A Study On The Copts In Egypt

As an ethnic group in Egypt,the Copts is the largest Christian community in the Middle East.Since the 1970 s,the relationship between the Copts and Muslim has begun to be strained.The Coptic Question has developed both an inevitable issue in Egypt's social development and a hotspot among foreign scholars.Clarifying the historic process is the basic premise of the research on the Copts.The historical development of the Copts,the evolution of the Coptic Orthodox Church,the changes of the Coptic Question and the Copts' identity of nation and state are four important issues.The Copts accepted Christianity soon after it was introduced to Egypt in the First Century.The Alexandria Coptic Orthodox Church was one of the five biggest Christian churches at the beginning,featuring Martyrdom,fighting against heresy and monastery system.The development of Christianity in Egypt was mainly attributed to its correspondence with Egyptian traditional religion as well as the generation of Egyptian nationalism.The Copts paid a heavy price for sticking to their Christian faith.The Copts were seen as dhimmis during Muslim feudal dynasties,faced with kinds of discriminations.The population of the Copts kept falling.They gradually became a minority in Egypt.In the Ottoman Empire,Coptic seculer elites occupied many seats in bureaucratic system,making the empire “governed by the Copts”.Coptic laymen were more powerful than the clergy,challenging the leadership of the Church among the Copts.In the modern times,reforms in Mohamed Ali Dynasty led to the birth of Coptic landowners and entrepreneurs,forming the new identity of the Copts.The reactions of the Coptic Church towards modernization were reforms on centralization,annulling idol worship and promoting modern education.The competence between the laymen and the clergy was a historical theme during the development of the Copts.The Copts experienced different situations under Nasser,Sadat and Mubarak regime.Generally speaking,the Copts were unable to fit themselves into the mainstream of Egyptian society and were suffering from discriminations in legislation,social status,education,employment etc.Influences of the Coptic secular elites were wiped out by nationalization and land revolution in Nasser era.The Coptic Orthodox Church became the unique Coptic political organization.Sadat's government took a pro-Islamic policy.Thus,conflicts at that time between the Copts and Muslim never ceased.The Copts struggled for their interests under the leadership of the Coptic Orthodox Church.In the Mubarak era,the Coptic Orthodox Church conducted a revolution under the Pop's command,which kept a steady cooperation with the authority.The Coptic Orthodox Church was transformed into the representative of its own interest.This widened the gaps among Copts and the Coptic question became a public and international issue.After the Revolution of January 25 th,the situation of the Copts has not changed and the relations between the Copts and Muslim are still in great tension.Overall,the Copts is an ethnic minority with its unique identity and making considerable contributions in Egypt's history.Secondly,the Coptic Orthodox Church works as the intermediary between the Copts and the Egyptian authorities.Struggles between the laymen and the clergy are the internal motivation of the Copts' development.Thirdly,the Coptic question has three characteristics: multidimensionality,longevity and periodicity.Moreover,the essence of the Coptic question is actually the dilemma of the nation-state building and the choice of national identity during the modernization of Egypt.