அமெரிக்காவில் படித்துக்கொண்டே அமெரிக்காவுக்கு குண்டு வைக்க யூட்யூப் வீடியோ போட்ட முஸ்லீம் மாணவருக்கு 15 வருட சிறை
Student gets 15 years for Youtube bomb video
by Andy Carvell posted on December 19, 2008 6:26 pm
A student was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for uploading a 12 minute bomb-making video to Youtube.
Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, an Egyptian student, was studying at the University of South Florida when he was arrested. Police who pulled him over allegedly found explosives in his car, though this charge was subsequently dropped as part of a plea agreement in June 2008.
When authorities searched Mohamed’s laptop, they found a 12 minute video which contained a demonstration of how to turn a Wal-Mart remote controlled toy car into a detonator for a bomb. The suspect’s voice narrated the video in Arabic. The video had been posted to Youtube and viewed hundreds of times.
Doing himself no favours, Mohammed had claimed in court that he intended the video to be used by enemies of the United States, which he claimed was a ‘vile nation’.
Read more over at Wired
Showing posts with label எகிப்து. Show all posts
Showing posts with label எகிப்து. Show all posts
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
உலகத்தின் சொத்துக்கள் அனைத்து முஸ்லீம்களுடையது- எகிப்து மதகுரு யூசூப் கரளாவி அறிவிப்பு
உலகத்தின் சொத்துக்கள் அனைத்து முஸ்லீம்களுடையது என்று எகிப்து மதகுரு யூசூப் கரளாவி அறிவித்துள்ளார்.
உலகத்தின் எல்லா சொத்துக்களையும் அழித்து அதன் மீது ஏழாம் நூற்றாண்டில் சொன்னதுபோல செய்யவேண்டும் என்றும் அறிவித்துள்ளார்.
'All Riches Are Ours'
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 10/15/2008
Islamofascism: An Arab cleric rejoicing in the "collapse" of capitalism is calling on Muslims to replace it with an Islamic financial system that's done such a bang-up job for them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read More: Global War On Terror
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Egyptian Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, described by the wires as an "influential" cleric, beseeched Muslims to take advantage of the Western financial crisis to build an economic system based on 7th-century Shariah principles banning interest and credit.
"The collapse of the capitalist system based on usury and paper and not on goods traded on the market is proof that it is in crisis and shows that Islamic economic philosophy is holding up," al-Qaradawi said.
Apparently the sheik hasn't looked at any numbers comparing Muslim economies with Western economies. They don't stack up, to put it gently. The best yardstick for measuring global economic success is per-capita GDP. None of the 35 Muslim nations holds a candle to the U.S. (with the exceptions of tiny plutocracies like Qatar).
Al-Qaradawi's Egypt, for example, ranks 111th in the world with a per-capita GDP of $1,697. In contrast, the U.S. ranks 10th with a per-capita GDP of $45,790.
Still, al-Qaradawi thinks the West's financial turmoil proves the superiority of Islamic economics. He urged Muslims to "profit from the crisis to bring about the triumph of the (Islamic) nation, which holds the spiritual and material resources for victory," including "nearly all the oil." (Even more reason to drill.)
Who is this sheik? The wires describe him simply as an "influential Sunni cleric," when in fact he's a Muslim Brotherhood jihadist leader who advocates suicide bombings against the West and the establishment of a global caliphate. The stories don't mention that.
In fact, al-Qaradawi has been banned from traveling to both the U.S. and the U.K. because of his pro-terrorism remarks, including:
• Defending suicide bombings in 2001 as "heroic martyrdom operations."
• Declaring in 2003 that any Muslims "killed fighting the American forces are martyrs."
• Encouraging female suicide bombings in 2004 as "martyr operations" and "the greatest of all sorts of jihad in the cause of Allah."
The cleric has also endorsed the Islamic practice of wife-beating, arguing that "some women enjoy the beating."
Despite this, al-Qaradawi sits on Shariah advisory boards of several Islamic funds and banks around the Muslim world.
Another prominent adviser is Muhammad Usmani, a radical Pakistani cleric who also advocates suicide bombings and runs a madrassa that has trained thousands of Taliban extremists.
Until recently, Usmani sat on the Shariah supervisory board of a U.S. Islamic fund run by the North American Islamic Trust — a Saudi-tied front for the Muslim Brotherhood that holds title to some of the most radical mosques in America.
The Justice Department last year named the trust as an unindicted co-conspirator in a major terror-financing case.
Such funds offer little transparency. They fail to disclose both the radical ties of the Muslim scholars who are advising and running them and the Islamofascist tenets that dictate the structuring of the investments.
The prospectuses explain simply that the investments are "ethical" or "socially responsible," when in fact they are grounded in a hateful and violent religious doctrine that threatens America and the West.
The main purpose of Shariah law is to promote Islam as the only legitimate governing system and to help establish its rule worldwide. Shariah-compliant finance is a means to that end.
"All riches are ours," al-Qaradawi declared. Keep dreaming, Sheik.
Click here for copyright permissions!
Copyright 2000-2008 Investor's Business Daily, Inc.
உலகத்தின் எல்லா சொத்துக்களையும் அழித்து அதன் மீது ஏழாம் நூற்றாண்டில் சொன்னதுபோல செய்யவேண்டும் என்றும் அறிவித்துள்ளார்.
'All Riches Are Ours'
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 10/15/2008
Islamofascism: An Arab cleric rejoicing in the "collapse" of capitalism is calling on Muslims to replace it with an Islamic financial system that's done such a bang-up job for them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read More: Global War On Terror
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Egyptian Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, described by the wires as an "influential" cleric, beseeched Muslims to take advantage of the Western financial crisis to build an economic system based on 7th-century Shariah principles banning interest and credit.
"The collapse of the capitalist system based on usury and paper and not on goods traded on the market is proof that it is in crisis and shows that Islamic economic philosophy is holding up," al-Qaradawi said.
