CAIRO: For the fewer than 2,000 Bahais living in Egypt without official status and facing increased political and legal entanglements, Saturday's ruling by the First Circuit of the Supreme Administrative Court will determine their destiny in their homeland. In April, the Egyptian Administrative Justice Court ruled in favor of two Bahai parents who requested birth certificates for their three daughters because their original ones were confiscated by the Interior Ministry for having them documented as Bahais. Sharia (Islamic law) prohibits discrimination against non-Muslims, the court decreed. In addition, it was imperative for the state to recognize the real beliefs of its citizens to administer the appropriate rights and laws unto them. This recognition does not mean that the state endorses Bahaism, the court stated. The Interior Ministry appealed this ruling, and the First Circuit of the Supreme Administrative Court considered the appeal on Dec. 2. Arguments were heard on Saturday and the court will give a final judgment on Dec. 16. Former Deputy Head of Al Azhar and Member of the Islamic Research Council Seif Mahmoud Ashour, backed the government standpoint in an interview with The Daily Star Egypt. "Bahaism is not a religion, he said, "what we recognize are Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Bahaism is a worldly belief, and not a heavenly religion, it is a man-made creation. We recognize only the heavenly religions. Ashour added that from an Islamic standpoint "They are allowed to believe what they want, and to exercise their beliefs as they see fit, but the state will not recognize them. Ashour then launched into a critique of Bahaism saying "We hear they permit incest, that a man can marry his sister, pray with nineteen raq'aa (prostrations), fast nineteen days a year and pray towards Acre (in Israel, resting place of Baha u llah's remains) and not Mecca. Dr. Labib Iskandar Hanna, a professor of Engineering at Cairo University and a follower of the Bahai faith, disputed much of this rumor-mongering as babble propagated by an ignorant media. In an interview with The Daily Star Egypt he challenged anyone to present one case of incest amongst the Bahai community. He also dismissed the idea of nineteen prostrations in their prayer. He said: "If you want to know about Muslims, you don't ask a Jewish Rabbi, you ask Muslims themselves. People should ask us if they want to know something.
