#头条创作挑战赛 #
We all know that the Copts (meaning Christians in Egypt; Transliteration: NiRemenkīmien Khristianos; Arabic: أقباط, Aqbāt) is one of the minorities in contemporary Egypt, descended from the Christian ancient Egyptians. After Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire, many ancient Egyptians began to Christianize.
They now make up the largest Christian denomination in Egypt, Egypt's Copts are also the largest Christian population in the Middle East and North Africa, and the largest religious minority in the region, accounting for more than 10% of Egypt's population, nearly 12 million people, while Copts also make up the largest Christian community in Sudan and Libya.
According to modern Egyptian law: some Coptic men/women are Muslims (according to Egyptian law, Coptic women married by Muslim men must convert to Islam when married, and so must Coptic men who marry Muslim women).
1. History of the Copts in Sudan
The Copts of modern Sudan are relatively unknown.
Many Copts in Sudan are descendants of Egyptian immigrants, but Sudan originally had a Coptic people and lived here since ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians walked up the Nile River when their country was strong, and they knew that there were people and land upstream.
But the upper Nile is a narrow Nile valley, not far on both sides are steep peaks, and then there are cascading cascade waterfalls - the first three tiers of step waterfalls The ancient Egyptians have successfully crossed during the Old Kingdom, and maintained enough local garrisons and simple military installations, but here is quite far from Egypt itself, plus the fourth and fifth step waterfalls area in the Nile River turned a big bend, and the upstream began to enter the East African plateau. The Lower Egyptians stopped after exploring the fourth step waterfall and did not climb over the fifth step waterfall.
Coptic and Arabic inscriptions in the churches of Old Cairo, these verses are the Gospel of John
Further up there is the sixth waterfall, then into the Sultan Nile tidal area with great evaporation, and then there is a large area of rainforest, with the transportation capacity of the ancient Egyptians at that time, the logistics are completely unable to provide such a long distance of exploration and development. Therefore, ancient Egypt only maintained the rule of the northern part of Sudan, and for a long time the area was Egyptianized, many people came to immigrate, some towns were built, and local blacks were assimilated by ancient Egyptian culture.
Today's Sudanese Copts live in northern cities, including Obayid, Atbarah, Dungula, Khartoum, Omdurman, Port Sudan, and Wad Madani. Their total population is as high as 500,000, slightly more than 1% of the total Sudanese population. Because they have higher education, their influence over the country is more important than the data indicates. They occasionally face forced conversions to Islam, leading to a decrease in their immigration and numbers.
Modern migration of Copts to Sudan peaked in the early 19th century, where they were generally welcomed with tolerance.
The Mahd rebels defeated the British
However, the calm scenery was broken by the Mahd uprising at the end of the 19th century. Sudanese Muslims staged a great uprising against British and Egyptian rule, and the leader called himself the savior "Mahdi". They defeated the British and Egyptian colonial armies, and during the decade of Mahdi's rule, the Copts were persecuted by Mahdi extremists.
As a result of persecution, many were forced to renounce their faith, adopt Islam and intermarry with local Sudanese.
In 1898, Britain and Egypt invaded Sudan again and allowed the Copts greater religious and economic freedom, so they expanded their original roles from craftsmen and merchants to trade, finance, engineering, medicine, and civil servants, and proficiency in commerce and management made them a minority.
2. The current situation of the Coptic people in Sudan
However, religious radicals led to the chaos in Sudan in the mid-60s of the 20th century, and the situation of the Copts remained difficult.
In 1983, the regime of Jafar Nimeiri in Sudan declared the adoption of Sharia law and began oppressive treatment of Copts and other non-Muslims. After overthrowing Nimeiri, Coptic leaders endorsed a secular candidate in the 1986 elections. However, the National Islamic Front, with the help of the military, overthrew the elected Sadiq Mahdi government, and society returned to discrimination against Copts. Hundreds of Copts have been dismissed by civil servants and the judiciary.
In February 1991, a Coptic pilot working for Sudanese Air was executed for illegal possession of foreign currency. Before his execution, if he converted to Islam, he would receive amnesty and money, but he refused. Thousands attended his funeral, many Copts were executed, and they began to flee.
The Copts have gradually restricted Sudanese nationality, making it difficult for them to acquire Sudanese nationality by birth or naturalization, thus often causing problems when traveling abroad. The confiscation of Christian schools and the emphasis on Arab Islam in language and history instruction were accompanied by the harassment of Christian children and the introduction of the headscarf dress law.
A Coptic child was flogged for failing to memorize the Quran. In addition, the station stopped reporting Christian Sunday services. As the civil war raged throughout the 90s of the 20th century, the government concentrated its religious fervor in the South. Despite discrimination, Copts and other historic Christian groups in the north are less restrictive than other types of Christians in the south.
Today, Sudan's Coptic Church is officially registered with the government and exempt from property tax. In 2005, Sudan's Government of National Unity (GNU) appointed Coptic Orthodox priests to government positions, although the ruling Islamist party continued to dominate under the GNU, a testament to its commitment to broader religious or ethnic representation.
In addition to the Copts of Egypt and Sudan, there are also some Copts in modern Libya.
The largest Christian group in Libya is the Coptic Orthodox Church with a population of about 60,000. It is well known that the Coptic Church had historical roots in Libya long before the Arabs moved west from Egypt.