FEBRUARY 05 NEWSLETTER
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Copts and the Conversion Dilemma

In the end of February, the Church of Mar Girgis in Fayyoum, a city south of Cairo, witnessed the eruption of a protest by a hundred angry young Coptic Christians. The protestors chanted slogans against the forced conversion of two Coptic girls to Islam. They claimed that the girls were kidnapped, intimidated into changing their faith, and prevented from returning to Christianity. However, the Egyptian security officials denied the accusation and maintained that the girls had notified the appropriate authorities concerned to officially announce their change of faith. The demonstration came to an end after Egyptian security forces agreed to hold the meeting between the Christian clerics and the girl---to ensure that no coercion was involved---as prescribed by law in cases where Christians wish to convert to Islam.

The issue of conversion is particularly sensitive in Egyptian society. Democratic values prescribe that freedom of faith is a personal matter that should not be subject to intervention by any authority, whether the government or the religious establishment. However, the situation in Egypt is different, reflecting a double standard. While the government puts no restrictions on the conversion of non-Muslims to Islam, in reciprocal cases Muslim converts to Christianity are harassed by the government and their requests to alter their civil records reflecting their new religious identity have been denied.

In addition, converts to Islam are not permitted to revert to their original religion. Because freedom of religion is one of the tenets of the Egyptian constitution, it should be guaranteed and protected by the state. Indeed, the Qur'an itself has specifically and unambiguously upheld the freedom of faith in numerous verses, as in: "Whosoever will, let him believe, and whosoever will, let him disbelieve" (Al- Kahf 18:29). Thus, the discriminatory practices by the government do not only violate the dictates of the Qur'an, but they also foster a spirit of enmity between Christians and Muslims by upholding a double standard of human rights.