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Admin moved page Did Egyptian President Gamal Nasser Protect the Copts? to Did Egyptian President Gamal Nasser Protect the Copts
When the Ottoman Turks conquered Egypt in 1517, they divided the religious communities of the country according to their <i>millet</i> system and continued the use of sharia law, but there were no widespread or massive anti-Christian pogroms under their rule. In fact, the Ottomans gave the Copts many rights that were denied them under previous Islamic dynasties, such as the right to bear arms and to serve in the military. <ref> Wakin, pgs. 9-10</ref> Another significant change that took place during Ottoman rule in Egypt that affected the Copts was a kindling of modern, non-sectarian Egyptian nationalism. <ref> Guirguis, Max. “Islamic Resurgence and Its Consequences in the Egyptian Experience.” <i>Mediterranean Studies</i> 20 (2012) p. 190</ref>
[[File: Wafd_Flag.png|300px250px|thumbnail|rightleft|The Flag of the Egyptian Wafd Party]]
The nascent native nationalism that began to take hold in Egypt during Ottoman rule came to full fruition after the British conquered the country in 1882. Native Egyptian nationalism became ascendant in political circles during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which was led by the Wafd Party. The Wafd Party was founded by Saad Zaghloul (1859-1927) in 1919 as a secular pro-independence nationalist party. Zaghloul made sure to emphasize the organization’s secular nature by having both Muslims and Copts in important positions, holding interfaith marches, and by adopting a party flag that featured both the Islamic crescent and the Coptic cross, although the crescent was noticeably larger. <ref> Guirgis, p. 191</ref> The Copts appeared poised to position themselves in a favorable spot when Egypt finally achieved independence.
The Free Officers were led by Gamal Nasser, who became president of Egypt in 1956 after overthrowing Muhammad Naguib. <ref>Guirguis, p. 195</ref> Nasser appealed to the Egyptian people as a populist reformer, employing secular, pan-Arab rhetoric to appeal to a wider audience. In his speeches, Nasser did not rail against the native Coptic community but instead emphasized his opposition to Western interlopers, Zionists in general, and the state of Israel in particular. But as Nasser climbed the rungs of power, many individuals and organizations that supported him along the way called in favors, one of which was the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.
[[File: Hassan_al-Banna.jpg|300px250px|thumbnail|rightleft|Hassan al-Banna (1906-1949)]]
Perhaps no organization has influenced the course of modern Egypt’s history than the Muslim Brotherhood. Founded in 1929 in the city of Ismailiya by Hassan al-Banna, the Muslim Brotherhood sought to make Egypt an Islamic state whereby all aspects of life would be subject to Islamic law. The Muslim Brotherhood and al-Banna recognized the large minority Coptic community in Egypt and even believed the Copts had a right to exist but also thought that they should live in a subordinate position to Muslims, similar to the practices of earlier Islamic dynasties. <ref> Waikin, pgs. 73-74</ref>