What Copts fear
Are the concerns of Copts following the gains
the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood made in the parliamentary elections
justified? Gihan Shahine finds some answers
That the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) has doubled the number of
its seats in parliament, forming the largest opposition bloc, concerns
apparently not just members of the ruling National Democratic Party
(NDP). Many Copts, not to mention secularists and liberals, have also
expressed fear that the group's rise to power will ultimately turn
Egypt into a conservative Islamic state where Copts will be treated as
second-class citizens and women would be discriminated against.
Only one out of 50 Coptic candidates who ran in the
parliamentary polls won a seat -- probably for no reason other than
being a minister -- increasing speculation that a growing sectarian
environment is sweeping the country where voters cast their ballots
according to religious rather than political affiliations. The
speculation found _expression_ in a recent controversial US-based
conference which called for greater US pressure on Egypt, and
restrictions on Washington's aid to Cairo, in light of alleged
persecution of the nation's Coptic Orthodox Christians.
Prominent Coptic thinker and urban planner Milad Hanna was
one of the first to express Coptic fears out loud when he told the
local press, "If the Muslim Brothers come to power, Egypt will be an
Islamic state like Iran and Sudan."
Hanna was quoted saying, "The day the Muslim Brothers win
more than 50 per cent, the rich Copts will leave the country and the
poorer Copts will stay. Perhaps some of them will be converted... I
hope I die before this happens."
He reiterated his assertion that "Copts are Egyptian to
the core and their ties with Muslims will remain as strong as ever."
Prominent Coptic thinker Rafiq Habib said the Coptic elite
and businessmen, as well as secularists and liberals, are the ones most
worried that the rise of the Brotherhood to power would put their
interests at stake. "The vagueness of the Brotherhood's agenda and the
fierce campaign the state and secular media are waging to distort their
image has further boosted widespread misconceptions about the group,"
Habib explained. "Many Copts, for instance, confuse between [the
discourse of] the Brotherhood and [that of] militant Islamists,
although the two are totally different," Habib added. "There are many
extreme edicts that Copts mistakenly think were issued by the
Brotherhood."
Many analysts speculate that the NDP has been blowing up
such fears to garner the support of Coptic voters and to persuade the
United States that the rise of the Brotherhood "would lead to the
persecution of the country's Coptic community the US claims to defend,"
Habib added.
Leading MB member Abdel-Moneim Abul- Futuh argues, "Those
whose interests run counter to [the Brotherhood] use [the banned group]
to scare Copts," a plan that Abul-Futuh insists "has largely failed to
fool the public who have direct contact with members of the
Brotherhood." Abul- Futuh mentioned Brotherhood candidate Saad
El-Hosseini who reportedly received the support of Coptic voters in the
constituency of Mehalla. "We always had a clear stance towards our
Coptic brothers which puts them on an equal par with Muslims in all
rights and duties of citizenship," Abul-Futuh said.
For many Copts, however, the Brotherhood has been using
what is described as "elastic" and "vague" terminology that may imply
sinister intentions.
"Up until now the Brotherhood has not declared any real or
clear political agenda," said key Kifaya Party member George Isaak .
Not that Isaak is worried. "I can't be happier about the gains the
Brotherhood made in the [parliamentary] polls because its performance
in the parliament will clear up much of the vagueness surrounding its
discourse and show its real capabilities and influence now that it need
no longer act as the martyr of the nation."
The group's slogan -- "Islam is the solution" -- has been
a major bone of contention. Many Copts were incensed, believing the
slogan implied they were being treated as second-class citizens who
would be forced to succumb to Islamic Shari'a law in a predominantly
Islamic nation. The Brotherhood, for its part, repeated assertions that
its slogan meant that Islamic civilisation is the reference of a
"non-discriminatory" agenda, which gives precedence to citizenship.
Copts insist the use of the word "Islam" makes them feel
excluded and, as Hanna argued, "would immediately mean giving
precedence to religion over citizenship.
"Egypt should be a secular country where all citizens are
treated equally regardless of their religious affiliations," Hanna
insisted.
Sameh Fawzi, managing editor of the weekly Watani
newspaper, argued, "Citizenship as a term was largely absent in the
Brotherhood's official statements, which instead referred to Copts as Ahl
Zimma (non-Muslims enjoying the protection of Muslims).
"This Islamisation of the state would reduce both Copts
and Muslims to single blocs succumbing to a unified Islamic project and
such radical edicts like those published in the group's official
magazine in 1980 which nearly banned Copts from establishing churches
and joining the army," Fawzi said. Although the edicts were reportedly
issued more than two decades ago, Fawzi remains worried that the same
person who issued them, Abdullah El-Khatib, "still holds a prominent
position in the group".
Abul-Futuh, however, countered that the group had "made it
clear in an official statement issued in 1994 that citizens are the
source of power and are equal in all rights and duties regardless of
religion and gender.
"No law, no matter how divine, can be enforced without the
public's consent," Abul-Futuh told the Weekly. "We respect the
Christian creed and would never impose any law that would prohibit
Copts from practicing their religious rituals." He mentioned the fact
that three Copts had been working in the political office of the
group's founder Hassan El-Banna as further proof that the Brotherhood
was never anti-Coptic.
That said, however, Habib insisted the Brotherhood "now
has a bigger responsibility to make its well-intended principles known
to the public and declare a clearer, more specific agenda using terms
which do not confuse.
"Copts, for their part, should engage in a dialogue with
the Brotherhood to get a clearer picture of their beliefs and agenda
away from antagonist media propaganda," Habib said.