Apparently the sheik hasn't looked at any numbers comparing Muslim economies with Western economies. They don't stack up, to put it gently. The best yardstick for measuring global economic success is per-capita GDP. None of the 35 Muslim nations holds a candle to the U.S. (with the exceptions of tiny plutocracies like Qatar).
Al-Qaradawi's Egypt, for example, ranks 111th in the world with a per-capita GDP of $1,697. In contrast, the U.S. ranks 10th with a per-capita GDP of $45,790.
Still, al-Qaradawi thinks the West's financial turmoil proves the superiority of Islamic economics. He urged Muslims to "profit from the crisis to bring about the triumph of the (Islamic) nation, which holds the spiritual and material resources for victory," including "nearly all the oil." (Even more reason to drill.)
Who is this sheik? The wires describe him simply as an "influential Sunni cleric," when in fact he's a Muslim Brotherhood jihadist leader who advocates suicide bombings against the West and the establishment of a global caliphate. The stories don't mention that.
In fact, al-Qaradawi has been banned from traveling to both the U.S. and the U.K. because of his pro-terrorism remarks, including:
• Defending suicide bombings in 2001 as "heroic martyrdom operations."
• Declaring in 2003 that any Muslims "killed fighting the American forces are martyrs."
• Encouraging female suicide bombings in 2004 as "martyr operations" and "the greatest of all sorts of jihad in the cause of Allah."
The cleric has also endorsed the Islamic practice of wife-beating, arguing that "some women enjoy the beating."
Despite this, al-Qaradawi sits on Shariah advisory boards of several Islamic funds and banks around the Muslim world.
Another prominent adviser is Muhammad Usmani, a radical Pakistani cleric who also advocates suicide bombings and runs a madrassa that has trained thousands of Taliban extremists.
Until recently, Usmani sat on the Shariah supervisory board of a U.S. Islamic fund run by the North American Islamic Trust — a Saudi-tied front for the Muslim Brotherhood that holds title to some of the most radical mosques in America.
The Justice Department last year named the trust as an unindicted co-conspirator in a major terror-financing case.
Such funds offer little transparency. They fail to disclose both the radical ties of the Muslim scholars who are advising and running them and the Islamofascist tenets that dictate the structuring of the investments.
The prospectuses explain simply that the investments are "ethical" or "socially responsible," when in fact they are grounded in a hateful and violent religious doctrine that threatens America and the West.
The main purpose of Shariah law is to promote Islam as the only legitimate governing system and to help establish its rule worldwide. Shariah-compliant finance is a means to that end.
"All riches are ours," al-Qaradawi declared. Keep dreaming, Sheik.
Click here for copyright permissions!
Copyright 2000-2008 Investor's Business Daily, Inc.
எலக்ட் ரானிக் ஜிகாத் செய்ய எகிப்து உலீமாக்கள் ஆணை
அமெரிக்க இஸ்ரேலிய இணைய தளங்களை தாக்குவதற்கும் செயலிழக்க வைப்பதற்கும் எகிப்திய உலீமாக்கள் ஆணை பிறப்பித்துள்ளனர்.
Egypt: Sunni scholars sanction 'electronic Jihad'
Cairo, 16 Oct. (AKI) - Attacking American and Israeli websites by hacking and sabotage is allowed under Islamic law and is a form of 'Jihad' or holy war, top Muslim scholars have decreed.
The religious edict (fatwa) issued by a committee from the highest authority in Sunni Islam, Egypt's Al-Azhar University in Cairo, was published on the website of the Islamist Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood movement on Thursday.
"This is considered a type of lawful Jihad that helps Islam by paralysing the information systems used by our enemies for their evil aims," said the fatwa.
"This Jihad is not different from the armed one. In fact, it might be more important if you consider the global dimensions of the Internet.
"Whoever wins this war will become the strongest in the realm of information," the fatwa continued.
The Muslim Brotherhood praised the fatwa, which comes in response to dozens of questions from radicals asking to be allowed to destroy Israeli and United States websites.
Last week, the news website of Dubai-based Arabic TV network al-Arabiya was attacked by suspected Shia hackers, who posted a burning Israeli flag to the site.
Beneath the flag, a message in Arabic and English read: 'Serious Warning - if attacks on Shia websites continue, none of your websites will be safe.'
Egypt: Sunni scholars sanction 'electronic Jihad'
Cairo, 16 Oct. (AKI) - Attacking American and Israeli websites by hacking and sabotage is allowed under Islamic law and is a form of 'Jihad' or holy war, top Muslim scholars have decreed.
The religious edict (fatwa) issued by a committee from the highest authority in Sunni Islam, Egypt's Al-Azhar University in Cairo, was published on the website of the Islamist Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood movement on Thursday.
"This is considered a type of lawful Jihad that helps Islam by paralysing the information systems used by our enemies for their evil aims," said the fatwa.
"This Jihad is not different from the armed one. In fact, it might be more important if you consider the global dimensions of the Internet.
"Whoever wins this war will become the strongest in the realm of information," the fatwa continued.
The Muslim Brotherhood praised the fatwa, which comes in response to dozens of questions from radicals asking to be allowed to destroy Israeli and United States websites.
Last week, the news website of Dubai-based Arabic TV network al-Arabiya was attacked by suspected Shia hackers, who posted a burning Israeli flag to the site.
Beneath the flag, a message in Arabic and English read: 'Serious Warning - if attacks on Shia websites continue, none of your websites will be safe.'
