Passion and Pain

Week Four: The Arab Republic of Egypt The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God (Romans 8: 16-19).

Egypt is located in the lush Nile valley of Northern Africa, and is perhaps best known for its sweeping deserts and towering pyramids. Believers know it as the starting point of the great Exodus, and the land where Mary and Joseph hid the baby Jesus.

Egypt has an ancient Christian tradition, believed to have its origins in the evangelisation of Saint Mark. Today, Egypt is a predominantly Muslim society. Of the Christians that remain, Coptic Orthodox Christians or ―Copts‖ as they are known, comprise about 90 percent. The remaining 10 percent include Protestants, Anglicans, and Catholics. Together they constitute one of the largest Christian communities in the Middle East .

The leader of the Copts is Pope Shenouda III, who a few years ago, met with Pope John Paul II, during one of the latter‘s visits to the Middle East.

Christianity in Egypt has a long history of persecution and discrimination. The first brutal assault there was recorded in the 8th Century, when Umar II and his radical Muslim armies raided Egypt and set out to destroy its Christians. Under ―The Pact of Umar‖ they lost ownership of their land to Muslims, and were forced to pay a land tax called the kharaj just to use what was rightfully their own. Their churches were destroyed, and they were forbidden from building new ones or repairing the old. Church bells, crosses, banners, and sacred books were banned, and services had to be conducted in silence.

Christians were ridiculed, forced to wear discriminatory clothing, and ride on donkeys. Around their necks they were required to carry their ―tribute‖ to Muslims, known as the jizya, a mafia-style extortion tax or form of ―protection money,‖ which they had to pay Muslims not to kill them. Shocking as it might seem, countless Christians in Egypt are still forced to pay the jizya or face having their homes and businesses burned to the ground, and their families murdered. Even more shocking, is that the widespread imposition of this practice goes utterly ignored by the Government.

Violence against Christians is far too commonplace in Egypt: in the past ten years, there have been more than one hundred and twenty attacks on churches, and more than five hundred attacks on Christian properties and businesses. In 1996, Islamic extremists burned down fifty-six Christian homes in the village of Kafr Demian in just one day.

In August 1998, two Coptic Christians were murdered in the mostly Christian village of AlKosheh. Police responded by arresting, detaining, and torturing more than one thousand Christian villagers over the following two months. Those abused include relatives of the victims, women, and children. Human rights organizations have documented horrific physical and psychological torture of these by police, including beatings, whippings, and electric shocks. Finally, a Christian villager was convicted and imprisoned for the murder of the two Copts, despite overwhelming evidence of his innocence.