34. imad Boles. “egypt - Persecution: disappearing christians of the middle east”. (Middle East Quarterly 8:1, 2001), 23–29. 35. Paul rowe. “Building coptic civil society: christian Groups and the state in mubarak’s egypt”. (Middle Eastern Studies 45:1, 2009): 111–26. 36. in its coverage of the nag hammadi incident on January 6, 2010, the BBc released an article titled: “egypt’s anxious copts await next catastrophe.” see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/ middle_east/8478397.stm (accessed January 29, 2010) 37. in its coverage of the nag hammadi incident on January 6, 2010, the New York Times released an article titled, “in egypt, religious clashes are off the record.” see: http:// www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/ world/middleeast/01egypt. html?pagewanted=1 (accessed January 29, 2010). 38. Bakr., “the man from Bashmour”, 87.
39. ibid., 61.
in light of the fact that the coptic population in egypt alone has grown from 6 million to 10 million members from 2001 to 2009, khashan’s forecast appears unlikely. however, many of those who write about coptic-muslim relations, such as imad Boles, the chairman of the British coptic association, insist that copts remain an “endangered minority,” 34 marginalized and alienated from the rest of egyptian society. if not addressing the minority as second, or even third-class citizens, nearly every written work emphasizes the importance of numbers. regardless of the fact that the copts have been able to create a strong, vibrant niche in civil society and function as a “useful pillar of internal stability” 35 for mubarak’s regime, writers often reduce the minority to ‘approximately 10% of egypt’s population.’ a percentage that is, in fact, no more than an educated guess since the egyptian government has refused to conduct an official census since 1976. vastly outnumbered by their muslim neighbors, coptic-muslim discourse is grounded in catastrophe,36 where the threat of conversion, and forced conversion in particular, is very real.37
financial Gain and sPiritual elevation unlike the result of conversion, the motives behind the process have changed over time. in an effort to present these factors, this section examines two distinct periods: the 7th century and the 21st century. With respect to the first, the concept of conversion in Bakr’s novel revolves around monetary reward and inner-healing. during the arab conquest, conversion from christianity to islam often brought improved financial footing. upon entering the village of Ghaya, a stop for muslim pilgrims on the path to mecca, thawna and Budayr learn that a large number of coptic villagers had converted to islam. in exchange, the new converts reaped great financial rewards from the pilgrims, including silver and dinars. after witnessing their neighbors’ newfound wealth, “very few in the village retained an affiliation with the church.” 38 this willingness to convert poses several problems for the devout copts remaining in the village. the old coptic woman who receives and feeds thawna and Budayr, for example, fears that she has angered God by marrying her daughter to a muslim, in light of the lack of suitable coptic candidates. in addition to those who convert for financial gain in Bakr’s narrative, others do so for spiritual fulfillment and inner-healing. Budayr converts to islam after his repeated struggles with sexual longings and lustful memories. the failure of confession to cleanse his sins and tainted soul, which has “been dead by virtue of adam’s original sin since the beginning of time,” 39 is healed by reciting the Qur’an and welcoming in the inner-light of islam. in the eyes of Budayr and Bakr, islam is the truth and arabic has removed the veil that has long obstructed the monk’s vision as a copt. thus, the two instances of conversion presented by Bakr occur without compulsion. islam, in the text, brings financial stability to some and spiritual serenity to others.
fear and Punishment Whereas Bakr depicts conversion in the 7th century as a choice, free from compulsion, many copts fear forced conversion in the 21st century. sara, a community outreach intern at a non-governmental organization (nGo) in cairo, starkly conveys this threat:
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Juhood: The Journal of Middle Eastern and North African Affairs
there have been stories in the Christian communities about Awlad Ragab Al Mahmal.40 They abduct Christian girls, rape them, and then force them to sign on paper to be Muslims. 41
40. awlad ragab al mahmal is a supermarket chain in cairo.
a recent report published by the coptic foundation for human rights and the christian solidarity movement reaffirms sara’s fears and introduces 25 additional cases of copts being forcibly converted to islam.42 of the 25 conversions covered, the majority involve kidnapping, abducting, and compulsory marriages. these instances of forced conversion directly violate the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as article 46 of egypt’s constitution, which states, “the state shall guarantee the freedom of belief and the freedom of religious rites.” 43 nevertheless, infringements on international and state law often go unpunished by the united nations and egypt’s government, allowing the fear of forced conversion to promulgate. in addition to dreading the possibility of forced conversion from christianity to islam, the punishments for converting from islam to christianity also concern many egyptians. When addressing these dangers, sara insists: If I am Egyptian it is my right to convert without being killed. If a Christian converted to Islam, it is fine. If it is the other way around, he needs to flee the country since he might be killed. 44
41. interview, sara.
42. http://www.csi-int.org/pdfs/ coptic_report_master-final_report_ pdf.pdf (accessed January 29, 2010)
43. egypt’s constitution can be located in its entirety in Gilbert flanz’s Constitutions of the Countries of the World: A Series of Updated Texts, Constitutional Chronologies and Annotated Bibliographies (2007). see: Wolfrum and Grote section (2007); 3.
44. interview, sara.
Based on the interlocutor’s comments, it appears that the majority of copts are conscious of the dangers conversion poses. muslim converts to christianity are considered to be apostates and those who have committed the crime of apostasy are persecuted by egyptian society. even if escaping societal harassment, the egyptian government often refuses to reflect the apostate’s conversion on his or her id. in order to reflect a change in faith, muslim converts must obtain a “certificate of conversion” from the church, a process that is infinitely complicated; only one formal request has ever been granted.45
45. http://www.thedailynewsegypt. com/article.aspx?articleid=21028 (accessed february 2, 2010)
clashinG articles: the eGYPtian constitution “i have a friend whose father is muslim and his mother is christian,”46 explained adam, a student at misr international university (miu). “he wants to become a christian, but cannot do that because he would be killed. if someone killed him it is not a crime – that is the law.” 47 the copt’s striking remarks highlight a troubling dilemma in egypt that is often left untouched by scholars, journalists, and others who write on coptic-muslim relations: the clash between islamic and secular law in the constitution. article 46 guarantees one’s freedom of belief, but article 2 states that “islam is the religion of the state” and “islamic law (sharia) is the principal source of legislation.” 48 Bound together in the pages of the constitution, the divergent articles are further compounded by the government’s neglect of the coptic minority. since the publication of the first international religious freedom report in 1999 and up until 2005, when the format of the executive summaries changed, egypt was consistently labeled a category three offender, or a state that neglects discrimination and persecution of its minorities.
Contextualizing Clash and Convergence: Re-Writing Coptic-Muslim Relations
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46. interview, adam.
47. ibid.
48. flanz, Gilbert. Constitutions of the Countries of the World: A Series of Updated Texts, Constitutional Chronologies and Annotated Bibliographies, (see: Wolfrum and Grote); 3.