A new weekly series about Egypt (Saturdays)

The author of this series "Egyptian Frescoes" André Dirlik was born in Egypt and spent the first twenty years of his life in Cairo, then moved to Beirut where he studied at the American University. He later completed his studies at Mc Gill University, in Montreal. 

André's long career as professor exclusively at the "Collège Militaire Royal de Saint-Jean" was only interrupted when that institution closed it's doors in 1995. 

Egyptian Frescoes part (13 of 19) issued with the permission of the author. 

Egyptian Frescoes (13): The Lonely Minority.

They were the majority of the population of Egypt when the Arab conqueror of the City of Babylon, on the Nile, 'Amr ibn il-'As, pitched his tent, his fustat, outside its walls. Fustat became the new capital of the Land of the Kuft, as the Arabs of the Peninsula called it, the Land of Aigaiou Huptios, below the Aegean, as the Greek geographer, Strabo (64BC-24AD) referred to Egypt. The Arabs had wrested the country from the Byzantine who had conquered it from the Persians who had expelled the Romans who had defeated the Ptolemes who had ended Pharaonic rule once and for all.

Old Coptic church

The Copts aided in the defeat of Emperor Heraclius. They were well rewarded in return by their new Muslim masters who reduced their taxes substantially and brought in major improvements in infrastructure. Most spectacular was a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea which, when completed, improved trade with as far as the Land of Bharat, India. It was named Nahr Amir al-Mu'minin, after the Commander of the Faithfull, the First Caliph, Abu Bakr; the more ambitious waterway to link the Red Sea with the Mediterranean was abandoned, 1300 years before the Suez Canal.

The Copts were also encouraged to administer their land. For a long period of time, script and language of administration remained Copt, meaning in the speech of the Pharaoes. In a relatively short period of time, however, as was the case with the conquered populations of Syria, Mesopotamia and North Africa, the peasantry converted to the religion of the Conqueror and to his language. Egypt was Islamized and Arabized. Today, around 10% of the population of Egypt adheres to the Coptic Religion although the entire population, Muslim or Copt, speaks Arabic. The Coptic language, which is a form of popularised Ancient Egyptian, has persisted in the rituals of religion and assisted Egyptologists who deciphered the Hieroglyphs to pronounce their reading of ancient texts correctly. Conversions were, at first, motivated by tax exemptions which Muslims enjoyed. The Coptic clergy did not reach the Fallah on his field. Islamic practice was simple and straight forward. And, as is the case in India with the Untouchables after the invasion of the Muslim Moghuls, converting to the Faith of the conqueror allowed for upper mobility. In time, the Muslims were pitted against Christians and society became divided against itself similarly to the period of Akhnaton, between 1348BC and 1338BC, when the God Amon was displaced by this Pharaoe's favourite Aton. 

A Lonely Minority, the title of Edward Wakin's book on the Copts, well describes how this community fared under Muslim majority rule. It is a moving and partisan book. Written in 1963, it is still pertinent today as the Coptic population dwindles as a result of conversions caused by strict Church laws against divorce: for a Copt to convert to Islam enables him or her to obtain an immediate separation. One other reason for the shrinking of the Christians is that they are emigrating to America, Canada and Australia in significant numbers. The Copts have suddenly resented their minority position in a land they consider to be their own inheritance. The story of their faith tells of a folk who constantly had to cope with insurmountable challenges. Instances of this story are to be related here and now.

