The new parliamentary round has begun. It now appears obvious that the government has no intention whatsoever of placing the long-awaited bill for a unified law for building places of worship on its agenda. For four consecutive rounds, the bill has remained shelved, despite the need for it to ward off so-called sectarian problems that erupt every so often.
Watani, however, is pursuing its rally to support the bill.
Mustafa al-Saïd, chairman of Parliament’s Economic Committee, argues that there should be no discrimination among Egyptians because of religion or creed, and that legislation should treat members of the three heavenly religions equally when it comes to building places of worship. Approvals should be issued by administrative bodies in accordance with objective considerations. Restrictions on building Christian and Jewish places of worship, Dr Saïd said, had more to do with outdated historical considerations that should be changed. Passing a unified law for building places of worship is a must, he stressed, to put an end to the current discrimination against the building of churches, which leads to the outbreak of sectarian clashes. The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) should press ahead with the bill, particularly since it has been approved by Parliament’s Proposal and Complaints Committee as well as the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR). “But,” Dr Saïd warned, “foreign pressure on that front could lead to unfavourable results and prevent the law from ever seeing light”.
Independent MP Kamal Ahmed finds in the bill a leap forward to overcome the infamous Hamayouni edict. “If the government does not place the bill on the agenda of the current parliamentary round, I will myself demand that it should be posed for discussion,” he insisted. “The question of building places of worship should be prised out of the grip of the security apparatus, since this grip creates many complications. I believe that approvals for the restoration, renovation, or expansion of already existing churches should be moved from the hands of the governors into those of senior local officials. A time limit should be imposed for the Supreme Administrative Court to issue rulings in related cases”, Mr Ahmed said.
Ramzy al-Shaaer, MP and legal expert, believes the bill in question is consistent with the last constitutional amendments stressing citizenship rights. Regulations governing the building of churches need to be amended, he told Watani. “As far as I know,” Dr Shaaer said, “No difficulties exist in building or restoring churches. Any complications involved are similar to those involving other buildings in general. I do not mind, however, unifying the procedures governing the building of places of worship, even though I do not feel that there exists any problem to warrant a law in this regard”.
“I reject the bill for unified regulations to build places of worship,” Mohamed Farid Zakariya of the Shura Council said. “To discuss it is to tread through a landmine.” In advanced Christian nations, Mr Zakariya said, there is no similar legislation. He insisted that demand for such a bill was no more than an extremist action stirred by foreign powers. “We should remember that Egypt is being subject to a Shiite invasion staged by wealthy groups that are asking to build Shiite mosques. Baha’is also seek to build their own places of worship, and a remnant of Jews may ask to build synagogues if the bill is passed. Have we managed to solve all our problems for us to think of issuing a unified law for building places of worship? We need to focus on Egypt’s economic woes and on boosting democracy instead of stirring up religious hatred. If the law is passed, huge money will be spent on church building, which is bound to provoke Muslims. I am against the bill in principle, but if the Melli (community) Council, Al-Azhar, and Dar-Iftaa’ [the highest Islamic and sole official board to issue religious legal opinions in Egypt] submit a bill I will approve it because these bodies are more qualified in this regard than MPs”.
I have kept to my principle of respecting all opinions voiced on the bill, no matter how much at variance they may be with mine. In this context I have faithfully quoted the words of Dr Shaaer and Mr Zakariya, even though they diverged from the majority of opinions Watani polled. I will comment on them at some future occasion.