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
எகிபது: இஸ்லாமுக்கு மதம் மாறாததால் கிறிஸ்துவ பெண்ணுக்கு மூன்று வருட சிறை தண்டனை
எகிபது: இஸ்லாமுக்கு மதம் மாறாததால் கிறிஸ்துவ பெண்ணுக்கு மூன்று வருட சிறை தண்டனை
Egypt Jails Christian Woman In Religious Dispute
Friday, 10 October 2008
By BosNewsLife Middle East Service
Twins Maria and Andrew want to remain Christians, according to statements. CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- There was concern Friday, October 10, about the situation of an Egyptian Coptic Christian woman who has been sentenced to three years in prison for "refusing" to follow her late father's conversion to Islam, Coptic Christians with close knowledge about the case said.
Bahia Nagy El-Sisi was sentenced for "forgery of an official document," confirmed the United Copts of Great Britain advocacy group, which has closely monitored the case.
Her sister, Shadia El-Sisi, was earlier tried for stating her religion as Christian on her marriage certificate, and sentenced to three years imprisonment in November last year. She was released two months later, amid international pressure.
Shadia and Bahia Nagy El-Sisi, both in their late 40s and residents of the small east Delta town Mit-Ghamr, were detained and tried for claiming their official religious identity as Christian. Unknown to them, their religious identity changed 46 years ago due to their father’s brief conversion to Islam, to divorce his wife and gain custody of his daughters, the defense team said.
"SUPERIOR" RELIGION
Under Egyptian legislation, which is influenced by Islamic law, child custody is awarded to whichever parent has the "superior" religion and dictates "no jurisdiction of a non-Muslim over a Muslim."
If Bahia El-Sisi’s identity as a Muslim stands, her religious status could potentially create a domino effect that would require her husband to convert to Islam or have their marriage nullified, analysts said.
News of the ruling came after Christians also confirmed that a Christian mother in Egypt lives in fear that police will take away her two sons, after their Muslim father won a controversial custody battle.
CHRISTIAN TWINS
The Appeal Court of the town of Alexandria granted custody of 13-year-old Christian twins Andrew and Mario to her husband, despite laws spelling out mothers rights to keep custody over children till the age of 15.
Both boys have made clear in statements they want to remain Christians, BosNewsLife monitored.
The cases come as rights groups of Copts have warned of growing Islamic extremism in Egypt, although the government has said it wants to fight militants.
Egypt Jails Christian Woman In Religious Dispute
Friday, 10 October 2008
By BosNewsLife Middle East Service
Twins Maria and Andrew want to remain Christians, according to statements. CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- There was concern Friday, October 10, about the situation of an Egyptian Coptic Christian woman who has been sentenced to three years in prison for "refusing" to follow her late father's conversion to Islam, Coptic Christians with close knowledge about the case said.
Bahia Nagy El-Sisi was sentenced for "forgery of an official document," confirmed the United Copts of Great Britain advocacy group, which has closely monitored the case.
Her sister, Shadia El-Sisi, was earlier tried for stating her religion as Christian on her marriage certificate, and sentenced to three years imprisonment in November last year. She was released two months later, amid international pressure.
Shadia and Bahia Nagy El-Sisi, both in their late 40s and residents of the small east Delta town Mit-Ghamr, were detained and tried for claiming their official religious identity as Christian. Unknown to them, their religious identity changed 46 years ago due to their father’s brief conversion to Islam, to divorce his wife and gain custody of his daughters, the defense team said.
"SUPERIOR" RELIGION
Under Egyptian legislation, which is influenced by Islamic law, child custody is awarded to whichever parent has the "superior" religion and dictates "no jurisdiction of a non-Muslim over a Muslim."
If Bahia El-Sisi’s identity as a Muslim stands, her religious status could potentially create a domino effect that would require her husband to convert to Islam or have their marriage nullified, analysts said.
News of the ruling came after Christians also confirmed that a Christian mother in Egypt lives in fear that police will take away her two sons, after their Muslim father won a controversial custody battle.
CHRISTIAN TWINS
The Appeal Court of the town of Alexandria granted custody of 13-year-old Christian twins Andrew and Mario to her husband, despite laws spelling out mothers rights to keep custody over children till the age of 15.
Both boys have made clear in statements they want to remain Christians, BosNewsLife monitored.
The cases come as rights groups of Copts have warned of growing Islamic extremism in Egypt, although the government has said it wants to fight militants.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
சோளத்தை திருடிய கழுதைக்கு சிறை: உண்மையிலேயே!
Donkey jailed for stealing corn
Email Printer friendly version Normal font Large font September 19, 2008 - 6:31AM
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An Egyptian donkey has been jailed for stealing corn on the cob from a field belonging to an agricultural research institute in the Nile Delta, local media reported.
The ass and its owner were apprehended at a police checkpoint that had been set up after the institute's director complained that someone was stealing his crops, the state-owned Al-Ahram daily said.
The unnamed ungulate was found in possession of the institute's corn and a local judge sentenced him to 24 hours in prison. The man who had his ass thrown in jail got off with a fine of 50 Egyptian pounds ($11.40).
AFP
Email Printer friendly version Normal font Large font September 19, 2008 - 6:31AM
Advertisement
An Egyptian donkey has been jailed for stealing corn on the cob from a field belonging to an agricultural research institute in the Nile Delta, local media reported.
The ass and its owner were apprehended at a police checkpoint that had been set up after the institute's director complained that someone was stealing his crops, the state-owned Al-Ahram daily said.
The unnamed ungulate was found in possession of the institute's corn and a local judge sentenced him to 24 hours in prison. The man who had his ass thrown in jail got off with a fine of 50 Egyptian pounds ($11.40).
