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Date of source: 24 Apr 2020
In the letter, ‘Azīz warned that not addressing this matter will allow some people to establish Coptic churches in the future for people whose sainthood is not recognized by the Coptic Orthodox Church. According to him, it is a matter that threatens the Coptic Orthodox Church’s unity and authority...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 24 Feb 2020
The minister of Endowments, Dr. Muḥammed Mukhtār Jumʿah, said that the decision to ban Rushdī from performing religious services was taken because of the controversial opinions he expresses through his social media accounts. Muḥammed Mukhtār Jumʿah added that some of his posts are not compatible...
Reviewed by Marvin Mücke
Translator Marvin Mücke
Date of source: 11 Apr 2020
St Peter’s Square in the Vatican is now empty. Usually twenty thousand people fill the square but this year the faithful will follow the services during the most important Christian festival on their screens. Pope Francis who is also in quarantine will lead the prayers, the last of which will be...
Reviewed by Marvin Mücke
Translator Marvin Mücke
Date of source: 11 Apr 2020
The syndicate also praised the quick and decisive actions taken by the security forces in al-Daqhaliyyah which allowed the doctor’s family to bury the deceased. Following these events, the Syndicate of al-Sādah al-Ashrāf announced a number of new measures that will aim to fight the virus and...
Reviewed by Marvin Mücke
Translator Marvin Mücke
Date of source: 12 Apr 2020
Pope Tawāḍrūs II said that the closure of churches due to the Coronavirus is temporary. The Mass will be available on the official page of the spokesperson for the Coptic Orthodox Church and other Christian TV channels will also broadcast the prayers.
In a short speech during mass, Pope Tawāḍrūs II...
Reviewed by Marvin Mücke
Translator Marvin Mücke
Date of source: 12 Apr 2020
The Mufti of Egypt, Shawqī ʿAllām, supported the fatwas clarifying that any form of bullying against those who died from the virus is religiously unacceptable. He added that opposing the burials of these martyrs goes against our religion, our values, and our morals.
The fatwas came after...
Reviewed by Marvin Mücke
Translator Marvin Mücke
Date of source: 8 Apr 2020
After previous statements that the government was aiming to reach an economic growth rate of 6% this year, Hāla al-Saʿīd, the Egyptian Minister of Planning and Economic Development, anticipated a decline in growth rates during the remaining six months of the current fiscal year because of the...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 10 Apr 2020
Amidst these measures, some people are calling for the reopening of mosques during the month of Ramadan so that Muslims can perform the Tarāwīḥ prayer in them. However, the ministry of Endowments, which is the one responsible for the decision to close them, tied these demands to the disappearance...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 12 Apr 2020
al-Miṣrī al-Yawm observed some of the rituals that Copts in Egypt are doing to celebrate Holy Week inside their homes.
Rāmī Sāmī said, “This is the first time this has happened in my life, but we have tried to be creative to transform the house into a small church before Holy Week. We light...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 11 Apr 2020
The security source explained that the 65-year-old retired doctor died after contracting the virus, which had been transmitted to her from her daughter returning from Scotland. The body was moved to be buried in a grave that her husband owned in the village of Shubrā al-Bahaw in al-Daqahliyyah...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 12 Apr 2020
He stated that it is never allowed to make fun of others ill with this pandemic or those who have died from it or bully them. Instead, it is mankind’s duty to pray for fellow humans, stand together, and not mock them in word, look, or deed that hurts them and their family. "The people affected by...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 13 Apr 2020
The Minister of Endowments said that the Muslim Brotherhood failed quickly and lost its credibility after everyone discovered its treachery and treason towards its religion and homeland and its readiness to make a deal with the devil to achieve its evil ambitions and goals for the enemies of the...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 14 Apr 2020
Saint Corona is considered an Egyptian saint. She was included in the ranks of martyrs when she professed her faith in Christianity after growing up pagan. She was horrifically martyred by being tied between two trees and then being ripped in half.
