The three major Churches in Egypt: the Coptic Orthodox, Coptic Catholic, and the Evangelical, have unanimously decided to reject the proposed constitutional articles on the sovereignty of Allah
The three major Churches in Egypt: the Coptic Orthodox, Coptic Catholic, and the Evangelical, have unanimously decided to reject the proposed constitutional articles on the sovereignty of Allah, al-Azhar (the Cairo-based topmost Sunni Islam institution in the world) as a religious reference, and zakat (Islamic alms). A spokesman said that the Churches had no specific demands; “it’s just a general stance against constitutional articles which involve religion and the State.”
In a two-hour meeting yesterday at the Coptic Orthodox premises in Cairo, the respective representatives of the three Churches: Anba Pola, Anba Yuhanna Qulta, and Rev. Safwat al-Bayadi coordinated their joint stance vis-à-vis articles that link religion and the State. On Monday, they will be meeting the Grand Imam of al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb at al-Azhar headquarters.
Dr Bayadi told the media that the Churches rejected that al-Azhar should be a reference because the constitution is in itself a reference; no other is needed; and that zakat was rejected because it is replaced with modern-day taxation. “Stipulating zakat as such,” he said, “represents some form of discrimination in favour of a specific religion.”
WATANI International
23 September 2012
