Maurice Salama Sharkawy, reports that he was arrested by the Egyptian security forces on October 24 at his own home in the village of Deir Samalout of Minia province and detained for two days.

He had invited a pastor to pray for his sick father and his family prayed along also. Some Muslim neighbors complained that they heard the Christians praying and the authorities were called.

Response: It is legal for Muslims to pray anywhere at any time at home or in public in Egypt but Christians who make up close to 10% of the population are forbidden to pray in public and allowed to pray only in ‘official’ churches.

However one ongoing problem that Christians face is the lack of adequate worship facilities in Egypt. The Christian community has out grown their current churches long ago and the Egyptian authorities have made it all but impossible to build new churches or even remodel or expand the old ones.

One of the dirty little secrets that no one wants to admit is that Egyptians are increasingly becoming more radical in their exclusive adherence to the Muslim faith. In fact, many key al Queda leaders and terrorists originally came from Egypt.

For hundreds of years Egyptian Christians and Muslims have lived together in peace but in this generation the laws are increasingly slanted against Christians and persecution against the Christian community is increasing.

Muslim and Christian families that have lived together in friendship and have tolerated each other in the same villages for centuries are now becoming alienated. The Christian minority is no longer accepted as they once were—now even their personal prayers are an excuse for persecution.           *Top     

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