The meaning of the name “Corona” is diadem or...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 15 Apr 2020
The Office for the World Health Organization in Cairo said that whatever is being repeated about 5G cellphone networks contributing to the spread of the novel Coronavirus is wrong.
It added that viruses cannot be transmitted through radio waves or cellphone networks. Additionally, it added that...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 15 Apr 2020
The statement mentioned that firearms and explosives were found in the terrorists’ possession at their hideout. It also confirmed that they were planning to carry out terrorist operations during the Coptic Easter holidays and target churches.
Attorney General Ḥamāda al-Ṣāwī ordered an urgent...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 22 Mar 2020
In another post, Dār al-Iftāʾ explained that it is not necessary to perform the funeral prayer in the mosque, but rather to set it in the outside, especially under the measures to limit the spread of the epidemic, with the legitimacy of its performance in rounds to prevent overcrowding. “It is a...
Reviewed by Aḥmad Badr
Translator Aḥmad Badr
Date of source: 2 Mar 2020
The unity of God
The unity of religion
The unity of humanity
Babism was established in 1844 by ʿAlī Muḥammad al-Shīrāzī, whose nickname was “al-Bāb” (the door). He had announced that he was the awaited messiah and that there would be a prophet coming after him. As Babism spread, the Iranian...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 29 Apr 2020
The official spokesperson for the Libyan army revealed that the Libyan army’s military intelligence agency was able to arrest Egyptian terrorist Muḥammad Muḥammad al-Sayyid, accomplice to terrorist Hishām ʿAshmāwī. He has been deported to Benghazi.
Muḥammad Muḥammad al-Sayyid participated in...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 5 May 2020
There is no disagreement over what happened in Anatolia in those days meets the definition of genocide since it intentionally targeted specific groups of people under the supervision and guidance of the highest officials in the state. However, in order for this recognition to have meaning and...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 5 May 2020
ʿAwaḍ ʿIryān al-Mahdī is a Coptic name for a person considered a historical symbol of Banī Suwayf where the first “Christian” built a mosque on land in the region of “Muqbil,” which has the largest community of Christians in Banī Suwayf.
Shaykh Ismāʿīl Badawī Ḥassan, imām and preacher at ʿAwaḍ...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 28 Mar 2020
Hānī ʿIzzat, founder of the movement, said in a statement that not all bad events are due to God’s anger, but could be an alert to the people to return to God. As a God of mercy and justice, ʿIzzat thought it unthinkable that there was a religious cause to the suffering of many children, elderly...
Reviewed by Rupert Walker
Translator Rupert Walker
The Global Fatwa Index provides the top 10 statistics on the provisions for celebrating Mother's Day
Date of source: 20 Mar 2020
The fatwas monitored by the Global Fatwa Index were as follows: (15%) of the fatwas circulated globally revolve around social occasions, (4%) of which were for Mother’s Day, (60%) of Mother’s Day fatwas issued by unofficial personalities, and (40%) issued from official institutions, (94%) of the...
Reviewed by Aḥmad Badr
Translator Aḥmad Badr
Date of source: 15 Jul 2020
Bishop Pachomius [Bākhūm], bishop of al-Biḥīra and the Five Western Cities, and bishop Maqār, bishop of al-Sharqiyya and 10th of Ramadan City decided to close the Monastery of the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Beloved in the wilderness.
Many other Bishops decided to permanently cancel all...
Reviewed by Aḥmad Badr
Translator Aḥmad Badr
Date of source: 10 May 2020
Suwayf, who spent the entire day in front of the prison’s entrance protesting her son’s imprisonment, wore a t-shirt with a message for the Egyptian regime on it. In this message Suwayf expressed her incredulity for how blatantly the Egyptian regime violates existing laws which guarantee prisoners...
Reviewed by Marvin Mücke
Translator Marvin Mücke
Date of source: 15 May 2020
The member of the Community Council [al-Majlis al-Millī], Muḥsin Jūrj, said that the second anniversary of the return of the remnants which we celebrate today is a clear sign that Egypt remembers its martyrs inside and outside of Egypt. Jūrj added that “Our Coptic Church has been the Church of...
