The International Quranic Center denounces the Massacre of Copts in Egypt

By Ahmad Subhi Mansour

On October 9, 2011 there was a terrible massacre of peaceful protestors in Egypt.

1-  Both today and literally for decades, the International Qur’anic Center has repeatedly condemned attacks on the Coptic religious minority in Egypt.  We now repeat these condemnations and denunciations at a critical time in the history of the Middle East.  In all of these statements during the Mubarak Regime we stressed the core of this issue: military oppression and Salafi extremism. The crisis has taken a dangerous turn with the Generals’ army entering the fray against the Copts, rapidly accelerating Egypt’s rush toward a civil war that could consume everything. Arms are readily available; souls are overcharged with anger and a sense of subjugation, religious slogans are ready on both sides exhorting their followers to fight and sacrifice themselves, and the remnants are still powerful of the former regime who are anxious to produce an Egyptian conflagration in revenge for what happened to them.

2-    The sidelining of Copts began during Nasser’s regime, and for the next 40 years it became an expression of religiosity when Sadat, then Mubarak, allowed the Salafis to have dominance over the religious life of Egyptian Muslims.  Transgressions against Copts started with the Khanka incident at the outset of the Sadat regime, and then it became the norm under Mubarak to divide Egypt along religious lines to maintain his power and wealth. The Copts met this oppression with hatred and animosity toward Islam as a religion, and with the availability of satellite broadcasts, their vicious attacks against Islam in turn ignited the Salafi extremism against them. With the continuous agitation and counter agitation, Egyptians turned into two opposing camps, but they united on January 25th, leading to the triumph of their revolution. Then the Salafis usurped this victory and the remnants of the former regime and the Generals manipulated it.  Their most effective weapon in their arsenal to achieve their purpose was attacking the Copts and their churches. With the general election drawing nearer, and the demands for the military to return to their barracks getting stronger and stronger, and with the declining influence of Mubarak’s remnants, the threats to immerse Egypt in chaos and to separatgeUpper Egypt from the country, grew louder. Playing the sectarian card is evident to the observer, since Upper Egypt is more populated with Copts, and since the region is rife with factional tendencies and opposing gangs, making it easy to target Copts and burn their churches.

3-    If Mubarak’s Generals were sincere about extinguishing this riot, they would haver enacted laws that dealt with the root of this problem, laws that allow the establishment of Houses of Worship on an equal footing and without any obstacles. Neither Egypt nor Islam would be harmed by the construction of a million churches throughout Egypt. As a matter of fact, and according to Imam Ellayth Ibn Sa’d, a Muslim scholar, building of churches is the essence of civilization. Imagine if Egypt received $10 Billion from the West to build churches, the ones who would benefit from it the most would be Egyptian Muslims. By the same token, if the Salafis were to build thousands of mosques, the beneficiaries would be the Egyptians, because in both cases the churches and mosques would not overfill with attendees, thereby forcing their respective overseers to convert them into centers for social services that benefit the people at large. There is absolutely no harm in building more churches and more mosques, as long as this is done according to applicable laws concerning average dwellings, with laws criminalizing and prohibiting the exploitation of houses of worship for political reasons or to advocate violence. Churches and mosques are centers for promoting virtues and higher values, like freedom, justice, human rights and peace, values that are regarded by all as the real essence of all religions.

4-    Unfortunately, since Mubarak’s Generals lived for 40 years under the sway of the Wahhabi Salafi culture, suckling it along with the Egyptian people, the building of a church became a major offense, as it is in the home of Salafism, namely, Saudi Arabia.

5-    Worse than all this is the mentality of a Muslim soldier or a Muslim officer in the Egyptian army who is charged with the task of quelling the Copts’ uprising.  According to and due to Salafi instigation, it would be a small matter to shed Coptic blood.  What is tragic here is perversion of the Egyptian army’s combat doctrine which requires an Egyptian soldier or an Egyptian officer to protect and defend an Egyptian citizen.  This is being transformed into a Salafi doctrine that regards Jihad as a command to persecute Copts and help destroy their religious establishments.  The Coptic soldier and Coptic officer naturally will rebel and a civil war will ensue within the army itself, causing arms depots to be plundered and their contents to be confiscated by the warring factions. As with all civil wars, and as with major internal conflicts, the leadership, in this case, Mubarak’s Generals, his remnants, most Shaykhs, and most priests will be its first victims.

6-  The tragedy is that we must repeat the same advice and the same call for reform in all its aspects, religious, political, social, and economic.  Political corruption is in a tight embrace with religious corruption in both communities, Copts and Muslims.  The Mullahs are the same Mullahs, the priests are the same priests, and the military is the same military.  The same stupidity, the same stubbornness, now provide the makings of a civil war.

Finally…. As we exhaust our reservoir of condemnations, denunciations, advice, and admonitions, we have nothing left but to pray to God Almighty to save Egyptians from themselves so that the tragedy of Iraq will not be repeated.

Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Suhby Mansour is a well-known scholar, and the founder of the International Quranic Center