CAIRO: Amid the growing debate among Christians over the Common Personal Status law for non-Muslims, which is currently being drafted, the Spokesman for Baha'i community in Egypt, Raouf Hendi, described the draft law as “racist and discriminatory,” saying it is promoting sectarianism in the country. The Baha'i community has long struggled to gain equal rights in Egypt due to the Islamic belief that the faith is “blasphemous” as it believes in a Prophet after Mohamed and the natural progression of religion through “manifestations of God.” Hendi said in statements to local Egyptian newspapers that the presence of the Personal Status law for Sunnis, Shiites, Orthodox and Evangelical Christians, “or any other religious minorities in Egypt, is devoted actually to sectarianism,” pointing out that the only solution out of this impasse is “to produce a uniform civil code of personal status for all Egyptians without discrimination due to religion, sex, color, as the presence of a uniform civil code for all Egyptians enshrines the principle of citizenship.” He added that “for those who want the blessing of the Church or Al-Azhar, let them be, but without the threat from religious institutions, because we must all respect the law.” The Baha'I in Egypt are numbered in the thousands, but only in a court ruling last year were able to garner proper national identification papers by leaving “religion” blank. Most observers note that such procedures will simply identify members of the faith more easily. All national identification papers in Egypt, from driver's licenses to birth certificates must denote a religion and although the Egyptian Constitution gives citizens freedom of belief and religion, the government only recognizes the three “Divine” faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. ** Reporting by Mohamed Abdel Salam BM
