Egypt’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood said Wednesday it would protect churches during Coptic Christmas in January in a bid to prevent attacks on Christian places of worship.

“We have decided to form Muslim Brotherhood committees to protect the churches so that the hands of sin do not ruin the festivities like they did several times under the old regime,” the group said in a statement.

The largest party belonging to the more hard-line Salafi movements, Al-Nour, has come a close runner-up, after the Muslim Brotherhood, in the first two rounds of polling.

It said earlier in the day that sending Christmas greetings to Christians is “against our beliefs.”

Al-Nour’s spokesman Nadar Bakar, told the Associated Press Wednesday that Muslims should only give greetings to Christians on “personal occasions,” not religious ones.

The remarks prompted Egypt’s Al-Azhar, one of the Muslim world’s most eminent universities and religious institutions, to issue a religious edict (fatwa) approving Christmas greetings, while the Muslim Brotherhood, responded by sending “its best Christmas wishes to our brotherly Christians and Muslims as well.”   »»» THE DAILY STAR

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