Egyptian court rules against Christian convert

CAIRO, Egypt — In a blow to religious freedom in Egypt, a Cairo court has ruled against a Muslim convert to Christianity who requested that his religious affiliation be changed. Judge Muhammad Husseini said in a verdict Jan. 29 that it is against Islamic law for a Muslim to leave Islam, a legal representative for convert Muhammad Hegazy said. “He can believe whatever he wants in his heart, but on paper he can’t convert,” Husseini told the administrative court, according to the member of Hegazy’s legal team.

Husseini based his decision on Article II of the Egyptian Constitution, which makes Islamic law, or Shariah, the source of Egyptian law. The judge said that according to Shariah, Islam is the final and most complete religion and therefore Muslims already practice full freedom of religion and cannot return to an older belief (Christianity or Judaism). “What happened is a violation of my basic rights,” Hegazy told the U.S. Copts Association following the hearing. “What does the state have to do with the religion I embrace?”