Respecting all faiths
CAIRO: Egypt s Supreme Administrative Court decided on May 15 to suspend the implementation of an earlier ruling that allowed Bahais to have their religion recognized on official documents.
The earlier ruling, made on April 4, was passed after a case was filed by a Bahai couple whose official documentation had been confiscated by the state. The ruling quickly became the center of controversy in parliament, after which the Ministry of Interior quickly filed an appeal to overturn the ruling
Do most Egyptians accept Bahais as citizens with full civil rights? The Daily Star Egypt took to the streets to uncover the general feeling toward the Bahai community in Egypt.
They should of course have to write their religion on the ID card. They are not Muslims and they are not Christians. I think that both Muslims and Christians will not accept them, as for them, they are disbelievers. Aya, student
I think they should be differentiated from Muslims and Christians. But we should not write Bahai because this may be considered as recognition to Bahaism as a religion. I think they can write “other in the religion entry, or they can leave it blank.Mona, housewife
We should not recognize any strange religion, so I think putting “other in the religion entry can be a good answer for all of these minorities. I have the right to object to anything that harms my religion, even if it is another religion. What if a person decided to make a new religion, will we recognize it? We can’t have a political party this easily. They are Egyptian citizens and they have the right to live in Egypt but we also have the right to not recognize their religion.Mohammed, student
Islam is the origin of the Egyptian constitution, and it doesn’t recognize any religion but the three main religions, so they should not be allowed to put what they call Bahai in the National ID cards. These are Egyptian cards. The question should be who moves these minorities and why do they have a loud voice these days? I think it is a kind of political pressure on Egypt.Ismael, businessman
I believe they should write their religion on their IDs. Some of these people write Christian on their ID. They are not Christians and we are not happy with that. I think everything should be clear. Muslim is a Muslim, Christian is a Christian and Bahai is a Bahai.Melad, businessman
Aren’t they Egyptians? They should have their civil rights as any Egyptian citizen. They are a closed community and they will not harm anybody. Let them do what they want.Amir, engineer
