Egypt Recognizes Christian Converts In Historic Ruling
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- A dozen Christians who converted to Islam but later returned to Christianity awaited new identity papers Tuesday, February 12, following what judicial sources described as a "historic decision" by Cairo's highest civil court.
The court ruled Saturday, February 9, that the 12, who were born Christian Copts, could mark "Christian" on their compulsory identity cards, in place of the "Muslim” mention which was used after their conversion. It overturned an April 2007 ruling by a lower court forbidding them to convert to Christianity on grounds it would be "apostasy". Many Muslims see abandoning Islam as an act of apostasy, which is potentially punishable by death.
However the court cautioned Saturday, February 9, that their IDs will have to specify they had "adopted Islam for a brief period", judicial sources said.
The ruling is seen as a small victory for human rights advocates in Egypt.
"This is an historic decision, a victory for freedom of religion in Egypt and in keeping with Article 46 of the constitution which calls for freedom of religion," the plaintiff's lawyer Ramses al-Naggar told reporters.
The ruling is seen as a small victory for human rights advocates in Egypt.
"This is an historic decision, a victory for freedom of religion in Egypt and in keeping with Article 46 of the constitution which calls for freedom of religion," the plaintiff's lawyer Ramses al-Naggar told reporters.
Is Egypt less Islamic than Malaysia?
3 comments:
will our infamous Perak Mufti issue a fatwa declaring the ruling as un-islamic?
and would some of our learned judges who ruled that they have no jurisdiction becos one party is a muslim and thus the case have to be brought before a syariah court learn something from this episode?
Agnos,
What we hope is that sanity and natural justice should prevail and that those who tried to use God as a means towards their personal end would wake up and repent, for God is omnipresent and omnipotent.
here's the hook:
'Limited application
It appears, though, that the court's decision will have a limited application.
Reports say the judge decided that the Copts should not be considered apostates for converting from Islam, because they had been born Christian.
This suggests that Egyptians born Muslim will still be unable to convert to other faiths and have those conversions recognised on their identity cards. Many Muslims believe that converting from Islam is wrong, and some believe it is punishable by death.
Last year, an Egyptian convert to Christianity was forced to go into hiding when he received death threats after trying to have his conversion officially recognised."
link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7237152.stm
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