Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application
In a referendum held in January 2014, Egyptians approved a new constitution (amended in 2019).
The Preamble of the Constitution describes Egypt as: “The cradle of religions and the banner of glory of the revealed religions. On its land, Moses grew up, the light of God appeared, and the message descended on Mount Sinai. On its land, Egyptians welcomed the Virgin Mary and her baby and offered up thousands of martyrs in defence of the Church of Jesus. When the Seal of the Messengers […] Mohamed (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him) was sent to all mankind to perfect the sublime morals, our hearts and minds were opened to the light of Islam. We were the best soldiers on Earth to fight for the cause of God, and we disseminated the message of truth and religious sciences across the world.” It specifies that “the reference for interpretation thereof is the relevant texts in the collected rulings of the Supreme Constitutional Court.”
According to Article 2, “Islam is the religion of the state and Arabic is its official language. The principles of Islamic Shari’a are the principal source of legislation.” Article 3 states: “The principles of the laws of Egyptian Christians and Jews are the main source of laws regulating their personal status, religious affairs, and selection of spiritual leaders.”
Article 7 protects Al-Azhar University as the most important Sunni institution of Islamic teaching.
Article 53 declares: “Citizens are equal before the law, possess equal rights and public duties, and may not be discriminated against on the basis of religion, belief, sex, origin, race, colour, language, disability, social class, political or geographical affiliation, or for any other reason.” Article 64 states: “Freedom of belief is absolute. The freedom of practicing religious rituals and establishing places of worship for the followers of revealed religions is a right organized by law.” According to Article 74, “No political activity may be exercised or political parties formed on the basis of religion, or discrimination based on sex, origin, sect or geographic location”.
Article 244 states: “The state shall endeavour that youth, Christians, persons with disability and Egyptians living abroad be appropriately represented in the House of Representatives, as regulated by law.” The Egyptian Penal Code stipulates that, denigrating religions, promoting extremist thoughts with the aim of inciting strife, demeaning any of the “divine religions”, and harming national unity carry penalties ranging from six months to five years in prison.
Although predominantly Muslim, the country is home to the largest, mostly Orthodox Coptic, Christian community in the Arab world, with the highest concentration in the governorates of Upper Egypt. Very few Jews are left. The numbers of Shi’a Muslims, Baha’is and other groups are also very small and unknown.
Although it is not prohibited by law, in practice the government does not recognise conversions from Islam.
The law does not recognise the Baha’i faith or its religious laws and bans Baha’i institutions and community activities. Baha’is and Jehovah’s Witnesses do not have recourse to civil law for personal status matters.
Electronic National Identity Cards are issued by the Ministry of Interior. They have official religious designations only for those of the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish faiths. Since a 2009 court order, Baha’is are identified by a dash. Despite the classification of “religion” on ID cards, the government has never provided official data about the Coptic population.
Even though the Egyptian parliament adopted a new Church Construction Law in August 2016 to facilitate the construction, renovation, and legal recognition of churches, it has not been implemented. Attacks, administrative obstacles, and failure by the state to stem social violence against Christians when they try to build, restore, or simply have their churches recognised, reveals the significant gap between the law and everyday life. Concerning the legalisation of churches, the governor is to communicate his decision within four months of receipt of the application. If refused, a written justification must be provided. The law does not contemplate a review or appeal in the case of a refusal. There is also no recourse in case a governor fails to respond. In February 2021, the Grand Mufti of Egypt Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam, said in a controversial fatwa that Muslims were allowed to work in church construction.
Non-Muslim men must convert to Islam in order to marry a Muslim woman. Since 2005, divorced mothers can have custody of their children until they are 15. If one parent is not Muslim, the Muslim parent is automatically awarded custody.
Customary reconciliation, a parallel system used to end to disputes or conflicts, is highly encouraged and frequently exercised in sectarian conflicts. The system is used especially in Muslim-Christian disputes, often when Christians are the victims, which poses a problem when trying to document repeated violations. Christians are also pressured to retract their claims and deny the facts, leading to a dismissal or reduction of criminal charges, thus violating the principles of non-discrimination and the equal right to citizenship.
Although Egypt is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it has declared in a “reservation” that the provisions of the covenant should not conflict with Shari’a.
