Offering Christmas greetings to Copts is a ‘good deed’, says mufti

Egyptian Mufti Shawky Allam issued a statement on Wednesday, in which he offered his Christmas greetings to Copts, while asserting that Islam encourages its followers to offer greetings to the Coptic community in connection with its religious celebrations.

He added that the birth of Christ is an occasion of goodness, peace and love.

During the Christmas holiday season, a debate often resurfaces in Egypt between Islamic scholars and leaders of Salafist thought on whether it is allowed in Islam to offer greetings to people of different faiths related to their religious occasions.

In 2012, a front created by Salafist groups to issue religious opinions declared that greeting Copts in connection with their religious celebrations is not allowed, arguing that it implies the recognition of the Coptic faith and some of its elements that contradict Islam. Several Salafist leaders who were at the forefront of the political scene at the time, including Yasser Borhamy and others, reiterated this opinion.

The front, named the Legitimate Front for Rights and Reform, clarified that it would be acceptable to greet Copts on the occasion of personal events, but that participating in their religious celebrations was not allowed.

However, Al-Azhar has repeatedly discredited these calls and made a point of officially greeting the Coptic community during these occasions.

Allam said in his statement that the exchanging of greetings between people of different faiths on the occasion of their religious celebrations leads to unity and positive energy within the nation, which is much needed for the development of Egypt.

However, religious authorities have not applied the same principle in relation to recent Shia celebrations. In October, the Endowments Ministry closed the Hussein Mosque shrine to keep Egypt’s Shia minority from worshiping there during the festival of Ashura.

The celebrations for the birth of Christ have roughly coincided this year with celebrations for the birth of Prophet Mohamed, which was marked on Wednesday, making for combined festivities in some quarters.