Egypt's Christian-Muslim Woes Hit Silver Screen

By Ethan Cole, Christian Post Reporter Monday, July 21, 2008

Egypt's deepening Christian-Muslim division has recently stirred international concern, but a new big-budget film seeks a lighter approach to the serious topic.

The film, "Hassan and Morkos," featuring "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Doctor Zhivago" star Omar Sharif, and comedic veteran Adel Imam follows the lives of a Muslim sheikh and a Christian priest, respectively, who find themselves forced to switch religious identities due to an order by a senior state security official.

As the story unfolds, different characters unveil stereotypes and the reasons behind their mistrust of the other group. Christian priests, for instance, voiced their frustration with the law that required building permits for church construction, according to Agence France-Presse. Meanwhile, Muslim sheikhs furtively discuss how Christians control the country's wealth, a reference to Egypt's real-life Christian tycoons.

But the film only discusses the issue at surface-level and fails to address the root of the problem, critics contend.

Film critic Ola Shafei said the movie fails to identify the role of the government behind the escalating Christian-Muslim tension.

"The state itself is behind the spread of corruption among the security apparatuses who have taken on the sectarian issue, turning the tensions into the full-blown crisis that we are witnessing today," agreed film critic Tarek Shennawi, according to AFP.

"When a Muslim man finds that he cannot marry or live a reasonable life, he turns to the mosque and when a Christian man finds that he cannot obtain his rights in society, he turns to the church. All this leads to extremism," he said.

Egypt is home to the Mideast's largest Christian community, which accounts for about six to ten percent of the country's population. For centuries, Christians and Muslims co-existed peacefully side-by-side, but in recent decades members of both groups have turned inward toward their communities and moved away from inter-religious activities.

Part of the reason for the isolation is the increased sectarian violence. In May, four Coptic Christians were injured and a Muslim killed in a violent attack on a monastery.

Other incidents include Muslims being accused of forcing Christians to convert to Islam, Christians being prevented from building or remodeling churches, and Muslim mobs setting fire to Christian homes and shops.

While the film should receive credit for opening discussion on some of the real issues behind Egypt's growing Christian-Muslim animosity, it's comedic side many times overpowers the serious issue at hand, critics say.