Background:

This Conference was held at Ibn Khaldūn Center for Development Studies in the event of the second conference on minorities. Several speeches were given especially on Coptic rights in Egypt and related to the Muslim Christian incident of 1996 in Kafr Dimyān (Delta) and the terrorist attack inʿIzbat Aqbāṭ, Assyut.

*For more information on the Ibn Khaldūn conference, please refer to the tapes: Conference Ibn Khaldūn on Copts rights I, II, III, V and VI

http://arabwestreport.info/en/conference-ibn-khald%C5%ABn-copts-rights-i

http://www.arabwestreport.info/en/conference-ibn-khald%C5%ABn-copts-rights-ii-0

http://www.arabwestreport.info/en/conference-ibn-khald%C5%ABn-copts-rights-iii

http://arabwestreport.info/en/conference-ibn-khald%C5%ABn-copts-rights-v

http://arabwestreport.info/en/conference-ibn-khald%C5%ABn-copts-rights-vi

Side A:

Dr. Aḥmad Ṣūbḥy Manṣūr, founder of the Egyptian Qur’ānists, spoke about how the Islamic thinking switched from moderation and tolerance as Imām Muhammad ʿAbduh (1849-1905) perceived it to a Salafism movement by Muslim-Brotherhood founder Ḥassan al-Bannā. He insisted that banning the Islamic thinking from the society is not an option since the religion is strongly linked to the Egyptian personality.

Mr. Mamdūh Nakhla, Coptic lawyer and member of the Tajammuʿ Party, called for the need to focus on recommendations among which should figure the need to put an end to the mention of religion on identity cards as well as to the khat al-hamāyūny [Hamāyūny Decree]. He also stated that the country is divided between movements of Islamism, a fragile authority and government and a group of intellectuals with no specific support to neither sides.

Several other comments were made related to how the Copts refuse to participate in political life and others on the danger of the recurrent attacks on Copts as these attacks are done not by organized movement of extremists but by ordinary people.

Side B:

Mr.ʿĀdil Ḥusain, leading Islamist journalist and oppositional political activist, explained that there is a foreign plan aiming at agitating all kind of internal and civil conflicts in the region. He thinks that some Christians and Muslims contribute to such plan either on purpose or by foolishness. Mr.Husain believes that all the discussed issues do not concern Christians exclusively but they are the problems of the entire Egyptian society. According to him, representing all the time that there is always one faulty party and the other is always the victim is completely wrong and is a way of agitating the population. Denying the Islamic heritage, traditions and values is not an option and is not the answer. Mr. Husain emphasized that the challenge is to admit that Muslims and Christians are different and to embrace this difference in order to reach unity.

* For the continuation of Mr.ʿĀdil Ḥusain’s speech, please refer to tape V.