If you need further evidence that Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt are deteriorating, then look no further than last night’s attack on the Coptic Orthodox Church of the Two Saints, Saint Mark and Pope Peter in Alexandria, which left 21 dead, dozens injured, and an outbreak of Muslim/Christian rioters hurling stones, bottles, and sectarian slogans at one another. 1
Anna Lindh Foundation President André Azoulay sent out an excellent press release today in which he rightly stated that the attackers aimed at creating a wedge between Muslims and Christians. This is true, and first reports indicate that they have succeeded in doing so.
Responsibility for the attack was claimed by al-Qā‘idah, the same terrorist organization that attacked a church in Baghdad in October, leaving 68 worshippers dead. References were made following both attacks to the Egyptian women Wafā’ Costantine and Kāmīliyā Shihātah--women who were married to priests, but who had indicated that they wished to convert to Islam. Muslims widely believe they were prevented from doing so because of church pressure.
The first Egyptian government statements have come from the governor of Alexandria, Ādil Labīb, claiming that the Alexandria attack “has nothing to do with sectarianism,” simply blaming al-Qā‘idah. President Husnī Mubārak later stated that foreign elements were responsible for this awful attack.
The president and governor are of course right in holding al-Qā‘idah responsible, but the governor is wrong in stating the attack had nothing to do with sectarianism. How else could the governor explain the riots that followed this outrageous attack?
Al-Qā‘idah and other extremist groups only can function in areas where there is strong discontent. Only here they can recruit people who are willing to die for their cause. Al-Qā‘idah’s aim is to weaken governments in countries they are targeting. The Egyptian government already does not have much credit in the eyes of many middle and lower class Egyptians. The attack, followed by Muslim-Christian rioting, further undermines the credibility of the government.
Attacks on worshippers in churches are a relatively new phenomenon in Egypt. Most previous attacks involving church buildings focused on the buildings themselves, not people. These attacks were not carried out during times of worship. The first attack on Christian worshippers was in al-Fikriyyah / Abū Qurqāṣ in 1997, which left 8 Copts dead. The second time worshippers were targeted was in the same Saint Paul and Peter Church in Alexandria in 2006, leaving one person dead. Then nearly one year ago in Naj‘ Ḥammādī gunmen killed six Copts outside a church after Christmas Eve celebrations. The other such deliberate attack is this one in Alexandria, after New Year’s celebrations.2
These attacks on random worshippers send a clear message: kill Christians!
Certainly, the great majority of Muslims oppose such atrocious attacks. But the fact remains that a number of Muslims are so vehemently anti-Christian, that crimes such as these are justified in their eyes. Al-Qā‘idah is able to recruit people to carry out such crimes only because sentiment such as this exists. Egyptian authorities would do well to research the ground for Egyptian Muslims to join al-Qā‘idah, or any other extremist group.
I recently visited Naj‘ Hammādī, the scene of last year’s Coptic Christmas eve attack, as well as al-‘Umrāniyyah, the scene of recent clashes in November between Christians and Egyptian police over a community service center that Christians wanted to convert into a church. From my discussions, it was obvious that both Christian and Muslim youth hold a strong general resentment of the government. “We are treated like shit,” said a Muslim hairdresser who lives in a slum of Cairo where houses are built so close to each other that sunlight hardly reaches the streets. Both Muslim and Christian youth complain about a lack of employment, and if a job is found, they feel underpaid. In an environment with so few opportunities for youth, it is no wonder that some of them feel attracted to extremist groups.
However, it is not just social ills that play a role. There are anti-Christian sentiments in the country. Egyptians, both Muslims and Christians, often respond emotionally. But in their emotions, they tend to make things worse. It is thus wrong for Christians to accuse Islam, or all Muslims, of being “anti-Christian,” as this is not only untrue, but also unprofitable, since such stupid accusations tend to drive people apart instead of seeking solutions together.
The claims, made earlier this year by Muhammad Salīm al-‘Awwa, that Christians store weapons in churches and monasteries has certainly contributed to such a sectarian climate. The claims are not true, but certainly add tension. For their part, Christians deny the use of weapons, but this is not quite true, either. Many people in Upper Egypt carry weapons, Christians included. In fact, eyewitnesses saw Christian youth throw self-made Molotov cocktails at Egyptian police in November 2010.
Bishop Bīshūy made, in a private meeting, a statement concerning the validity of certain Qur’anic verses in the early period of Islam. The statement was picked up by a journalist and hurled into the public domain, creating much havoc. Pope Shenouda then rightly blamed the responsible media for their vicious role in inflaming this debate. Shortly after this Bishop Bīshūy again stood in the center of a controversy with a statement he made that Muslims are guests in Egypt (thus insinuating a widespread Christian sentiment that Muslims do not really belong in Egypt). This only made things worse, as did the way Egyptian media dealt with this issue.
