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The Coptic Man Who Teaches Muslim Children The Quran

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Cairoscene, reported an intriguing story about a revered Coptic man, Ayyad Al Areef, who has taught generations of children in his village the Qur’an. These stories upend the neat lines of separation and the narratives of hostility that predominate headlines when it comes to religion.

Cairo Scene

Wouldn’t it be interesting if you were taught the Quran by a Christian man? His name is Ayyad Al Areef, a Coptic man, born to a father who taught at the local Orthodox Church of their small village in Upper Egypt. His story as a Christian man teaching another religion is intriguing, and enlightening to Egyptians and the world alike, on the endless possibilities of coexisting and teaching others to do so as well, particularly in an area such as Upper Egypt which is now infested with strife between Islam and Christianity.

El Watan News reports Al Areef’s story, where he goes into detail about his life. He graduated with a secondary school degree, with a focus on English, and he was supposed to be assigned to a particular school as a teacher, in a city far away from his home. However, when his dad fell ill, he had to stick around – he says at that time, there were only three people in his village who knew how to read and write. This encouraged him to start a ‘kottab’ (small schools) in his church.

Kottab were a common form of school back in the day, where traditionally, children are taught Quran, and the ages of students would range, but they would generally be quite young. The story of Al Areef begins in 1948, when a young child came to him concerned about having to study the Quran, but not understanding it. Al Areef began teaching children the Quran with the goal of memorisation, and teaching its language and concepts. He says that back then, not many people lived in his village and that Christian-Muslim relations were not even an issue. But, today, he says “satan came in between them,” as in, the rising strife between the two groups in Upper Egypt.

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    • Arun nt

      wow,that’s great.He did this trick before in groves of spears(nasreen’s blog)ha ha we had a good laugh ,as both his incarnates are from the same id at that time. Still he talks to himself in different accounts .He is seriously affected.

    • Arun nt

      good.you should tell that pyscho clearly that you will not give a shit about him because still he thinks you love him or loved him secretly.

    • Arun nt

      Dont engage with this loony toon.Ha ha he is that same stupid elcid stalking you in another account.Read his messages and see the word pattern,you could understand

    • Arun nt

      Dont engage with this pyschopath.Ha ha he is that same stupid elcid stalking you in another account.Read his messages and see the word pattern,you could understand.

    • Khizer

      He never sweared, he made his own (and accurate) degrotary terms for racists, warmongers and fascists.

    • Khizer

      People will make up bullshit to make themselves feel that the ‘other’ is evil. Some people just pull stuff out their behinds:

      “+Itachi Uchiha​ If an imam comes and asks you to sacrifice your hindu or christian neighbour to show your service to allah, would you? My second question is, what will you do if the imam in my first question is replaced by allah and the neighbours are replaced by one of your beloved family member? This is a question to all muslims out there.”

      Yeah some idiot literally believes that Muslims sacrifice people to Allah and imams. This is a real comment btw, I am not kidding. Someone’s been watching too much Indiana Jones.

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KBIdcUxdgo0

    • Khizer

      I’ve seen worse, large BLACK lizards crawling near the windows in my houses dining room. They kinda look like they came out of some dark abyss from some H.P Lovercraft story.

    • Khizer

      Another thing I have noticed from troglodytes on the Internet is that they tend to spout ‘Mohammad was A PEDOOOO!!!!!’ A lot when it comes to them trying to prove that ALL Muslims are pedos and in ‘Muslim culture’ it is okay to rape children, and hence must be deported. Most of their comments are like the one below.

      “+Itachi Uchiha Hey, don’t point fingers at me. Your scholars are the ones that agree she was at most 9 at time of marriage, and at most 12 at time of consummation.”

      Obviously this is a exaggerated lie, but I would like to know your take on the Aisha age debate. I have heard some say that she was married young because apparently in The Prophet’s time, conditions were harsher and hence biologically children reached puberty/maturity earlier since life expectancy was very low then. I have heard others claim that Aisha was not actually a young child but a young woman (or atleast a teenager, according to modern society standards). These all seem plausible, but i am not sure which is the MOST correct claim,could you give your take on this.

