will without government permission and are

springing up everywhere like mushrooms. This has been causing severe feelings of

injustice and discrimination among Copts for the last 25 years. This core issue of

restrictions on building of churches has become a symbol of Coptic inferiority and a

flashpoint for violent confrontations. “Islamic programmes constitute a high percentage

of radio and TV broadcasts and other means of mass media, while Coptic religion, history

and culture are ignored by the government controlled electronic media.”27 There is an

obvious lack of symmetry, with Muslims permitted to communicate their messages

unreservedly, while the Copts are ignored and refused proportional access. Education is

another area of discrimination. All schools are under state supervision with Islamic

culture included as a main component of the curriculum. Coptic teachers cannot teach

Arabic in state schools because it is the language of the Koran. Universities and colleges

restrict their admissions of Copts to a percentage lower than their proportion in the

population and accept Muslims with lower grades than Copts. Admission to military and

27 Alam, Anwar, ‘Nations and Copts in the Contemporary Egypt: Changing Dimensions’, Journal of West

Asian Studies, No. 16, 2002, p.18.

22

police colleges is restricted, medical schools do not accept Christians in gynecology and

obstetrics, Al Azhar colleges do not accept Christians, and finally the state do not allow

the establishment of a Coptic university.

Under the various kinds of international pressures in the recent period, three effects are

noticeable. First, the Egyptian government now more frequently permits dilapidated

Coptic churches to be repaired. In 1998 President Mubarak delegated authority to

governors to approve permits for repair of church facilities. A year later he issued a

decree effectively placing churches and mosques on equal footing before the law, greatly

facilitating church repairs. Secondly, a government crackdown on Islamic militants has

benefited the Copts. Since 1998 no major terrorist activity directed against the Copts has

occurred. Thirdly, since 1996, more than 800 acres of the approximately 1,500 acres of

land seized in 1952 by the government from the Coptic Orthodox Church and granted to

the Ministry of Awqaf, has been returned to the church.

Copts and Islamic Extremism Under Mubarak

Since 1981 more than 30 massacres of Copts have taken place, leading to deaths of more

than 200 persons, as documented by human rights organizations. The most recently anti-

Coptic violence occurred in the village of Al-Kosheh in Upper Egypt on January 1-3,

2000 that resulted in the killing of 21 Copts including men, women and children. Most of

this anti-Coptic violence are said to have been organized and conducted by al-Jama ‘al-

Islamiyya, a radical Islamic outfit, operating mostly in the parts of southern and Upper

Egypt where the Copts are largely concentrated.

Coptic Identity in View of Its Culture and History

Like many other groups in West Asia, Copts have multiple identities – Egyptian, Arab,

Coptic, Christian – and they use specific identity for specific contexts prioritizing them

accordingly. As a group they have a dual identity as both a religious community i.e. a

church, and an ethnic group i.e. nation. They see themselves as the largest Christian

23

community in West Asia and as an important component of the Egyptian nation. They

consider themselves to be the authentic Egyptians and also Arabs who share a common

history with Egyptian Muslims and are part of the cultural world of Islam. At the same

time, because of religious and cultural differences, they see themselves as a distinct

ethnic group within Egyptian society.

The Coptic Church has been the carrier of Coptic distinctiveness and survival over the

centuries, and membership in it has been the most distinguishable sign of Coptic identity.

Coptic identity is linked to a specific interpretation of their history, which they see as a

ling series of persecutions, massacres, forced conversions, and destroyed churches as the

saga of a subjugated minority precariously surviving for over a millennium among a

dominant and hostile Muslim majority. Martyrdom and suffering have a high symbolic

meaning, and Copts see themselves as constantly facing an existential threat.

The Copts are committed to preserve their identity against the centralizing and

assimilative forces of the majority. Having experienced discrimination and hostility for

centuries at the hand of the dominant majority, they have developed a battered minority

syndrome, an inferiority complex of heightened sensitivity and repressed bitterness.

Outward acquiescence to an order enforced by the majority and lack of participation in

the political decision making process are keenly felt as humiliating. The lesson of history

is to stick together against a hostile environment and compete for survival using all

methods available. All become part of the complex consciousness of the minority group.

