The Muslim Brotherhood has always resisted pegging Egypt's Copts as a minority, insisting on full inclusion and equal rights for all, writes Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh* Mid-year I addressed our Coptic brethren with a call in which I said, "this nation is your nation, this land is your land, and this Nile is your Nile. Do not listen to those who want to isolate you behind walls in order to stifle your voices while raising theirs. Our history together says the contrary. Our history together says one God, one nation. Advance to the vanguard of this people at this critical time so that we can repeat together, 'one nation, one God'." Before continuing I would like to stress that all of the opinions and statements I issue are products of the school I was raised in -- the school of the Muslim Brotherhood -- and are shared by the majority of the Brotherhood and its Office of Guidance. I view with suspicion any attempts to separate my opinions from those of the Brotherhood, of which God has endowed me with the honour of being a member for more than 30 years. In the period that has passed since a number of Muslim Brotherhood candidates were victorious in the People's Assembly elections, some voices have risen to express a state of apprehension gripping our Coptic brethren concerning this victory. I have heard, with neither confirmation nor denial, that the church administration has officially expressed this unease to the president of the republic. I have also heard from our esteemed brother Milad Hanna that the Copts are determined to leave the homeland. I have heard and read statements by Diaspora Copts of an aggressive tone, dominated by anger, challenge and threat (Diaspora Copts are guided by Coptic churches under the wing of our Orthodox churches, which send priests from the church administration in Egypt). The fact is, however, that I view such statements and strange positions as our Levantine brethren would put it; "Dipping outside of the bowl". The Copts, in all the length and breadth of Egypt, do not rally under these statements. The Muslim Brotherhood, a section of the heart of this nation, has never been known throughout its history or within its thought or literature to harm its Coptic brethren, God forbid. This approach has stemmed from its correct understanding of Islam and a magnanimous history stretching over 14 centuries since Amr Bin Al-As liberated Egypt and its Copts from the oppression and tyranny of the Byzantine Empire under which they had experienced all kinds of calamity, as the historians say. The Copts then returned to their Orthodox creed after having been forced to renounce it and Pope Benjamin, the 37th pope of the Coptic Church, returned from exile upon the invitation of Amr Bin Al-As, who requested that he reconstruct the churches and monasteries the Byzantine Empire had destroyed, and build new churches based on the needs of the Copts. In 1856, during the rule of Khedive Said, the Sublime Porte (the Caliphate) issued a decree calling on Egypt's Copts to be armed like Muslims in the Egyptian army, as well as cancelling the head tax on non-Muslims once and for all. This was a natural progression in the context of the historical development of the modern Egyptian state in the 19th century towards that of citizenship and full equality between all Egyptians in their rights and duties. In the first elected parliament in the history of the Egyptian state, in 1866, two Copts were elected out of the total of 75 members that composed the parliament at that time. With this move, the establishment of a national community was declared because sectarianism cannot be separated from colonialism in each of its stages, as the late intellectual Gamal Hamdan said. The British occupation played tricks with some personalities at that time causing temporary disturbances within the newborn national community. Between 1908 and 1912, Coptic and Islamic conferences were held in which a sincere national spirit dominated. The period between 1919 and 1952 embodied a sincere expression of complete integration between the various elements of the national community. The severest expression of this integration occurred when the government of Youssef Wahba was formed in February of 1919 and the Copts were alert to the danger a Coptic prime minister presented at such a time to the national community. Erian Youssef, a young Coptic man, thus made a failed attempt to assassinate the prime minister. Another example is the rejection by all Egyptians of the British declaration of 28 February 1922 concerning the protection of minorities, which considered Egypt's Copts a minority, a position rejected by the entire national community. It must be remembered that the Muslim Brotherhood was established during this period and that it included two Copts in its political bureau -- Wahib Duse and Youssef Akhnokh. This is a brief overview of the general background to the development of the national community in contemporary Egypt that had to be recounted amidst the dust clouds of statements being reiterated today about Copts and their position in Egypt. There are researchers who warn of scenarios being prepared and executed to weaken the national community, the most prominent of which is the Israeli scenario published in the well-known document Israel's strategy in the 1980s. Then there is the international scenario whose first indicator was the inclusion of the Copts within the Middle East's minorities in a conference held in May 1994. Egyptians view the role of some of the extremist Diaspora Copts in this scenario with surprise and disgust, and anticipate a strong and clear position on it from the church administration in Egypt. In conclusion, I would like to stress that the Egyptian model of co-existence between Muslims and Copts is unique in its historical depth since the time of Islam's arrival, in its political depth in terms of the lasting stability of the concept of the national community equal in rights and duties, and in its social depth by which Egyptians are tolerant, reconciliatory and good natured. * The writer is a member of the Office of Guidance of the Muslim Brotherhood.
