A Christian Scholar with Experience of Memorizing Quran, Teaching in Al-Azhar
This Christian professor teaches Islamic studies to students of the Faculty of Islamic Studies at Al-Azhar University in Port Said, which reflects the cultural and religious diversity in Egypt.
Twenty-three years ago, Christine decided to pursue a scientific path that involved exploring the details of a religion that she did not accept and did not follow.
Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, the Al-Azhar Sheikh at the time, supported her decision and wrote a few words in her appointment application that changed the course of her academic life. Tantawi wrote, “In honesty and fairness, do whatever you know is necessary about Christine.”
With this order, Christine started her career at Al-Azhar University as a teaching assistant in the Islamic Studies Department. It wasn't always an easy path, and she faced many academic and social challenges.
Nonetheless, she proved her worthiness and persevered in pursuing a degree in Islamic studies. She obtained a master’s degree and then a doctorate, and in 2006 she was appointed as an assistant professor. The culmination of her academic activity was the acquisition of a professorship in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies in 2023.
Along the way, Christine did not confine himself to a purely theoretical understanding of Islam, but deeply explored and preserved the Quranic verses and the prophetic hadiths.
She rejected any privilege or immunity given to her because of her religion and insisted that she be judged on merit, not discrimination.
In an interview with the media, Christine emphasized that her contribution to the teaching of Islam has provided her with significant human and ethical experiences, saying that the essence of all religions is the same and based on creating a system of values and mutual respect between people.
The Christian professor added, “It all started in the 1990s, when I decided to major in Arabic and Islamic studies, and my teachers and classmates were very surprised by this decision.
“One of the conditions of working in this field was to memorize three chapters of the Quran with the commentary, and I memorized Surahs An-Nur, Al-Isra and An-Naba and I was able to overcome the conditions and study in this field.”
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She said, “My entry into this field had many obstacles, but with the support of my family, colleagues and friends of my father, I overcame the difficulties. My father’s friends helped me to memorize and understand many verses of the Quran and the hadith.
“When I was a student, I was the only Christian student out of 92 Muslim students, both boys and girls. I got a very good grade and an honorary first place because I memorized what I was asked to. My teachers offered to exempt me from memorizing the Quran’s Surahs, but I refused and memorized the Surahs and mastered the Tajweed.”
“All through my university studies, until my fourth year, I was the top student in the Arabic and Islamic studies department every year. And God helped me, and I was always the first of the group.”
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