    • Agnostos

      You are toying with me, thumbing your nose at evolution, absolving me of being a monster and having fun doing it, all at the same time. I think I am gonna like you.

      I am not a teenager so I will not take your dare and double dog dare, your multiple challenges, in the second para. Maybe later after I have read more of your posts and up to snuff on what I am up against.

      For the moment, I take shelter in your first para. I agree the dehumanization processes desensitizes guilt. Pest control, the extermination man then cometh, what follows is swept away, rationalized and justified as sanity. In an insane world the sane appear insane. Your point is well taken.

    • CowabungaCreeper

      Friend, you need to calm down. Pests are pests and yes, house geckos are dirty. Didn’t I mention how they have a nasty habit on crapping on everything everywhere?

      And before you try to argue that they don’t go out of their way to defecate on people or food, I’ll tell you you’re flat out wrong. They do in fact purposefully defecate on people (a way to drive off potential threats) which is why people here despise them so. Unfortunately for them, my house is my territory and pooping on me is an offense punishable by a flying boot to the face.

      Again, Killing pests such as cockroaches, rats, geckos etc. is not immoral. It’s entirely necessary.

    • Agnostos

      You just moved the goal posts, to justify your point, by inserting “pest” and “filth”. Anything out of balance becomes a pest and accumulates filth. Nothing is exempt. Not the gecko or wall lizard, not Man, not the cells of a man’s or woman’s body. When the janitor/sewage system fails in any of those populations the system clogs and fails.

      There is a body of thought that considers Man a pest on the planet. That Man has accumulated much waste, filth, and polluted the Planet beyond its self cleansing capacity.

      The Bible states that it had happened before and was cleansed by ‘God’ in the Biblical flood of Noah. That, I believe, was in reference to spiritual and moral decay and filth, not the kind we are talking about here.

      In my layman’s reading of the Qur’an I get the message that it defaults to the protection of all life. Muslim behavior, I am sorry to say, runs counter to it. That is what I was saying.

    • CowabungaCreeper

      It isn’t irrational to want pests as annoying and filthy as those out of your house.

    • Agnostos

      Really? I have not been long on the Internet and am amazed at what I get to see and read. But this one, what can I say.

    • CowabungaCreeper

      Trust me, you should be thankful. I don’t know if these are the kind that the hadith alluded to, but if they are, I can see why people would want to kill them on site.

    • CowabungaCreeper

      Yes so cute… up until they start crapping in your food, your clothes, your bathroom, your living room, your changing room… I wonder what the reward is for knocking them off the wall and feeding them to your turtle?

    • Khizer

      Athiests have not really done anything, I am referring to very aggressive Athiests (mostly new Athiests) who seem to have a problem with any person who is religious (and even against their fellow Athiests who somewhat sympathise with religious people). This however is true for any aggressive individual from any religion, group, ideology, etc. i was kinda angry since I through the long time I have been browsing the Internet, I have encountered some pretty repulsive people with some disgusting views especially against Muslims (due to the current political climate).Through out my time on the Internet, I have become pretty bitter.

    • Khizer

      Aggressive fools from whatever ideology or group tend to embarrass themselves and not solve anything. Overly agrressive people just but heads with each other, never accomplishing things worthwhile.

    • Agnostos

      You got my attention. You love this stuff, don’t you?

    • Agnostos

      Huh!

    • Agnostos

      What are you talking about. Your previous comment made no sense either. Can you please condense it a bit. No offense intended but I’d like to know what you are saying. You sound very angry. What did Atheists do to you?

    • 1DrM

      I haven’t listened to trash talk AM radio in years and guess what? It has zero impact on my life. The best way to combat Islamophobia is practice Islam itself. Make your mind and body strong, and crush the usual suspects with no quarter given. It’s worked for me, and I’ve been at it since my junior high days.

      Atheists have never impressed me, and the advent of the gimmicky “New Atheists” has only confirmed their collective feather weight intellect.

    • Khizer

      That is quite motivational and very interesting. Thank you for the response.

    • Khizer

      Thanks, for the general explanation. Philosophy of religion seems very interesting.

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