| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa North |
| Egypt's new constitution should allow freedom of worship for all religions: Salmawy |
| 2013-09-17 |
| [Al Ahram] The 50-member committee responsible for amending Egypt's constitution may reexamine constitutional statements that limit freedom of religion to followers of Islam, Judaism and Christianity, according to a leading member of the committee. Mohamed Salmawy, the committee's media spokesperson, told a presser on Monday that "it is very important for Egypt's new constitution to be amended to give followers of different world religions the right to exercise their rites freely." Salmawy indicated that the 2012 constitution, drafted by an Islamist-dominated constituent assembly, stated that "the right to exercise one's religious rites and establish places of worship is guaranteed for the three heavenly religions only: Islam, Christianity and Judaism." Salmawy argues that the wording must be changed because it violates international conventions on human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... "The more the constitution's articles are comprehensive and inclusive of all religions and sects, the more it will be in line with international human rights benchmarks." "The constitution cannot be tailored to a certain religion or a certain sect," he added. According to Salmawy, international statistics show that one third of world's population are members of "non-heavenly religions" and that a lot of Mohammedans live in countries where the official religion is not Islam or Christianity. "It is quite problematic to ask non-Mohammedan countries to give freedom to Mohammedans living on their land while Mohammedan countries refrain from doing the same to non-Mohammedans or people who do not believe in the world's three heavenly religions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism," he said. "The constitution-drafting committee will do its best to reach a consensus formula which could maintain Islam as the official religion of the state but at the same time ensure freedom for followers of all world religions to exercise rites," Salmawy said. Salmawy's comments also came in response to the decision of Bassam El-Zarqa, the single representative of the ultraconservative Salafist Nour Party on the committee, to withdraw from a sub-committee meeting today. El-Zarqa proposed that Article 2 of the constitution be amended to state that "Islamic sharia is the main source of legislation in Egypt" in place of its current wording, which reads: "the principles of Islamic sharia are the main source of legislation in Egypt." El-Zarqa's proposal was rejected by chairman of the 'basic constitution components and the state' sub-committee, Mohamed Abdel-Salam. The committee's members joined forces with Abdel-Salam, who is also a legal advisor to the grand sheikh of Al-Azhar University. The sub-committee members also rejected an alternative wording proposed by El-Zarqa: "The rules of Islamic sharia are the main source of legislation in Egypt." El-Zarqa argued that his proposal reflects a strong belief in Islamic sharia and the Islamic identity of Egypt. He said his amendment would allow the elimination of controversial Article 219 which gives an interpretation of the meaning of "principles of sharia" that many liberals and moderates warn is too conservative. El-Zarqa decided to withdraw from the sub-committee meeting after his two proposals were rejected. Hussein Abdel-Razeq, a member of the leftist Tagammu party, argued that "the elimination of the word 'principles' in favour of the word 'rules' is aimed at imposing a strict code of Islam, including the application of what is known as the hudood." Hudood punishments in Islamic law include the amputation of limbs as a punishment for theft, and other forms of corporal and capital punishment for a number of offences. Salmawy said at the presser that El-Zarqa's withdrawal "does not mean that he has decided to boycott the upcoming meetings of the 50-member constitutional panel and its sub-committees." "I hope that all members exercise restraint and know that it is natural to differ until they reach consensus," he added. The 'basic components' sub-committee members also agreed that Article 3, as re-drafted by a 10-member technical committee last month, be kept in place. The article states that "for Egyptian Christians and Jews, the principles of their religious law will be the main source in regulating their personal status laws, matters pertaining to their religion, and the selection of their spiritual leadership." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 It won't last long. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2013-09-17 15:51 |
| #1 where's that picture of the jaw dropping? |
| Posted by: Slinerong Elmegum4754 2013-09-17 13:40 |