The concept of citizenship, the author argues, is in line with the Islamic Sharīʿa . Citizenship has already been applied by the prophet and his companions.
The author is in strong disagreement with the presentation of former Dutch Member of the European Parliament Bas Belder. Belder refers, based on Coptic political activist sources, to extremism and various incidents. Muslim principles are challenged due to many social, and political factors but that does not make them less important. On the contrary, these principles need to be known and taught to a wider public. Belder and the authors of the sources he used do not understand Islamic phrases such as “Allāh Akbar.” It is unfair to report the bombing and attacks of the terrorist groups that target Christians and their churches in Egypt but one needs to understand the larger context, including extremist attacks on Muslims and mosques.
Egypt made good steps forward with the establishment of "The House of the Egyptian Family in 2011 after the terrorist attack on the Coptic Orthodox Two Saints Church in Alexandria. The grand Imam of al-Azhar then resurrected a call that is most dear to the heart of Egyptians, namely "the unity of the crescent and the cross," the symbols of Islam and Christianity, in support of Egypt and humanity.
Belder, unfortunately, refers to erroneous sources. Furthermore, the cases Belder referred to are individual cases that should not be overgeneralized. Since 2016 more than 340 new churches have been built. Cases of alleged forced conversions of Christian girls to Islam were investigated by Cornelis Hulsman in 1995-1996[1] and later by the Egyptian Family House. They found these were not cases of forced conversion but were instead instances of young Christian girls who had fallen in love with a Muslim or were escaping difficult home situations. There are also some documented cases of young Muslim girls who had fallen in love with a Christian and converted to Christianity. This is a social problem that has nothing to do with forced conversion or changing one’s religion.
The placement of this text in Dialogue Across Borders has been delayed because of a discussion about the 9th-century Capitulations of ʿUmar about church building. The correspondence about this subject did not result, for personal and time reasons, in adding this to this paper but it did delay the publication online.
