Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Chapter Two: Our stance on Nationalism

The concept of nationalism emerged on the arena of Arab thought, fostered by certain favorable factor that made it stand out in the foreground, to the extent that some thinkers saw it as an alternative to the two trends that provoke sensitivities; i.e. socialism and Islamism. Yet nationalism, when applied, failed like the two formerly mentioned trends.

The origin of nationalism:

In order to understand comprehensively and deeply the concept of nationalism, we should know its dimensions, inner recesses, factors that lead to its emergence, and its pros and cons.

Here are some points to demonstrate this:

Firstly, nationalism was not always the system applied in Europe or even in the eastern world. It represented a transitory or an interim stage that remained as long as certain conditions are at work in certain phases. Other universal systems preceded nationalism like Hellenism of Alexander the Great,Pax Romana of the Roman Empire, the universal Christianity of papal hegemony, and the universal Islam in the era of caliphates. During these historical eras, nationalism was nonexistent. We can imagine a future void of nationalism, as it might be subsumed within the framework of international entities that have the universal quality; i.e. a capitalist or a socialist international entity, and we have the contemporary example of the European Union (EU).

Nationalism did not arise in Europe until the emergence of capitalism that made the market rise from the level of villages to a nationalist level, and put an end to the feudalist system with its traditional bonds and restrictions of the guilds. Later, the centralized authority of the state emerged and controlled all services and facilities, and merged them in one crucible. Often, this was associated with achieving independence from colonial powers, or regaining occupied lands.

As for the East, the notion of nationalism began dubiously or even ominously at the hands of Community of Unity and Progress in Turkey in the early 1900s. Nationalism appeared in the Arab world as a reaction and not as an original action; i.e., it was not the direct result of objective factors like market expansion, capitalism, or centralized authority, but it constituted a stance of the Arab world against the policy of Community of Unity and Progress. This historical situation was a challenge, and challenge is a well-known starting point for the appearance of national movements, e.g. the German nationalism emerged as a reaction to the French invasion of Napoleon to Germany. Arab nationalism did not take the form of voluntary, positively challenging attitude, because the group of ''free Arabs'' until the very last moment was ready to support Turkey in the World War I, and the only group that wanted complete liberation from the Ottomans was theMaronite Christians who contacted France to seek protection. Community of Unity and Progress were fanatics and did not respond to the free Arabs. Hence, Arab nationalism stemmed from the necessities and emergent conditions in this historical moment. This led to alliance with Britain as a practical starting point, despite its colonialist ambitions and well-known conspiring treaties with France. It was a bad starting point that no nationalist movement can be proud of, yet, this provided the Arab nationalism with some distinctive features that made it appear in many historical moments of hegemony or conspiracy. Nationalism was adopted by Nasser in Egypt, as well as Ba'ath (i.e. revival) parties in Syria and Iraq. Its staunch advocates added to it a supposedly secularist flavor as well.

Secondly, thenationalist trendis not the best one to be the basis of political systems, as this trend, however broadened, includes limitations of race, frontiers, language…etc. and if broadened beyond these limitations, it will be self-defeated or discarded later as an interim stage. If nationalism were reinforced, this would be at the expense of human, universal values as it is the case of closed, isolated nationalisms, like Germanic Aryan nationalism defined byGobineau , Chamberlain, and Hitler, or Hebrew nationalism in Israel by Ben-Gurion and other Israeli extremists. Communist and religious calls denounced nationalism. Marx and Engels considered it as ''egoistical and self-centered'', and said in the communist manifesto that the distinctive feature of communists is that they favor the interests of the universal proletariat over nationalist interests. This was the orthodox line of communism, held by Lenin and Rosa Luxembourg to face magnates of World War II, who launched war against them. Islam denounces nationalist trend, even if it stemmed from Arabs. The eternal words of Prophet Muhammad denounce it as well, when he said ''Discard fanaticism and tribalism; for they are evil '', ''People should stop taking pride in their dead ancestors, for they are, in the sight of God, less in value than dung beetles. God has removed from you the pagan pride in ancestors who were nothing but either pious believers or wretched sinners. All people are descendants of Adam, who was created from dust ''. Likewise, in Christianity, belonging is to the church not to a certain nationalist trend or a certain country. British nationalism was launched by the execution of the best Christianity thinker in Britain, i.e., Thomas More, the author ofUtopia , who opposed Henry VIII on the proposition of breaking the Church of England away from the Catholic Church. French nationalism, emerged from the French Revolution, sacrificed the masses that fueled it and made them work to the interests of the arising bourgeois class. This manifests itself in the statement of ''The Rights of Human Beings and Citizens '' and Napoleonic Code that crystallized the interests of the bourgeois class at the expense of the interests of workers.

Hence, nationalism did not satisfy the needs of the masses, nor did it realize the hopes of philosophers. In fact, nationalism was the instrument of politicians and a tool of the bourgeois class.

This is exemplified as well in the Arab world. Despite long discourse on Arab nationalism, Arabism…etc. yet, every Arab country sticks to its nationality and frontiers, and poses difficulties on entry visas, not to mention high customs and duties on goods. Other features are discriminatory behavior among Arab people, and taking pride in one's nationality, similar to the pride of Germans of the Aryan race. Where are the traces of Arabism? The remains are just theories and empty sloganeering. These constraints and discriminations were nonexistent in the Islamic era, when merchants, pilgrims, and students used to roam the Islamic world without restrictions or alienation. Even in the era immediately before the advent of the nationalist call, one writer notices that the first government of King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud comprised ministers of different Arab nationalities: Abdullah El-Damlougy (Iraqi),Fouad Hamza (Palestinian), HafizWahba (Egyptian),Yousuf Yassin (Syrian), RushdieMalhamy (Palestinian) andKhaled El-Karkany (Libyan). This writer quotes Anis El-Sayegh :

'' …two thirds of the ministers in the first decade in Jordan were not Jordanian. All prime ministers of that period were either Syrians or Palestinians, and the third of the number of employers in the government were non-Jordanians for more than twenty years…'' [9]

Thirdly, we should not take the forming of nationalisms in Europe as examples to follow in forming Arab nationalism or Arabism. European nationalisms were formed in historical, economic, and political contexts, and it took centuries to emerge, not to mention that they had their own specific conditions and circumstances that could not necessarily apply in Arab societies. As we have mentioned before, Arab nationalism did not emerge as action but a reaction to Turkish policies; thus, it has no historical grounds and was associate with colonialism.

It is taken for granted that there are main principles that regulate the development of the human society, and these principles do not change in any state; yet, there are within this big framework specific and subjective factors that have their impact on the main principles. These factors are not abstract ideas, but direct results of the interaction of human and economic factors that were existent in Europe, and not necessarily in the East or West. For instance, Islam emerged after six centuries of the emergence of Christianity, which means it is more modern than Christianity, and this fact has its impact and reflections in the different contexts of development…etc. in the East more in the West.

Fourthly, the modern Arab nations were formed thanks to Islam, and before the advent of Islam, they did not exist and they did not have historical significance. In the pre-Islamic era, Arabs in the Arabian Peninsula were just separate tribes that were rivals and took pride in their poets, stallions, or generous men. Arabs of the city of Medina were under the intellectual guardianship of the Jews. Egypt, Iraq, and Syria were colonies of Rome or Persia, and had different interests and languages according to the colonial power that occupied them.

The advent of Islam formed the modern Arab nations, freed them from subordination to colonial powers, gave them liberty and independence, effaced language and race differences among them, and granted them the Holy Book, the sword, and the balance to carry a great, universal, humane message that cannot be conveyed unless via these three elements.

