Copts are often said to be part of the "national fabric of Egypt." As Samir Marqus comments in his study, "they are not an independent community" and nor are they a homogenous entity, but span all spheres of Egyptian society. Marqus first sets out to define citizenship, which is the ultimate goal, and then uses this narrative to analyze Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt since the dawn of the modern Egyptian state. 

The research study divides the issue up into five stages. The first stage took place under Muhammad ^cAlī and represented the birth of citizenship in Egypt. This was followed by the "crystallization of citizenship" which took place around the 1919 Revolution and saw grassroots support for citizenship coming from both Muslims and Christians. The third stage involved incomplete citizenship when there was only social citizenship and this occurred around Nāsir's 1952 Revolution. Al-Sādāt's era is classified as one of "receding" citizenship, in which religious ideals were promoted and took precedence over national ones and finally the current stage which Egypt has been in since 1981 when President Mubārak took office is a phase of attempting to regain citizenship. 

Using this citizenship timeline as a reference Marqus then examines how the Coptic question has changed over time. In the period from 1919-1952 the Copts were a political entity. Particular attention is given to the period following the 1919 Revolution in which there was unprecedented political participation and cooperation between Muslims and Copts. However, since the 1952 Revolution Copts have gradually become a religious group. In the late 1970s the religious lines of society reached new heights when President al-Sādāt declared that he was the Muslim president of a Muslim country. Marqus states that since the 1970s Egypt has witnessed "continuous incidents of sectarian tension". 

Further adding to this tension has been the state's gradual withdrawal from many of its obligations such as employment and healthcare. Many individuals have been forced to turn toward either the mosque or the church to replace the role that the state should play. This, in turn, has weakened the bond that links the individual to the state and as a result other secondary identities have taken on new precedence. Furthermore, sectarian tension is not being addressed thoroughly but through a "putting-out-fires" approach that is done through reconciliation sessions or customary agreements that do not get to the root of the problem. 

Marqus concludes with three possible scenarios for the future of Egypt. The Ottoman state scenario, the religious state scenario and finally the citizenship state option; a state based on total equality regardless of faith, creed, color, ethnicity, gender, social class or wealth.