Representing the Coptic community: the Communal Council and the road to the 1911 Coptic Congress

Abstract

In March 1911, representatives of the Coptic Christian community convened in Asyut in Upper Egypt to discuss perceived grievances hindering Coptic equality with the Muslim majority. Given the apparent peculiarity of the event, it has become customary to situate the 1911 Coptic congress within the context of a rapidly escalating sectarian strife in colonial Egypt following the appointment and assassination of the first Coptic prime minister, Butrus Ghali (1908–1910). Departing from this view, this article proposes to examine the Asyut congress against the backdrop of the development of the Coptic Communal Council ( al-majlis al-milli ) and the ensuing conflict between the lay reformists and the high clergy crystallizing at the end of the century. This study argues that the 1911 congress constitutes a link in the chain of the development of the Communal Council movement that aimed at expanding the purview and jurisdiction of the Council beyond the boundaries of the Coptic Orthodox community ( taʾifa ) to encompass all Egyptian Christians across geographical and denominational lines.