When any Arab political party took the appellation'Ba'ath Party' (revival party), it occurs to the mind that what is meant isIslamic revival as it is the only method to unite the Arabs, for Islam is the factor that gave a history and a civilization for the Arab nations. Misguided and biased people refer the wordBa'ath to ''the Arab revolution [10] that erupted in 1916 to liberate and unite the Arab nations '', as mentioned by Ba'ath party. This 'revolution' was headed by the misguided Al-Sharif Hussein and the colonel Lawrence the officer in the central intelligence, and funded by British money. Eventually, this'revolution' failed to unite the Arab nations, and failed as well to undermine Egyptian Arab nationalism and nationalism of North African Arab states. Later Ba'ath party discarded this'revolution' .

Fifthly, the role of Islam in Arab nationalism cannot be compared to any other religion, for the following reasons:

A) The Islamic bond was so strong that it granted the Arab nations with leadership in times of peace and war. It made Arabs pioneers in arts and sciences, even if they were Muslims of non-Arab origins, e.g. fromTareq Ibn Ziad (the Berber), toGawhar El-Sakali (the Sicilian), toGamal el-Deen Al-Afghani (the Afghan), not to mention the constellation of writers and scholars from India,Khorasan , and countries beyond the river, until the frozen lands of Siberia. These scholars increased the scientific thought with their wisdom and wrote their ideas in Arabic, to be honored to write in the language of the Quran.

B) The caliphate andShari'a (Islamic jurisprudence) were the pillars of political, social, economic life of the Arab nations, since the advent of Islam until the first decade of the twentieth century; i.e. for thirteen consecutive centuries. These pillars are still alive and glowing in the psyche of believers and Arabs, though now are applied in a bad manner, and outside forces made them withdraw from the rule domain.

C) Arabic language is the main backbone to Arab nationalism, and the Holy Quran andHadiths elevated the Arabic tongue. Arabic language cannot be separated from Islam, as the Holy Quran has standardized and canonized Arabic tongue, and that eased the prospect of Arab nationalism and unity in many occasions. If it had not been for the Holy Quran, local dialects would have supplanted the Arab tongue and developed with the passage of time into separate languages, as the case with European languages that were derived from the Latin language, and this certainly would prevent any form of nationalism and unity. The callers for nationalism should know this, and place the Holy Quran before their ideology to preserve their identity, not to dwell in narrow regionalism that does not worth much in the era of gigantic entities, and to preserve their language to be able to hold discourse with the rest of the Arab world.

Sixthly, no liberation movements against colonialism in the modern era in Arab countries, which led to nationalist trends, emerged in the hands of callers for nationalism, but under the banner of Islam andJihad and this realized liberation for Arab countries. For instance, the leader namedEl-Mahdi and his call led to the liberation of Sudan. It was the call of theSenusiyya Islamic Order and its leader Omar El-Mokhtar that led to the liberation of Libya. Other Islamic leaders that led to the liberation of other Arab countries are Abdul-El-Kader and Abdel-Hamid BenBadis in Algeria against the French, Abdel-Karim El-Khattaby in Morocco against the Spanish. In Egypt, sheikhs of El-Azhar Mosque led the revolt against Napoleon Bonaparte, and made Muhammad Ali Pasha the governor of Egypt in the Ottoman era, in defiance to the Turkish caliph, and laterGamal El-Deen El-Afghani was theAzharite sheikh that led the call for the modern awakening in Egypt.

Seventhly, historical development for the Arab nations that were reborn in Islam and adopted its language, jurisprudence, customs, and traditions, made pre Islamic eras vanish into the corner of historical unconsciousness in the collective memory of Arabnations.This historical developmentmade Islam the conscience of the Arab nations, a symbol of their entity, pride and dignity, and their major contribution to the world civilization. Islam tied their fate to its fate, and discarding Islam means a kind of loss and going astray in a labyrinth, and spiritual hollowness. The idea of separating Arabism and Islam means that Arabism would be soulless, or like an oyster without its pearl. Islam, if discarded by Arab people, would easily find other non-Arab believers in it, but Arabism would not find another Islam or another Prophet Muhammad to unite Arab nations in a perfect manner. If Islam needs Arabs, they need it more by thousand folds. No one can condescend to Islam by being a Muslim; because what Islam has granted to us make anything else dwindle in comparison to it.

Fair non-Muslim thinkers did not overlook this fact, as it is a historical truth, not a mere hypothesis. Yet, European Dark Ages since the times of crusades prevented most European thinkers to know this historical truth, but Christian Arabs knew it very well. Fair Christian Arab thinkers acknowledged this fact firstly because it is true, and secondly because, though non-Muslims, but they were happy to be under the banner of Islamic justice, and they were enchanted by the miracle of the Holy Quran. Prof. ConstantineZoriq of the American University in Beirut says in his book titled '' National Consciousness '', which deals with Arab nationalism and religion, on celebrating the occasion of the birth of Prophet Muhammad, that there is a relation between Arab nationalism and Prophet Muhammad:

"Prophet Muhammad was the founder of Islam, the merciful religion, and he was the one to spread it to the whole world. The influence of this religion is present in all aspects of our Arab culture. We cannot understand our ancient Arab heritage, in philosophy, science, or arts, unless we deeply study the texts, systems and laws of Islam. This Arab heritage is part of our contemporary culture, or rather its foundation that cannot be discarded or replaced by modern Western culture. Arab heritage is part of this Western culture and this is our distinctive feature among other nations. This heritage is fertile, powerful and a source of pride, and we should preserve it. Every Arab, from whatever religious denomination, should preserve this ancient culture and try to revive it. This is the primary duty of nationalism. Every Arab should study Islam and its truth, and celebrate the birthday of the great Prophet Muhammad the founder of Islam.

Prophet Muhammad, on the other hand, is the one who had united the Arabs, who were rival tribes in a constant state of war, who were not linked by any powerful bond. Islam and Prophet Muhammad united these conflicting tribes, fusing all in the crucible of faith, and granted them power, civilization and development'' [11]

Amin Nakhla says:

"There is no contradiction between sticking to nationalism and one's language, and sticking at the same time to one's religion. There are two Arab religions, of the Quran and the Bible, and there are two 'Islams ' that of religion, and that of language and nationalism.

As if all Arabs are Muslims when Islam is defined as the guidance of Muhammad, and sticking to his sense of nationalism and to Arabic language. There are as well non-Muslim Arabs who do not embrace the religion of Muhammad, yet stick to nationalism and to Arabic language, but believe in the religion of Jesus Christ, son of Mary, and his Bible, which is brimming with mercy, and speaks about a cross that ended an era and began another era.

If thereare Arabs who do not acknowledge Muhammad, nor his language or sense of nationalism, they are strangers in our societies.

O Muhammad, I swear by the name of my religion of Jesus Christ, son of Mary, and by his cross that we, the Arabs of Lebanon,pay homage to you. Our minds are in the Bible and our eyes in the Quran ''.

There is another example, no less poetic or fantastic that the previous one, by the great Arab literary figure (the LebaneseMaronite )Marron Aboud . He not only asserted his Arab identity and his pride in the Arab- Islamic history by mere words, but in real action in his private life, as he named his first born male Muhammad. He liked it when people called himAbou Muhammad (i.e. the father of Muhammad) and he composed a nice poem to celebrate the birth of his son Muhammad:

Long live to you my son, the best of sons, born in the month ofRagab

His mother give birth to him not as a Muslim or Christian, but an Arab

We hailed his name: Muhammad, O history, do not be astonished

Many other Christian Arab poets assert this meaning of taking pride in Islam and its Prophet, as they are part of their Arab nationalism and history to which they belong. One of these poets is RashidKhoury , in his large volume of poems we find tens of poems that deal with the theme of Arabism, like the following lines:

Arabism has in every kingdom

A Bible of love and a Quran of reason

Ask the eras of the Levant, of Baghdad, of Andalusia

About the depth of its philosophy and just rules

Its heart is enraptured with the love of Muhammad

And Arabism is the ideal and Islam of every Arab

He says in another poem, that shows pride in the heroes and grand achievements of Arabism, the following lines:

Will the leaves of Arabism wither away in the mounts of Lebanon

Or they will stay fresh and bloomy, never to fade away?

