Egypt's Coptic Church Accuses Arab Fiction Prize Winner Zeidan of Plagiarism From British Novelist and Attempting to Destroy Christian Doctrine

The novel was criticized by the Coptic Church as an attempt to destroy Christian doctrine.

Set in fifth century Upper Egypt, Alexandria and northern Syria,'Azazeel' unfolds during a critical point in Christian history. It narrates the violence that prevailed in the first half of the fifth century, the period that followed the announcement of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire in 391 A.D. when Cyril was the Pope.

The main characters of the original novel were a monk of Wadi Al-Natroun Monastery called Philemon, Pope Cyril (412-444 A.D.), the 24th Patriarch of Alexandria, and Hypatia, the Egyptian philosopher of Greek origin.

Famous Coptic apologetic Rev. Abdel Messieh Bassiet said Zeidan plagiarized 'Azazeel' from the novel entitled 'Hypatia' by the British novelist Charles Kingsley (1819-1875), which he wrote in 1853, and which Dr. Ezzat Zaki had translated into Arabic in the sixties.

Father Bassiet said the novel ‘Azazeel’ is an insult to the history and the symbols of the Coptic Church, as it says that the Church has darkened the world, and that its priests took all the food and filled life with ugliness. It also says they were snakes that killed in the name of the Lord anyone who was not Christian.

Bishop Bishoi, Secretary of the Holy Synod and Bishop of Damietta, said:

"This confirms intolerance of Christians. The administration of the award should have more consideration for the Coptic Church, as we stood against any scorns of Islam. We also condemned the cartoons that scorned the prophet."

Bishoi analogized awarding Zeidan to awarding Salman Rushdie for his novel 'The Satanic Verses', pointing out that such awards would encourage anti-religious literature. "They are not specialists, and they do not understand the false issue that the novel is addressing," he said.

He said he would officially respond to the novel soon. "We are taking our time in responding because we are preparing an accurate and scientific refutation of the novel," he explained.

The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), dubbed the "Arabic Booker Prize" since it is modeled on Britain's Man Booker Prize, is funded by the Emirates Foundation of Abu Dhabi.