WARREN, MI – Muslims around the world have condemned  an incident that occurred in Alexandria’s Sidi Bishr district where shortly after midnight, a bomb detonated in front of a Coptic church entrance. At least 23 people were killed and nearly 100 injured in the explosion, which mangled cars and scattered body parts.

Local Islamic leaders pose with St. Sharbel Church leaders and parishioners. PHOTO: Nafeh AbuNab/American Elite Studios

Egyptian American attorney Mohamed ElSharnoby of ElSharnoby and Associates, PC who works in the Metro Detroit area, says the incident was an attempt to destroy the relations between Muslims and Christians in the Middle East. “We’re never going to let this be a problem between one another. We are all Egyptians….Christians are our brothers,” he said. 

The Council on American-Islamic Relations-Michigan also condemned the incident and other series of church attacks in Nigeria.  A statement issued by CAIR read: “We condemn the heinous attacks on churches in Egypt and Nigeria and repudiate the apparent motive of the perpetrators to harm long-term relations between Muslims and Christians. We offer sincere condolences to the loved ones of those killed or injured and call on authorities in both nations to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“The best response to these cowardly attacks is to redouble efforts to build bridges of understanding between faiths.”  CAIR’s statement also includes this passage from the Qur’an: 

 “Say: ‘We believe in God and the revelation given to us and to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and it is to Him that we surrender ourselves.'” (The Holy Quran, 2:136)

Representatives from various local Islamic institutions and civic leaders also visited St. Sharbel Maronite Church in Warren, where they wished clergy members and parishioners happy holidays, offered condolences for the victims of attacks in Egypt and Iraq against Christians, condemned the acts of violence against them, and engaged in dialogues. The two sides pledged a relationship of greater engagement in the future.

The attack was condemned in statements issued by the Islamic Society of North America, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, an official Syrian source, Al-Azhar, the Muslim Brother hood, the Arab League and more. 

As a result of the bombing worshipers will now walk a further distance to attend mass. Nearby parking areas are currently closed for security purposes.

The Coptic community in Egypt makes up about 10 percent of the country which has a population estimated at 80 million. Copts in Egypt have complained about experiencing discrimination, and say they must obtain presidential permission to build churches.  In the wake of the attack, the head of Egypt’s Coptic church Pope Shenouda III asked the Egyptian government to address the discrimination against Copts.

On Sunday Jan. 2 in Los Angeles members of the Coptic community demonstrated outside a federal building urging the United States government to get engaged in the plight of Christian minorities in Egypt by calling on its government to provide security to minorities in the country.

The New York Times reports Egyptian authorities have spent time trying to identify 18 victims of the attack and examined a decapitated head that is believed to be the extremist who detonated the bomb. Suspects who may hold information on who’s accountable for the attack have been detained.