Incidents and developments
In January 2021, Egypt’s Court of Urgent Matters accepted a lawsuit to seize assets belonging to 89 members and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. The group’s former acting Supreme Guide Mahmoud Ezzat Ibrahim was given a life sentence by a judge in April. In June 2021, following a mass trial, the Court of Appeals upheld death sentences for 12 senior Muslim Brotherhood figures. In July, the same Court affirmed the life sentences given to 10 Muslim Brotherhood officials in 2019.
To boost spiritual tourism, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities inaugurated different stops on the 2,100-mile “Holy Family Trail”, the Biblical route believed to have been taken by Mary, Joseph, and the child Jesus.
In February, ten defendants who took part in the 2013 burning of a church in Giza Governorate, received 15-year prison terms.
On 14 February, Deputy Minister of Education Reda Hegazy announced the ministry’s support to a proposal by MP Freddy al-Bayadi promoting a school curriculum highlighting the common values shared by Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. This decision implies teaching Judaism in schools. Rumours on social media about this educational change and the removal of Quranic verses from general educational curricula created a controversy. The question of education and school curricula is sensitive and sparks recurrent emotional debates. More recently, in August 2022, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) published a report on Egyptian Curriculum Reform evaluating the progress made in 2021-2022. It found that changes announced by the government were mainly cosmetic (changing titles of sections but not modifying the content of the sections).
In February, a presidential decree was issued confirming the establishment of a Board of Directors for the administration of the foundations of Catholic and Evangelical Christian communities in Egypt.
In February, the government submitted a comprehensive draft of the personal status law to the Egyptian Parliament, which was completed by the Ministry of Justice (Personal Status for Christians). It led to debates within civil society. In June 2022, a judicial committee was created to redraft it.
In March, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) filed a complaint on behalf of a Coptic woman challenging the constitutionality of applying Shari’a law to Christians in cases of inheritance. The case was considered by the court's board of commissioners, and was then submitted to the Constitutional Court for further assessment.
In April, Nabil Habashi, a Coptic Christian who had been kidnapped in November 2020 by ISIS-SP, was killed. Habashi’s sons were also threatened.
In April, Italy’s Senate adopted a motion meant to grant a Coptic Egyptian Masters’ student at the University of Bologna, Patrick Zaki, the Italian citizenship. Zaki was detained without evidence or trial. He was eventually released on 8 December 2021.
In June, Ahmad Saeed Ibrahim al-Sonbati was executed for having killed Coptic priest, Father Samaan Shehata, in 2017.
In June, the Criminal Court of Minya sentenced 10 offenders to five years in prison on allegations of violence towards Copts in 2016.
In June, President Sisi met with Dr Mufaddal Saifuddin, the spiritual head of the Dawoodi Bohra Ismaili Community. President Sisi thanked the group for its help in restoring several historic mosques and shrines in Egypt.
In June 2021 and February 2022, the appeals submitted for atheist activist and blogger Anas Hassan, of “The Egyptian Atheists” Facebook page were rejected. He had been condemned in February 2021 to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of LE300,000 (US$19,100).
In June, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) published a study on the existence of problematic anti-Semitic content in Egyptian textbooks, and the presence of several anti-Semitic books at the state-run book fair.
Ibrahim Issa, a highly regarded TV host and journalist, mentioned a lack of “sufficient references” to Christian history in school curricula, aside from content relating to monasticism, monasteries, and their involvement in the 1919 Revolution.
In a June study, Shia community members claimed that expressing their religious beliefs or praying in public and owning literature supporting Shia philosophy put them at risk of being accused of blasphemy. The import of Baha’i and Jehovah’s Witnesses’ literature was still forbidden. Although the government designates Jehovah’s Witnesses as “Christian” on identity cards, a presidential decree bans their religious activities.
In July, a Report on Citizenship Law in Egypt was published in which different cases of citizenship removal depending on religious identity were presented and studied.
In August, Minister of Awqaf Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa instructed mosques to remove any books on extremism.
In August, during a television interview, the Egyptian president declared that “We are all born Muslim and non-Muslim according to our ID cards, but we realise that we have to reformulate our understanding of the belief that we follow.” He later added, “I respect nonbelievers. […] But will a society that has been conditioned to think in a certain way for the last 90 years accept this? […] I respect the will of nonbelievers, which is based on freedom of belief – a God-given right.” He was strongly criticised for normalising the acceptance of atheism in a Muslim majority country.