How could we find better ancestors than thehonorable

People likeAbou Bakr , Omar, and Ali?

He says on another occasion, ''I was a true Arab even before I was born. Yet I did not have a true idea about Prophet Muhammad, his book, and hisHadiths …yet, having read them, ignorance was removed from my head, I gained new insight, and I was flying in the realm of our spiritual heritage, a domain that I never had known before. Any freeman loves and sticks to the truth wherever he finds it. Any man of letters would fall in love with the eloquence of the Quran and theHadiths …I felt it certain that my Arab nation is superior, and that certainty was increased since then. My love and enthusiasm increased by this certainty ''[12]

In addition, MichaelAflaq himself, in a moment of true inspiration, said:

"The idea of abstract nationalism in the west is logical and justified, as it was decided that nationalism would be separate from religion because religion had come from outside Europe, and hence it is foreign and alien to its nature and history. This religion was the essence of the creed of the Hereafter and morality, in a foreign language and not in a native European tongue, and accordingly did not stem from European environment, and did not mix in European history. Unlike the case with Islam, it is for Arab people not only a creed of the Hereafter or abstract morality, but also the most clear form that represents their universal sentiments and their perspective to life. This religion is the most powerful expression of their unity and identity, where words mix with sentiments and thought, contemplations mix with work, and the soul is related to fate "[13]

In Egypt, the Coptic writer DrNazmi Louca was the author of ''The Great Islamic encyclopedia '', which has a number of the best books on the life of Prophet Muhammad. The Coptic political leaderMakram Eibeid once said, ''I am a Muslim in terms of my country and homeland, and a Christian in terms of my religion ''. He was the only Egyptian political leader that broke the blockade of soldiers, which surrounded the house of the martyred imam Hassan Al-Banna after his martyrdom to prevent the entry of people, in order to offer his condolences to his family. The Islamic writerGalal Kishk gave him a copy of his book titled ''Nationalism andThe Intellectual Invasion ''.

The well-known Coptic writerSalama Mousa was known for his anti-religious attitude, but he said in his book titled '' Self-Education '' that every youth who seek to be cultured, especially on ancient Arab culture, should get his copy of the Quran, as it is the foundation of Arab society. He said that this should be mandatory for Jewish and Christian Arabs, not only Muslim Arabs. He said as well, '' Islam is the nearest creed to the human mind '', and he was the first one to call for celebrating the millennium of El-Azhar . [14]

Nationalism without Islam:

In contrast to the nationalist line that is based on the above-mentionedhistorical facts and the struggle against colonialism under the banner of Islam, we find that other nationalist alternatives that ignore Islam flounder and fumble a great deal. When Islamic institutions could not reach a sound formula to advance the modern Arab society, this left room for these alternatives. Ignoring Islam in these alternatives created a gap that could not be bridged. These alternatives were based on the people who created them, and were influenced by the circumstances of their environment as well as by other subjective factors. This is why these alternatives were not ready to give Islam its rightful position in the Arab society and they renounce and sever all relation to the Islamic past roots, claiming the sole interest in the present. These alternatives tried to bridge the gap done by ignoring Islam by trying to affiliate themselves to any ideology of one major country, especially the USSR and France. For instance, theMaronite group made Paris their Mecca and each group of them accepted the values and civilization of the state the clung to and sought to be subordinates to it.

Other calls followed the methods of fabrication, from AntonSa'ada the founder of the Nationalist Party, to Ba'ath (revival) party and Arab communism established by Nasser. There were other fabrications in other Arab countries, but all were mere attempts that were supported by the military ruling regimes, and if it had not been for this support, these attempts would have vanished. These alternatives and fabrications did not manage to gain followers and disciples, and failed to stop the infiltration of communists that undermined them.the only result of these fabrications was that they created a class of beneficiaries in authority positions to defend its gains, and in turn, protect the ruling regime.

Arab nationalism for these beneficiaries started by statements similar to the one said by Mustapha El-Shihaby who believed theories propagated by George Antonius in his book titled ''Arab Reawakening " in Beirut Among the pioneers of this Arab nationalism wereNasif El-Yazgi ,Boutrous El-Bustany , andYousef El-Asir . This group fought against Turkey and placed the Arabic language and Arab identity in place of Islam as adopted in Turkey.

The constitution of this Arab nationalism group was a fiery poem by Ibrahim El-Yazgi , aiming at arousing Arabs to revolt against Turkey using arms and violence, and leaders of this group considered it like an anthem like la Marseillaise or a holy psalm. This is its first line:

O my fellow Arabs wake up and stir

Calamities and injustices abound, beware!

The main observation that leaders of this group overlooked in this poem was that although it includes the call for revolt against the Turks, but it does not present the positive basis or a theory for Arab nationalism.

Despite this shortcoming, but it was a step forward. From the Islamic point of view, those who claim to protect the Arabic language and take pride in it should put into consideration Islam and the Holy Quran. The turning point was the emergence of a French group that lacked Islam and the Arabic language together, yet claimed to call for Arabism! Historians of Arab nationalism place this group among founders of nationalism, likeNaguib Azoury who founded the ''Arab World Society '' in Paris in 1940 and wrote in French a book on the ''reawakening of Arab nations''. His ideas included that Egypt is not an Arab country and objected to the Egyptian independenceform Britain. He established in Egypt a small party that cooperated with the colonialist states and placed his hopes of Arabism as a Syrian in France and then in Britain.

One historian comments on the call of monsieurAzoury and said:

''…his call did not easily find support in the Arab world as its activities took place in Paris and in French, and its founder was considered a propagandist for western states especially France and Britain, and his books were full of statements glorifying both countries, that is why his work was suspicious ''. Another historian asserts that no Arab youth cared for the book written by monsieurAzoury .

Gamil Beiahm said that the French consul was a member of one of the many societies in Beirut that aimed at removing the Turkish rule.

Edouard Atiya says:

''Syrian Christians hated the Turkish rule and were looking forward to liberating from it, but they did not intend to form an independent Syrian state, fearing that in that case they would subjugate to the rule of an Islamic majority that would lead, in their opinion, to persecution and injustice. That is why they were looking forward to liberating from Islamic rule by the aid of European states that would remove the Turks from their country and rule Syria instead…..this was not considered a kind of subjugation to foreign rule, as long as this European state is Christian and followed their doctrine. Are not they their fraternal brothers who follow the same creed? Thus, they would get rid of the Muslim view of them as minority and second class citizens, and the persecution they suffered for hundreds of years ''.[15]

Some Syrian and Lebanese schools of thought agreed on excluding Islam but they did not affiliate themselves to one state, but tried to establish an intellectual basis to the notion of Arab nationalism. From such attempts stemmed the Syrian Nationalist Party by AntonSa'ada , and the Ba'ath Party by MichaelAflaq . AntonSa'ada was a pale example of Hitler and Mussolini, and he failed in forming a group of officers to organize a coup d'état and to rule in his name. Ba'athparties managed to do so in both Syria and Iraq. Yet, MichaelAflaq himself was a dreamy thinker, and did nothing but incite the sentiments of his readers and audience, even if his Ba'ath party forced its way to rule with iron and fire in both Syria and Iraq.

Finally, Arab nationalism, despite sentiments incited by its leaders and followers, and despite the fact that they claimed that it is not based gender or race, as it is open for all people whose tongue is Arabic (because practically, all Arabic native speakers constitute the Arabs), it will never be but a chauvinist racist tendency, polarized between fascism and sentimentalism. With the exclusion of Islam, Arab nationalism lacked the following:

A) Objective criteria.

