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However, gradual conversions to Islam over the centuries had changed Egypt from a Christian to a largely Muslim country by the end of the 12th century. [38] Another scholar writes that a combination of "repression of Coptic revolts", Arab-Muslim immigration, and Coptic conversion to Islam resulted in the demographic decline of the Copts. [39]
The vast majority of Egyptian Christians are Copts who belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, an Oriental Orthodox Church. [2] [3] As of 2019, Copts in Egypt make up approximately 10 percent of the nation's population, [4] with an estimated population of 9.5 million (figure cited in the Wall Street Journal, 2017) [5] or 10 million (figure cited in the Associated Press, 2019). [6]
The Coptic Christian population in Egypt is the largest Christian community in the Middle East. [5] Christians represent around 15% to 20% of a population of over 115 million Egyptians, though estimates vary (see Religion in Egypt).
The Islamization of Egypt occurred after the seventh-century Muslim conquest, in which the Islamic Rashidun Caliphate seized control of Egypt from the Christian dominated Byzantine Empire. Egypt and other conquered territories in the Middle East gradually underwent a large-scale conversion from Christianity to Islam , motivated in part by a ...
Many Coptic intellectuals hold to Pharaonism, which states that Coptic culture is largely derived from pre-Christian, Pharaonic Egyptian culture. It gives the Copts a claim to a deep heritage in Egyptian history and culture.
Christian Cannuyer traces in five chapters the early history, the rich artistic and spiritual heritage of the Egyptian Christians known as Copts in this densely illustrated volume, along with other topics, such as Coptic Christology, Coptic art and Christian conversions to Islam. [3] The book starts with 'The First Church of Alexandria' (chap.
An Egyptian court on February 25, 2016, convicted four Coptic Christian teenagers for contempt of Islam, after they appeared in a video mocking Muslim prayers. [53] Nearly all Egyptian Christians today are Copts, adherents of either the Coptic Orthodox Church or other Coptic churches.
Egyptian Christians are the largest Christian community in the Middle East by raw number of adherents. The Coptic Christian population in Egypt is the largest Christian community in the Middle East and North Africa standing at between 5% – 15% of Egypt's population according to different statistics.