AFP
Thursday, August 21, 2008
98 சதவீத வெளிநாட்டு டூரிஸ்டுகள் எகிப்தில் பாலுறவு தொந்தரவு தரப்படுவதாக புகார்
98 சதவீத வெளிநாட்டு டூரிஸ்டுகள் எகிப்தில் பாலுறவு தொந்தரவு தரப்படுவதாக புகார் கூறியுள்ளனர்
EGYPT: SEXUAL HARASSMENT, 98% OF FOREIGNERS VICTIMS
(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, AUGUST 19 - A total 98% of foreign women visiting or living in Egypt are victims of several kinds of sexual harassment and 66.1% of them got an unpleasant impression of the Egyptian society due to the negative experience, but not so bad that they will avoid going back to the country. Only 7.0% of them said that they had no intention of going back to Egypt and 4.6% will warn their friends, exhorting them not to visit the country of Pyramids. The above was stated in a research of the "Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights (ECWR)", released today in Cairo and conducted under the campaign "Make our streets safer for everyone", which specifically aims at opposing sexual harassment and at condemning the risk that this behaviour might cause a strong reduction in the number of tourists, with disastrous economic consequences. In a study released in the last weeks of July, the Centre had informed that 82% of Egyptian women report to have been subjected to unpleasant attention by men, on the street, in public places or on transport vehicles. Without analysing the reasons for the greater impact of the phenomenon on foreign women, ECWR's president, Nehad Abul Komsan, suggested that the authorities install street cameras to be able to identify the authors of the harassments and to obtain at the same time a deterring effect, like it happens already in some centres of India and the United Arab Emirates At the presentation of the study there were also MPs like Mohsen Radi, exponent of the Muslim Brotherhood, who remarked how the aggressors "do not spare even the God-fearing women, wearing the hijab (the veil on the head) or the niqab (which exposes only the eyes)". "The majority of the victims refuse to report the aggressions. I will involve the Parliament to understand why this happens", he pointed out. Even on the workplaces harassment is widespread, according to economist Hamdi Abdelazeem, who focused on the abuse of power which is often exercised by managers and businessmen over their female employees. (ANSAmed).
2008-08-19 18:45
EGYPT: SEXUAL HARASSMENT, 98% OF FOREIGNERS VICTIMS
(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, AUGUST 19 - A total 98% of foreign women visiting or living in Egypt are victims of several kinds of sexual harassment and 66.1% of them got an unpleasant impression of the Egyptian society due to the negative experience, but not so bad that they will avoid going back to the country. Only 7.0% of them said that they had no intention of going back to Egypt and 4.6% will warn their friends, exhorting them not to visit the country of Pyramids. The above was stated in a research of the "Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights (ECWR)", released today in Cairo and conducted under the campaign "Make our streets safer for everyone", which specifically aims at opposing sexual harassment and at condemning the risk that this behaviour might cause a strong reduction in the number of tourists, with disastrous economic consequences. In a study released in the last weeks of July, the Centre had informed that 82% of Egyptian women report to have been subjected to unpleasant attention by men, on the street, in public places or on transport vehicles. Without analysing the reasons for the greater impact of the phenomenon on foreign women, ECWR's president, Nehad Abul Komsan, suggested that the authorities install street cameras to be able to identify the authors of the harassments and to obtain at the same time a deterring effect, like it happens already in some centres of India and the United Arab Emirates At the presentation of the study there were also MPs like Mohsen Radi, exponent of the Muslim Brotherhood, who remarked how the aggressors "do not spare even the God-fearing women, wearing the hijab (the veil on the head) or the niqab (which exposes only the eyes)". "The majority of the victims refuse to report the aggressions. I will involve the Parliament to understand why this happens", he pointed out. Even on the workplaces harassment is widespread, according to economist Hamdi Abdelazeem, who focused on the abuse of power which is often exercised by managers and businessmen over their female employees. (ANSAmed).
2008-08-19 18:45
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
குழந்தை திருமணத்தை எதிர்ப்பது ஷாரியாவை எதிர்ப்பதற்கு சமம்- இஸ்லாமிய அமைப்புகள்
எகிபதில் குழந்தை திருமணத்தை தடுக்க செய்யும் முயற்சிகளுக்கு இஸ்லாமிய அமைப்புகள் கடும் எதிர்ப்பை காட்டுகின்றன.
குழந்தை திருமணம் ஷாரியாவின் அங்கம் என்றும், குழந்தை திருமணத்தை எதிர்ப்பது ஷாரியாவை எதிர்ப்பதற்கு சமம் என்றும் அவை கூறுகின்றன.
Egypt's child law meets opposition
By Liam Stack, The Christian Science Monitor
Published: July 24, 2008, 23:37
Cairo: Since June, Egypt's government and opposition parties have been trading barbs over a new law designed to protect the rights of children. Reforms instituted by the law touch on issues ranging from children's legal status to personal health issues.
The law was passed by parliament, which is dominated by President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party. But the measure has spurred a debate over the competing roles of religion, tradition, and the state in the upbringing of children. The controversy is making waves in a country where 32 per cent of the population is under the age of 15, according to a 2006 government census.
The Muslim Brotherhood, a banned yet tolerated opposition group that holds 20 per cent of the seats in the lower house, argues that the law violates Sharia and imposes foreign values on Egyptians.
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Sa'ad Al Katatny, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood bloc in parliament, says his movement is not opposed to the child law as a whole, rather "just those provisions that run counter to the norms, customs, and nature of the Egyptian people."
Aspects of the law that he takes issue with include articles that make it illegal to try children as adults, permit birth certificates for the children of unwed mothers, restrict corporal punishment, raise the marriage age to 18 years, and reinforce a standing ban on female circumcision.
"When you do things like this, for example limiting the age of marriage to 18, it does not reflect the norms of our society, it reflects international norms," Katatny adds.
Supporters of the law accuse the Muslim Brotherhood of playing politics with children's rights and argue that changing cultural attitudes that endanger young people is the exact intention of the law.
"We wanted the law to be stringent or extreme because we want it to challenge some of the prevalent norms and values in our society, particularly female genital mutilation (FGM) and the practice of child marriage," says Hany Hilal, who directs the Egyptian Centre for the Rights of the Child and helped the government write the law.
"In our country, a number of forms of violence against children have become the norm," he adds.
