Religion in Egypt

Freedom of religion and human rights

Freedom of belief and worship are formally recognized by the Egyptian Constitution, but are effectively limited by government intervention and sectarian conflict. Some aspects of the country’s laws are heavily funded on Islamic principles. Religions other than Islam have typically had to be deemed compatible with Sharia and petition for legal recognition. Although the state provides funds for the construction of mosques and the training of imams, no such aid is extended to non-Muslim communities, whose requests for building permits are often denied or delayed. Individual adherents of minority religions also face frequent discrimination by government officials, who often deny them identity cards, birth certificates and marriage licenses. Authorities often fail to sanction individuals involved in carrying out attacks against members of minority faiths, relying instead on non-judicial procedures in order to avoid offending the Muslim majority. The government also discriminates against Islamic religious minority groups, most notably Shi’a Muslims, who face open official discrimination, including being barred from admission to Al-Azhar University.

Restrictions on conversion

While freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Egyptian constitution, according to Human Rights Watch, "Egyptians are able to convert to Islam generally without difficulty, but Muslims who convert to Christianity face difficulties in getting new identity papers and some have been arrested for allegedly forging such documents. The Coptic community, however, takes pains to prevent conversions from Christianity to Islam due to the ease with which Christians can often become Muslim. Public officials, being conservative themselves, intensify the complexity of the legal procedures required to recognize the religion change as required by law. Security agencies will sometimes claim that such conversions from Islam to Christianity (or occasionally vice versa) may stir social unrest, and thereby justify themselves in wrongfully detaining the subjects, insisting that they are simply taking steps to prevent likely social troubles from happening. In 2007, a Cairo administrative court denied 45 citizens the right to obtain identity papers documenting their reversion to Christianity after converting to Islam. However, in February 2008 the Supreme Administrative Court overturned the decision, allowing 12 citizens who had reverted to Christianity to re-list their religion on identity cards, but they will specify that they had adopted Islam for a brief period of time.

Relations with the Coptic minority

Coptic Christians, being the largest ethno-religious minority in Egypt, are the most negatively affected by possibly discriminatory legislation. Copts in Egypt have faced increasing marginalization after the 1952 coup d'état led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. Until recently, Christians were required to obtain presidential approval for even minor repairs in churches. Although the law was eased in 2005 by handing down the authority of approval to the governors, Copts continue to face many obstacles in building new churches. These obstacles are not as much in building mosques.

Muslims and Christians share a common history and national identity; however, at times religious tensions have arisen, and individual acts of prejudice and violence occur. The most significant was the 2000-2001 El Kosheh attacks, In which Muslims and Christians were involved in bloody, inter-religious clashes following a dispute between a Muslim and a Christian. "Twenty Christians and one Muslim were killed after violence broke out in the town of el-Kosheh, 440 kilometres (275 miles) south of Cairo." In 2005, in Kafr Salama village, Sharqiya governorate, an altercation between a Muslim and a Christian resulted in the death of the Muslim. Muslim villagers later attacked the Abu Sifin Church and several Christian homes and looted several shops before the authorities restored order. In 2006, one person, described by police as drunk and mad, attacked three churches in Alexandria, leaving one dead and from 5 to 16 injured, although the attacker was not linked to any organisation. On January 7, 2010, Muslim gunmen open fire on Christian worshipers leaving a church in Nag Hammadi resulting in the murder of nine Coptic Christians. On January 1, 2011, at least 21 people were killed and 83 injured when a car bomb exploded outside a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria. Then on October 14, 2012 in the absence of security officials 2 Muslims from a group were killed after they tried to kidnap a woman from a Christian family.

In January 2013 when the Muslim Brotherhood was in power, Christian nonprofit organization Open Doors ranked Egypt as the 25th most difficult place to be a Christian, on their annual World Watch List.

Non-religious minorities

There are also a number of Egyptians who identify themselves as atheist and agnostic, but their numbers are largely unknown, as openly expressing such positions risks legal sanction on the basis of apostasy. In 2000, an openly atheist Egyptian writer, who called for the establishment of a local association for atheists, was tried on charges of insulting Islam in four of his books.

Islam

Islam has been the state religion in Egypt since the amendment of the second article of the Egyptian constitution in the year 1980, before which Egypt was recognized as a secular country. The vast majority of Egyptian Muslims are Sunni, with a small Mu'tazila, Shia Twelvers and Ismailism communities making up the remainder. A significant number of Sunni Egyptians also follow native Sufi orders. Egypt hosts the most important Sunni institution in the world, Al-Azhar University. It is the oldest Islamic institution of higher studies (founded around 970 C.E.), and is considered by many to be the oldest extant university in the world.

The Shia Ismaili caliphate of the Fatimids made Egypt their center, and made Cairo their capital. Egypt's various social groups and classes apply Islam differently in their daily lives. The literate theologians of Al-Azhar generally reject the popular version of Islam practised by religious preachers and peasants in the countryside, which is heavily Sufi-influenced. Sufism has flourished in Egypt since Islam was first adopted. Most upper- and middle-class Muslims believed either that religious expression is a private matter for each individual or that Islam should play a more dominant role in public life. Islamic religious revival movements, whose appeal cuts across class lines, have been present in most cities and in many villages for a long time.

