ABSTRACT
Following the ouster of Mubarak, there was a new optimism that Muslim– Christian relations would experience a new era of social harmony. Tensions in the relations were blamed on the Mubarak regime’s adoption of divide and rule strategies that were intended to deter the formation of a unified front among the people against him. The first part of this chapter examines whether there was a positive transformation in relations between Muslims and Copts, Egypt’s largest non-Muslim minority (amounting to about 10 per cent of the population) and whether, accordingly, the rapport between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Copts changed in the light of the new political configurations. The second part of the chapter traces the historical and political relations between the Brotherhood and the Copts from the time of El Banna up to the present leadership by highlighting key events, actors and relationships.
