Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Richard Bulliet, Conversion and the 

Poll Tax in Early Islam (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard 

University Press, 1979); Daniel Dennett, Conversion and 

the Poll Tax in Early Islam (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard 

University Press, 1950); Richard Eaton, The Rise of 

Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760 (Berkeley: Uni-

versity of California Press, 1993); Michael Gervers and 

Ramzi Bikhazi, eds., Conversion and Continuity: Indig-

enous Christian Communities in Islamic Lands, Eighth 

to Eighteenth Centuries (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of 

Medieval Studies, 1990).

Copts and the Coptic Church

The Copts are members of the native Christian 

church of e

gypt

. The name Copt, like the name 

Egypt, comes from the Greek word Aegyptos.

Thus,  Coptic was used to mean Egyptian. When 

the Arab Muslims conquered Egypt in 641–42, 

they continued to use the word Copt to refer to 

the indigenous Christian population, the descen-

dants of the ancient Egyptians. Today Egypt is 

85 percent to 90 percent Muslim, and all its resi-

dents consider themselves Egyptians, while the 

term  Copt refers specifically to a member of the 

country’s native Christian population.

The Christian community in Egypt traces 

its origins to the Apostle Mark (first century). 

Although the Egyptian church suffered many 

persecutions under the Roman emperors, when 

Christianity became the dominant religion of the 

Roman Empire in the early fourth century, the 

church flourished and Alexandria was the center 

both of religious and intellectual life. Egypt was 

also the birthplace of monasticism.

Despite the contributions of the Coptic Church, 

by the fifth century, theological differences and 

political tensions were straining the relationship 

between the Copts and the other Christians of 

what was then the Byzantine Empire. In the sev-

enth century, Islam arose in Arabia, and a Muslim 

army invaded Egypt under the leadership of Amr 

ibn al-As (d. ca. 663), one of the c

ompanions

 

oF

the

 p

rophet

.

Relations between the Christian Coptic popu-

lation and the Arab Muslim rulers ranged from 

antagonism to cooperation depending on social, 

economic, and regional factors. The Copts were 

granted 

dhimmi

 status as a protected community 

under Islam but were also expected to pay an 

additional tax. Muslim rulers relied on the Copts 

to continue the administration of the country, and 

Copts held important positions in government 

throughout the medieval era. Although Cop-

tic remained the language of administration for 

about a century after the arrival of Islam, Arabic 

language and Islamicate culture gradually came to 

dominate in Egypt, and Copts began to convert to 

Islam in increasing numbers. This was especially 

true during a time of persecution in the 14th 

K  166