Yasser Borhamy, vice president of the Salafi Dawah, has said that congratulating Copts on their religious festivities is haram, or forbidden by Islam, because it would be an implicit recognition of these festivals.
“But this does not mean that we would criticize anyone who would do it,” he said.
“We are willing to set up popular committees to protect churches because it is a national duty,” he added. “Copts have the right to practice their rituals freely.”
Meanwhile, the Brothers Without Violence, a movement of dissident Muslim Brotherhood youths, congratulated the Copts on Christmas.
The movement vowed in a statement issued Monday to secure churches all over the country against attacks from terrorist groups that seek to ignite violence between the elements of the nation by taking advantage of the ignorance of some people who do not know the teachings of Islam.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