Saint mark

Who are the Copts? Upon being converted by the Apostle Saint-Mark in 42AD, the subjects of Pharao rapidly distinguished themselves from other Christian converts in the Middle East and in Europe over the question of the Nature of Christ. Was this problem deeply rooted in their pre-Christian beliefs? Most probably, if one recalls the Story of Osiris. A theological controversy erupted at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 over the question as to whether Christ, during his lifetime and until his resurrection, was Son of God or simply Man. The Coptic Monophysite position, that he was Son of God and Son of Man at the same time, led to a schism among Christians with the Monophysites at loggerheads with the ones who became known as Duophysites. The Patriarch of Alexandria declared himself Pope. His following extended as far south as Ethiopia. For a while, at least, the Coptic Church was assigned by all other churches to calculate annually the date of Easter, the Day of Resurrection, an assignment that had been reached at a previous council, at Nicea, in 325. This was in recognition of the Coptic Church having been amongst the first to come into existence. The Coptic Church had also introduced monasticism to Christianity. And, finally, Saint Mark the Evangelist was buried in Alexandria. When Byzantium occupied the Roman Province of Aegyptus, in 395, the Copts, however, were systematically abused by Constantinople for their heresies. Such abuse increased their ethno-religious identity. The invadors from Arabia, only four thousand strong, could therefore occupy such a vast land with the assistance of the Copts and they launched their raiders south into Nubia and west as far as the shores of the Atlantic, as a result.

The Copts have, in general, not fared well in fourteen centuries of Muslim domination although they had good times as well as bad ones. True, the Umayyads, who ruled Egypt from 661 till 750AD from Damascus, lived up to the earliest political commitments towards the People of the Book, Christians, Jews and Sabeans. The Shari'ah, the Divinely Inspired Law, defined the rights for all in the 'Ummah, the Community of Believers. These were never equal rights. They remained favorable, though, to Christians for a long while.

During Fatimi and 'Abbasi times, there was prosperity in the land and Copts benefited. Even when the foreign Mameluks dismantled Arab rule over Egypt, after 1258, the Copts had their limited rights protected. That was until the founders of Modern Egypt came to power in the 19th Century. The issue of citizen rights in a modern state was now being raised as West met East on the shores of the Mediterranean. During the Seventh Crusade, Saint Louis, King of France, landed in Egypt in 1249 with his Knights. A Coptic Monk remarked, in his chronicle, that the Franj, the foreigners that is, were not welcome in his Land. Louis IX was captured in Mansurah until ransom was paid for his release to Shajar al-Durr, the Armenian widow of al-Malik al-Salih that same year. Under Muhammad 'Ali Basha, the Jiziyah, the poll tax traditionally imposed upon the Copts since Islam conquered Egypt, was abolished. The Pasha allowed Copts to serve in his armies. The future appeared bright for Egyptian Christians who took advantage of the opportunities offered to them in education and in the public service during the nineteenth and well into the twentieth centuries. 

In 1908, Butros Ghali was called upon by Khedive 'Abbas Hilmi to head the government.

Boutros Ghali

He was the first Copt to reach such high office. In 1910, unfortunately for him, he was assassinated, most probably because he was a Copt. Muhammad 'Abduh urged calm and worked for a rapprochement between Muslim and Copt. The major bone of contention between the two religions was the Christian Creed that Jesus was Son of God. To Muslims, this was an unforgiveable act of blasphemy. Egypt's Muslims were, also, convinced that they were descendants of the Arab invaders. In the long process of Islamization, the non-Arab had to become a client of a Muslim from Arabia. The Mawalis, as they were referred to, adopted the name of their sponsor, as did the African slaves in America. The neophytes claimed they were ethnically Arabs. Two intellectuals, Lutfi al-Sayyid (1872-1963), a Muslim, and Salama Musa (1887-1958), a Copt, argued that all Egyptians were descendants of Pharoe. That was before a DNA analysis would demonstrate that all Egyptians were not Semites. Some suggest that Egyptians are Hamites instead. To the amateurish observer, one could point to the statue of King Khesekhewy of the First Dynasty, who founded Memphis in 2890BC. He sits peacefully in the Cairo Museum. His features resemble those of anyone one may cross on the streets of Cairo. On the bas-reliefs of the Temple of Hwt-Ka Ptah dedicated to the God Ptah, in Memphis itself, more Egyptians one rubes elbows with daily must have their fathers and brothers carved on the graffiti, the stellae, the limestone murals of that ancient temple or on any other temple wall in Upper or Lower Egypt so strong is the resemblance between Ancient Egyptians and the present population of Egypt. And, in the Coptic Museum which was founded in 1910, one could almost recognize the portrait of Husni Mubarak on some icon representing Saint Mark the Evangelist. Last but not least, the Seated Scribe which welcomes one at the entrance of the Egyptian Museum in Berlin would well have been the twin of my childhood friend, Adham, who lives in Hawaii. So much for the physiognomy of Homo Aegypticus.

