The Copts – the descendants of the Pharaohs as a minority
today
As described above, the Egyptian population consists of a Muslim majority
and a Christian minority, comprised mainly of Orthodox Copts. Fewer than
250,000 people belong to other Christian denominations. The ancestors of
the contemporary Egyptians were by and large Coptic Christians. In the
course of an Islamic rule lasting almost fourteen centuries the Christians
were exposed to alternating treatment. Times of relative religious tolerance
or more or less severe economic discrimination were followed by times during
which they suffered physical violence. One feature of economic discrimina-
tion which inflicted extreme suffering on the Christians was the djizya (from
djazaa – penalty), a tax every non-Muslim had to pay. This tax was vital for
the state budget, with the result that the rulers were not interested in con-
verting the whole population into Muslims. During the recurrent outbreaks
of famine in Egypt many Christians were unable to pay the tax and saw no
alternative but to convert to Islam. Several big fellaheen revolts against the
imposition of djizya were recorded in the Nile delta during the eighth and the
ninth centuries. They were brutally crushed and the churches of the rebel-
ling people destroyed. Similarly today, conversion to Islam not infrequently
takes place under economic and social pressure, which has increased since
the deterioration of the economic situation in the country on the one hand
and the resurgence of Islam on the other.