The article says that it is always the same story that causes fitnah tā’ifīyah in Egypt: a Muslim boy and a Christian girl, or vice versa, fall in love.

This time, in the small village of al-Nawāhid in Qena, it resulted in a fire burning thirteen houses and a shop. The mayor of the village saw a Coptic boy and a Muslim girl walking back alone from the graveyard at night and assumed their engagement in inappropriate actions, so he handed them over to the police. The girl’s family was outraged and started a fight with the family of the boy, leading to the fire.

Bishop Kyrillos blames the Mayor for the incident, as there is no evidence of the boy and girl doing anything inappropriate together. Bishop Kyrillos also blamed National Democratic Party candidate Mukhtār Abu al-Dahab.

Key Words: Qena – ‘Abd al-Majīd Mahmūd – ‘Abd al-Mun‘im Tantāwī – Bishop Kyrillos – Mukhtār Abū al-Dahab