Wakopti

Msalaba wa Kikopti wenye maandishi asili yanayosema: 'Yesu Kristo, Mwana wa Mungu'.

Picha ya Kikopti ya Mwinjili Marko, anayehesabiwa kuwa mwanzilishi wa Kanisa la Misri.

Rais Nasser wa Misri akipokea ujumbe wa Maaskofu wa Kikopti (1965).

Kanisa la Mt. Marko huko Bellaire, Texas, Marekani. Wakopti milioni 4 wanaishi nje ya Misri.

Wakopti (au Wakhufti) ni Wakristo asili wa Misri, ambao wanafuata madhehebu ya pekee katika kundi la Makanisa ya Kiorthodoksi ya Mashariki na wanaunda kundi kubwa zaidi la wakazi wasio Waislamu katika nchi hiyo.

Historia

Aina hiyo ya Ukristo ilikuwa anaongoza kabisa kati ya dini za Misri kuanzia karne ya 4 hadi karne ya 6 B.K., lakini baada ya uvamizi wa Waarabu (641), Uislamu ulizidi kuenea kwa njia mbalimbali.

Hata hivyo, Wakopti wanabaki asilimia 10-20 ya Wamisri wote, isipokuwa wanazungumza Kiarabu, si Kikopti tena, ambacho kinatumika tu katika liturujia.

Wakopti wengine wana ushirika kamili na Kanisa Katoliki, na wengine tena ni Waprotestanti.

Jina Kopti linatokana na Kigiriki Αἰγύπτιος, "Egyuptios", yaani "Mmisri".

Kati ya watakatifu muhimu zaidi wa Kikopti kuna mmonaki Antoni Abati na maaskofu Atanasi wa Aleksandria na Sirili wa Aleksandria.

Mchango mkubwa zaidi walioutoa ni kuanzisha umonaki na kutetea umungu wa Yesu Kristo pamoja na usahihi wa kumuita Bikira Maria "Mama wa Mungu".

Kutoka Misri, Ukristo wa aina hiyo ulienea tangu zamani hasa Sudan, Ethiopia na Eritrea.

Siku hizi Wakopti wengi wanazidi kuhamia nchi nyingine, hasa za Magharibi.

Marejeo

• Capuani, Massimo et al. Christian Egypt: Coptic Art and Monuments Through Two Millennia (2002) excerpt and text search
• Courbage, Youssef and Phillipe Fargues. Judy Mabro (Translator) Christians and Jews Under Islam, 1997.
• Ibrahim, Vivian. The Copts of Egypt: The Challenges of Modernisation and Identity (I.B. Tauris, distributed by Palgrave Macmillan; 2011) 258 pages; examines historical relations between Coptic Christians and the Egyptian state and describes factionalism and activism in the community.
• Kamil, Jill. Coptic Egypt: History and a Guide. Revised Ed. American University in Cairo Press, 1990.
• Meinardus, Otto Friedrich August. Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity (2010)
• Thomas, Martyn, ed. (2006). Copts in Egypt: A Christian Minority Under Siege : Papers Presented at the First International Coptic Symposium, Zurich, September 23–25, 2004. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 
• Van Doorn-Harder, Nelly. "Finding a Platform: Studying the Copts in the 19th and 20th Centuries" International Journal of Middle East Studies (Aug 2010) 42#3 pp 479–482. Historiography

Viungo vya nje

• The Coptic Calendar by Bishoy K. R. Dawood (1.29MB pdf file – historical development and technical discussion)
• An introduction to the Coptic calendar (Gregorian equivalents are valid only between 1900 and 2099)
• The Orthodox Ecclesiastical Calendar
• Ancient Egyptian Calendar and Coptic Calendar
• Coptic Orthodox Church Network
• Copts
• Copts United
• Free Copts
• American Coptic Association
• European Coptic Association
• Coptic Book
• Coptic Cairo
• France-copte.net France Copte
• Coptic Museum
• In Search of the Lost Egyptian Identity
• Egypt's Copts After Kosheh
• Egypt: Minorities and the State
• International Religious Freedom Report: Egypt
• United Copts of Great Britain
• Coptic Orthodox Church French texts
• Coptic Christians of Egypt – German Site
• Coptic texts and manuscripts at Leiden University Library