Inspite of this, Rida did promote efforts to reconcile between Muslims and Christians. However, Rida did not hesitate to accuse oriental Christians in general of being tools in the hands of the colonial powers. . . or even of conspiring with them and with the “atheist Westernised” against Islam. In a series of articles published in 1911 and which would be compiled under the title "al-Muslimun wa-l-qutb" ("The Muslims and the Copts"), he deplored the Muslims’ naivety and divisions, which were exploited by the colonial powers, and lamented the adoption of nationalistic slogans that, in his view, could only favor the Coptic minority. He mocked the Copts’ claim to be descended from the “heathen, God-hating” Pharaohs and their demand to accede to positions “for which they lack the experience.” Finally, he referred to the 1911 Muslim congress — organised as a response to another in which the Copts had demanded equal rights — as “the event that has gladdened me more since my arrival in Egypt.” Rida also claimed that the Western Civilisation could not be considered "Christian" but merely materialistic, and predicted that its vices would lead to its destruction. The Shaykh was convinced that they also sought to turn Muslims away from their religion, either by perverting their mores, converting them to Christianity, or both.