WAQ‘AT AL-NASARA (Christian encounter), a name given by Arab
writers to a grave crisis or, more precisely, a series of crises
caused by a buildup of tension against the Copts in the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries during the first Bahri
Mamluk dynasty (Bahrides). These events, which coincided with a
general consensus against Christians in the Muslim world, of
which Egypt was the leading power at that time, are important
for Coptic history. They illustrate the change that had already
begun with the ARAB CONQUEST OF EGYPT and by which Coptic
history ceased to be dependent solely on local events and became
exposed to decisive external factors pertaining to the evolution
of Muslim society in different countries and to its animated
relations with the non-Muslim communities, such as Jews and
Christians, living in the same countries. The tension against
the Copts was inflamed not only by the local situation in the
agitated Mamluk period—that is, by extremists like Qadi Ahmad
ibn Muhammad ibn al-Raf‘ah (see WAQ‘A