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 biased in favor of Islam and against religious minorities, most notably the country’s approximately 10 million Coptic Christians. 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. Shi’as face open official discrimination, including being barred from admission to Al-Azhar University.
Read more about this topic: Religion In Egypt
Famous quotes containing the words human rights, freedom of, freedom, religion, human and/or rights:
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—Jane Grey Swisshelm, U.S. newspaperwoman, abolitionist, and human rights activist. Half a Century, ch. 8 (1880)
“Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war,
How to divide the conquest of thy sight;
Mine eye my heart thy picture’s sight would bar,
My heart mine eye the freedom of that right.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
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“A chaplain is the minister of the Prince of Peace serving the host of the God of War—Mars. As such, he is as incongruous as a musket would be on the altar at Christmas. Why, then, is he there? Because he indirectly subserves the purpose attested by the cannon; because too he lends the sanction of the religion of the meek to that which practically is the abrogation of everything but brute Force.”
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“You’ve committed murder just as much as Hélène did. You killed a fly with a human head, she killed a human with a fly head. If she murdered so did you.”
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