Wassef Hinein

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Wassef Hinein was the only Coptic Christian member of the Egyptian Free Officers group which took power in a military coup against the Egyptian monarchy in 1952. [1] In the period leading up to the coup, Copts were heavily involved in Egypt's nationalist movement, but were underrepresented in the officer corps of the Egyptian military at the time, due to Christians' traditional dhimmi status in Egypt, which meant they could never aspire to high rank. It is for this reason that, other than Hinein, who was recruited very late in the movement, the Free Officers were entirely Muslim. [2]

Copts in Egypt refers to Coptic people born in or residing in Egypt.

Free Officers Movement (Egypt)

The Free Officers were a group of Egyptian nationalist officers in the armed forces of Egypt and Sudan that instigated the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. Originally established in 1945 as a cell within the Muslim Brotherhood under Abdel Moneim Abdel Raouf, which included Gamal Abdel Nasser, Hussein Hamouda, Khaled Mohieddin, Kamal el-Din Hussein, Salah Naṣr, Abdel Hakim Amer, and Sa’ad Tawfiq, it operated as a clandestine movement of junior officers during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Muhammad Naguib joined the Free Officers in 1949, after the war, and became their official leader during the turmoil leading up the republican revolution because of the hero status he had earned during the war, and his influence in the army.

A dhimmī is a historical term referring to non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection. The word literally means "protected person", referring to the state's obligation under sharia to protect the individual's life, property, and freedom of religion, in exchange for loyalty to the state and payment of the jizya tax, which complemented the zakat, or obligatory alms, paid by the Muslim subjects. Dhimmis were exempt from certain duties assigned specifically to Muslims, and did not enjoy certain privileges and freedoms reserved for Muslims, but were otherwise equal under the laws of property, contract, and obligation.

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References

  1. Beattie, Kirk, Egypt During the Nasser Years, Westview Press, 1994, p. 40
  2. Beattie, K., Egypt During the Nasser Years, p. 61n