The civil state is not built only by laws and institutions; it is built first by knowledge, and by the ability to call things by their correct names—not by their commonly used ones.
One of the issues that most clearly exposes the confusion of consciousness in our societies is the question of name, identity, and origin:
Who is Egyptian?
Who is Coptic?
Are we dealing with a religious description, or a civilizational belonging that predates religions?
The word Coptic is not, in its origin, a Christian designation. It is a purely Egyptian designation, deeply rooted in history—before Christianity and before Islam.
The Copts are the Egyptians. Christianity embraced the name; it did not create it.
When Muslims entered Egypt, they did not enter a land without a people, nor a history without an identity.
They entered—according to historical records—about twenty-five thousand Muslims into a society whose population was close to two million.
This means, scientifically and historically, that the overwhelming majority of Egyptian Muslims today are Copts who embraced Islam—not ethnic newcomers, and not a civilizational rupture.
Abandoning this origin is not humility; it is a forfeiture of memory.
The Civil State Does Not Fear Roots
The civil state is not built by erasing origins, but by liberating them from religious or political exploitation.
When we say that Egyptian Muslims are Copts, we are not “diluting” Christian identity, nor confusing Islamic belief. Rather, we are placing each belief in its proper place:
A matter of faith, chosen freely, within a single national belonging.
The civil state does not say, “Forget who you are,”
but rather: “Do not make what you believe a reason to divide what you belong to.”
What is common is not always correct.
Following what is common—even with good intentions—is not an intellectual virtue.
The ethical duty of the intellectual is clarification, not appeasement.
Yes, the term Coptic has become associated in contemporary usage with Christianity, but this association is incidental and should not erase the original meaning.
If we accept common usage without correction, we contribute—unintentionally—to reproducing sectarian logic, which is the opposite of the civil state.
Lineage, Science, and the Unmasking of Illusion
People link lineage to the father and ignore the mother, as if identity were inherited through a single line.
But science has shattered this illusion.
When DNA studies show that an Egyptian Muslim belongs overwhelmingly to the ancient Egyptian root, this is not an opinion—it is a scientific fact.
A person may spiritually or nominally affiliate with a noble lineage, such as descent from Ali ibn Abi Talib—as is the case for me and my family, with documentation—and this is a great honor.
But it does not negate my civilizational and genetic belonging to the land on which I was born, and to ancestors stretching back thousands of years.
In this sense, the Egyptian Muslim whose genes prove him to be indigenous is:
Coptic by science,
Muslim by belief,
Egyptian by identity—
and there is no contradiction in this.
The civil state is not cultural neutrality; it is epistemic justice.
Restoring the word Coptic as a name for the Egyptian should not be avoided or feared. It is a step toward:
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De-sectarianization
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Liberating religion from ethnicity
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Liberating the nation from division
We do not return to origins in order to close in on ourselves, but to open up without fear.
The Copts are not a sect; they are a national memory.
And whoever does not know their memory will not build a true civil state.
May all the Copts of Egypt—Muslims, Christians, and non-affiliated—be well, in love and peace.
A blessed Christmas to Jesus Christ, whether celebrated in December or January, and a year filled with love and goodwill.
