While preparing to write this Sunday’s editorial, I came across two instances. The first was a quote I found while looking into the article I wrote last year on the Resurrection of Christ, under the title: “Joy in Resurrection … Solace in martyrdom”. The quote had been posted on social media by a young Muslim woman in response to [Islamist] threats against churches, threats which had prompted a group of young Muslim women to hold hands and physically surround some churches to protect them. The young woman posted: “We are 100 million Egyptians, we are all Muslims when needs be, and all Copts when needs be. Kill us all if you can…”.
The second instance I came across was a piece of historical information that fascinated me as it truly embodies the concept of national cohesion regardless of religious differences. It is a testimony of Adeeb Jawad Joudeh al-Husseini, the Muslim man who holds the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Given that many may not be familiar with the testimony of Mr Husseini, I feel compelled to record it here for us all to learn its moral and try to apply it in daily life. Mr Husseini is the custodian of the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem; he witnesses every year the miracle of the Holy Light which erupts out of the Holy Sepulchre on Bright Saturday—the Saturday that precedes Orthodox Easter Sunday. Mr Husseini is the one who closes and opens the Holy Sepulchre before and after the Holy Light erupts, in a miracle that is firmly established in the Orthodox faith. He said:
“I am the Muslim who holds the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which is among the holiest places in Christendom. Not only is this a source of personal and family pride, but it is also a subject of pride for the entire Muslim and Arab world. I belong to a Muslim family that has been entrusted with the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for 850 years, since the time of Salah Eddin al-Ayoubi (Saladin) in 1187. I was handed the keys by my father who passed away in 1992, and will hand this trust down to one of my children. Every day we stand in front of the Church’s Holy Door which is made of iron sheets and covered in walnut wood. The door was restored several times but was never replaced. Its locks are the original locks that were installed more than 1000 years ago and are still opened with the keys entrusted to our family and handed down by each generation to the next. No words can do justice to the joy felt by our family for being entrusted with the keys of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
“A malicious rumour has it that my family was entrusted with the keys of the Holy Church as a move to counteract conflicts among the Christian communities in Jerusalem, which belong to various Christian denominations that each holds sway over parts of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. But in truth, the keys were handed to my family upon consent of the six Church communities for the future well-being of the Holy Church.
“Ever since the Arab conquest of Jerusalem in the seventh century, the Omar Pledge of Allegiance—Umar Ibn al-Khattab was the Caliph during whose caliphate the Arabs conquered Jerusalem in 638AD—recognised and upheld the light that erupted out of the Holy Sepulchre every Bright Saturday, for the sake of Christian-Muslim coexistence. The Pledge of Allegiance was conveyed to the whole world as a model of tolerance, rather than usurping anyone’s right or igniting any strife. Some of the sultans who ruled Jerusalem through the ages, have tried to destroy the Holy Church, yet Saladin who freed Jerusalem in 1187 followed in Umar Ibn al-Khattab footsteps and preserved Jerusalem as a hub for communities of various Christian denominations. Saladin told Jerusalem Christians at the time that he can very well protect the Holy Church, but that after he dies other sultans may come and decide to destroy it, so his advice was to entrust the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to one of al-Aqsa Mosque elders—my predecessor—in order to protect the Church. The heads of Christian communities agreed, and since then our family became custodian of the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre from generation to generation.”
I contemplated these historical facts and wondered why can we not do the same today. Why would we not shield our nation from the consequences of religious extremism by entrusting the protection of mosques to Christians, and churches to Muslims? How about handing the keys to Egypt’s mosques to Christian families living in the vicinities, and likewise the keys to Egypt’s churches to Muslim families? Would this not be the epitome of love and trust: to entrust our mosques and churches to safe hands that would zealously protect them against any hostile intentions? What a national responsibility and what a pride to shoulder our Muslims and Christians with the responsibility of protecting churches and mosques across Egypt’s cities and villages, regardless of the doctrinal and faith aspects of each side! Has the time come to tread this path?
Watani International
21 April 2023