Muslim Pluralism Problems

January 11, 2010

Author: John Esposito

Source: The Washington Post

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/john_esposito/2010/01/islams_pluralism_problem.html

Recent attacks against Coptic Christians in Egypt and firebomb attacks on churches in Malaysia have raised major concerns about deteriorating rights and security for religious minorities in Muslim countries. In the town of Nag Hamadi, near Luxor in southern Egypt, seven people were killed when gunmen sprayed automatic fire into a crowd of churchgoers after a Coptic Christmas midnight mass on January 7. Egyptian officials believe the attack was in retaliation for the November rape of a Muslim girl by a Christian man. Clashes between Muslims and Christians are not uncommon in southern Egypt or, in recent years, in Cairo.

In Malaysia, where Muslims make up 60 percent of the population, eight churches have been attacked with firebombs as bands of militants threatened further actions. Malaysia has long been cited as an example and model of a progressive multiracial Muslim country. However, its peaceful coexistence has been strained by interreligious tensions and conflicts in recent years between the Malay majority and the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities who are mostly Christians, Buddhists and Hindus.