SHOULD the Egyptian Christians be anxious or even agitated by the shocking Salafi fatwa made by some extremists prohibiting the expression of congratulation to Christians on Christmas Day? Apparently they should, as it plants hatred in the hearts of Egyptian Muslims towards Christians and vice versa. However, I personally believe that our Christian brothers and sisters in this country should not be concerned over this nonsense, which they know does not reflect the truthful principles of Islam, under whose rule they lived for more than fourteen centuries today. They understand also that this call is not indicative of the inner conviction of the majority of the Egyptian Muslims who are known for their moderation and goodness towards their partners in this country. On January 7, the Xmas day for the Orthodox Christian Church, I visited my Coptic neighbour Salwa, whom I came to know since moving to my then new house in October 6 City some six years ago. She is one of the few neighbours that I am in contact with in the peaceful suburb to which I moved. Our conversation always revolves around the political developments the country has experienced since the January 25 Revolution and her special apprehension about her children's future in Egypt, after the Islamists came to rule. During last week's visit, Salwa asked at the beginning if I did not fear being considered as an infidel by the Salafists in taking the risk to call on her to greet her on Christmas Day. I felt her bitter feeling towards this call that made her consider spending the feast at home and not taking her children to any place outside to celebrate Christmas as they always do every year. "Don't worry; I as well as all the other Muslims, who do not agree with these extremists' thoughts, are considered as infidels in their eyes, and so we should seek repentance! Don't let your children down and go and celebrate your feast but not before offering me some of your delicious cookies to taste." This was my response to my sad neighbour to whom I affirmed that no one realise the noble position of Jesus Christ and his great mother, the Virgin Mary as Muslims do. This makes us celebrate his birth not only every year but every time we read the many Qur'anic verses that praise and honour him. I left her house with angry inner feelings towards those fanatic persons who force me to defend my religion to that extent whenever I meet my Coptic friend. However, I thanked God that she had not listened to the previous Friday's khotba (preaching) made by the sheikh of the nearby mosque, in which he called all Jews and Christians as infidels for changing their religion sent to Moses and Jesus by Allah. On hearing the speech, I felt real concern at having the Ministry of Waqfs coming under the domination of the Salafists with its minister himself being a Salafi. The Ministry of Waqfs (religious endowments) is supposed to supervise all mosques in Egypt and even choose the sheikhs that lead Muslims in their prayer. In the first government of Hisham Qandil, the Muslim Brotherhood intended to please their Salafist allies by giving them the portfolio of this ministry instead of that of education as they wished to have. At the time, the people felt some relief at not having Salafists controlling the education system in a way that could adversely influence the mentality of the new generations. However, having those extremists dominating mosques, in my opinion is no less dangerous, as mosques are being visited by all factions of the society; the elderly and the young, the educated and the uneducated, the literate and the illiterate. Besides, the Egyptians are accustomed to showing respect to the religious men rather than the teachers and tend to think that they offer them the right religious teachings. Besides, most citizens erroneously believe that Al-Azhar supervises the performance of the preachers and not the Ministry of Waqfs. The Salafi Minister Talaat Afifi who maintained his position in the new government started clearing the ministry of its leaders raising suspicion of his intentions of placing some Salafists at the head of his ministry's different directorates. The Friday preacher, who accused the Jews and Christians of infidelity, referred to some Qur'anic verses that served his ideas and omitted all affirming that the Christians are the closest to the believers (the Muslims). He also excluded the many hadith (sayings of the Prophet Mohamed) recommending Muslims to show kindness to the Christians in general and the Copts of Egypt in particular for the special close relation they have with the Prophet by birth and marriage. This embraces Hagar the wife of Prophet Abraham and mother of Prophet Ishmail, the great-grandfather of Prophet Mohamed, and Maria, Prophet Mohamed's wife. Those Salafists misinterpret Muslim history and mean to convince the public that the Christians, to whom Prophet Mohammed and his second Caliph Omar ben Al-Khattab wrote a document securing their rights of freedom of worship, are not the same Christians of today who believe Christ is the Son of God and in the Trinity: the father, son and holy spirit. By so claiming, the Salafists deny the fact that Prophet Mohammed, when he made a dialogue with the Christians of Najd, knew of their beliefs disagreeing with the Muslim's vision of Christ. However, he accepted having them committed to their thoughts and even allowed them to pray in part of his mosque after assuring them of their freedom of faith and protection of their churches and the cross. They are those same Christians from whom he chose his Egyptian wife, the Copt Maria, from whom he had his son Ibrahim, the only child born to the Prophet from any wife other than Khadijah, his first wife. Muslims are requested by clear Qur'anic verses to consider all wives of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), including Marry as their mothers. Nevertheless, the Salafists drop all these historic facts about the Muslim-Christian relations since days of Prophet Mohammed until today and seek to isolate them as infidels. Strangely, the Christians are not the only categories of people that in opinion of the Salafists should be outcastes from Muslim society. The list includes the secularists, liberals, leftists, artists, musicians, and to one's surprise, the Sheikh and scholars of Al-Azhar, the most prestigious Sunni Islam institution in the world. Believe it or not, some Salafist students at Al-Azhar university sent warning letters to their professors and deans of different faculties to announce their repentance of their old thoughts and of becoming ‘real' Muslims by adopting the Salafi school of Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) with its specific old and contemporary scholars and abandon whoever else disagrees with their thoughts! In other words, those Salafists consider themselves as the only true Muslims while the others are infidels or disobedient Muslims that should seek repentance otherwise be punished by Hell. This might offer some consolation to our Christian brothers and sisters to know that they are not the only ones considered as 'infidels' by those extremist people. But what should reassure us all is that the majority disagree with their thoughts and would resist and fight them by all means.