One of the most controversial subjects in the law is female circumcision, which remains widespread despite a year-old ban that was enacted after a girl died during the procedure in June 2007.
In Arabic, FGM is referred to as "purification". It is widely seen as a rite of passage that helps protect girls from sexual desire and sin.
"Purification is a good thing, it's a beautiful thing," says Moubaraka Aly Mohammad, an elderly woman. "I have three daughters and we circumcised them all when they were 4 or 5 years old, so that they wouldn't get into trouble at school," she says, adding that they will soon circumcise her 3-year-old granddaughter.
Egypt has one of the highest FGM rates in the world.
According to a 2005 study conducted by Unicef, 96 per cent of women between the ages of 15 to 49 who had ever been married are circumcised.
Katatny says the Brotherhood is not in favour of female circumcision, but opposes banning it because it is a tradition that should remain an option for medical reasons and "beautification" purposes.
'Against religion'
For her part, Dr. Amnah Nosseir, a former dean of Al Azhar University and a member of Egypt's Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, says the law's opponents are being "obnoxious".
"Female circumcision is in no way, shape, or form part of the Islamic religion. It is an example of how religious texts can be manipulated to support local customs or people's own points of view," she says.
Human rights activists suggest that the child law's religious opponents are more concerned about embarrassing the government than protecting children.
"This is a law the government wanted. It was a big investment for them," says Clarisa Bencomo, a Cairo-based researcher in the children's rights division of Human Rights Watch.
குழந்தை திருமணம் ஷாரியாவின் அங்கம் என்றும், குழந்தை திருமணத்தை எதிர்ப்பது ஷாரியாவை எதிர்ப்பதற்கு சமம் என்றும் அவை கூறுகின்றன.
Egypt's child law meets opposition
By Liam Stack, The Christian Science Monitor
Published: July 24, 2008, 23:37
Cairo: Since June, Egypt's government and opposition parties have been trading barbs over a new law designed to protect the rights of children. Reforms instituted by the law touch on issues ranging from children's legal status to personal health issues.
The law was passed by parliament, which is dominated by President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party. But the measure has spurred a debate over the competing roles of religion, tradition, and the state in the upbringing of children. The controversy is making waves in a country where 32 per cent of the population is under the age of 15, according to a 2006 government census.
The Muslim Brotherhood, a banned yet tolerated opposition group that holds 20 per cent of the seats in the lower house, argues that the law violates Sharia and imposes foreign values on Egyptians.
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Sa'ad Al Katatny, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood bloc in parliament, says his movement is not opposed to the child law as a whole, rather "just those provisions that run counter to the norms, customs, and nature of the Egyptian people."
Aspects of the law that he takes issue with include articles that make it illegal to try children as adults, permit birth certificates for the children of unwed mothers, restrict corporal punishment, raise the marriage age to 18 years, and reinforce a standing ban on female circumcision.
"When you do things like this, for example limiting the age of marriage to 18, it does not reflect the norms of our society, it reflects international norms," Katatny adds.
Supporters of the law accuse the Muslim Brotherhood of playing politics with children's rights and argue that changing cultural attitudes that endanger young people is the exact intention of the law.
"We wanted the law to be stringent or extreme because we want it to challenge some of the prevalent norms and values in our society, particularly female genital mutilation (FGM) and the practice of child marriage," says Hany Hilal, who directs the Egyptian Centre for the Rights of the Child and helped the government write the law.
"In our country, a number of forms of violence against children have become the norm," he adds.
One of the most controversial subjects in the law is female circumcision, which remains widespread despite a year-old ban that was enacted after a girl died during the procedure in June 2007.
In Arabic, FGM is referred to as "purification". It is widely seen as a rite of passage that helps protect girls from sexual desire and sin.
"Purification is a good thing, it's a beautiful thing," says Moubaraka Aly Mohammad, an elderly woman. "I have three daughters and we circumcised them all when they were 4 or 5 years old, so that they wouldn't get into trouble at school," she says, adding that they will soon circumcise her 3-year-old granddaughter.
Egypt has one of the highest FGM rates in the world.
According to a 2005 study conducted by Unicef, 96 per cent of women between the ages of 15 to 49 who had ever been married are circumcised.
Katatny says the Brotherhood is not in favour of female circumcision, but opposes banning it because it is a tradition that should remain an option for medical reasons and "beautification" purposes.
'Against religion'
For her part, Dr. Amnah Nosseir, a former dean of Al Azhar University and a member of Egypt's Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, says the law's opponents are being "obnoxious".
"Female circumcision is in no way, shape, or form part of the Islamic religion. It is an example of how religious texts can be manipulated to support local customs or people's own points of view," she says.
Human rights activists suggest that the child law's religious opponents are more concerned about embarrassing the government than protecting children.
"This is a law the government wanted. It was a big investment for them," says Clarisa Bencomo, a Cairo-based researcher in the children's rights division of Human Rights Watch.
Friday, February 01, 2008
இஸ்லாமை விட்டு யாரும் வெளியேற முடியாது - எகிப்து தீர்ப்பு
இஸ்லாமை விட்டு வெளியேற முடியாது. இஸ்லாமிய ஷாரியா நடைபெறும் நாட்டில், எந்த ஒரு முஸ்லீமும் ம்தம் மாற முடியாது என்று எகிப்து நீதிமன்றம் தீர்ப்பளித்துள்ளது.
TESTING THE FAITH
'No one leaves Islam,' judge rules
Egyptian court bans convert to Christianity from changing ID card
Posted: February 1, 2008
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com
Egypt
No one ever leaves Islam, according to a judge in Egypt who has cited Islamic religious law in rejecting a request from a Muslim convert to Christianity to be allowed to change his religious affiliation on his national identification card.
In a decision that forecasts more and more decisions being based on Shari'a, Islam's religious law, Judge Muhammad Husseini has concluded it violates the law for a Muslim to leave Islam.
