As Christians across Egypt mourn the loss of Coptic Pope Shenouda III earlier this week, Islamist leaders from the Salafist movement are hurling insults at the late leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church. They call him "the leader of the infidels" and thank God for his death.
The violent statements indicate how hostile the Salafists, who now make up 20 percent of Egypt's parliament, are towards Christians. A prominent Salafist teacher, Sheikh Wagdy Ghoneim, posted a recording on his Facebook page celebrating the Pope's death. "We rejoice that he has been destroyed. He has perished," Ghoneim said on Sunday, March 18, the day after Shenouda passed away at the age of 88. "May God take his revenge on him in the flames of Hell - he and all who follow his path." After Ghoneim published this statement, several others followed his example, posting one insult after another throughout the week.
The head of the Episcopal and Anglican Diocese of Egypt, North Africa and the Horn of Africa, Bishop Mouneer Anis, said that insulting someone after their death is considered one of the rudest things you can do in the Middle East. Anis, who was a close friend of the Pope, commented on the incidents and said they were "very sad". The vast majority of Muslims in Egypt do not share Ghoneim's views. The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest Islamic group in the country, issued a statement expressing his condolences on the death of the Coptic Pope.
Source: Compass Direct
