New Egyptian law forbids Christians who convert to Islam to revert to former faith

An administrative court ruled in favor of the Egyptian Interior minister who refused to issue new identification papers and birth certificates to Christians who had converted to Islam but wished to revert to their original faith, Middle East Times reported on May 11. The law does not bar Muslims who converted to Christianity and then reverted to Islam from getting new identification papers, the article notes.

The Christian clergy and intellectuals said that the law is “contradictory to Egypt’s citizenship laws” and Constitution and called on all Christians to “take a serious stand” against it.

This ruling is further demonstration of the continuing religious intolerance of the Egyptian government. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that only Islam, Christianity and Judaism can be used on official documents, therefore discriminating against followers of the Baha'i faith.

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