Egypt Christian Teenager Forced To Follow Islamic Education
ICC Note
“At present Dina is forced to attend Islamic religious education classes despite having been raised as a Christian. Maher does not want her to be forced to live under Islamic family and personal status law, which would include denying her the right to marry a Christian,”
11/26/2008 Egypt (BosNewsLife)-There was concern Monday, November 24, over the plight of a Christian teenager in Egypt who has been forced to attend Islamic religious education in a case that has underscored disputes over religious affiliation in the mainly Muslim nation.
Middle East Concern, (MEC) which represents Christians complaining of persecution, told BosNewsLife that Egyptian Christians have requested prayers for the girl, identified only as 14-year-old Dina for security reasons, and her father Maher, a former Muslim. “Maher, a bleiver of a Muslim background, is involved in a legal battle to have his religious registration as shown on his identity card changed to reflect his desire to be identified as a Christian,”MEC said.
Unless his papers are changes, his daughter will also be identified as Muslim at the age of 16, MEC added. “At present Dina is forced to attend Islamic religious education classes despite having been raised as a Christian. Maher does not want her to be forced to live under Islamic family and personal status law, which would include denying her the right to marry a Christian,” the group explained.
Local Court
Maher has submitted his case to a local court but after several delays was rescheduled to January 6, “due to disagreements between the lawyers,” MEC said. Maher became a Christian in 1973, abandoning Islam, despite apparently mounting opposition. “Currently Maher and Dina are living in hiding due to the negative repercussions associated with his legal challenge.”
Meanwhile Egyptian human rights workers are looking to international bodies for support against Muslim judges who use sharia (Islamic law) to undermine custody rights of Christian mothers. Despite provisions such as Egyptian law’s Article 20, which dictates that minors should remain with their mother until age 15, judges consistently rule in favor of Muslim fathers in custody disputes with Christian mothers.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), an independent human rights organization, has accused the Egyptian government of violating the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which Egypt ratified in 1984. EIPR referred to the case of 13-year-old twins Andrew and Mario Medhat Ramses, whom an appeals court awarded to their father, Medhat Ramses Labib, on September 24 after a widely published custody battle.
