Religion in Egypt

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Religion in Egypt is widespread and endorsed by law. Egypt is predominantly Muslim, with Muslims comprising 90% of the population, while most of the remaining 10% are Christians. The non-Muslim, non-Coptic communities range in size from several thousand to hundreds of thousands. Worship of the original Egyptian gods has all but disappeared.

Contents 1 Islam 2 Christianity 3 Judaism 4 Atheism and Agnosticism 5 Bahá'í

[edit] Islam

Main article: Islam in Egypt

The Muslim population is largely Sunni, while a significant minority is Sufi. There is also a small number of Shiites.

[edit] Christianity

The Christians are mainly Coptic Orthodox, though a minority belongs to the Coptic Catholic Church. Other Christian groups include Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox, whose adherents are mainly descendants of Italian, Greek, Syrian and Armenian immigrants.

An Evangelical Protestant church, first established in the middle of the 19th century, has grown to a community of about 17 Protestant denominations. There also are followers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which was granted legal status in the 1960s.

[edit] Judaism

The Jewish community which flourished before the 1950s, today number fewer than 200 persons.

[edit] Atheism and Agnosticism

There are Egyptians who identify as atheist and agnostic, but their numbers are largely unknown as openly advocating such positions risks legal sanction. 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 and its prophet in four of his books [1].

[edit] Bahá'í

Main article: Persecution of Baha'is#Egypt

The number of Baha'is is estimated at between several hundred and a few thousand. They have been traditionally marginalized as a religious community in Egypt, on 6 April 2006, however, "a landmark ruling by the Administrative Court recognis[ed] the right of Egyptian Baha'is to have their religion acknowledged on official documents." [2]. On 3 May 2006 in Khaleej Times it was reported that "[t]he Egyptian government will appeal against a court ruling in favour of the rights of the country’s small Baha’i minority..." [3]

Notable quotations from ministers in the Egyptian government taken from the article, include:

Religious Endowments Minister Mahmoud Hamdi Zakzouk told parliament the government would base its appeal on the opinion of the :country’s leading Muslim cleric, the Sheikh of al-Azhar, that Baha’ism [sic] is not a “revealed religion” recognised by Muslims.

One member of parliament, Gamal Akl of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, said the Baha’is were infidels who should be killed on the grounds that they had changed their religion.

“The problem with the Baha’is is they are moved by Israeli fingers. We wish the Ministry of the Interior would not yield to the cheap blackmail of this deviant group,” added another Muslim Brotherhood member, Mustafa Awadallah.

“there is an interest in them being known rather than unknown so that they do not succeed in infiltrating the ranks of society and :spreading their extremist and deviant ideology.”

According to Reuter's Alertnet, the judgement of 6 April was suspended on 15 May. [4]

"Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court decided on 15 May to suspend the implementation of an earlier lower court ruling that allowed Bahais to have their religion recognised on official documents."