'Dying to Live': Egyptian Muslim-background believer makes film about Oct 7 massacre

Majed El-Shafie is not an ordinary man. Raised as a Muslim in Egypt in a well-to-do family, he was still a child when he discovered that his way of thinking and assumptions about the world were not by any stretch normal.

In a recent interview with the Jerusalem Post, Shafie shared the pivotal moment when he realized he was not going to fit in. He was just nine years old, in school, learning about the “temporary truce” Egypt had made with Israel. He was confused.

“If this is peace, why are we talking about war? Why is it only temporary and not forever?” 

Shafie's question was met with punishment from the teacher, five hits on each hand. When his mother asked him what happened and why he was crying, he told her it wasn’t from the pain of being hit. “I’m crying because I don’t know what I did wrong,” he said. 

It transpired that his mother’s views were also outside the parameters of what was deemed socially acceptable. Though she was a banker and her husband a lawyer, exemplifying polite society, she told him: “We don’t hate anyone – not Jews, not anyone.”

Continuing to break the mold, Shafie decided to follow Jesus at the age of 18, while studying at university in Alexandria.

It was during the time of Hosni Mubarak, a corrupt dictator famous for mass torture and arbitrary detention, and Egyptian dissidents were shown no mercy. Shafie founded an underground Christian human rights organization that grew to 26,000 members within two years, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Shafie supported minorities, including Christians, Jews, Bahá’ís, and Armenians, even writing a book about their history and situation in Egypt. This is where his unorthodox thinking not only broke social taboos but got him in very deep trouble.  

Shafie’s activities had not gone unnoticed. In 1998 he was arrested and taken to Abu Zabal Prison. “Twenty-five percent of the prison is underground,” he explained. “This is where innocent people are tortured in specialized departments. The guards all wear masks and refer to each other by numbers instead of names so that no one would be recognizable.”

Shafie was subjected to “hell on earth” such as systematic torture sessions for seven long days.

“They had a system in which every day the type of torture would grow more severe. Sessions lasted about 3-4 hours, with 20-minute breaks in between. A military doctor stood by, not to stop the torture but to ensure that I remained conscious throughout the ordeal,” he explained.

Shaved, beaten, hung upside down and burned, they demanded information about the associates in his flourishing organization, but he was determined not to break. “When I was returned to my cell,” he recounted, “I could see the trail of my own blood.”

Shafie told the JPost that he prayed to God, saying, “I said if you give me more life, I would do the same thing again – I don’t regret my faith. But I had one request: kill me before morning. I couldn’t bear the pain anymore, and I was afraid that under extreme torture, I might talk.”

However, the next day brought a miracle. The torturers set dogs on him, expecting him to be torn limb from limb, but the German Shepherds behaved much like the lions in the Book of Daniel. 

“When you read the Bible, you might think miracles only happened in the past,” he said, “but they’re the same miracles happening today.” 

The guards tried the carrot instead of the stick, offering him bribes of wealth, women and freedom, but turned back to violence when he gave them the name of their leader: Jesus Christ.

He was charged with “inciting rebellion against the regime,” “attempting to change the state religion,” and “worshiping Jesus,” however, he had no regrets.

“I told them that if loving Jesus was a crime, then I am most definitely guilty.” It was at that point he received the death sentence. However, with the help of friends, Shafie managed to escape back to Alexandria, from there to Sinai, and made his final break for freedom on a jet ski to Eilat.

“I knew that Egypt was surrounded on all sides with Islamic countries hostile to the likes of me – except for one place, which was Israel,” he explained. “I knew it was a democracy, and decided Israel was my last chance.” He managed to get safely into Israel, and says he owes his life to the Jewish state. He was detained by Israeli security but says the guards understood he wasn’t a criminal. 

“What really surprised me was seeing people in the streets – just being human! They were laughing, walking, living normal lives. No one screamed at me for being an Arab. They were just people, like anyone else.”

This is how his love for Israel began. Today, Shafie lives in Canada, after seeking asylum there, and founded the international human rights organization, One Free World International. 

Recently the organization embarked on a project called “Dying to Live” – a documentary about the horrors of the Oct. 7 massacre and the antisemitism surrounding Israel on every side. Shafie came to Israel with his team to carry out interviews and investigate what happened and to share his perspective as an Egyptian Christian.

​​“The global war of propaganda trying to attack Israel makes the violent terrorist attack of October 7 even worse. We had to act. We had to capture the truth and share it with the world,” he stated. ​​“There was so much evil, it broke my heart,” he told CBN news.

Seeking to challenge misconceptions about Israel in the Muslim world, the film will be translated into Arabic, Urdu and Persian. “The truth has to be told,” he said. “Israel has a very special place in my heart.”

If at the age of 9. Shafie struggled to understand why there couldn’t be a permanent peace with Israel, he is now taking great strides towards it, unfazed by all opposition. He is determined to continue on the path of peace and to take as many as possible with him.