B) Thehumane element.

C) The only totalitarian theory that emerged in the Arab world and it lacks the shortcomings of fascist and communist totalitarianism, because totalitarian element in Islam is based on voluntary belief; i.e.Islam in the sense of voluntary submission to God.

D) The great contribution the Arabs presented to the civilization when they embraced Islam and held its banner. Islam is the basis of Arab civilization, and there were people who participated in this civilization from non-Arab races and origins when they embraced Islam.Abou El-Rayhan El-Bayrony , one of the Persian great thinkers and erudite men, once said, '' To write satirical poetry in Arabic is better than panegyric poetry in Persian ''. Another poet said:

With Islam we are united after division and alienation

And we are linked to it forever beyond separation

Ba'ath parties had failed, deceived people, and resisted the course of history when they talked about the 'eternal message' of Arab nationalism. Any movement of Arab nationalism did not leave eventually any kind of eternal messages, whereas Islam is the only historical factor that made the Arab people prominent in history after centuries of oblivion and separation. Islam gave Arabs unity, glory, and pride, and if they ignore Islam, they would ignore their real contribution in world civilization.

Exclusion of Islam in nationalist movements had led to deception and floundering in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. These failed nationalist attempts were initiated by just some thinkers and intellectuals who were not trustworthy or well known. Yet, when this tragedy happened in Egypt by an intellectual and writer who was an acknowledged erudite, trustworthy man, who could not - due to many number of factors - give Islam its due merit, this grave error could not justified by his knowledge and culture. Ignoring Islam made the image of nationalism distorted.

Dr. LouisAwad speaks about the so-called ''the first independence project '' put by El-Moalim Yacob during the French Expedition in Egypt.

Dr.Awad says in his writings thatYacob was a Copt working in the service of someMamelukes . When the French invaded Egypt,Yacob joined the army of the French generalDizier and fought bravely and fiercely against theMamelukes and the French bestowed on him an honorary sword. When Napoleon Bonaparte left Egypt,Yacob returned to Cairo. He was commissioned byKléber to hold a position similar to the minister of finance and a commander of the Coptic legion that was formed in Egypt to help the French in their war against theMamelukes and the Turks.Yacob was appointed as a consultant to monsieur Steve the general director of public income. He was promoted by the general Abdullah JacquesMinou to the rank of general, and an assistant to the general Billiard in Marsh 1801 to defend Cairo against the attack of the Turkish and English armies. Since this date, the destiny of the Coptic legion and generalYacob was linked to that of the French army in Egypt. When the French left Cairo in June 1801, generalYacob participated in the peace and evacuation treaty, and left Cairo to go to France by sea with the French army, after having served the French for three years.

There are documents that prove thatYacob was the intimate friend of generalDizier .When the news of the death of the latter in the battle of Marengo reached Cairo, soldiers of the French army in Egypt began to collect money, to erect a monument to commemorate generalDizier . Yacob wrote to the general commander that he would donate a third of the required sum to erect this monument, as generalDizier 'gave him his heart ', asYacob said. When Jacob was dying, his last words to general Billiard were to bury him in the tomb ofDizier .[16]

This was the'national' hero and his'patriotic' acts of heroism.

Dr.Awad says thatYacob refused to remain in Egypt after the defeat of the French and left with them, and he was fortunate to be on board the frigate Pallas with general Billiard, and the commandant of this frigate was the Captain Joseph Edmonds. The frigate headed to Cypress and the coast of Asia Minor, but within two days,Yacob was stricken by a fever and died after four days.

On his deathbed,Yacob revealed to the captain his project of the liberation of Egypt. Judging by the 'struggle' of this 'hero' against his fellow citizens and his help to invaders whom he fought with, this project was akin to the British call to impose its mandate over Egypt. The core ofYacob's project of the 'independence' was the following:

"…the Ottoman Empire is debilitating, and it is important that the British should find guaranteed means to make use of this historical rupture to ensure their future political interests. It is impossible for Britain to invade Egypt as a colony, it would just be under the British influence as Britain holds hegemony over the surrounding maritime routes/ the independence of Egypt would hasten the process of development and prosperity, but it would never be but an agricultural state, rich in abundant crops due to its fertile soil. Egyptian trade is unique with African countries and this would bring forth more prosperity for the British if they invade Egypt, and would make Egypt more important to Britain than India is, due to trade conditions and routes… ''

As for how the Egyptian people would gain self-rule, this was how this project tackled this point:

"…if European governments allowed the independence of Egypt, then the question is how the Egyptian people would rule themselves and how they would defend their independence.

Firstly, this document was hastily written and could not delve into details of the project of a government as a proposal made by the Egyptian delegation. It is enough to note that establishing this government will never be a result of a revolution prompted by enlightenment or any conflicting philosophical doctrines, but a result of a dominant power over ignorant, mild people whose two ruling sentiments that direct morals: they are interests and fear. This new government should bring prosperity to people, and this is not difficult to manage, and would make people love defend this new government as it would be preferred to the Turkish tyranny. Anything in the world would be better than the Turkish rule, hence, then new government should be just, cruel ,and national…and it would be loved, trusted, and obeyed.

Secondly, how Egyptians would defend their independence? They would not be able to defend themselves against European powers unless after long-time and only when this nationalist power organized and respected. If this defense would be against Turks andMamelukes if they attack Egypt, it should be left to European powers. Egyptians could get foreign mercenaries (12000 to 15000 soldiers) as temporary forces to crushMamelukes inside Egypt and keep Turks off the borders. This force would be a nucleus to a national force. Ottomans would do anything for money and money made them stop fighting if they attacked Egypt.Mamelukes used this trick if Istanbul turned against them ''.

We do not need to comment on this so-called'independence' project. Dr.Awad did not give Islam its due concerning its influence on the Egyptian society. If he did, he would not have named such project 'the first independence project '. It is noteworthy that Dr.Awad did not only exclude the role of Islam, but also did the same for the Arabic language. He was the one to adopt the call for ''discarding and smashing Arabic rhetoric '' and the one who said that Classical Arabic poetry was dead in 1932 when the famous poet AhmedShawki died. Dr.Awad did not study Arab culture and thought, and his culture and mood was' foreign and European' , and he acknowledged that he considered himself European.

***

These groups ignored Islam and eventually had gone astray. The LebaneseMaronite group did not find a role model except in the subordination to France. The Arab nationalism group of AntonSa'ada and MichaelAflaq were mere chauvinist trends that were widespread in the 1930s and they were later mingled with communists and sentimentalism, only to be distorted eventually as fabrications devoid of faith and were based on force, but in vain. The Arab nations still lack their solid foundation - Islam.

Aziz El-Masry : the pioneer of Arab Islamic nationalism:

As opposed to the above mentioned distorted attempts and fabrications in theory and practice devised by anti-Islamic leaders and thinkers, there were other movements that called for a sound notion of Arab Islamic nationalism, which considered Islam as the main asset and special feature. These movements emerged strongly since the establishment of the Community of Unity and Progress in Turkey, and its policy of adding the Turkish features to other races in the early 1900s. Arab soldiers united (from the Levant and Iraq in Egypt that was independent from Turkey) around the figure of the Egyptian officer Aziz El-Masry , who traveled to Balkans, Tripoli, Yemen, Istanbul, Jeddah, and Cairo. In the military field, he could be compared toGamal El-Afghani in the intellectual field. He represented the major Egyptian contribution in the movement of Arabism. He was the one who trained and directed most leaders that carried the banner of the Arab renaissance later on.

