Moussa asserts that the new constitution bans the establishment of political parties based on religion, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, but it gives Egypt’s theocrats-in-waiting a way to get around this ban by allowing parties to be established on “Islamic reference.”
What is the difference? So far, 11 parties have already followed this path, including the Hizb El-Benaa Wa El-Tanmia, and the Al Nour Party.
Further, while Moussa stated that under the new constitution Egypt would have a civilian state, he did not promise that it would be a secular one. When Christian leaders expressed concern that the proposed constitution did not call for the creation of secular government that would protect their rights, Moussa said told people not to get hung up on technicalities.
This is no technicality. It was the Salafist Nour party that insisted on using the phrase “a civilian government” as a way to protect Egypt’s Islamist parties. Again and again, the Salafis, who believe that the non-Muslim cannot rule over a Muslim, have insisted that the president should not be a Christian or a woman.
Under the proposed “civilian” government (even one that privileges the military), such an arrangement is completely intolerable because it does not address Egypt’s real challenges.
What Moussa describes as a “technicality” is actually a loophole the size of a mosque (or an armored personnel carrier). Egypt’s former Grand Mufti, Ali Gomaa, gave the game away in an interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm in which he stated that the concept of a civil government does not contradict Islamic law, but conforms to it. “In Egypt,” he stated, “a civil state means a modern nationalist state that is compatible with Islamic provisions … Egypt did not import the civil state model from the West and that model has existed for about 150 years.” Gomaa explained the state’s constitution, institutions, parliament, and administrative and judicial systems are “all consistent with Islamic Sharia” which allows the adoption of a “civil model” of governance. He adds also “Egypt’s Islamic identity does not clash with its civil system, which defends citizens’ rights regardless of their faith.”
More obfuscation.
Yes, the proposed constitution states that freedom of “belief” is “absolute” for all Egyptians. However, the religious practices and the building of houses of worship for Christians and Jews are still regulated by the government.
Let’s be clear: Even Jews and Christians do not enjoy religious freedom in Egypt and, under the new constitution, will not. There are only 49 Jews – all of them elderly women – in the land of the Nile. Why so few? Because they were driven out. Does Moussa think Jews will be returning to Egypt to exercise their rights under the new constitution even as they are demonized throughout the country in the media and in mosques?
Egypt’s Christians are, thankfully, more numerous, accounting for about 10-15% of the total population of nearly 90 million. But there are fewer than 2,500 churches in Egypt compared to more than 120,000 government-owned and -sponsored mosques.
Christians who want to repair a church must obtain written permission from the governor of the local province. They also need to obtain the local Muslim community’s approval, and permission from local and national security officials. The process can take up 20 years. By way of comparison, there are no restrictions on building mosques.
Under the proposed constitution, people who worship a non-Abrahamic faith (or what Islamic scholars refer to as the “heavenly religions” of Islam, Christianity and Judaism) have no rights at all. To put it plainly, the new constitution deprives Egypt’s Bahais and Shia Muslims of any rights whatsoever. They are Egyptian citizens, but the proposed constitution does not even acknowledge their existence.