[and Al-Ahrar, August 10, 1998]
Al-Ahram center for Political and Strategic Studies will soon release its second ’Report on the Religious Situation in Egypt’. It is divided into four parts; the first deals with the religious institutions, the second with non-official religious movements, the third with voluntary work and non-governmental organizations and the fourth with relations and interactions.
In the first part, the report discusses the situation in Al-Azhar. It deals with the relationship between the Sheikh of Al-Azhar and the Azhar Scholars Front. It also analyses the choosing of Nasr Farid Wasel as the new Mufti of Egypt, saying that there is speculation that choosing him meant that the choice for this position, previously based largely on succession, is now based on other measures such as academic qualifications.
The efforts of Dr. Mahmmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq, the minister of religious endowments, with regard to the dialogue between religions were highly regarded in the report. Choosing him as the minister of religious endowments is described as a correction to the previous situation.
With regard to the church, the report describes the network and hierarchy of the church system in Egypt and the different activities of the different churches of all the Christian churches represented in Egypt. The report describes the Egyptian Jewish community as a small and aging community with one sect made up of only four old women. The total number of Egyptian Jews living in Egypt at the moment is less than 100 people.
Foremost among the unofficial religious movements discussed in the report is the Muslim Brotherhood. The report reviews the current standing of the 70-year-old movement that recently lost in the legislative elections. The report describes the relationship between the movement and the Wassat Party that was formed by some of
its younger members. The movement was distanced from the state, especially after the assassination attempt against President Mubarak in Addis Ababa, due to the Brotherhood’s link with the Sudanese regime that gave refuge to the assassins.
The report next deals with the violent and radical Islamic movements and the Islamic extremists abroad. It also deals with the Copts abroad and the problems about the statutes and rules under which the Coptic churches abroad work. It then goes on to talk about the non-governmental religious organizations, mainly the Sufi orders and the Ashraf syndicate2. Mulids, or the celebrations held on the birthdays of saints, also feature in the report. Two Mulids are mentioned extensively--that of the Muslim Saint Al-Sayed Ahmed Al-Badawi and that of the Christian Saint Mar Girgis.
The last part of the report is the most important. It deals with the issues that reflect the modes of interaction between and relationships in the religious arena in Egypt. This section deals in details with 11 Muslim and Christian periodicals. The religious content of four independent Islamic writers’ work is also discussed. Those writers are Fahmi Howeidy, Salim Al-’Awa, Tarek Al-Bishri and Ahmed Abu Al-Magd. Some Christian personalities’ writings and speeches are also analyzed. They include Father Matta el-Meskeen, bishop Yohanna Kolta and the priest Dr. Fayez Fares.
The report then goes on to discuss the question of Islamic economic principles embodied in the Islamic banks, calling this one of the central issues in Muslim economic thought. At the end of the report, it discusses the phenomena of Christian organizations inviting Muslims to lecture to them.
Translator’s note: A review of the report was also published in Al-Ahaly on August 12, 1998.
