CAIRO: Coptic thinker Samir Morqos suggested creating a special committee to deal with cases of religious conversions. According to press reports, Morqos suggested the committee be named "Committee Number 46 in reference to Article 46 of the Egyptian constitution which provides for freedom of belief and religious practice. The suggestion, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported, was approved by Mohamed Shama, the cultural consultant of the Ministry of Religious Endowments, who could not be reached at time of press. Hossam Bahgat, chairman of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, told Daily News Egypt that the Ministry of Religious Endowments has not yet released an official statement about its stance vis-a-vis Morqos s request. Bahgat added that Shama's comment on the suggestion as reported by Al-Masry Al-Youm was "casual and informal. Sheikh Mahmoud Ashour, former deputy of Al-Azhar and member of the Islamic Research Center, told Daily News Egypt that the idea is completely respectable. He expressed the need for a committee that would investigate the reasons behind converting from one s religion "o stop the issue from turning into a sectarian clash as is the case now. But Bahgat said that no one has the right to interfere in a person's relationship with God and no one has the authority to doubt another person s intentions and reasons for adopting a certain religion. Yet Bahgat agrees in principle with the idea of establishing an independent civil division to handle all religious concerns and not only conversions. We need the committee to also deal with other matters like issuing permits to build places of [religious] worship, marital problems, and accreditations of priests and Muslim preachers, Bahgat added. "Our research reveals that the monopoly of the Ministry of Interior over religious disputes is the root cause of violations, tension and violence, he said. Whereas the state gives the Ministry of Religious Endowments jurisprudence over administrative matters related to Muslims, there is no similar institution for Copts, Bahgat added. Copts have to go back to the church to resolve any matter, as according to Bahgat, there is no neutral body to clear disputes and provide an arena for arbitrating matters related to Copts. Ashour says that both Muslims and Christians have the right to abandon their religion if they have enough reasons to take this step. His comment supports Grand Mufti of Egypt Ali Gomaa s controversial opinion expressed on the Washington Post-Newsweek forum On Faith website a month ago about Islam's stance on the status of Muslims converting to other religions. Referring to it in Arabic as "redda, the Grand Mufti stressed the concepts of freedom and responsibility that come with a person s choice to abide by a certain religion. According to a press statement issued by Dar El-Ifta to Daily News Egypt, Gomaa's article stated that God has made it every person s right to choose the religion they desire to follow without any compulsion or outside pressure. That is why I said that punishment for redda was never implemented throughout the whole history of Islam, except on those who were not merely satisfied with redda but worked on destroying societal principles and rules, said the statement. Priest Anglos Ishaq told Daily News Egypt that this step will be a great solution that will elevate the level of discussion and prevent any conflict between Muslims and Christians. This idea will hamper those with destructive ideologies from interfering and causing problems, he added.
