Salafī

Thousands of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate for Egypt’s presidency, Muhammad Mursī, gathered outside the ‘Amr Ibn al-‘Ās Mosque on Monday (April 30) evening in what was considered as a disguised violation of the law that prohibits the use of mosques to hold public rallies. [Nismah Talīmah, al-Ahālī, May 2, p. 1] Read text in Arabic

The Coptic Orthodox Church on Friday morning (April 27) started receiving applications of candidacy for the post of the 118th pope in succession of Pope Shenouda III and will continue receiving papers for 20 days, the remaining time of the 60 days set by the 1957 statute. [Ashraf Sādiq, al-Ahrām, April 28, p. 3] Read original text in Arabic

Salafī preacher Shaykh Muhammad Hassān called on the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and Salafists to stretch a cooperating hand to liberals and Copts in order to protect the nation, adding no faction should work on blackballing others. [‘Umar ‘Abd al-Jawwād, al-Jumhūrīyah, April 18, p. 3] Read text in Arabic

Coptic activist Mamdūh Ramzī called for representation of Copts in all state positions, giving them the chance to have access to top posts and removing any bans on Copts seeking to run for presidential elections. [Author Not Mentioned, al-Wafd, April 13, p. 5] Read original text in Arabic

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians on Tuesday (March 20) attended the funeral of Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III that started at Saint Mark Cathedral in the Cairo district of al-‘Abbāssīyah amidst unprecedented security measures to control the pope-loving masses who tried to enter the cathedral to get a last look on the deceased prelate. [‘Imād Khalīl and Dālyā ‘Uthmān, al-Misrī al-Yawm, March 21, p. 1] Read original text in Arabic

Copts, who are brothers and partners in the nation, enjoy the rights to any state positions depending on efficiency just like any Muslim citizen except those of al-Azhar, said presidential hopeful Muhammad Salīm al-‘Awwā. [Michel ‘Abd Allāh, al-Shurūq al-Jadīd, March 18, p. 4] Read original text in Arabic

Dr. Nājih Ibrāhīm, a key founder of the Jamā’ah Islāmīyah in Egypt and the first chairman of its shūrá (consultative) council, offered an apology to Copts for “what has befallen them as a result of the Jamā’ah’s mistakes during the 1970s and 1980s”. [Robeir al-Fāris, Watanī, March 4, p. 5] Read original text in Arabic

Shaykh Sharīf al-Hawwārī, a notable Salafist in the western Alexandria town of al-‘Āmrīyah, pledged to bring back the five Coptic families expelled over a purported love affair between a Christian man and a divorced Muslim woman to their homes. [Rāmī Yāsīn and Shādyah Yūsuf, al-Ahrām, Feb. 18, p. 3] Read original text in Arabic

The Maspero Youth Union (MYU) held the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and police "entirely responsible" for any loss of life, property or that Copts besieged inside a church in the village of Mīt Bashār in al-Zaqāzīq, al-Sharqia governorate, or the Muslims trying to protect the church to any harm on the grounds that they are in charge of security in the country. [Muhammad Imām, al-Jumhūrīyah, Feb. 16, p. 5] Read original text in Arabic

The Maspero Youth Union, the largest political Coptic advocacy group, announced it would not receive the Coptic Christmas greetings from “officials involved in the killing, mowing and dragging of the revolutionaries, nor from the Islamist movements that called months ago for burning and attacking churches. [Yūsuf Rāmiz, Al-Shurūq al-Jadīd, Jan. 4, p. 3] Read original text in Arabic