CAIRO: A lawyer is pushing to raise an appeal in the Court of Administration to revoke the ruling which allows Bahais to leave the religious affiliation field blank on official documents.
Abdel Magid Al-Anany approached the court last Sunday to present his case claiming that the previous ruling of Jan. 29, which was considered a victory for Egyptian Bahais, contravenes sharia.
“Al-Anany has been involved in the case from the first instance, he had made many irrational demands from the court, one of which was that [Bahais] ought to be killed, which was thrown out immediately, Adel Ramadan, from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) and lawyer for the Bahais told Daily News Egypt.
“He made allegations bound up with religion where it was not relevant. We were not demanding that the Bahai religion by recognized, but that Bahai people be acknowledged as human beings and citizens.
“I am more concerned that the government continues to execute the decision of the last court so that they can receive their papers, as the ruling is being implemented but it’s a slow process, Ramadan added.
“We are not worried about his appeal, Yara Sallam, EIPR researcher, told Daily News Egypt, “we don’t know why he is pushing for the a revocation of this decision, but we do know that Al-Anany is famous for raising cases against religious freedom.
“The court as yet has not fixed a date, and the government has not acted on the appeal. That is the crux of the matter.
Dr Basma Moussa, spokesperson for Bahais in Egypt, also expressed confusion as to why Al-Anany wants to make an appeal.
“We really have no idea why he is doing this. In the last case we suggested to the court that we either leave our religion blank or put a dash, and this was what was agreed upon, she told Daily News Egypt.
“He says we are making war on Islam and that we do not recognize Prophet Mohamed, however, we both recognize and respect him. I would like to ask Abdel Magid what exactly is his guide for making these allegations.
“We are now negotiating with the Ministry to receive our papers. It is in the government’s hands now. The discussion is between us and the Ministry of Interior.
Al-Anany is also actively trying to raise a case against the decision to allow reverts to Christianity to register their new religion on their identity cards. He claims that the decision violates Article 2 of the constitution, which states that sharia is the source of legislation.
