CAIRO: The administrative court has initially approved appeals of Christian converts to Islam to revert back to Christianity during a hearing at The State Council on Monday. The court will review the case on Sept. 1 for a final decision. Naguib Gabriel, a human rights lawyer representing the Christian complainants, told The Daily Star Egypt, that this verdict, allowing conversions to Christianity to be recognized in official documents, is a milestone in Egypt's history. This [decision] puts an end to the misery of conversion to Christianity that the Copts have been suffering for a year and a half. After the court had rejected the demands of the reverts on April 24 and accused them of manipulating religion, we finally managed to appeal this decision and the court approved the appeal, said Gabriel. He said that the Egyptian constitution does not pose any legal obstacles for converting from one religion to another. The issue is refused in Islamic jurisprudence, but legally speaking, we apply the law and not religion, said Gabriel, adding that Egypt is a secular state. Gabriel said that Christians will be able to officially change their religion on their national IDs as soon as the court takes its final decision in September. He added that the Christian community appreciated the fact that Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawy, head of Al-Azhar, respected religious freedom. It was a surprise that Sheikh Tantawy said that there is no problem for people to go back to Christianity. This represents the true modesty and respect of Islam. Islam rejects the concept of forcing someone to follow a certain religion, said Gabriel. Father Morkos Aziz, the patron of the hanging Church of Misr El Adema, who attended the court session, told The Daily Star Egypt that Christianity refuses manipulating religions and that converting back to Christianity is not religious manipulation. We reject disrespect for any religion .We believe in the freedom of religions and beliefs. I have the right to announce my faith in a certain religion or not believing in a religion at all. It is a special relationship between a person and God, said Aziz. He added that Christians might have converted to Islam in a moment of weakness, but it does not mean that they may not be allowed to convert back. If a Christian enters Islam and is fully convinced with it, he/she would never think of converting back to Christianity. [However], some converts in a moment of weakness, and sometimes Muslims bribe Christians to convert to Islam. It is like when a man divorces his wife in a moment of weakness; does that mean that he is not a believer? he continued. Medhat Malak, one of the Christians who converted to Islam and filed a case to convert back to Christianity, said he felt unstable when he changed his religion to Islam after some Muslims convinced him it is the religion of truth. I woke up and found that suddenly my religion is Islam in all my official documents. When I tried to change my back at the police station, an officer yelled and insulted me, said Malak. Another Christian, who preferred to remain anonymous, also filed a case to convert back to Christianity and is married to a Christian, said: I have to file a case because I am actually a Christian. If I don't change this information on my ID for example, my Christian daughter cannot take my name, he said. With additional reporting by Passant Rabie.
