Egypt: Missions

In the days after Jesus' death in the 1st century, much of the people living in Egypt were Christians and true believers of His saving grace. These believers were called Coptic Christians or "Copts". Because there were so many of these people living in Egypt, the Egyptian people were not called "Egyptians", yet they were called "Copts". Up until around the 7th century, the nation was almost nearly widespread with those who were believers of Coptic Christianity. In 641 AD, Egypt was invaded by the Arabic people who went head to head with the Byzantine Army because of the Byzantine rule the people were living under. This time period of change and the introduction of Islam is named the "Islamization of Egypt". This time period nearly goes simultaneous with the "Arabization" of Egypt, when it became the country that we think of when we think of Egypt. [1]

Since the invasion of Islam in the 7th century, Islam has seen a huge increase in religious followers and Coptic Christianity has experienced a large decrease. According to HeartCry Missionary Society, in the 85.3 million people who are residents of Egypt, close to 87% of those people adhere to Islam. In close to 1400 years, the change in the religion of the countries believers has shifted almost completely in the opposite direction. About 12% of the 85.3 million who continue to live in Egypt are considered Coptic Christians. The other one percent is represented as Evangelicals. [2]

In the 1950s, there was a large number of people who claimed to be Jewish Egyptians. The largest number topping out around 66,000 people who adhered to Judaism. After the 1956 Suez Crisis, there was a large emigration of Jews who were expelled by Gamal Abdel Nasser, and now there are only about 50 Jewish Egyptians. [3]

The impact of the invasion of Islam in the 7th century is incredible and widespread throughout the country. Because of the issues that were created with those who were Coptic Christians living in Egypt at that time, they were forced to convert to Islam. If it were not for this invasion, it is possible that much of Egypt would still be believers of Jesus.


[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamization_of_Egypt
[2] http://www.heartcrymissionary.com/egypt
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Egypt