Sunni Islam:
This is the religion of the majority of Egyptians. Islam is a monotheistic
religion whose basics are quite simple. Islam only requires a person to
be monotheistic and requires that person to act on this belief in life,
taking ethical decisions at all points. Sunni muslims are characterised
by:
-A reliance on the traditions of the prophet Mohammed and stories told
about him to interpret all that is ambiguous in the Qur'an.
-They chose a leader by elections, the leader must be chosen by consensus
among adult members of the community and the leader is not infallible.
-Sunnis don't believe in a church system. Mosques are simply places
for prayer with no membership or organisational structure. Organised clergy
is not recognised and a prayer leader does not have any priveleges.
Islam, other influences:
Shiia Islam has always had a strong presence in the country. Shiism
was introduced to Egypt by the Fatimids who established a Shia empire over
North Africa. Most of Egypt's modern attitudes, customs, and outlooks on
Islam were formed during the Fatimid era. It remains a fact, however, that
Islamic law in Egypt is of the Sunni variety and that most Egyptians differ
with the following characteristics of Shiia Islam:
-Shiites put very little emphasis on prophetic traditions.
-Shiites believe that rule in Islam is hereditary and should be passed
from father to son.
-Shiites believe in an organised church structure and an organised
clergy.
There are very small communities of overtly Shiite people in Egypt
nowadays and there presense is generally met with persecution, sometimes
even by the state.
The other very important influence on Islam in Egypt is Sufism. Sufism
is a mystical branch of Islam which concerns itself mainly with philosophy,
meditation, and aesthetics. The form of Sufism practiced in Egypt is one
integrated in Sunni Islam and comes from the teachings of Ghazaly. What
that means is that, unlike Shiia Islam, someone can be Sunni and Sufi.
Sufism has a very deep influence on the practices of all Egyptian muslims
and over 20% of muslims in Egypt belong to Sufi sects. The state in Egypt
is extremely tolerant of Sufi sects, and in some people's opinions Sufism
is what kept Egpypt from sliding into a spiral of extremism and violence
in the 90's.
Another important and recent influence on Islma in Egypt is Wahabism.
Wahabism is an extreme, obnoxious, iconoclasmic, and militant muslim sect
that sprang in Saudi Arabia in the 19th century. Wahabism (despite being
the belief of only a small minority) is almost single handedly responsible
for all the violence and misconceptions surrounding Islam today. Wahabism
was brought into Egypt by thousands of Egyptian expatriats working in Saudi
Arabia in the 80's and early 90's (before the first gulf war). In the mid
90's groups formed by these ideas and petromoney wreaked havoc on Egypt
killing civilians and tourists and destroying the economy. As racism against
Egyptians increased in Saudi and as Egyptians got more and more hurt by
the terrorism Wahabism lost all the ground it gained and began to recede.
Coptic Christianity:
The Coptic church is the main church in Egypt. It claims anything between
3 million and 10 million followers according to who you ask and what time
of year you ask. The Coptic church is by definition an orthodox Christian
church, but it is also a lot more than simply that. The Coptic church is
an integral part of egypt. It's art, language, songs, liturgy, and heritage
are not only important to followers of the church but also very important
to the very character of Egypt.
The Coptic Church is based on the teachings of Saint Mark who brought
Christianity to Egypt during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero in the
first century. He was one of the four evangelists and the one who wrote
the oldest canonical gospel. The Coptic church is quite possibly one of
the most ancient churchs in the world. Some western missionaries who try
to attract converts to protestantism call the Coptic church a dark and
obsolete body, not nearly so, it's actually a very bright very authentic
body whose origins are driven back in time with each new archaeological
find.
The Coptic church has contributed a lot to Christian faith. It produced
an immense body of liturgy probably unmatched in it's age and variety.
It was the church where monasticism first emerged. And the sacrifices of
it's first adherents under Roman rule was one of the main catalysts of
Christening the Roman empire.
The Coptic church has a slightly monophisyte dogma which unnerves western
churches. The Coptic church is not iconoclasmic but statues are frowned
upon. The church is headed by the pope of Alexandria and is independent
from all foreign churches. The church of Alexandria also covers the Coptic
population of Sudan and till a few decades ago it also covered the church
of Abyssinia.
Copts in Egypt are mostly indistinguishable from muslims. The only
difference is that while some muslims mixed with turks some Christians
mixed with Greeks but if you look at a street in upper Egypt (where most
Copts come from) you won't be able to tell who's who.
Christian, other:
There are many small Christian communities present in Egypt. With almost
half a million Catholics could hardly be called a small community but they
certainly look so when compared with Copts. Catholics in Egypt are mainly
Armenians and ethnic Egyptians but there are also Italians and black Africans.
Protestant churchs also have a presence in Egypt but have less than 100,000
followers. The fact that these churches gain followers by conversion from
the national church has gained them a lot of suspicion and the stance of
Protestant churches on the Palestinian cause has only earned them disdain.
As usual these churches blame their failure on persecution by muslims,
the Coptic church, and the Egyptian government.