Most people do not know much about Aziz El-Masry , and we will quote some paragraphs from an unbiased writer contemporary of Aziz El-Masry , this writer isAs'ad Dagher and the quotations are from his book titled ''My Memoirs on the Margin of the Arab Cause '':

" Aziz El-Masry is the bearer of the banner of Arab nationalism, and this fact and this man should be known in history….he was a main member of the TurkishCommunity of Unity and Progress, and he rendered to it great services and was deeply respected by other members. He left this community when it adopted an extreme policy of adding the Turkish feature to all races. He advised members of this community to reject this policy and pave the way of renaissance to all Ottoman elements especially Arabs. He once held a grand scale meeting at his house that was attended by Turkish big figures and members of Community of Unity and Progress, where they discussed the topic of securing the Ottoman unity. He presented a project that appealed to all of them except AhmedAghayev whose vehement opposition aborted the project of Arab renaissance and made Aziz El-Masry leave the Community of Unity and Progress, and this led to the separation of the Turkish notion of unity and the notion of Arab nationalism.

His project was based on reinforcing the Ottoman Empire by strengthening its subjects and uniting them. Yet, he saw that the community adopted extreme racist policies that would not appeal to Arabs and other races, and these policies would lead to a political impasse and destruction, especially that Arab states were targeted by colonizers. He realized that no hope of survival could be maintained except by reinforcing Arabism. Aziz El-Masry formed a secret military group named ' the covenant ' that had headquarters in Istanbul, and organized means of communication among its members. Some free Arabs formed as well the secret society named 'Youth '.

He was the mentor for the youth of the literary forum.[17] He used to engender in them the notions of Arabism, patriotism, and morality. He used to teach them history of Arabs in sciences, arts, literature, politics, administration, wars, and other inventions and discoveries in their ancient civilization, to make then take pride in their heritage. He taught them as well, in a discreet manner, how to develop taste, appreciation, and manners of elevated societies.

Aziz El-Masry was transferred to the front of Scope, he helped to reinforce the control of the Community of Unity and Progress there, and he declared the constitution there hours before this was repeated by the leaders Anwar andNiazi . The place he supervised was asave haven to free Arabs.

When a revolt took place in Yemen, and Ottoman army were defeated in the battle ofGizan and lost 28 thousand soldiers. Ammunition and supplies did not reach them because of theTripolitan war, but Aziz El-Masry made a peace treaty with Imam Yahiya ruler of Yemen that lasted between Arabs of Yemen and the Ottoman Empire until World War I. His true patriotism drove him to Tripoli where he managed to keep off Italian forces for a long time despite lack of sufficient number of soldier and lack of supplies and money. His enemies acknowledged his superiority in battlefields, and German war periodicals mentioned that his battle of 16 thof June 1913 when he defeated Italian forces was like the battle of Kan in which Hannibal defeated the Romans, and it was a model of the best leadership ''.

A group of officers formed and headed by Aziz El-Masry to establish "The Young Arab Society " instead of the "Covenant Party ". Other parties and groups formed by intellectuals and religious scholars was the decentralized party that included the sheikhs RashidReda and AhmedTabara , and Abdel-Hamid El-Zahrawy the head of the Arab Conference in Paris in 1913, and all of them had Islamic tendency. There was the literary forum that included Arab youth of Istanbul, headed by Abdel-Karim Khalil . Another society was the Reform Society in Beirut that included a select group of Syrian elite, and the Basra Reform Society, headed byTalib El-Naqeeb .

These parties and groups demanded self-rule for the Arab countries within the framework of the Ottoman Empire. No group demanded full independence or revolt against the Turks. Later, the Turks' racist attitude and hate toward Arabs reached a degree that could not allow room for cooperation. Arab officers were removed form leader positions in the army, the Arabic language was resisted, and Islamic traditions were ignored.Gamal Pasha the ruler of Syria ordered the execution of many Arab politicians and thinkers, an incident that rendered any sort of cooperation impossible. Staunch advocates of Arab nationalism could not deny this, as Arab leadership showed its support for Turkey, and Arab parties did the same until World War I. The most prominent book published by Arab organizations at the time was the one titled '' The Arab Revolution ", printed in Cairo in 1916, and was dedicated to Arab martyrs executed by the Syrian ruler. The author was a member of a political group, and he dedicated the fifth chapter of this book to cite evidence of the loyalty of Arabs to the Turkish Unionists. He says, ''… Arab rulers and parties are loyal to the Turkish Unionists before and after the constitution, after the 1913 treaty, and after World War I. there are many proofs to exemplify this…" . The author cites many letters written by Arab heroes and officers likeSelim El-Gaza'ery , who was the second most prominent man in the Arab movement after Aziz El-Masry ,Mokhtar Bayhim , Abdel-Karim Khalil , thehear of the Literary forum, and Abdel-Hamid El-Zahrawy , the magnate of the decentralized party and the member of the Ottoman senate. All these men were among the group executed in Syria. After citing these letters, the author says:

"… these secret political letters and hundreds of other exemplary ones prove the loyalty of Arabs to the Turkish Unionists before and after World War I in Europe. This grand loyalty reached its zenith when the Ottomans entered World War I. Arabs put aside their disputes with the Turks and supported and united with them in joint defense in battles in Iraq, Caucasus, Dardanelles, and the channel. These battles rendered tens of thousands of Arabs dead in battlefields. The Arab nations willingly paid taxes and war funds at the time, which, according to formal statistics, were more than paid by Turkish people.

If Arab thinkers and leaders were working to spilt from the Ottomans in times of tribulations, thenGamal Pasha would have the right to execute them, as this would have been considered treason punishable by death according to military rules, and he would not have been considered a brutal shedder of blood . [18]

If we would analyze trends that attracted Arab thinkers and leaders at the time, we find them as the following:

A) The Islamic trend that demanded politically self-rule within the framework of the Ottoman Empire, and socially a kind of reform based on Islamic foundations. This trend continued until the executions of 1916, which could be considered a turning point.

B) The nationalist trend, which demanded independence of Arab countries after relations were severed among Arabs and Turks after the executions, had no Islamic basis at first, but later made Islam the main foundation of the new movement. That is why Al-Sharif Hussein and his offspring were chosen and the revolution against the Turks included the denunciation of Turks' attack on Islam.

That is to say that the nationalist trend did not gain momentum except when the Islamic tendency became the motivating force, because the efficiency of nationalism, however enthusiastic people were to it, was not enough to establish a state and declare a revolution.

C) Some Christians who supported the nationalist-Islamic trend likeAs'ad Dagher who recorded his impressions when he visited Istanbul shortly before the World War I. He said, ''… politicians in Istanbul showed two opposed views,on of them was to form an Islamic League, and the other was that nationalism should be the basis of states from now on, and that all efforts should be directed to serve Arabism and not any other causes.

I was among the supporters of the first Islamic view as I thought that it would grant Arabs major power if it were to be used wisely. Yet, the majority of Christians thought that coexistence in the new independent Arab society is impossible. They sought a special stature or a French mandate. Some of them held correspondences with foreign organizations. When these documents fell into the hands ofGamal Pasha, his suspicions about leaders of Arab nationalism were reinforced ''.

A suspicious start and a disgraceful ending:

Arab nationalism that overlooked Islam, and adopted byBa'ath party and advocated byMaronite Christians and some other Christian denominations, started by the movement of King Hussein when he revolted against Turkey and joined the Allies, who promised him in letters of McMahon with a dominion under his rule from Hejaz to the Levant, including Iraq. At the same time, Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britain and France divided the Arab states between them, and Britain formed the Balfour Declaration. According to this suspicious start, Colonel Lawrence led the movement behind the scenes. He was the de facto financer and motivator for King Hassan's movements and his sons Feisal and Abdullah. Later it was transpired that these promises were deceptions to pave the way for the French invasion of Syria, creation of Israel on Palestinian lands, and British mandate on Iraq. Iraqis revolted and Britain had to appease King Abdullah by appointing Feisal the son of King Hussein as king of Iraq and made prince Abdullah ruler of East Jordan.

