Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

Mr. Muhammad Tu‘aymah wrote an article on June 13, 2010, in which he discussed the decision made by the Administrative Court concerning re-marriage for Christians. In his article, Tu‘aymah said that he thinks the Church and activists’ rejection is a dispute concerning two separate Church explanations for the same issue of re-marriage. He added that it is not related to their obedience to Christian regulations. Tu‘aymah also considered the whole issue as a struggle between the powers of enlightenment and backwardness inside the Church.

 

‘Adil Jirjis replies to this article saying that he wished Tu‘aymah could have had a wider vision concerning the court’s decision. It is wrong to consider this decision the first clash taking place between the Church and the government during the rule of President Mubārak, since the Church has had more clashes than ever with the government during this time.

 

Jirjis added that no one can deny that there is a rigid salafī trend and way of thinking spreading in Egypt over the past few years. This trend is working hard to Islamize all forms of life inside Egyptian society and is greatly supported by a trend of extremist Islamic media. Jirjis explains that this trend is also supported by the increase of Islamic control over the Egyptian constitution, exemplified in the second article, which considers Islamic sharī‘ah the main source of legislation.

 

Jirjis also writes that talking about judicial authority in Egypt, and criticizing it, is not an insult, especially after people working in this field allowed themselves to unite with extremist religious trends. He adds that the government is trying to Islamize the state, in an attempt to please salafī trends spreading in the society. However, this trend needs to be fed and supported, and as a result the government found nothing to offer but its attempt to Islamize the Church.