Though he is little known in the West, Coptic priest Zakaria Botros â?? named Islamâ??s â??Public Enemy #1â?? by the Arabic newspaper, al-Insan al-Jadid â?? has been making waves in the Islamic world. Along with fellow missionaries â?? mostly Muslim converts â?? he appears frequently on the Arabic channel al-Hayat (i.e., â??Life TVâ??). There, he addresses controversial topics of theological significance â?? free from the censorship imposed by Islamic authorities or self-imposed through fear of the zealous mobs who fulminated against the infamous cartoons of Mohammed. Botrosâ??s excurses on little-known but embarrassing aspects of Islamic law and tradition have become a thorn in the side of Islamic leaders throughout the Middle East.
Botros is an unusual figure onscreen: robed, with a huge cross around his neck, he sits with both the Koran and the Bible in easy reach. Egyptâ??s Copts â?? members of one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East â?? have in many respects come to personify the demeaning Islamic institution of â??dhimmitudeâ?? (which demands submissiveness from non-Muslims, in accordance with Koran 9:29). But the fiery Botros does not submit, and minces no words. He has famously made of Islam â??ten demandsâ?? whose radical nature he uses to highlight Islamâ??s own radical demands on non-Muslims.
Typically, Botrosâ??s presentation of the Islamic material is sufficiently detailed that the controversial topic is shown to be an airtight aspect of Islam. Yet, however convincing his proofs, Botros does not flatly conclude that, say, universal jihad or female inferiority are basic tenets of Islam. He treats the question as still open â?? and humbly invites the ulema, the revered articulators of sharia law, to respond and show the error in his methodology. He does demand, however, that their response be based on â??al-dalil we al-burhan,â?? â?? â??evidence and proof,â?? one of his frequent refrains â?? not shout-downs or sophistry.
More often than not, the response from the ulema is deafening silence â?? which has only made Botros and Life TV more enticing to Muslim viewers.
Raymond Ibrahim on Father Zakaria Botros
