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.
