In Magdi Shnouda’s café in Cairo, pictures of Jesus and the saints hang on the shabby walls, and the men playing backgammon and dominoes are a mixture of Christians and Muslims.
Sucking down glasses of sweet tea and strong coffee, they drape arms around one another and talk of how well they get along. They live in a neighborhood dotted with mosques and churches, and grew up like brothers, they say.
Another thing they agree on is the toppling of the regime of Hosni Mubarak, who left office after 18 days of anti-government protests. The country is now being run by the military, which has dissolved a parliament full of Mubarak cronies.
“It’s excellent what’s happening,” said Nasraddin Mustafa, 55, a decorator and friend of Shnouda’s. “Christians and Muslims are the same … there will now be more safety and more friendship between Christians and Muslims.”
The revolutionary solidarity in Shnouda’s café was shaken, however, when the subject of the Muslim Brotherhood came up.
“If the Brotherhood take control, I will be the first to leave the country,” said Baha al-Rashid, 40, a driver playing backgammon.
The Brotherhood, a strictly Islamic political party, is the country’s most organized opposition group. Some Christians fear that if it gains more influence, it would impose Shariah, or Islamic law, and forbid them from practicing their faith.
“Neither Christians nor Muslims like them, because they are a group with their own ideas, but the rest of the Muslims are good with Christians,” said Eid Ibrahim, 41, also a driver and a Christian.
Egypt has about 8 million Christians, the largest Christian population in the Middle East. Most belong to the Coptic Orthodox church (“Coptic” means “Egyptian”), even though there is a small Baptist convention. The faith has been in Egypt for 2,000 years, they say.
The Bible says Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt with the infant Jesus to escape King Herod’s decree that baby boys in Bethlehem be killed. Tradition holds that St. Mark brought Christianity to Egypt in the first century. Islam did not arrive until six centuries later.
Christians here have long complained that they are shut out of some government jobs and treated as second-class citizens.
Christians have been targeted by terrorists in attacks that Mubarak’s Interior Ministry blamed on “foreign elements.” In the largest of many attacks against Christians last year, a car bomb in the northern city of Alexandria killed 21 people in December at a Christmas ceremony.
Even though the social divide between Muslims and Christians has grown, they often wind up as next-door neighbors, rarely speaking to one another, said Christian worker Rob Robinson. But that changed during the recent political upheaval, when men stood shoulder to shoulder with their neighbors — regardless of their religion — to protect their homes from looters. It’s another answer to prayer, he added.
“This widening gap between Christians and Muslims over the decades is now slamming together,” Robinson said. “And it is going to be a great door-opener.”
During the recent demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, many Christians joined in, protecting Muslims from police and Mubarak supporters while they prayed. Christian doctors manned some of the first-aid stands, and posters with a crescent moon and a cross proclaimed unity.
At St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral on Feb. 13, there were christening parties and worshipers caressed babies and chatted.
They agreed that a new Egypt is a good thing but that there could be problems ahead.
“In the last year, there (have) been a lot of demonstrations,” said David Samuels, 31, a master’s student and a Christian, speaking in a bar near the upscale Heliopolis area of Cairo. “They were protesting because of anger and discrimination against them.”
Many Christians say they suspect the government was involved in the attacks to keep Egyptians divided.
“When the demonstrations started, I doubted that what would happen in Tunisia would happen here,” Samuels said. “But then I understood that there was real anger and people were talking about being Egyptian, not about being Christians or Muslims, and my Muslim friends were angry that the government was making conflict between Christians and Muslims worse.”
Despite the euphoria, he, too, is nervous about the Brotherhood.
“I read a lot about the history of the party,” he said. “They know there are a lot of bad vibes against them, so they will first try to get to the top of all the syndicates and then come to power, which would be the worst for Christians.
“Christians have been raised on fear, and they are always afraid,” he said.
Robinson said that even though believers and especially Egypt’s Baptist convention is strong, they still need prayer support.
“We have a number of believers who can’t be open about their faith, but they are strong,” he said. “They need support.”
But the opportunity to support local believers and reach Muslims open to the gospel is tenuous, Robinson added.
“God has opened an opportunity, but it isn’t going to last forever,” he said. “It is a time to stand beside Egypt and not forget Egypt. We need to continue to bear down in prayer for Egypt. It is time to run toward Egypt instead of running away from this part of the world.”
Back in Shnouda’s café, the owner was quiet as his friends chattered about the revolution, about how the political elite who stole all the money had gone, how Egypt was entering a time of more freedom and how the new government would not try to divide Christians and Muslims as the old one did.
Asked whether he agreed that the government would bring people closer, Shnouda paused. “Come and ask me this question in a year,” he said. “We hope it will be better.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — Names have been changed for security reasons. (RNS, BP)
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