According to the constitution of Egypt, any new legislation must at least implicitly agree with Islamic law. The mainstream Hanafi school of Sunni Islam is largely controlled by the state, through Wizaret Al-Awkaf (Ministry of Religious Affairs). Al-Awkaf controls all mosques and supervises Muslim clerics. Imams are trained in Imam vocational schools and at Al-Azhar. The ministry supports Sunni Islam and has commissions authorized to give Fatwā judgements on Islamic issues.

Christianity

Copts do not see themselves as a cultural or ethnic minority but Egyptians whose ancestors embraced Christianity in the first century. The Coptic Christian population in Egypt is the largest Christian community in the Middle East. About 95% of Egypt's Christians are members of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. an Oriental Orthodox Church, Traditionally believed to be established in the 1st century A.D. by Saint Mark. The Church is headed by the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, attests to Egypt's strong Christian heritage. It has a followers of approximately 20 million Christians worldwide.

Other native Egyptian Christians are adherents of the Coptic Catholic Church, the Coptic Evangelical Church and various Coptic Protestant denominations. Non-native Christian communities are largely found in the urban regions of Alexandria and Cairo, and are members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Latin Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, the Maronite Church, the Armenian Catholic Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, or the Syriac Orthodox Church.

Significant minorities within Egypt's Christian community include the following denominations:

Judaism

Before 1956 and according to the 1948 census there were 65,639 Egyptian Jews, including Karaites. Jews participated in all aspects of Egypt's social, economic and political life; one of the most ardent Egyptian nationalists, Yaqub Sanu' (Abu Naddara), was Jewish, as were the musician Dawoud Husni, popular singer Leila Mourad and filmmaker Togo Mizrahi. For a while, Jews from across the Ottoman Empire and Europe were attracted to Egypt due to the relative harmony that characterized the local religious landscape in the 19th and early 20th centuries. After the 1956 Suez Crisis, a great number of Jews were expelled by Gamal Abdel Nasser. Their Egyptian citizenship was revoked and their properties were confiscated. A steady stream of emigration of Egyptian Jews followed, reaching a peak after the Six-Day War with Israel in 1967. As of mid-2016, there were a total of 6 Jews remaining in Egypt (including their spiritual leader, Magda Tania Haroun), all women over the age of 65.

Ahmadiyya Islam

Ahmadiyya is traditionally a sect of Islam in the Muslim world. Ahmadis are small community in Egypt, though the history of Ahmadiyya in Egypt begins in the 1930s. Recently there has been an upsurge of persecution of Ahmadiyya in Egypt, since Ahmadis are considered non-Muslim by the Sunni Muslims in Egypt.

Bahá'í Faith

Police also regularly detain those without correct documentation and thus some Bahá'ís frequently stay home to avoid possible arrest. In 2008 a court case allowed Bahá'ís to obtain birth certificates and identification documents, so long as they omit their religion on court documents.

Informal estimates about Bahá'ís population in Egypt suggest that there are approximately 2000 Bahá'ís currently resident in Egypt, though some go several times higher.

Since their faith is not officially recognized by the state, they were not allowed to use it on their national identity cards. Without valid identity cards Bahá'ís encounter difficulty registering their children in school, opening bank accounts, and establishing businesses. On 16 December 2006, after only one hearing, the High Court of Egypt ruled against the Bahá'ís, stating that the government would not recognize their religion in official identification cards. The ruling left Bahá'ís unable to obtain ID cards, birth certificates, or death certificates. However, on January 29, 2008 Cairo's court of Administrative Justice, ruling on two related court cases, ruled in favour of the Bahá'ís, allowing them to obtain birth certificates and identification documents, so long as they omit their religion on court documents. The ruling accepted the compromise solution offered by the Bahá'ís, allowing for them to obtain identification papers without the Bahá'í Faith being officially recognized.

During and since the 2011 Egyptian revolution tensions have remained high - homes have been burnt though Bahá'ís contributed to the dialog. Since 2011 Bahá'ís while hopeful remain concerned and a Salafi spokesman has said of Bahá'ís "We will prosecute the Bahai's (sic) on charge of treason."

Atheism and agnosticism

There are Egyptians who identify themselves as atheist and agnostic; until 2008 only one case had been reported, but their numbers are unknown, as openly expressing such positions risks legal sanction on the basis of apostasy; however, as religious crimes in Egypt hold a status to Antragsdelikt, this occurs only if a citizen takes the step of suing the person engaging in apostasy, and cases are not initiated by the general prosecutor. Openly atheist and irreligious people in Egypt endure constant violence and death threats from the public. In 2000, an openly atheist Egyptian writer, who called for the establishment of a local association for atheists, was tried on charges of insulting Islam in four of his books. Atheists or irreligious people cannot change their official religious status, thus statistically they are counted as followers of the religion they were born with. Many are now publicly expressing their views using pseudonyms on social networks and blogs.