According to a report from Compass Direct News, the judge found that the convert, Muhammad Hegazy, "can believe whatever he wants in his heart, but on paper he can't convert."
The report said Husseini cited Article II of the Egyptian constitution, making Islamic religious law the "source" of Egyptian secular law, as the basis for his conclusion.
Since Islam is the "final" and "most complete" religion, Muslims already have full freedom of religion and are not allowed to return to the "less complete" Christianity or Judaism, the ruling said.
It's a new peak in the rise of Islam in Egypt, which The Middle East Review of International Affairs said began with Anwar Sadat's tenure in power.
"He then initiated what one could, in hindsight, term 'the Great Islamic Transformation' of Egypt. The first step was to stipulate in the Second Article of his new Constitution, promulgated in 1971 (long before Khomeini embarked on his Islamic revolutionary campaign), that the Principles of Islamic Shari'a were 'a main source' of legislation. In May 1981, the 'a' was replaced with 'the,' making Shari'a the term of reference for the entire constitution, meaning all other articles were to be interpreted in that light," the organization said.
"The curricula of public schools, established by the Ministry of Education, ignore the Coptic era in Egypt's history. Courses glorifying Islam (the 'Only True Religion') and its history, while vilifying the crusaders (i.e. Christians) and the Jews, are imposed on all students," the group said.
"In the case of a father of a Christian family converting to Islam, his minor children are forced to follow suit: The mother's custody rights – a well established legal principle – are ignored in this case, as children, according to typical court rulings, are supposed to follow the 'better (or 'more noble') of the two religions,'" the group said.
On the pro-freedom website called Sons of Apes and Pigs, a commentary noted that the Egyptian court decision "went on and issued a very explicit warning to Muhammad Hegazy, his wife and their lawyer, that going against the tide would provoke civil unrest and exacerbate emotions in the Egyptian society."
"Freedom of religion doesn't mean getting in and out of Islam to another religion, but only means that each person is free to practice his own religious rites, and not playing games with Islam or contradicting Shari'a law," the website said the judge concluded.
The website, which said it took its name from Quranic descriptions of Christians and Jews, said Westerners don't realize the significance of having a national ID card listing the carrier as Muslim.
"If you get caught going to a church while your religion on your ID is Muslim, that could get you arrested, questioned and tortured," the commentary said. "The latest victim was a 27-year-old woman, Mrs. Sherreen, mother of two children from Alexandria, Egypt. She died at the police station on Jan. 3, 2008, after five hours of torture for refusing to renounce her Christian faith and come back to Islam."
The website noted in Egypt, children of parents with Muslim IDs automatically are Muslims, and they are required to follow mandatory Islamic indoctrination classes, and Muslims cannot marry non-Muslims.
It also said to apply for any job, an applicant must provide the state-designated religious affiliation.
The website also noted according to multiple media reports, Hegazy's father issued a statement that, "when I'll meet my son, I will discuss with him the reasons and circumstances that 'forced' him to leave Islam, and will offer him the opportunity to come back to Islam, but in case he refuses, I will kill him immediately."
Press reports say Hegazy's case was the first time someone had sought to make a change from Islam in the religious designation on an official national ID card.
Hegazy has reported he was studying various religions, and found he was not consistent with Islam.
"The major issue for me was love. Islam wasn't promoting love as Christianity did," he said.
As a result of his conversion he's reported being arrested and tortured several times, but it's opened wide the eyes of observers, the Apes and Pigs website said.
"Muhammad Hegazy's case dynamited the Islamic mountain of lies, propaganda and false pride," the commentary said. "Not only in Egypt, but all over the Arab world. Exposed to the world [was] the deception of the Islamic governments, Egypt in particular … [of] 'no compulsion in religion.'"
According to the Compass Direct report, Gamal Eid, head of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, whose lawyers have been representing the convert, said that he was disappointed with the verdict.
"The judge didn't listen to our defense, and we didn't even have a chance to talk before the court,” Eid said.
Meanwhile, death threats have forced the couple, whose new daughter is only a month old, into hiding.
Compass also reported that at least partly because of the case, lawyers in Egypt now are trying to force the government to outlaw conversion from Islam in secular law as well as religious law.
WND previously has reported on a ruling from a U.S. federal court that an Egyptian Christian who had fled his home nation "most assuredly has a right not to be tortured." The ruling allowed the Egyptian Christian to remain in the United States.
The court pointedly concluded that "diplomatic assurances" of his religious rights "by a country known to have engaged in torture" weren't reassuring.
A report from the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights concluded Coptic Christians in Egypt have been harassed, tortured and killed by Muslims for 1,400 years.
"They have been subjected to all kinds of hate crimes including, the abduction of young Coptic girls, the killing of Coptic women and children and the destruction of their places of worship," the report said.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an agency created by Congress, also lists Egypt on its watch list of countries, noting it had "a poor overall human rights record."
In addition, Egyptian authorities have threatened two young boys who were ordered to take training to be Muslims, but refused, stating they are Christian.
TESTING THE FAITH
'No one leaves Islam,' judge rules
Egyptian court bans convert to Christianity from changing ID card
Posted: February 1, 2008
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com
Egypt
No one ever leaves Islam, according to a judge in Egypt who has cited Islamic religious law in rejecting a request from a Muslim convert to Christianity to be allowed to change his religious affiliation on his national identification card.
In a decision that forecasts more and more decisions being based on Shari'a, Islam's religious law, Judge Muhammad Husseini has concluded it violates the law for a Muslim to leave Islam.
According to a report from Compass Direct News, the judge found that the convert, Muhammad Hegazy, "can believe whatever he wants in his heart, but on paper he can't convert."
The report said Husseini cited Article II of the Egyptian constitution, making Islamic religious law the "source" of Egyptian secular law, as the basis for his conclusion.
Since Islam is the "final" and "most complete" religion, Muslims already have full freedom of religion and are not allowed to return to the "less complete" Christianity or Judaism, the ruling said.
