We divide Egypt at our peril, writes Gamal Nkrumah Anxiety is mounting among the Coptic community of Egypt after a long bout of political uncertainty following the threats by Al-Qaeda of retribution against the Coptic Orthodox Church for punishing Coptic Christians who convert to Islam and are allegedly incarcerated forcibly in churches against their will. The controversy surrounds the church's reluctance to permit the individuals concerned to declare openly their faith. Among the most prominent of these presumed converts are two women whose conversions have been much publicised in the media -- Wafaa Kostantine and Camilia Shehata. Dominated by an arcane confessional dispute, the religious discourse in Egypt has a critical historical juncture. To head off such a calamitous prospect, the political and religious leaders need to salvage something of the situation. "In order to properly assess the demands of the Coptic community of Egypt it is essential that we do not view Copts as a homogenous group. There are the well-to-do, literate and highly educated Copts who have no serious problems dealing with their Muslim compatriots. They do not necessarily feel threatened. Then, there are the marginalised impoverished Copts who constitute the majority of Egypt's Christian population. These Copts are poorly educated, socially and politically peripheralised," Editor-in-Chief of the Coptic weekly Watani Youssef Sidhom told Al-Ahram Weekly. "The disadvantaged Copts feel discriminated against. Because of their poverty they are denied their full citizenship rights and are often treated as social pariahs," Sidhom claimed. "They seek solace in the church and the clergy in return provide them with minimal social services no longer provided by the state." "In this respect, the construction of churches has become the top priority for Copts, not simply as places of worship but more to the point as community centres." Copts are caught in a squeeze."There are numerous issues that have to be urgently addressed, but the most imperative issue is the promulgation of unified laws or codes for the construction of places of worship," "A typical example is the request to construct a Coptic church in the Maamoura suburb of Alexandria, which has a large Coptic community. The request for constructing a church has not been met for over three decades. We do not understand the reason for the delay even though the governorate of Alexandria has issued its approval. Church reform has emerged as a contentious issue that is dividing the Coptic community. Again the poor support the traditional church and the Coptic intelligentsia are embarrassed by what they see as excesses by the clergy. Even some religious figures such as Anba Baphnutheous, author of The Necessity of Developing Ecclesiastical Reform, concur. He outlined the main issues at stake and put forward recommendations to effect change. The National Council for Human Rights headed by former United Nations secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali, himself a Copt, acknowledges the predicament of Copts. However, the council views Coptic salvation in increased civil and citizenship rights as opposed to religious freedoms. Many Muslims agree. "Al-Qaeda has no business interfering in domestic Egyptian affairs and it is proper that a prominent Islamist thinker such as El-Awwa spoke out against the threats of Al-Qaeda against Egypt's Christians," professor of political science and author Manar El-Shorbagui told Al-Ahram Weekly. "However, I am very concerned about the sectarian virus that seems to have infected many Egyptians, Muslims and Christians alike." "The Egyptian people bear the responsibility to collaborate closely on devising a concerted strategy to fight off this particularly lethal virus. The government, the media, the religious leaders, intellectuals and academics must all work collectively to do away with this virus. However, the Muslim majority bears the greater responsibility since it has the upper hand." El-Awwa and Pope Shenouda's righthand man Anba Bishoi, a man noted for his bellicose abrasiveness, were engaged in ugly altercations concerning issues as diverse as the authenticity of certain verses in the Quran and the legitimacy of Arab- Egyptian identity. Even moderate Copts condemned Bishoi's provocative statements and the church distanced itself from its wayward son but left him in place. "Christians also bear a responsibility to fight the virus of sectarian conflict and religious hatred. Self-segregation and calculated isolationism is dangerous. It only incites the suspicion of Muslims," El-Shorbagui emphasises. She ends on a germane albeit ominous note. "Copts are not being given the full hand of the law." Her argument is worth noting. Now as we near the anniversary of that dramatic day in November 1971 when Nazeer Gayed also known as Father Antonious of the Monastery of The Ever-Virgin Mary the Theotekos became Pope Shenouda III, the 117th Pope of Alexandria, Copts are in a deep state of introspection and retrospection. It was the first enthroning of a Coptic Pope to take place in the new Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo. Shenouda's reign has been tumultuous, with national and regional upheavals deeply impacting Egypt's Muslims and Christians alike The new realignments in the regional context, the turmoil surrounding Israeli expansionism, petrodollar Islamic fundamentalism and rise of the Islamic Republic of Iran, should be greeted neither with Muslim denial nor Coptic soul-searching. On 3 September 1981 the late president Anwar El-Sadat signed a decree deposing Pope Shenouda and was exiled until invited back by President Hosni Mubarak. Since then, relations between church and state improved considerably. However, disgruntlement among Copts continued to simmer. "We are faced with two major challenges: the church and the state. Let me start with the state. The state claims to be secular, however, with the general trend towards religiosity, the atmosphere of conservatism, I suspect that the state often competes with the Muslim Brotherhood to become 'more Catholic than the Pope'. Far from being secular, the state poses as being religious," Karima Kamal, author of the controversial Coptic Divorce told Al-Ahram Weekly. Controversies arose between the church and Coptic lay persons. Of course, there were those Copts who considered Shenouda's enthronement not canonical -- that is according to the rules and regulations stipulated by Canon 15 of Nicea. "Bishoi should have apologised," said Kamal. "But he should not hav been provoked either." Sectarian conflicts that express hierarchical relations and social injustice must be taken into consideration. Poverty and political marginalisation apply as much to disadvantaged Muslims as much as to disadvantaged Copts. Patterns of interaction between Muslims and Christians could be improved. Exploring the political dimension of religious organisation is a prickly subject. Religious leaders are often dragged into such disputes. "They often fan the fires of hatred," Kamal stated. Religious groups, churches and mosques, are one of the most influential community-based forms of social and political organisation. Everyday life-practices and the struggle for survival often exacerbate tensions, El-Shorbagui noted and Kamal concurred. Both agree that talk of religious conflict should be relegated to the dustbin of history.