“Coptic communities in the West, especially in Australia, Canada, and the United States,

have become increasingly vociferous in their efforts to bring pressure to bear on the

Egyptian government to cease and desist from discriminating against Copts and to defend

them more effectively from the depredations of radical Islamic activists.”28 Coptic

identity, reinforced by its growing internationalism, is also supported domestically by the

emergence of a younger generation of political activists who draw upon the Coptic

clergy, monasteries, and their own modern skills to both articulate their copticness and to

28 Springborg, Robert, ‘Egyptian Political Identity in the Face of Globalisation’, Leadership, Vol.25, No.3,

Fall 2003, p.55.

24

organize it into a movement. “The almost complete exclusion of Copts from Egyptian

political and governmental institutions, including the officer corps of the military and

security services, has fired the flames of the Coptic resentment, thereby enforcing a

distinctive identity.”29

Conclusion

The Copts had a recurrent objective to fulfill; the full right of citizenship in their own

land. Since the Islamic invasion up to date they are toiling to achieve this right. Under the

Arabs of Umayyad, Abbasids, Fatimides, Turks, Kurds and Caucasians they were

fighting for a nation with one people and same rights. The tolerance of the rulers towards

the Copts varied from one ruler to the other; it was only under Mohamed Ali that the

Copts started gaining some of their rights.

Despite the participation of the Copts in all national movements and their appreciated and

well-known role of all of them, they did not succeed to be equal with their Moslem

compatriots. They were long back tabooed as second citizens, if not aliens to the

community according to the Islamic context. Even after the abolition of the term

‘Dhimmis’ they could not gain what they were aspiring. They only succeeded to shake

off this mistrust for less than half a century hoping to become full active members of a

mixed society. But soon the thought of secularism was replaced by that of Moslem

fundamentalist calling for the return of the ‘Umma’.

Copts and Muslims too, including Egypt’s leaders, talk frequently o the ‘Coptic people’,

as if they are referring to a separate nation. There is no ethnic basis for this. Most of the

ancestors of most Egyptians, Copts and Muslims, were at one time Copts. Through

isolation from other Christian groups and long co-existence with Islam the Copts have

acquired many Islamic customs and patterns of speech and thought; and to a lesser extent,

Muslims have retained customs and superstitions – connected with festivals, funerals, and

the reverence of saints – which are Coptic, or pre-Coptic, in the origin.

29 Ibid.

25

Copts and Muslims have a common national loyalty. Their concepts of what being

Egyptian entails - the relative importance of Pharaonic, Arab and Mediterranean

components – often differ, and Muslims sometimes doubt the Copts’ loyalties to the

regime of the moment. But when faced with external challenges, as in 1967 or 1973,

there has been little if any practical difference between the reactions of the two

communities.

There are, of course, characteristics which distinguish the Copts from the Muslim

majority. They are particularly a law abiding community. Family life is stable and

loyalties tight. Divorce is made well-nigh impossible by the Church.

It is a secretiveness derived presumably from a natural desire for self preservation which

has often been depicted by Muslims as devious and secretive. History proves the reality

of the existence of two religious communities in Egypt for over 13 centuries, sharing the

same Egyptian-Arabic-Islamic culture in spite of their differences. The relationship

between them, based on Islamic concepts, has experienced many ups and downs. Sadly,

at the end of the 20th century it seems that both traditional and modern tools for conflict

resolution between them have failed.

It seems that religious conflict is inevitable as long as religion is perceived as the

dominant component of national identity, a perception that leaves little space for the

establishment of common ground between citizens of two communities. Barriers came

down in this century only in the periods when religion was marginalized and other

identities prioritized. They went up again when religion became a central feature of

identity and the other identities were denigrated. The weakening of the secular opposition

and the confusion on the role of Islam in politics have left the Copts as the main group

fighting against both the rising trend of militant Islam and the state’s gradual chipping

away of Coptic rights.

All the diverse answers to the question of Egypt’s identity predicate a certain attitude

towards the place of Copts in Egyptian society. During periods when mainly Pharaonic,

Western, even secular-Arabic identities prevailed, Copts could aspire to equality as an

26

authentic part of the prioritized identity. However, when the pendulum swung towards

Arab-Islamic and pan-Islamic identity as the main constituent of the Egyptian

community, Copts were relegated to a secondary status, as outsiders, who have indeed

certain rights as a protected and accepted ancient minority, but are not, and never can be,

part of the Islamic core identity, and must therefore be politically marginalized.

27

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28

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29