From this suspicious start, Arab nationalism was adopted by anti-Islamic military parties likeBa'ath party in Syria, led by the tyrant Hafez el-Assad, and Ba'ath party in Iraq, led by the tyrant Saddam Hussein. The rule of those two tyrants was a big insult to the Arab nationalism they both claimed to support. It was more surprising that bitter enmity began grew between both Syrian and Iraqi parties because of the desire to monopolize leadership and rule. The man, who desires to rule, as the caliph Abdel-Malik Ibn Marwan said, does not prefer partners. Competition between the two parties and the two tyrants to assume the leadership of Arab nationalism led to a rupture in the diplomatic and political relations between the peoples of Syria and Iraq, who became enemies.

When Nasser, who did not believe in the idea of Arab nationalism, became the Egyptian president, he wanted a theoretical cover to resist Islamism, which he fought fiercely, and thus he had to adopt the notion of Arab nationalism. He became at short notice the main advocate of Arab nationalism! This mania of Arab nationalism led to the union between Egypt and Syria, which soon dissolved and created enmity between the two states for a while. It seemed as if Arab nationalism brings nothing but enmity among Arab nations.

After the death of Nasser, Arab nationalism movement faded in Egypt,Ba'ath parties in Syria and Iraq assumed leadership in it, and each formed organizations to fund and propagate it.

Another new leader of Arab nationalism was the Libyan president Qaddafi who considered himself the heir toNasserism , and he funded this notion enthusiastically and made many things; yet in vain, as he failed to accomplish his goals and made clashes with the Arab League and made enmity with Arab monarchs. Qaddafi accepted grudgingly the presence of Assad and Saddam as first leaders of Arab nationalism, and they were as well, like him, military leaders. Eventually he failed, lost many things, and felt despair and remorse. He declared his rejection of Arab nationalism did not hide his desire to withdraw from the Arab League and directed his funds and efforts toward Africa, hoping to form a union of African states. With the death of Saddam, the withdrawal of Qaddafi, and isolation of Syria, sources of Arab nationalism dried up before those who advocated it with all means.

It is a pity that many of the best Arab intellectuals had wasted their efforts and thought over the notion of Arab nationalism. They had done that just to follow policies of their rulers or they were deceived with false hopes and illusions. They kept holding forums and conferences, making declarations, taking decisions, spending money, and publishing newspapers to serve this false cause. They should have tackled this notion in terms of Arab reality and mad procedures to prepare for priorities like economiccomplementarity , the Common Arab Market, and means of intellectual relations like facilitating shipping of magazines and newspapers among Arab countries.

The Arab intellectuals should have put plans for practical nationalism; i.e. should all Arab countries be one State with one presidency and sovereignty or this union would be federal orconfederal one. It is best to form this union gradually withinconfederal framework; for instance, an entity including Egypt, Libya and Sudan, another entity including North African countries: Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania, another entity including Arabian Peninsula countries: Hejaz, Yemen and Gulf countries. Yet, each state would maintain a degree of sovereignty and independence, while removing customs and duties on people and commodities, to make free zones and remove boundaries and restrictions of movement from one state to another. If these entities were materialized, a framework could be devised to comprise all of them in one Arab Union. Europe did this gradually, slowly but steadily, until the EU was formed, as Europe removed national boundaries, customs and duties, frontiers, and obligatory entry visas. Later, Europe initiated unified currency and economicpolices , until EU was formed, and very soon would comprise all European countries.

A vision for the union of Arab nations, by the martyr imam Hassan Al-Banna : [19]

This vision of uniting Arab countries was presented in a document by the martyr imam Hassan Al-Banna to Arab leaders, who gathered to form the Arab League, in 18 September 1944. This document did not receive its due interest and attention by diplomats who were too proud of their tittles and positions…etc. to form the ill-fated Arab League.

This document was written on the notion of ''Arabs as one nation (Umma )'' as ''this is the clearest, most just and successful case in history ''. The document says that Arab unity should be reinforced by spiritual, linguistic, geographic, historical factors and common interests. The unity must be based on the notion that Arabs from the Persiangulf to the Atlantic ocean share many common features, and this does not need evidence or proof, but needs steady faith of believers and justice of fair people.

This document tackles the realization of steps for unity of Arab nations:

There are primary practical steps to realize the desired unity and they are the rights of Arab governments without interference:

1) Removing customs and duties.

2) Removing passports and allowing free movement for all Arabs in all Arab states after checking his ID, and allowing immigration to any Arab state following an easy system.

3) Expanding economic cooperation and forming wide-scope Arab companies in Arab countries, which include people from all Arab countries, while studying and reviving common Arab projects like Hejaz Railways that was funded by Arab and Muslim means.

4) The development of cultural, legislative, and military cooperation is by unifying education programs and curricula, rules and sources of legislation, and methods of military training. It is an Arab demand that the Arab unity conference should acknowledge these steps and plan its implementation to realize them in all Arab states.

Realizing nationalist hopes should begin with aiding colonized countries to gain independence and help new nations resume their renaissance after gaining independence.

After realizing the above-mentioned steps, we should take into consideration unfulfilled national demands and political rights of Arab countries. It is needless to mention the historical incidents and factors that led to this lack of fulfillment, but we should face reality and the status quo, and endeavor to fulfill these demands and obtain these rights. The conference of Arab unity and its committee should plan the routes of this joint struggle, and should decide that cooperation of all Arab states is essential to gain success in a number of issues:

1) Gaining full independence of Egypt and maintaining the unity of the Nile valley (Egypt and Sudan). Any action to strip Egypt of independence and disunite Egypt and Sudan is considered unjust, and has deep impact on all ArabUmma . Every Arab nation and government should aid Egypt and its government to gain independence. The international public opinion should know that when Egypt retains the unity of the Nile valley, it does not aim to control and subjugate a nation or to expand its geographical frontiers, but aims at unifying Egyptian and Sudanese people in one nation, and retain its entity, sources, efforts, wealth…etc. the Nile valley needs Egypt's protection more than the Egyptian need for the sources of the Nile valley.

2) Gaining independence of the Levant countries. If Lebanon persisted in asserting independence from Grand Syria, then let that be until Lebanon realized that unity of the Levant is better. We are in the era of huge, powerful entities, but if Lebanon insisted on its stance, it would be enough to agree with other Arab nations on the steps toward a practical unity. This emotional, sensitive case should not be an obstacle to the conference of Arab unity.

3) Solution of the Palestinian problem in a way that suits the Arab point of view and maintains the safety of Palestine, as its location is in the heart of the Arab region. Jewish aggression should be resisted and its international support should be stopped. All Arabs and the committee of the conference know the dangers of Jewish settlement in Palestine. All Arab nations have the intention to protect Palestine form this looming danger. We sympathize with the Jews in their tribulation, but this does not mean allowing them to settle in Palestine and taking lands and properties by force from its original people the Palestinians. The Jews could settle in western countries that have vast expanses of land and need more population and activities.

4) Aiding other Arab nations to gain full independence (the states of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and their annexed lands) and resume renaissance. Political conspiracies should be resisted, especially that these regions face severe international competition socially, politically and economically. These regions should seize this opportunity of uniting Arab nations to achieve the desired goals and provide welfare in the present and the future. If this chance is overlooked, it might not be attained once more.

5) Gaining independence of North African states to make them enter into the Arab unity. Libya should not be divided into cantons and should remain one nation after independence from colonizers. In the lands of the Abyssinians, the British expelled the Italians and the land returned to its rightful emperor by aid of Britain. The same should be done in Libya with the aid of Arab nations, to liberate Libya and maintain its integrity as one nation.

