Faith, tea and tension: how Egyptian Muslims view ministry
Melanie Guerrero, Contributing Writer
Feature photo courtesy of Unsplash
Religion permeates the air in Egypt. Faith exists on street corners, in classrooms, in everyday greetings and in the silence before the afternoon call to prayer. You can sense it even before someone speaks.
The mosque is packed for midday prayer and you can hear its megaphones reverberating across the street as you stroll down the market.
A shopkeeper a block away is adjusting the small Coptic cross tattoo, a mark that has been passed down through the centuries on his wrist. Everyone is aware of who is silent, who is Muslim and who is Christian.
Historian Mena notes that early Islamic rule-imposed taxes and social pressure on Christians, yet many refused conversions. Their endurance, he writes, shaped Egypt’s identity and explains why Christians remain the Middle East’s largest religious minority today.
Growing up, Professor Liliane Toss was well aware of these limits. 90% of the students were Muslim and 10% were Christian in the classroom she taught, which was filled with eager faces and chalk at her fingertips. She experienced such figures herself rather than learning them from statistics.
She had a great deal of affection for each and every pupil, but she was also aware that it is forbidden to publicly discuss Christianity with Muslim students. Not even if they inquire. Not even if they’re interested.
Even in nonreligious areas, the official curriculum strongly favors Islamic teachings, and teaching Christian doctrine to Muslim students is prohibited under Egyptian law.
This has been reported by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
Toss did her best to get around it. She never gave lectures when a student inquired about Christ. She merely uttered the one legally secure recommendation in a whisper: “The bookstore has a Bible. You are able to read it for yourself.”
No conflict. No argument. Just a little truth nudge in the middle of what is legal.
Faith sometimes needs to be subtle in order to survive.
Despite silence in classrooms, faith conversations don’t disappear; they shift to coffee shops, quiet bus rides and bookstore aisles. Toss said curiosity rarely dies—students often return years later saying they remembered her kindness long before they understood her beliefs.
Outside of the classroom, employment bias presented Toss with yet another imperceptible challenge.
Discrimination outside of the classroom is documented by Crosswalk. After graduation, Christian students frequently have fewer prospects. Companies are reluctant to hire them. Promotions are uncommon. Although not expressed, the bias is well known.
For many Christians, this means lesser wages. There is less opportunity for economic mobility. Before they ever start, careers are limited.
Crosswalk highlights the systematic and generational nature of the injustice. School is not the end of it. It influences Christians’ long-term livelihood and dignity and follows them into adulthood.
Toss recalled searching for positions where the hiring committee knew the answer prior to the start of the interview. She said that some jobs were “just for Muslims.” Everyone understood that even though no one spoke it out loud.
Equality is guaranteed by Egypt’s constitution. Someone who chooses to follow Christ in a Muslim context may walk straight into loss:
- loss of family
- loss of job
- loss of housing
- loss of safety
- in certain regions, even risk of death
The language used here is hardly excessive. Because being found could result in arrest, underground churches gather covertly in neighboring Middle Eastern nations. According to Baptist Press, believers congregate in secret apartments and sing in hushed tones to avoid being overheard by their neighbors.
That isn’t “dramatic,” according to Allen McWhite, department chair of intercultural studies. It’s typical, he said.
For this reason, he does not view ministry as intellectual combat. It’s hospitality. It’s there. It’s defense.
McWhite has observed that many Muslims think Westerners despise them. They anticipate animosity, suspicion and chilliness. And barriers break when they discover compassion instead.
He said, “Just being there, loving them, breaks barriers.”
Sometimes such love takes the form of enjoying delicious mint tea while lounging on someone’s floor. It appears to be listening. Instead of seeing a religion, it appears to be seeing a person.
Yes, there are tensions.
Yes, laws.
Yes, there are limitations.
However, there are also times when hope appears.
Egypt is a country full of opposites, both beautiful and devastating at times. Some Christians speak via charity, while others are silenced by laws. Some Christians are unemployed, while others put in twice as much effort. Underground churches exist, and Christians and Muslims converse about God while sipping tea next to each other.
Faith doesn’t always make a big impression. It murmurs at times.
And for some reason, those murmurs have persisted for 1,400 years and counting.