Reviewed by Marvin Mücke
Translator Marvin Mücke
Date of source: 16 May 2020
Fr. Būlus ʿAwaḍ is priest of St. Mary Church and the co-head of Bayt al- ʿ Āʾilah in Alexandria. For him the atmosphere during Ramadan in Egypt is unique because of the genuine participation of both Muslims and Christians in the festivities. “Egypt is the country of love and affection. During this...
Reviewed by Marvin Mücke
Translator Marvin Mücke
Date of source: 14 May 2020
Nordic Monitor found out that, Turan published an article in September 1992 in the Iranian financed “Tevhid” –a Turkish magazine- and praised the great progress the Islamic Jihād had achieved in its recent attacks in Egypt. Turan wrote that the biggest success lay in the fact that none of the...
Reviewed by Marvin Mücke
Translator Marvin Mücke
Date of source: 16 May 2020
These rights include the right to self-determination, the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and the right of return for refugees. The party also rejects the deal between Trump and Netanyahu that is biased against the Palestinians and aims to settle the Palestinian issue...
Reviewed by Marvin Mücke
Translator Marvin Mücke
Date of source: 25 May 2020
In the resignation letter the doctors wrote that the ministry is reluctant to provide protective equipment for staff which led to the further spread of the virus among the health workers. In addition, many doctors were re-deployed to work in areas they are not specialised in and did not receive any...
Reviewed by Marvin Mücke
Translator Marvin Mücke
Date of source: 28 May 2020
However, this year there will not be the same festive celebrations in an attempt to avoid large human gatherings and stop the spread of Coronavirus.
According to the Coptic Orthodox Church, this year Pope Tawāḍrūs II and a number of bishops will celebrate mass without any worshippers. Instead the...
Reviewed by Marvin Mücke
Translator Marvin Mücke
Date of source: 29 May 2020
Mlambo-Ngcuka expressed her views in a letter to the Egyptian Delegation to the United Nations. The Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations paid particular attention to a report by the Egyptian National Council for Women that monitored the programs and policies in support of women in Egypt...
Reviewed by Marvin Mücke
Translator Marvin Mücke
Date of source: 30 May 2020
The texts address religion, history, geography and philosophy. The oldest of the manuscripts date back to the fourth century. Some of the manuscripts were written in Sinai while others come from Palestine, Syria, Greece, and Italy. The library also includes 1000 documents which can be used to trace...
Reviewed by Marvin Mücke
Translator Marvin Mücke
Date of source: 7 May 2020
After completing his secondary education and his baccalaureate degree in Egypt, Bāhūr Labīb traveled to Germany during 1930 and 1931 to get his doctorate. The subject of his dissertation was about Pharaoh Ahmose I, who expelled Hyksos from Egypt and founded the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. In 1934,...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 27 May 2020
Several of the accusations being directed at these girls rely on articles taken from different laws: Law 180 of 2018 for Regulating Media, Article 25 of the 2018 Information Technology Law, the 1960 Fighting Prostitution Law, and Article 178 of the 1952 Penal Code. What can be concluded is that the...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 28 May 2020
According to Father Būlus Ḥalīm, spokesperson for the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Holy Synod chaired by Pope Tawāḍrūs II is constantly following the developments in the Coronavirus outbreak in Egypt in order to determine the necessary measures to safeguard worshippers upon returning to praying in...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 30 May 2020
He added that Christian pilgrims used to climb up Mount Sinai [Jabal Mūsā] and pass through the entrance gate. The pilgrims would then descend the mountain to the pilgrims’ door that is currently in St. George Tower.
Dr. Rayḥān explained that St. George Tower is composed of four levels.
He...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 31 May 2020
The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox confirmed that services for the feast of Christ’s Entry into Egypt will be limited to a priest in every church and no more than 6 deacons.