It's a new peak in the rise of Islam in Egypt, which The Middle East Review of International Affairs said began with Anwar Sadat's tenure in power.
"He then initiated what one could, in hindsight, term 'the Great Islamic Transformation' of Egypt. The first step was to stipulate in the Second Article of his new Constitution, promulgated in 1971 (long before Khomeini embarked on his Islamic revolutionary campaign), that the Principles of Islamic Shari'a were 'a main source' of legislation. In May 1981, the 'a' was replaced with 'the,' making Shari'a the term of reference for the entire constitution, meaning all other articles were to be interpreted in that light," the organization said.
"The curricula of public schools, established by the Ministry of Education, ignore the Coptic era in Egypt's history. Courses glorifying Islam (the 'Only True Religion') and its history, while vilifying the crusaders (i.e. Christians) and the Jews, are imposed on all students," the group said.
"In the case of a father of a Christian family converting to Islam, his minor children are forced to follow suit: The mother's custody rights – a well established legal principle – are ignored in this case, as children, according to typical court rulings, are supposed to follow the 'better (or 'more noble') of the two religions,'" the group said.
On the pro-freedom website called Sons of Apes and Pigs, a commentary noted that the Egyptian court decision "went on and issued a very explicit warning to Muhammad Hegazy, his wife and their lawyer, that going against the tide would provoke civil unrest and exacerbate emotions in the Egyptian society."
"Freedom of religion doesn't mean getting in and out of Islam to another religion, but only means that each person is free to practice his own religious rites, and not playing games with Islam or contradicting Shari'a law," the website said the judge concluded.
The website, which said it took its name from Quranic descriptions of Christians and Jews, said Westerners don't realize the significance of having a national ID card listing the carrier as Muslim.
"If you get caught going to a church while your religion on your ID is Muslim, that could get you arrested, questioned and tortured," the commentary said. "The latest victim was a 27-year-old woman, Mrs. Sherreen, mother of two children from Alexandria, Egypt. She died at the police station on Jan. 3, 2008, after five hours of torture for refusing to renounce her Christian faith and come back to Islam."
The website noted in Egypt, children of parents with Muslim IDs automatically are Muslims, and they are required to follow mandatory Islamic indoctrination classes, and Muslims cannot marry non-Muslims.
It also said to apply for any job, an applicant must provide the state-designated religious affiliation.
The website also noted according to multiple media reports, Hegazy's father issued a statement that, "when I'll meet my son, I will discuss with him the reasons and circumstances that 'forced' him to leave Islam, and will offer him the opportunity to come back to Islam, but in case he refuses, I will kill him immediately."
Press reports say Hegazy's case was the first time someone had sought to make a change from Islam in the religious designation on an official national ID card.
Hegazy has reported he was studying various religions, and found he was not consistent with Islam.
"The major issue for me was love. Islam wasn't promoting love as Christianity did," he said.
As a result of his conversion he's reported being arrested and tortured several times, but it's opened wide the eyes of observers, the Apes and Pigs website said.
"Muhammad Hegazy's case dynamited the Islamic mountain of lies, propaganda and false pride," the commentary said. "Not only in Egypt, but all over the Arab world. Exposed to the world [was] the deception of the Islamic governments, Egypt in particular … [of] 'no compulsion in religion.'"
According to the Compass Direct report, Gamal Eid, head of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, whose lawyers have been representing the convert, said that he was disappointed with the verdict.
"The judge didn't listen to our defense, and we didn't even have a chance to talk before the court,” Eid said.
Meanwhile, death threats have forced the couple, whose new daughter is only a month old, into hiding.
Compass also reported that at least partly because of the case, lawyers in Egypt now are trying to force the government to outlaw conversion from Islam in secular law as well as religious law.
WND previously has reported on a ruling from a U.S. federal court that an Egyptian Christian who had fled his home nation "most assuredly has a right not to be tortured." The ruling allowed the Egyptian Christian to remain in the United States.
The court pointedly concluded that "diplomatic assurances" of his religious rights "by a country known to have engaged in torture" weren't reassuring.
A report from the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights concluded Coptic Christians in Egypt have been harassed, tortured and killed by Muslims for 1,400 years.
"They have been subjected to all kinds of hate crimes including, the abduction of young Coptic girls, the killing of Coptic women and children and the destruction of their places of worship," the report said.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an agency created by Congress, also lists Egypt on its watch list of countries, noting it had "a poor overall human rights record."
In addition, Egyptian authorities have threatened two young boys who were ordered to take training to be Muslims, but refused, stating they are Christian.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
கிறிஸ்துவர்களது வீடுகள், கடைகள் முஸ்லீம்களால் எரிப்பு, சூறையாடல்
எகிப்தில் சிறுபான்மையினரான கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் மீது தொடர்ந்து பெரும்பான்மை முஸ்லீம்கள் தாக்குதல் தொடுத்து வருகின்றனர். எகிப்தில் இருக்கும் காப்டிக் கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் என்ற சிறுபான்மையினரது கடைகள்,சர்ச்சுகள், வீடுகள் ஆகியவை முஸ்லிம் பயங்கரவாத கும்பலால் தொடர்ந்து எரிக்கப்பட்டு வருவது உலக நாடுகளில் பெருத்த கவலையை உண்டுபண்ணியிருக்கிறது.
Muslims Attack Christian Shops in Egypt
------------
Posted GMT 1-17-2008 19:25:10
------------
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Angry Muslims attacked and destroyed shops owned by Coptic Christians on Sunday in a town in southern Egypt that has been witnessing sectarian tensions, a police official said.
The attackers hurled stones and set fire to several shops, smashed windows of a church and damaged two cars in the early morning hours before the shops in Isna were opened for business, said the police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Police detained 15 people suspected of taking part in the attacks in Isna, located about 350 miles south of Cairo, he said.