Tunisia, Algeria, and morocco were colonized, sometimes mandated by, the French, and endeavored to resist the colonizers and to achieve independence, they supported the Allies in the World War II, and this great support was acknowledged by Churchill and UN leaders. The army of Free France that engaged in wars for France in North Africa was formed by native Arab soldiers. The Arab conference should mention these facts to demand the rights of these countries to gain independence for twenty millions of Arabs who suffer injustice and a fierce attack on their Arab identity and Arabic language by social and cultural invasion. Colonizers made some of these Arabs naturalized French citizens, while with some other Arabs; colonizers resorted to severe pressure and terrorism to subdue them.the colonizers sent missionaries to convert Muslims to Christianity and tried to resist Islamic consciousness, but in vain; as North Africa would remain Arab Muslim part of the Arab nation.

The conference should have representatives from North Africa and Palestine to discuss their problems.

The document speaks further about ''the political entity of the Arab nations' unity '', and notes that it is a matter ofnations and notstates :

The third step after the previous ones is the general mode of the political entity of these united Arab governments. It is not the right time or the right circumstances to discuss this matter in this conference. This matter should be left to the nations; each one should choose the kind of government that suits it. The conference should decide on the following:

1- Independent Arab governments should be represented in any referendum of liberated Arab nations and other Arab nations that has not settled national government yet. 2-There should be a decision on a kind of political link among Arab governments, like a supreme consultative council to allow regular interrelation and communications. This council would be the basis of a more complete unity in the future.

The previous quotesform the document of the imam Al-Banna show the difference between an organized, peaceful thought and the shallow sloganeering of mobs.

The stance of Islamic rule on minorities:

It is an important point to tackle the stance of Islamic rule on non-Muslim minorities in the Arab world. Some preferred to ignore this sensitive, thorny issue, and some Islamic scholars misunderstood it and presented it in a distorted manner, which aggravated matters. Others made this issue a 'demon' to make people fear Islamic calls and to make governments fear the specter of sectarian strife. These false claims should be faced courageously as there should not be any taboos for writers that would made them refrain to tackle any issues. Matters are either right or wrong, and opinions should be expressed without fear.

Since long ago, the European colonizing powers tended to destroy the unity of Arab colonized nations by this main plot:debilitating the Islamic component in Arab Muslims and reinforcing the Christian component in Arab Christians .At the same time when Europe blamed Muslims on making Islam a component in their national identity, it encouraged Arab Christians to consider Christianity as the only component of their lives. This was the European attempt to wreak havoc in Muslim-Christian relations in the Arab world, to foster fanaticism similar to the one found in Europe, and to create enmity between a Muslim majority and a Christian minority.

This issue aggravated because of many factors, chief among them overlooking of Islam as a basis of the Arab society by political leadership, and ignorance of Islamic leadership ofhe best stance. This combination of ignorance and overlooking lend to this issue a kind of morbid sensitivity that blocked the way to find the best sound solution.

Moreover, these sentiments, incited by colonizers in the past in the Arab world, lingered because of agents loyal to Europe, who engender in Christians animosity towards Muslims, assuming that Muslims are cruel fanatics. This is palpable but unproved by tangible evidence of written documents because such trends enter through unwritten history of secret counsel. Yet there are some proofs like the ones written byAs'ad Dagher in his book titled ''My Memoirs on the Margin of the Arab Cause ''. He says that when he was a child, he was enrolled in a school run by monks in Lebanon. A Muslim child was enrolled in the same school, named Riyadh El-Solh . Both children became intimate friends in studying and playing. The French headmaster of the school noticed this and said toDagher :

- Whom are you playing with?

- With Riyadh.

- Why do not you play with someone else?

- I play with him and with others, and I was now playing with him.

He pulled me by my hair and whispered in my ears:

-How do you do this while you are a Christian?

-What is wrong with that?

- You do not know his intentions, come closer to me.

I drew nearer to him, and he whispered as if he was telling me a secret:

- Do not you know that this child is a Muslim?

- What is the meaning of the word 'Muslim', reverend father?

- Have not you ever visited Beirut, son?

- I have been there once with my father.

- A Muslim in Beirut is the one who stabs a Christian with a dagger in his back![20]

The innocent child believed that claim and decided not to play with his Muslim friend except while taking precautions, ''by not turning my back to him, so as not to give him chance to stab me …'' until another teacher refuted such claim to him later.

This should be clear at first: any Islamic rule is the nearest to Christianity, in comparison to any other rule, even if this rule is Christian. That is because Islam is the only celestial religion that acknowledges the prophecy of Jesus Christ and the immaculateness of the Virgin Mary. Islam acknowledges the fact that Jesus Christ was miraculously born, breached a celestial holy book, the Gospel, and the Holy Quran tells Muslims, in many verses, that belief in the Gospel is essential for them. Islamic stance of Jesus Christ cannot harm the sentiments of Christians, although it does not acknowledge the notion of the divine son of God, but Islam reveres Jesus Christ as a prophet and a bearer of one of God's holy books, and regards Virgin Mary as the lady of all women.

On the other hand, the policy of Islamic rule toward Christianity is clear; which is granting social and religious liberty, freedom of traditions…etc. according to their beliefs. Even in times of war, when all submit to martial laws and liberties are restricted, Prophet Muhammad ordered Islamic armies explicitly to leave monasteries and monks unharmed. Christians did not bemoan injustices within Islamic rule unless these injustices were at the hands of an aberrant ruler whose injustices afflicted Muslims as well.

The notion that Islamic rule is better than a Christian one for Christians is an acknowledged fact, and not a mere hypothesis, especially in Egypt. The Christian Romans persecuted Egyptian Copts due to differences in doctrine, and drove the Patriarch of Egypt to flee the country. WhenAmr Ibn El-'As conquered Egypt, he granted Copts religious liberty which was restricted within Roman Christian rule and let the Patriarch come back to the country, andAmr Ibn El-'As revered him and made him one of his consultant. Elsewhere, the French Catholics exterminated the Huguenot in the massacre of Saint Bartholomew. The English Catholics committed massacres against the Protestants by the command of the Queen Mary, who got the name Bloody Mary. This struggle between Catholics and Protestants remains in Ireland today. Other similar examples could be found in many European countries, like Germany, Spain, and Russia.

Casting doubts on the justice of Islamic rule, in most cases if not all, did not happen by Arab Christians, as Arabic speaking Christians would have greater rapport with their Muslim brethren, and they are not influenced by European civilization that lacks tolerance. This point is made clear when we compare Egyptian Copts and the LebaneseMaronite Christians. The latter were influenced by the French culture and they spoke its language. They rejected Arab civilization, and regarded Muslims with doubt and suspicion. In the Lebanese civil war, theMaronite committed untold atrocities. On the other hands, Copts who witnessed the Arab conquest and integrated into the Arab society did not feel any sensitivity or alienation toward Islamic rule or their Muslim brethren. Mutual respect and sympathy was and remains on religious occasions of Copts and Muslims in Egypt.

The Islamic Call magazine in the issue of February 1977 directed two questions to many Christian magnates in different doctrines:

A) Islam and Christianity coincide on the prohibition of fornication; do you mind the application of Islamic punishment in that case and other Islamic punishments in the Egyptian society? Does its application would harm the rights of Copts?

B) From your study of history, what is your view on the stance of Islamic rule toward minorities in issues of maintaining freedom of worship, safety of money and security of human beings?