The Holy Synod in its most recent meeting with Pope Tawāḍrūs II mentioned that this mass is exceptional since it is one of...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 9 Jun 2020
President al-Sīsī was the first Egyptian president to attend Coptic celebrations for Christmas and visit churches. He has been interested in building churches in new cities, worked to legalize churches and their additions in different governorates, and restarted renovations, repairs, and...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 2 Feb 2020
The week of prayer for Christian unity takes place worldwide, and has been run by the Middle East Council of Churches for many years.
This year’s motto for the week of prayer for Christian Unity came under the biblical verse “They showed us unusual kindness” [Acts 28:2]. As part of the week’s...
Reviewed by Emma Scolding
Translator Emma Scolding
Date of source: 11 Feb 2020
The fatwa was published on January 31, 2020. The post garnered around 8,000 comments, generating extreme controversy in the process. Unfortunately, many of the commenters attacked Dār al-Iftāʾ, accusing them of falsifying the teaching of Islam, and of issuing a fatwa banning female circumcision, in...
Reviewed by Emma Scolding
Translator Emma Scolding
Date of source: 25 Feb 2020
The patriarch of the Catholic Copts participated in the “Mediterranean: A frontier of peace” conference arranged by the Italian Episcopal Conference along with bishop Buṭrus Fahīm Catholic bishop of Minya.
Meeting with participants in the conference at Bari in Italy, including bishop Ibrāhīm Isḥaq...
Reviewed by Emma Scolding
Translator Emma Scolding
Date of source: 6 Mar 2020
The Islamic Complex in Port Fouad at the mouth of the Suez Canal is considered one of the most important landmarks of Egypt’s heritage where its splendid building towers in a unique location. It is the first landmark to be seen by those looking toward the canal from Port Said.
Reviewed by Emma Scolding
Translator Emma Scolding
Date of source: 7 Mar 2020
Nawāl al-Sa’dāwī, the second of nine children, was born on October 27, 1931 to a conservative and traditional family in Kafr Ṭahlah, in Banhah, Qalyūbiyyah.
Her reputation as a militant advocate of women’s rights spread in Egypt after the publication of her book Women and Sex (1972), the magazine...
Reviewed by Emma Scolding
Translator Emma Scolding
Date of source: 12 Mar 2020
After holding several consultation sessions with representatives from both churches, a consensus was reached with Parliament’s Committee for Religious Affairs and Endowments for the establishment of the “Endowments Authority of the Catholic Church,” and the “Endowments Authority of the Evangelical...
Reviewed by Emma Scolding
Translator Emma Scolding
Date of source: 13 Mar 2020
Eight people were killed and another 30 are recorded missing after floods swept over al-Zarāyib area of 15th May City on March 12. Shiḥātah Maqdis, a leader of the “zabaleen” [al-Zabbālīn], a community of garbage collectors, said that search and rescue operations are still ongoing to find the...
Reviewed by Emma Scolding
Translator Emma Scolding
Date of source: 13 Mar 2020
Just a few days after Dr. Majdī Yaʿqūb was honored in the UAE, Shaykh ʿAbdullāh Rushdī wrote on Facebook:
“As long as earthly work is not based on a belief in God and his prophet, its value is only on earth. It is worthy of thanks and commendation only from us earthly human beings — but it has no...
Reviewed by Emma Scolding
Translator Emma Scolding
Date of source: 15 Mar 2020
Dr Muḥammad Mukhtār Juma’ah, the endowments minister, called for funerals to be limited to the funeral prayer, without gatherings after the funeral. Juma’ah likewise said that wedding invitations should be limited to include only the two families as much as possible. Juma’ah emphasized that it is...
Reviewed by Emma Scolding
Translator Emma Scolding
Date of source: 15 Mar 2020
Sources close to the Endowments Ministry told Al-Watan exclusively that the fatwa itself doesn’t prevent Friday sermons or group prayers being held in mosques.
A decision [to suspend prayers outright] can come only from the government and the president, who would coordinate with doctors and the...
Reviewed by Emma Scolding
Translator Emma Scolding
Date of source: 15 Jan 2020
The public prosecutor and the Egyptian investigation team met with Italian investigators to discuss the investigation into the murder.
Both sides agreed to continue productive judicial cooperation between the two prosecutions, and reassured one another that the necessary investigative procedures...