According to a Presbyterian community leader, police allegedly stopped dozens of converts who were going to church for an August retreat, taking their IDs and even arresting and interrogating certain parishioners. They were released but still harassed and, in some cases, jailed.
In September, former Culture Minister Gaber Asfour expressed his support for removing the religion field on Egypt’s national ID cards. Journalist and TV anchor, Ibrahim Eissa also supported this. In February 2022, Eissa was investigated over controversial remarks on Muhammad’s ‘Al-Miraj’ journey.
The NGO Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) demanded in September that Coptic citizen Gerges Samih Zaki Ebeid be freed and that the accusations against him be dropped. He was accused of having published a message on his personal Facebook page that was considered disrespectful to Islam, after which there was sectarian unrest leading to the detention of 20 Muslims and 15 Copts.
In September, activists documented the destruction of a non-approved church in Beheira Governorate. The City Council of Damanhur and local security forces carried out the eviction order. At least four parishioners were hurt, and 21 Coptic protesters were detained before being freed.
In September, four prominent Salafi preachers, who were arrested in 2019, were freed. They were charged with “inciting violence and joining a terrorist group”. One of them was rearrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
In October, Nasser and Ali al-Sambo were condemned to life in prison for killing Coptic Ramsis Boulos Hermina.
News reports carried the story that a new prison complex at Wadi El-Natrun included a church.
In November, Ahmed Abdou Maher, a lawyer, was sentenced to five years in prison with hard labour for defaming Islam in his book, How the Imams’ Jurisprudence Is Leading the Nation Astray (in Arabic), and for on-air comments. Maher criticised what he called Islam’s “blood-soaked ideology”. In another interview, he said that the Islamic “nation” was “static”, and that “enlightenment” required courage. Liberals took his defence. Maher also demanded Al-Azhar to reform its religious curriculum taught to students.
In November, the Supreme Administrative Court dismissed an appeal presented by former candidate for presidential elections, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, the leader of the Strong Egypt Party. In March 2022, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
In December 2021, Shia activist Haidar Kandil, a reporter for the Al-Dustour newspaper, was banned from travelling abroad.
The Bayan (Declaration) Unit, which Al-Azhar created in 2019 to “counter atheism” and prevent youth from “falling into disbelief”, was still operative at the end of 2021.
At the end of 2021, Ahmed Sebaie, who was arrested in 2020, was still detained. He had posted a video on his YouTube channel in which he discussed the Bible and Christian doctrine.
In January 2022, Coptic Human rights advocate Ramy Kamel was released after suffering harsh detention conditions. He had been arrested following his application for a Swiss visa to speak at a UN forum in Geneva and was accused of joining a banned group and spreading false news.
On 29 January, Marco Gerges was sentenced to five years in prison with hard labour. According to the EIPR, he was found guilty of “contempt for Islam”, “exploiting religion in promoting extremist ideas”, and “infringing on the values of the Egyptian family life”.
In January, a decree was issued to legalise 141 unlicensed churches and Christian service buildings that had been operating without a permit. In total over 2000 churches have been legalised since 2017.
On 30 January, nine Copts were arrested after peacefully demonstrating in favour of the reconstruction of their church in Ezbet Faragallah. Rebuilding had been approved for more than a year. They were eventually released on 23 April. The question of church rebuilding and repair in populous rural or informal urban areas is problematic, contrary to places where urbanisation is less complex. EIPR listed 25 cases in which churches and places of worship had been closed even after the passage of the 2016 law.
In February, in an unprecedented move, the President of Egypt nominated a Copt, Boulos Fahmy Eskandar, as head of the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC).
In February, EIPR appealed against a ruling that would allow the Alexandria Governorate to deny the allocation of cemeteries to non-followers of the three recognised religions.
In March, the EIPR published an article asking the Egyptian parliament to withdraw amendments to the law regulating religious preaching.
On 9 March, pharmacist Isis Mustafa was released from prison. In September 2021, she was attacked by her colleagues for not wearing the hijab. Despite police investigations confirming the incident, a reconciliation session was organised instead of the application of civil law.
Quranist (a belief sustaining that only the Quran is the source of Islamic law and not the hadiths) blogger, Reda Abdel Rahman, whose detention was extended several times, was released in March.
