Christians believe in Allah?!?!?

For some reason, a lot of my friends and family are shocked to find out that there are Christians in the Arab world. This is of course amongst the greatest irony of all time because Christianity began in what is now the Arab world, in a little town of Bethlehem, in the Arabic region (for lack of a better word) of Palestine. Christian Palestinians live as neighbors with their Muslim counterparts, and the same goes here in Egypt, where Coptic Christians (Egyptian Christians) are no less a part of Egypt than their fellow Muslim citizens. Copts speak Arabic, praise Mubarak, and in general are impossible to distinguish from their Muslim neighbor. I must say that there are some Copts who do not consider themselves Arab. This of course brings on the question, what is an Arab? My favorite, and one of the most agreed up definitions is that an Arab is one whose native tongue is Arabic AND who considers himself or herself to be...wait for it...Arab. So, it turns out I have no right to snicker when my Coptic friend tells me in Arabic, that he is in fact, not an Arab. As long as one sees himself as a non-Arab, then who are we to force that affiliation upon him? Within the past twenty years, due to fluctuating political trends, tension has arisen between Copts and Muslims, but despite the alarmist attitude that some take, the situation on the ground continues to be one of relative peace and coexistence. For example, as much as my Coptic friends might warn me of plots by Muslims to convert Copts, they still have as many Muslim friends as they do Christian. I am sure that there are Copts and Muslims who would disagree with me on this, so know that I am speaking just from my own experience in Cairo and understanding of the history.

But back to the Arabic, my favorite of course. I know that there are Christian Arabs, or Christians whose native tongue is Arabic, but I still find it delightfully refreshing and exciting to find Bible stories written in Arabic. I know better than to be surprised, but I can't help it. Because Arabic is the holy language of Islam, it is easy to forget that another religion might use it to express its own tenents and prayers. It is here where it is most clear that "Allah" is not the exotic God of the "Muhamaddens" but is just the Arabic word for The God, the same god of the Jews and Christians, and Muslims alike. Therefore in Arabic bibles, you see the word "Allah" thousands of times. Coptic Christians use the same expressions of "In sha Allah" and "Ma sha Allah" that their Muslim counterparts have made famous.

Today I toured around Coptic Cairo which is in the part of town known as "Old Cairo", duly titled for its old churches, mosques, and synagogues. After looking around the interior of the famous Hanging Church, I found the nearby giftshop, where I probably spent more time flipping through bible story coloring books in Arabic. After purchasing "Noah's Ark" and "The Story of Jesus" I stumbled upon a night light that I just had to buy. You know how night lights are supposed to be comforting and calming for a child that might be scared of the dark? This night light was just that, if you find a close up of a crucified Jesus with his wounds agape and the expression of "Why have forsaken me, my God" to be comforting. For this was exactly the icon of the night light, and I just had to have it. Later that evening I terrified my roommate by placing it unsuspectingly in the bathroom. She is Jewish, but I have a feeling that night light would even scare Billy Graham.