Naguib Sawiris Talk @ SOAS

"We have a long way to go," I though to myself as I left the talk. I just returned to the dorm from talk at London's School of Oriental and African Studies by Naguib Sawiris, who was promoting his newly established political party, the Free Egyptians. I was delighted when a friend informed that the talk was taking place in London because Sawiris is one of my role models. He is splendid example of an "Egyptian success story." Hearing him talk in person truly affirmed my that notion.

There's a lot that happened during the talk that is reflective of the current situation. The main theme of the talk was that the revolution was prone to being hijacked by forces who do not seek to serve Egypt's national interest. Sawiris warned that the demographics of the "revolutionaries" was gradually changing, unfortunately, for the worse... The liberal, intellectual, progressive youth who aimed to steer Egypt to a more desirable future are starting to become replaced by forces of various religious and political ideologies struggling for power to serve their self-interests. Sawiris claimed that many of the youth who spearheaded the revolution thought that they had achieved their objective by overthrowing Mubarak's regime. Obviously he was referring to the recent clashes between extremists (both Copts and Muslims) who had led to recent clashes. When this sensitive subject came up during the talk and the Q & A session, many Muslims and Copts began speaking up. Minorities from both religious groups began making comments criticizing one another. Actually, at one point, a fight broke out when a Copt directly insulted Islam. The situation flared at that point, but fortunately people came to their senses when another Copt formally apologized on behalf of the other Copts to the Muslims, and the apology was accepted.

It was at this point that the true sound of reason spoke to my ears. An old Coptic woman sitting next to me began explaining to a bearded Muslim man sitting behind me the following:

"We are all Egyptians. We should never let this minority break us apart. In the 1948, 1967, and 1973 Wars, Copts and Muslims fought side by side. Their blood mixed with one another. Never in these wars did a Muslim tell a Copt to go fight in front of him or vice versa. We must remain resilient in the face of those who want to break us apart."

These words of wisdom and nobility struck a chord within me. Regardless of whatever faith I adhere to, I shall always let my humanity supersede. What bewilders me is how we Egyptians have regressed to such barbarism. Egypt has always been a land of tolerance. Muslims and Copts have embraced one another for more than a thousand years. Prophet Muhammed was always gentle and just with Christians, and I am sure that he would have put justice above religious allegiance. I even recall reading a Hadith in which a delegation of Christians began praying in Prophet Muhammed's mosque and even though the Muslims wanted to stop them from doing so, the Prophet ordered that the Christians should be left to pray and worship freely.

The point is, people get so caught up in the moment that they forget what their religions actually preach. Any Muslim or Christian who defies religious tolerance and harmony is going against the teachings of his religion, in my opinion. Sawiris put it so brilliantly during the talk when he claimed, "If I have choose between my identity and allegence to Egypt or Christianity, I choose Egypt." Even though we are all faithful Muslims and Christians, we should not let fundamentalists hijack our religion and politics. "We hope to see Egypt as Turkey, and not Iran," Sawiris went on to claim.

The thing about Egyptian politics is that everyone seems to have an ego and wants to be in the limelight. What impressed me about Sawiris is humble approach. He does not seek the presidency, even of his own party...but actually wants to make a positive difference. He claimed to modernize, we need to have a free, liberal, secular system. Secularism doesn't mean atheism, but it recognizes that forces can hijack religion to serve their political self-interests. Sawiris cited Ataturks' secularist revolution and the seperation of the State and the Church in the Western World as sources of progress. Now he didn't encourage the religious nihilism that has prevailed in the West, but recognizes that religion is best kept in the private sphere of life.

I can go on and on to explain the merits of Sawiris' talk, but the chaos in the audience during the Q&A session made me realized that the Egyptians still have a long way to go in fully absorbing the principles of democracy. This was the cream of Egyptian society, and they could not conduct the Q&A session without tension and disrespect to one another. What happened to the civilization, discipline, and tolerance that Tahrir Square taught us? How do we expect to have a full-fledged democracy if we couldn't control ourselves in a small auditorium in London? People were confused and upset. Some people left half way through the Q&A session. For some reason, I did not give up hope. I know that every problem has a solution. I pray that God bestows Muslims and Copts with the wisdom, benevolence, and enlightenment that the old Coptic lady sitting beside me had revealed in the few words she spoke.