Egyptian Scribe

In 1919, a second Copt, Yusif Wahba (1853-1934), became Prime-Minister. He was a friend of Muhammad 'Abduh. A British commission whose aim it was to introduce special privileges which would be based on ethnicity and religion, the Brunyate Commission for Judicial Reform (1917), was rejected by Wahba Basha. The purpose of the British was then to divide and rule. Some Copts understood that and resisted their efforts. Yusif Wahba was a learned lawyer. He translated the Code Napoleon into Arabic. He was the first Egyptian judge to sit in the Mixed Courts, which placed him in contact with European jurists. In 1882, he created the Maglis Milli, the first secular Coptic Council to manage the affairs of his community outside the control of the Church. His example was encouraging young Copts to move from their rural stronghold in Asiyut and Bani Suwayf, Gibli in the South, to join schools and the university in Cairo.

Makram Ebeid

In 1936, yet another prominent Copt, Makram 'Ubayd (1879-1961) who had become a follower of Egypt's Nationalist leader, Sa'd Zaghlul, was appointed Secretary General of the Wafd Party that demanded the British evacuate the territory. Like many other prominent members of the Coptic Community before him, and like many more after him, Makram 'Ubayd stood fast with Muslims for the good of his nation, Misr.

It is remarked that Colonialism which brought much good as well as much bad to the colonized peoples resulted from the Soldier, the Merchant and the Missionary working hand in hand for the interests of the Colonial Power. The Coptic Church which had developed throughout the centuries, thus building a string of monasteries, seminaries, churches and schools, was now threatened by French Catholic priests and British and American missionaries who chipped at the Coptic community and raided its members. In the early twentieth century, a Coptic Catholic Church and Coptic Protestant churches came about. During the Arabization of Egypt, Copts had adopted Arabic first name, although names after Saints were retained: Mor'os, Girgis and so forth. Now, first names such as Maurice or William appeared. Significantly, also, Pharaonic names like Isis and Ramsis lingered on...

The Copts have fallen on hard times since the 1952 Coup. Their hopes for a secular state faded when the 1956 Constitution was drafted. Article Two of this document explicitly stated that Islam is the Official Religion of the Land. This signified that all laws should be inspired by the edicts of the Qur'an. In practical terms, men and women rights were not equal. Neither were Muslim and non-Muslim, according to the Law. After the political union of Egypt with Syria whose Christian population plays an important role in that country's affairs, the 1958 Constitution of the United Arab Republic, as the new state came to be known, Article Two was dropped to the dismay of many Muslims in Egypt. When the new republic was ended by Syria's unilateral withdrawal, the 1964 Constitution of the Egyptian Arab Republic re-instated Article Two. This meant that the Copts would remain a diminished community. It also suggested to the rising Islamists that more had to be done to give constitutionality to a state whose religion was Islam. The Secular State remains, in the meantime, a mirage in this land of deserts and mirages. It leaves the Copts with three choices for years to come: further conversion is taking place, emigration to the West is on the rise, and Coptism, which appears to be the reply to Islamism, an ideology which is dogmatic, uncompromising and militant, appeals to the young. The majority of responsible Egyptians appears totally impervious to the fate of the Copts. It has, moreover, forgotten the contribution of members of this community to the development of Egypt.