The Fund for Honouring Martyrs, Victims, Missing Persons, and Injured in Terror and Security Operations, and their Families (including religious minorities), was increased.
In April, Nevine Sobhy, a Coptic woman, was slapped by a Muslim pharmacist for wearing a short-sleeved shirt and not wearing the hijab during Ramadan. She was threatened by the police when she insisted on filing a report and was obliged to sign a report modified by the perpetrator’s lawyer. She appealed to the National Council for Women in Egypt, the Minister of the Interior, and even the Egyptian President to intervene to protect her and other women. She was eventually obliged to participate in a customary reconciliation session, where pictures were taken and disseminated via social media, attracting heavy criticism from Human Rights activists.
On 23 April, the Supreme State Security Prosecution released nine imprisoned Copts. They had been arrested at demonstrations demanding the re-establishment of the St. Joseph and Abu Seifein church in their village.
In May, EIPR issued a report on the legal flaws of inheritance distribution of Egyptian Christian women.
On 28 June, the Ministry of Awqaf (religious endowments) banned Alaa Mohammed Hussein Yaqoub, son of a prominent Salafi imam and preacher Mohammed Hussein Yaqoub, from preaching at mosques. This decision came after testimony by Alaa Yaqoub’s father in a court case.
In June, the EIPR issued a warning concerning the considered deportation of Christian convert and Yemeni asylum-seeker Abdul-Baqi Saeed Abdo. He was held in pre-trial detention pending charges of “joining a terrorist group […] and contempt of the Islamic religion.” He had sought asylum in Egypt after escaping an attempt on his life in Yemen, and the murder of his wife, following their conversion to Christianity.
In July, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered the restoration and renovation of the Ahl al-Bayt’s shrines (the family of the Prophet Muhammad) across the country.
On 14 August, a fire broke out at the Abu Seifein Church in Giza. At least 41 were killed and 55 injured. This incident highlighted the recurrent and delicate problem of restrictions on building and renewing non-Muslim places of worship which leads to overcrowding in obsolete buildings with serious safety concerns. In an unprecedented move, Coptic Pope Tawadros complained publicly about this issue.
In September, several state universities imposed a more conservative dress code for their students sparking debates about higher education and public schools’ mandatory obligation on girls and women to wear the hijab.
In September, the High Administrative Court upheld the dismissal of Mona Prince, a professor at the Suez Canal University. She was suspended after publishing dance videos on social media.
Ahead of the UN COP27 conference on the environment held in Sharm-El-Sheikh in November, Egypt published a book on Islam and the environment.
At the November 6-18 COP27, religious leaders “met various delegations of civil society groups, climate activists, experts and other faith-based organizations to deliberate on how to achieve climate neutrality.” Archbishop Thévenin, Apostolic Nuncio to Egypt and deputy head of the Holy See's delegation, stated: "The main framework in which we are doing our role as Holy See is that we are not proposing technical solutions, but we can sometimes make people come together and be part of the solution”.
While adoption is not allowed in Islam, a debate on the right of Christians to adopt children was renewed when authorities took Shenouda, an infant found at the door of a Coptic Church, from his “adoptive” Coptic family.
There are many testimonies of Christian girls and women being abducted, forced to convert and sexually abused under the cover of marriage to Muslim men, turning them effectively into sexual slaves. These abductions, considered a ‘genocidal’ act, often go unreported by the victims.
Prospects for freedom of religion
While the official government discourse reiterates fraternity and equality among Egyptian citizens, facts on the ground sometimes paint a contrasting reality.
Indeed, positive steps have been taken such as encouraging greater national unity between Muslims and Christians, interfaith dialogue and tolerance, protecting religious heritage sites, and legalising hundreds of churches. Deeply rooted social intolerance and institutionalised discrimination against non-Muslims, or those considered as deviant Muslims, however, remain a serious societal problem. Moreover, those who are outside the traditional monotheistic religions, or not officially recognised, face daunting challenges such as negative societal attitudes and contradictory governmental policies.
Already discriminated by law, and not enjoying the same rights as their fellow Muslim citizens, Christians are often victims of attacks and crimes. Victims also report that, in most cases, police forces do not intervene in attacks against Copts. While their aggressors benefit from legal impunity, it is often Copts who are imprisoned.
Although some improvement, the possibility of enjoyment of more aspects of religious freedom is not guaranteed, and developments should be kept under observation.
Egypt