Although I heard some in the crowd murmur, "I'm not ready to go back to Egypt." I thought the complete opposite. It is my life's purpose to return to my nation at this point and do what I can, no matter how little I may have to offer.

I pray that God guides us all to the straight path.

مصر القديمة

اليوم ختمت كتاب قصيرعن اجدادي، و هم القدماء المصريين. في الماضي، لم أهتم بتريخ مصر الفرعوني كما يجب على. بعد الثورة، اشعرت بالالتزام أن أزود معرفتي عن هويتي. علاوة على ذلك، كنت أريد أن أتعلم عن تريخ مصر من وجهة نظر مصرية، و ليست من منظور غربي برغم أن معظم تريخنا مسجل بيد الغربيين

في أحد من رحلاتي إلي ميدان التحرير بعد الثورة، قررت أن أستكشف الشوارع الجانبية في وسط البلد. في هذه الجولة وجدت مكتبة المدبولي، و هي من أشهر مكاتب القاهرة. دخلت المكتبة و سألت عن كتاب "الأيام" الذي كتبه طه حسين عن حياته. عندما إنتظرت البائع يبحث عن نسخه من هذا الكتاب، التفتت عيناي إلى جزء من المكتبة تحمل كتب نجيب محفوظ. اعشق كتبات محفوظ خصوصا كتابته عن تريخ مصر. في الماضي قرأت "كفاح طيبة" وعجبني خيال محفوظ وأسلوب روايته. رأيت من ضمن عناوين الكتب كتاب عنوانه "مصر القديمة". شرح لي البائع أن هذا الكتاب مجرد مجموعة من الفصول عن مواضيع مختلفه كتبها محفوظ عن القدماء المصريين . ظننت أن هذا الكتاب مثالي لي في بحثي عن الهوية المصرية. أشتريت كتابين من كتب محفوظ و كتاب حسين الأيام

بدأت رحلتي الإستكشافية عن تريخ مصر أثنا عودتي إلى لندن. أنهيت أول ربع من الكتاب على الطائرة. ماذا عجبني عن الكتاب هو نظرته العامة عن الحياة المصرية من آلاف السنين. يصور لنا محفوظ تفصيل الحاة اليومية وتقاليد أجدادنا الثقافية والدينية . بالإضافة إلى ذلك، يكتب الكاتب عن حيات الفرعون و الجندي المصري. أعجبني كيف عرف محفوظ أن يروي كل هذه الأبعاد المختلفة عن حضارة قديمة بعين للتفاصيل الدقيقة جدا.

أكثر موضوع أحببته في الكتاب هو عن الديانة المصرري القديمة و كيف كان يؤمن القدماء بالأخرة كما نعتقد الأن أن يوجد حياة أبادي بعد الموت. يكتب محفوظ ، "يجب علينا ألا ننسى أن المصريين تواصلوا كذلك لمعرفة جانب عظيم من الحقيقة التي قررتها الأديان التوحيدية، فكانوا يعتقدون بأن أفعال الإنسان في الدنيا هي التي تقرر مصيره في الأخرة وأن الشرير وإن نجا من العقاب في الدنيا فالآلهة لا تتركة في الدنيا الأخرى بلا حساب أو عقاب." إذن، يلخص محفوظ سر و حق هذه الحياة و هو أن العدل سيطبق ذات يوم. مثل جميع كتابات محفوظ، هذا الكتاب يرزقنا بالحكمة والمعرفة

آمل أن اختتام هذا الكتاب فقد أول خطوة لي في رحلتي في التعليم عن بلدي، لغتي، ثقافتي، ديانتي، و هويتي. كما أقول عندما أبدأ أي رحله: توكلت على اللة