I have commented on both the remarks of Muḥammad Salīm al-‘Awwa and Bishop Bīshūy in AWR, 2010, Week 43, Article 32.
Christians are also to be blamed for the sectarian climate
In 2004, the church rejected the divorce request by Wafā’ Costantine, the wife of a priest who initiated the procedure to convert to Islam through filing a police report. Since Islamic law does not permit Muslim women to be married to Christian men, many Christian women who want to obtain a divorce subsquently convert to Islam since this automatically results in divorce. Christians falsely claimed she was kidnapped and the church put pressure on the government to meet with the woman. The government gave in. It took clergy four days to “convince” her to remain Christian. Wafā’ Constantine made a statement in this regard before the prosecutor general, before disappearing into a monastery, never to be seen again in public.
From the outset there was an uproar from Muslims, including Salīm al-‘Awwa, who repeatedly stated that unacceptable pressure was applied on an adult woman to remain Christian. Since the church would not let anyone meet with her, the indications are indeed strong that this was not a voluntary decision.
In the summer of 2010, Kāmīliyā Shihātah, also the wife of a priest, similarly wanted to convert to Islam in order to force a divorce. Here, too, the church used pressure on the government to convince her not to continue her conversion. However, the Shihātah case is slightly different from the Costantine issue in that a videotape supposedly exists in which Shihātah stated that she wishes to remain Christian. I have not seen this video (I was only told that it exists), but certainly a similar statement by Costantine does not exist.
Many secular people wonder why the debate regarding the conversions of one or two Egyptian women could cause such turmoil. But in a highly religious society as Egypt, conversions in either direction are unimaginably sensitive and almost always cause tensions when knowledge of them becomes public. Furthermore, conservative Muslims believe that one can convert to Islam, but one can never leave Islam, and certainly not if this news is made public. Wafā’ Constantine has also become a rallying point for Western educated Egyptians (mostly Muslims, but also some Christians) because the information about her is ripe with indications that she was left no choice by church officials.
Additionally, Christians tend to rally in support of their church. They do so in staunchly supportive church positions, withdrawing into a virtual ghetto. The result is that contact with Muslims is greatly reduced. In such a climate, it is easy to hurl general accusations at Muslims in general, thus adding to the polarization of Egyptian society. Christians are also better able to present their case to Western media. For example, such Western media outlets usually portray the image that the Egyptian government issues hardly any (if any at all) permits for Christian church buildings, a claim which is not true. Muslims recently responded with an email message showing that many new churches have recently been built. In summary, generalizations help to deepen polemics instead of seeking solutions to problems that do indeed exist.
The government is also to be blamed
Sectarian tensions in Egypt focus primarily on church construction and conversions. It would greatly help if the government would implement a clear law on church building that mandates transparency on all decisions made in the process. As the process currently stands, it seems that personal relations and internal security discussions play the primary role in determining whether a church will be built. A unified law for building houses of worship has been proposed many years ago, but years of deliberations have made Christians skeptical about whether the government even wants to issue a unified law for building houses of worship.
It is also important for there to be transparency related to religious conversions. The government’s decision to abolish meetings between converts to Islam and clergy came as a result of anger because of the church’s pressure in the Wafā’ Costantine conversion case. While the church’s pressure may have been wrong, the government’s response only made it worse.
I have heard many stories of government officials blaming the Coptic Orthodox Church for having formed a “state within a state.” This is true, but both government and state are responsible for that development. Over the years, Christian insecurity (whether social, financial, or religious) has made Christians more reliant on the support of their church. This has strengthened church leaders who, in turn, have encouraged Christian dependence on the church. If the government wants to reverse that trend, then they should first of all provide Christians with security.
Government officials denying sectarian problems are like ostriches sticking their head in the sand. There are clearly sectarian problems in Egypt that provide fertile soil for people who wish to carry out atrocious attacks such as the one in Alexandria and they need to be addressed! The government, along with Christians and Muslims, should not let extremists drive a wedge between them. They only way to prevent this from happening is through addressing the causes for frequently recurring sectarian tensions in Egypt.
1 According to some reports angry Christians had attacked a nearby mosque. Fights also took place between Christians and police.
2 Violence in the Upper Egyptian village of al-Koshh in 2000 left 21 Christians dead, but this was mob related and did not target random worshippers.
