Egypt: ‘Christians must learn to live in an Islamist society’

Despite large numbers of Christians fearing what an Islamist dominated country might bring for them, some are openly engaging with them, it has emerged.

Islamists are expected to consolidate their gains and win in the second and third round of the elections in Egypt today and tomorrow (14 and 15 December), and 3 and 4 January respectively.

Yet Fr Yo’annis of Qufada, in the governorate of Minia, is one who has been campaigning for ultra conservative Salafi sheikh Hamdi Abdel Fatah in the second round of the elections - because they are from the same village.

Fr Yo’annis and the Sheikh grew up together.  Personal relations often supersede the religious divide, says Yousef Sidhom, editor-in-chief of the influential Christian weekly Watani, who is not surprised about the role of the village priest.

‘Relationships count.  The divide in Egypt is not between Muslims and Christians, as many in the West think, but between Islamists and liberals’, says Sidhom.

As Father Yo’annis does at village level Sidhom does on a national level: relationship building, meeting Islamist leaders and asking bold questions about their planned policies towards Christians.

Meetings with leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood-supported Freedom and Justice Party and the attitude of the army give reason for hope.

The Islamist parties received over 65 percent of the vote in the first round of elections on 28 November. The Freedom and Justice Party won 36.6 percent of the votes, the ultra-conservative al-Nour Party obtained 24.4 percent, and the moderately Islamist al-Wasat Party 4.3 percent, while the liberal Egyptian Bloc and New Wafd Party received 13 and 7.1 percent respectively.

Fifty two percent of the electorate voted in round one – an adjustment downwards from 62 per cent which the government announced later had been ‘an error’, but a higher percentage than ever, showing that Egyptians want to choose their own future.

This high percentage will give the coming parliament, even though it is overwhelmingly Islamist, credibility.

‘Christians have to learn how to live in an Islamist society’, Sidhom told Lapido Media.

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