Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

A conference in Cairo on "citizenship from a

pluralistic

perspective," organized by the Arab Team for Islamic-Christian Dialogue, formed in 1996 following an

initiative by Arab Muslim and Christian thinkers, has seen serious dialogue on Muslim-Christian relations in

Egypt.

Two years ago it seemed that Muslim-Christian dialogue had gone through a punishing ordeal,

being

marred by the Wafā’ Costantine incidents and the notorious CD containing a play staged inside a

church

about the Muslim faith, followed by the Muslim Brotherhood’s political ascension and the qualitative

shift in

the discourse and practices of the expatriate Copts.

Participants from the Muslim side put

forward some

concerns about the role played by church leaders as the case with the Constantine and

Alexandria play crises.

Former Brotherhood member Abu al-‘Ilā Mādī said that there

is no Orthodox Copt who

can criticize Pope Shenouda III, the patriarch of the See of Saint Mark, in

public.

Coptic laymen have

clearly reiterated their rejection against any insult to Islam or inter-

faith duels, but this does not mean they

should dictate their instructions to church leaders to offer an

apology, nor should they criticize them on certain

positions they have adopted.

Likewise, when a

Muslim or a mosque imām attacks Christianity or

Christians, Copts only ask their Muslim partners

in the dialogue to reject such excesses and declare a clear

position regarding them, but they never ask for

an apology from the Muslim religious institution.

The state

is definitely dealing with the head of

the Egyptian church as if he were the leader of Copts, speaking and

negotiating on their behalf and even

containing their anger if the need arises.

The Islamist camp usually

criticizes Pope Shenouda when he

takes up the issues of Copts, but jubilates on his stands regarding the

Palestinian issue, as if Islamists

want the church to play a political role in support of their project.

One

of the speakers was Dr.

Muhammad Salīm al-‘Awwā, who proposed key features for mutual

respect between Muslims and

Christians, including the notion that a man’s religious beliefs should not be

reflected in his ways of

communicating with partners in society and the need to avoid denying public positions on

the basis of

religion.

Al-‘Awwā said that a man’s efficiency should strictly be the

general

criterion for appointment, urging clerics to stop polemicizing others’ religious beliefs as this

encourages

the general public to get involved ignorantly in criticizing the faith of their partners in the society,

which in turn could lead to the emergence of fanaticism and indiscriminate anger.