WATANI International
Minister of Education Yusri al-Gamal has issued an official decision exempting the 14-year-old Christian twins Andrew and Mario Ramsis from sitting for the Islamic Religion examination for the first term of the current scholastic year. The recent decision came in response to a request by the twin’s mother Kamilia Lutfi and demands by rights groups in
The twins’ father had converted to Islam in 2000, reverted to Christianity in 2002 then back to Islam in 2003. He separated from his wife and, in the meantime, carried two ID cards, one as a Christian and one as a Muslim. Upon which the twins were required, according to Egyptian law, to follow suit. This entitled that their birth certificates be changed to cite them as Muslims, and that they study and pass Islamic Religion examinations in school.
The twins’ school has insisted on obliging them to take the monthly exams in Islamic Religion, and kept them registered as Muslims. On their part, they insisted on writing the one sentence “I am a Christian” in their answer sheets.