Reviewed by Emma Scolding
Translator Emma Scolding
Date of source: 25 Jan 2020
The Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration that several nations’ leaders participated in on January 23 didn’t try to bring awareness to past disasters (that should be recalled) but rather to turn a blind eye to subsequent crises after the Holocaust. The occasion now includes an invitation to forget...
Reviewed by Emma Scolding
Translator Emma Scolding
Date of source: 4 Feb 2020
Waʿad, the young, wide-eyed, beautiful mother, who made her film out of the broken hearts of Aleppo, was thrown into the field hospital by the revolution so that her and her husband Ḥamza al-Khatīb could save what lives were left there. Waʿad filmed and experienced such a quantity of inhumane...
Reviewed by Emma Scolding
Translator Emma Scolding
Date of source: 16 Feb 2020
Dāʿish announced the killing of 20 kidnapped Coptic workers from Minya on February 14, 2015. They were slaughtered on the shores of the Libyan city of Sirte.
Father Ibrām Imīl, undersecretary of the Coptic Orthodox papacy and pastor of St Mark’s Cathedral, presided over a mass with several priests...
Reviewed by Emma Scolding
Translator Emma Scolding
Date of source: 8 Jun 2020
In 1951, he moved to the Monastery of al-Suryān in Wādī al-Naṭrūn where he accepted the priesthood. He lived alone in a cave far away from the monastery. After two years, he was commissioned to be a spiritual father for the monastery’s monks, especially young people applying to be monks recently...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 13 Jun 2020
The Coptic Orthodox Church condemned the cover, which showed pictures of Bishop Raphael [Rāfāʾīl], former secretary of the Hold Synod, and Muḥammad Badīʿ, Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, under the title “Holy Ignorance.”
The church added that this is not considered freedom of expression;...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 14 Jun 2020
Who is Sārah Ḥijāzī? Sārah Ḥijāzī is an Egyptian activist and defender of gay rights. She was arrested for raising a gay rights flag during a concert for the Lebanese band “Mashrou' Leila” [Mashrūʿa Laylā] in Cairo, otherwise known in the media the “rainbow case.” Sārah was sentenced to prison...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 13 Jun 2020
“Using the spoon has been canceled due to the current extraordinary circumstance…but that will depend on the Holy Synod.” That was Pope Tawāḍrūs II’s statement, which stirred the rancor of some bishops as a change of sacred ritual! Despite Egyptian churches abroad taking precautionary measures,...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
Date of source: 13 Jun 2020
The head of the National Press Authority, Karīm Jabr, has called for an investigation into the magazine’s editor-in-chief. Rūz al-Yūsif will publish an apology on the front cover of the next edition.
The Press Authority published a second statement praising the Church for their cooperation in...
Reviewed by Rupert Walker
Translator Rupert Walker
Date of source: 23 Jun 2020
Can you please introduce yourself?
Dr. Slomp: My contribution will have an historical impact, because most of my experience with dialogue are experiences in the past. They start already in 1960 when I visited, for the first time, the only mosque in the Hague, in the Netherlands, that happened to...
Date of source: 22 Jun 2020
GK: What is the goal of dialogue?
The goal for dialogue, Eildert Mulder says, should not in the first place be to convince; rather it should be to inform all parties involved. When you enter into dialogue, the goal should be to help each party understand what the other is experiencing, to...
Date of source: 4 May 2020
Agents from the Egyptian embassy in Kuwait showed up and informed the protesters that the embassy will begin preparing schedules for return flights to bring them home this week according to normal procedures.
Videos clips showed the moment that tear gas was shot at the camp square to disperse the...
Reviewed by Dylan Schexnaydre
Translator Dylan Schexnaydre
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Emerging Perspectives on Intercultural and Interreligious Relations
Dialogue Across Borders is a database of summary translations of Arabic newspaper articles with references to their sources about intercultural and interreligious relations, focusing primarily but not exclusively on Muslim-Christian relations. The database also contains articles with editorial analysis and interviews on the subject.