Answering the first question, the cardinalStephanous , patriarch of the Catholic Copts, said:

"…celestial religions forbid murder and fornication, and guide people to human, brotherly love and link it inextricably to the divine love. Murder, fornication, stealing, and other vices are against this human love, because God created Man to be righteous, not sinful, to gain benefit from the divine guidance. That is why when one deviates from the divine teachings, having had life necessities; one should be punished as a kind of deterrence, and a warning to others, to prevent chaos if committing such crimes would go unpunished. Positive laws sometimes condone people, and criminals are sometimes excused; hence, social security would be lost. I repeatedly have said that application of Islamic law punishments is necessary to all people within our society to secure safe life for all, and their application does not harm rights of Christian citizens. "

Answering the second question, the cardinalStephanous said:

"The one who respects Islam is respecting all religions. Every religion calls for love and fraternity. When people follow their religious teachings, they do not hate others, nor they be hated by others. Other religions, especially Christianity, in all eras of Islamic just rule, did find security and peace in relation to freedom of worship, securing one's people, ownership, and money,…. "

Answering the first question,Anba Georgius , bishop of scientific research and higher studies of theology in the Coptic Church, and the reprehensive of Orthodox Copts, said:

"…No one objects to applying Islamic punishments in Egypt, as celestial teachings are divine light for the guidance of people. We believe that religions were inspired to Man to guide them to a better life, and divine inspiration guides man to the righteous path and to lead a happy, prosperous life(…..) Although Christianity as no text that indicates punishments like cutting off the hand of a thief or execution of murderers…etc., but we, as Christians, do not object to applying Islamic punishments in Egypt, if this is the will of our Muslim brethren. In our opinion, the best way to implement this is to grant full freedom to courts of law to investigate crimes and reasons for it…. "

Answering the second question,Anba Georgius said:

"Non-Muslim minorities - especially Christians - enjoyed under Islamic rule of tolerance freedom, security, peace, liberty of worship, and safety of properties…etc. "

Answering the first question, the priestBarsoum Shehata , the deputy of the Evangelist sect in Egypt, said:

"…all religions prohibit crime, and the human psyche should be prevented from the tendency to commit crimes by serious educative, reformatory means, which are based on the revival of spiritual values in the human psyche, and which are linked to the divine guidance. Hardened hearts and foul souls that cannot be influenced by guidance and counsel are aberrant and deviant, and society should be saved from them…hence, applying Islamic law punishments would realize justice, peace, and love within our society. In my opinion, this should be left to the minister of interior as he represents the authority of the police, and courts should regain their sovereignty and sanctity, with full liberty of investigating crimes… "

These venerable personalities did not offer such testimonies as a kind of flattery, pretence, or to avoid embarrassment. Some people may think otherwise. All ordinary Christians, let alone their magnates, know the words of Christ ''Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and give unto God what is God's '', and ''My kingdom is not in this world ''. Christians know the guidelines of the Christian magnates Paul and Peter who ordered Christians to obey non-Christian rulers (this guideline of Paul came in the era of Nero the Roman emperor), and to be loyal to the states they live in as long as it does not interfere in their religion. This is the line adopted by the Egyptian Orthodox church, whose popes are known to be intelligent and civil, which made them amiable to rulers of Egypt, who in turn, granted them protection, wealth, and lands. These popes were depended upon since the era of M. Ali Pasha to assume internal money exchange, a field now inherited by Copts. Things changed when PopeChenouda III became the head of the Orthodox Church in Egypt, as he had ambitions to develop the church, but ambition in general is a mundane aspect. Even the Holy Quran ordered Prophet Muhammad not to hold the ambition of getting too many people to embrace Islam, especially high profile personalities, and not to be upset if few people believed in Islam, because guidance is from God alone. Because of his ambition, PopeChenouda III clashed with late president M. Sadat, who ordered his confinement in a monastery. This incident was unprecedented. The Khedive of Egypt was the one who ordered the return of PopeKyrollos V when a religious council decided on his exclusion, but he could not return until he made sure that the khedive ordered his return.

The policies of PopeShenouda III led to holding a Coptic conference in Alexandria in 17 January 1977, which was the first conference of its kind, attended by PopeShenouda III whose popularity among the Copts was in the rise since his ascendancy to papacy in 1971.this conference was organized byAnba Samuel, the bishop responsible for foreign relation of the Coptic church.

The conference outlined certain principles: liberty of belief, freedom of worship, equality and providing equal opportunities and representation of Copts in parliamentary bodies, and finally the danger of extreme religious trends.

The conference presented many demands to the authorities: abolition of the law punishing renegades (who rejected their former faith to convert to another one), not to apply Islamic laws on non-Muslims, abolition of laws dating back to the Ottoman era, which forbid erecting new churches, and stopping the exclusion of non-Muslims from assuming positions in the state on all levels.

It is a pity that these policies were just attitudes of expatriate Copts in Canada and the USA who spread the rumor of persecution of Copts in Egypt, tarnishing the reputation of their country to reinforce their position in foreign countries to which they had immigrated.

***

The best way to tackle the Coptic issue is to exclude the sensitivities and deliberate disregard. Relations among Muslims and non-Muslims should be based on equality in duties and rights, and mutual respect. This is urged upon by Islam. No sensitivities should exist for non-Muslims as we mentioned before, and citizenship is not Muslim or Coptic but it belongs to homeland.

It is a grave error to give this issue more magnitude that it deserve, but in the same time we should not be obsessed by denying nonexistent problem by tedious talk of the unity of the cross and the crescent, the church and the mosque, and Muslim and Coptic clergy. We firmly believe that this phenomena, though encouraged as good, is not to the benefit of Copts in the first place, as this might induce them to hold excessive ambitions, and these sloganeering tarnishes the notion of the unity of our nation, giving the impression that the case in Egypt resembles what is in Cypress or Lebanon, and as if the number of Coptic minority equals or approximates the number of Muslim majority, or as of Egypt has two formal religions on equal footing on all occasions. This has nothing to do with unity; on the contrary, it fosters dichotomy or duality, and debilitating the unity of our nation.

Have officials thought of that? Have they thought that caring too much to render justice to minorities might do injustice to the majority, as they might put minorities and the majority on equal footing? Have they thought that too much talking of claims of national unity deepen sectarian feelings?

It is important that Copts should know that they could not make demands that might render injustice to Muslim majority and that if they emphasized the minority status, they would lose claims of national unity. If Copts want to stick to national unity, they should confine their religious identity within the framework of religion, not the state, and they should exclude sensitivities against Muslims.

Christianity is the religion of love, but not the egocentric love for oneself, rather the love for the other. In the Christian point of view, sensitivities are selfish and should be discarded. This was the traditional policy of the Egyptian Coptic Church and its revered patriarchs, until popeChenouda III came to be the head of this institution and changed its policy.

History tells us that flattery, partiality, or giving up legitimate rights by the majority would bring forth serious problems in the future for both the majority and the minority. Social and historical realities are not secrets and should stir no sensitivities: this country's religion today is Islam, and its glory, history, law...etc stemmed from Islam for 1400 years. Another fact is that the vast majority of the Egyptian population is Muslims. There is a considerable Coptic minority, living beside the Muslim majority, that has its specific nature, and it is not secluded from Muslim majority. Copts have the right of freedom of worship, and all citizenship rights. Islam urges on these rights, and this is manifested in the Islamic rule, the testimony of Copts, and the state of affairs.

This should not urge Copts to harbor grudges and sensitivities. It is most inappropriate that a Coptic writer says that late president Anwar Sadat added to his full name the first name 'Mohammad', and sees this as an indication of his policies toward Copts. Sensitivities might not disappear altogether, but they should not be exaggerated. Coptic grievances should not be a reason to debilitate the Islamic identity of Egypt and the Islamic constituent of its nation, because Islam never harms Copts; on the contrary, it acknowledges their rights of full citizenship and protects their religious rights, according to theQuranic teachings. The Islamic constituent is the root of the Egyptian society, weakening it will not benefit Copts, but will harm Muslims, and it has nothing to do with realistic, rational policy.