The Coptic Question in the Mubarak Era (original) (raw)

A New Vision of the Copts of Egypt: State Policy and Inner Difficulties (1948–1957): In Light of US State Department Documents

2015

Introduction The term Copt originally came from the Greek word Aiguptos meaning “Egyptian.” It became synonymous in Egypt with native Christians since the Arab conquest.1 The Copts are the largest Christian community in the Middle East, geographically concentrated mainly in Egypt, where they constitute some 10–16% of the population.2 Although most of the writers used to refer to the Copts in Egypt as minority, the Copts themselves used to deny that.3 The first half of the 20th century can be arguably considered the turning point in the Copt’s modern history. The year 1911 witnessed the first Copts’ claim of discrimination and the 1923 constitution was the first official step, according to some Copts, against their sense of belonging to Egypt by declaring Islam as State religion. There is a prevalent narrative of entrenched and pervasive discrimination against Egypt’s Coptic community in that period. It behooves us then to look closely at this dominant narrative to determine its legi...

The Copts of Egypt: Fully Fledged Citizens or a New Dhimmi?

The paper focuses on the Staus of the largest minority group in Egypt, the Copts before the Arab Spring Revolution and, immediately after the revolution. It includes also an historical perspective as to the status of the Copts in Egypt from the 19th century till the end of Mubarak's era.

The "Coptic Question" in post-revolutionary Egypt: Citizenship, Democracy, Religion

Relations between the Coptic minority and the Egyptian state have gone through different stages, with Copts experiencing greater or lesser degrees of integration into, or alienation from, the social and civil fabric of Egypt. This paper traces the long and ongoing path of the Coptic community from dhimmah to citizenship, a path that is not yet concluded, with a particular focus on the relations between the Copts and Al-Azhar, especially in the transition period opened by the 25 January Revolution. New discourses among both Islamic and Christian intellectuals are examined in order to search out the conceptions of citizenship emerging both in Al-Azhar and Islamist scholars’ thought and in Coptic circles.