The governorates of al-Beheira and al-Minya saw a tense situation develop between Muslims and Copts after more than 3,000 Muslims demolished a Copt’s house in al-Shaykh Qāsim village in the district of Abū al-Matāmīr, al-Beheira. This happened after the Muslim evening prayer on August 24 after a rumor was spread that he was converting his house into a church.
Sharāqah Jād Allah Sharāqah told the police that attackers bulldozed his house chanting “Allah Akbar wa lilah al-Hamd” or “Allah Almighty for Allah we are thankful”. A rumor was circulated that Sharāqah will turn his house to a church even though the village has only two Coptic families.
In Minya, security apparati succeeded in pacifying a fitnah in al-Khawākah village of Banī Mazār township after Christian villagers demolished a building owned by the Church to attempt to increase its height. Muslims were upset and demonstrated describing this as “building without legal permit”. It was clear afterwards that the Church had the legal permits to do the construction (Jamlāt Al-Dumnahūrī and ‘Alā Al-Hīnī, Rose Al-Yūsuf, August 26, p. 3). Read original text in Arabic.