The riots followed reports that two Coptic Christians pulled down the veil of a Muslim woman in a car park on Saturday evening, he said. Dozens of Muslims started to gather in protest very early Sunday, but police managed to disperse them.
Police blocked all main streets leading to the town, but witnesses said some people managed to attack the shops in two of the town's streets. Peace returned to the town after several hours of rioting, they said.
Simmering sectarian tensions
Earlier this week, dozens of Muslims went on a rampage following rumors that Coptic Christians attempted to abduct and sexually assault a teenage Muslim girl. The rioters hurled stones and smashed windows of a pharmacy were they suspected the Copts reportedly forced the girl to have sex with them.
On Thursday, police arrested two Coptic Christians suspected of taking part in the abduction of the girl. They were ordered detained for 15 days on charges related to sectarian tensions, police said.
Muslim-Coptic tensions are commonplace in southern Egypt.
On New Year's Day in 2000, a dispute between the Muslims and Copts in the mixed village of Kosheh escalated into a clash with groups of armed villagers shooting at each other, leaving 21 Christians and one Muslim dead.
Coptic Christians make up an estimated 10 percent of Egypt's 76.5 million people and generally live in peace with the Muslim majority. The government is highly sensitive to public discussions of its treatment of the Coptic minority, insisting Christians enjoy the same rights as the Muslim majority.
Muslims Attack Christian Shops in Egypt
------------
Posted GMT 1-17-2008 19:25:10
------------
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Angry Muslims attacked and destroyed shops owned by Coptic Christians on Sunday in a town in southern Egypt that has been witnessing sectarian tensions, a police official said.
The attackers hurled stones and set fire to several shops, smashed windows of a church and damaged two cars in the early morning hours before the shops in Isna were opened for business, said the police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Police detained 15 people suspected of taking part in the attacks in Isna, located about 350 miles south of Cairo, he said.
The riots followed reports that two Coptic Christians pulled down the veil of a Muslim woman in a car park on Saturday evening, he said. Dozens of Muslims started to gather in protest very early Sunday, but police managed to disperse them.
Police blocked all main streets leading to the town, but witnesses said some people managed to attack the shops in two of the town's streets. Peace returned to the town after several hours of rioting, they said.
Simmering sectarian tensions
Earlier this week, dozens of Muslims went on a rampage following rumors that Coptic Christians attempted to abduct and sexually assault a teenage Muslim girl. The rioters hurled stones and smashed windows of a pharmacy were they suspected the Copts reportedly forced the girl to have sex with them.
On Thursday, police arrested two Coptic Christians suspected of taking part in the abduction of the girl. They were ordered detained for 15 days on charges related to sectarian tensions, police said.
Muslim-Coptic tensions are commonplace in southern Egypt.
On New Year's Day in 2000, a dispute between the Muslims and Copts in the mixed village of Kosheh escalated into a clash with groups of armed villagers shooting at each other, leaving 21 Christians and one Muslim dead.
Coptic Christians make up an estimated 10 percent of Egypt's 76.5 million people and generally live in peace with the Muslim majority. The government is highly sensitive to public discussions of its treatment of the Coptic minority, insisting Christians enjoy the same rights as the Muslim majority.
Monday, November 12, 2007
எகிப்தில் சிறுபான்மையினர் மீதான அடக்குமுறை பற்றிய அறிக்கை
எகிப்தில் சிறுபான்மையினர் மீதான அடக்குமுறை பற்றிய அறிக்கை, சிறுபான்மையினரும், இஸ்லாமிலிருந்து கிறிஸ்துவம் ,பஹாய் போன்ற மதங்களுக்கு மாறுபவர்கள் மீது ஒடுக்குமுறையும் நிலவுகிறது என்றும் குறிப்பிடுகிறது.
Egypt ID cards sentence minorities to non-life: report
3 hours ago
CAIRO (AFP) — Christian converts and members of minority religions suffer daily discrimination in Egypt, which restricts their access to work, education, travel and healthcare, a rights report said on Monday.
State reluctance to allow citizens to put their religion of choice on national identity cards also forces many to obtain forged documents that can result in criminal prosecution, said the joint report by New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).
Every Egyptian over 16 years old must have an ID card which mentions religious belief, but the interior ministry systematically prevents converts from Islam and members of the minority Bahai faith from registering their belief or just putting nothing, it said.
Many of those interviewed for the report told how interior ministry officials tried to intimidate or bribe them into identifying themselves as Muslims because of a personal interpretation of Islamic sharia law that does not exist in Egyptian law.
"Interior ministry officials apparently believe they have the right to choose someone's religion when they don't like the religion that person chooses," said Joe Stork, deputy director of HRW's Middle East and North Africa division.
One case documented in the report is that of Salwa Iskandar Hanna, a Bahai who died in October 2005.
Her family was able to bury her, but to this day has not been granted a death certificate because the state requires her to posthumously convert to Islam -- or one of the only two other officially recognised religions.
"We tried, but were told we had to choose Muslim, Christian or Jew," said Salwa's sister Labib.
As in death, an ID card is required for the most basic needs in Egypt -- to open a bank account, get a driver's licence, obtain a pension cheque, enrol at school, get a job, and even for childhood immunisations.
While there are around 2,000 Bahais in Egypt, Muslims who convert to Christianity account for many more and their treatment is often harsher as they are considered to be apostates, which some Muslims see as punishable by death.
As a result, many seek forged documents that turn them into criminals.
"State security tried to persuade us both to be Muslims," said one convert couple. "We were exhausted, more than 24 hours with no food. When they failed to convince us to become Muslims, they referred us to criminal investigation.
"From five in the morning until five at night, the state security grilled us. They said that they would bring forgery charges against both of us."
Consigned to lead a life of severely diminished existence, others simply allow a religion that is not their own to be put on their ID cards.
"The interior ministry's policy essentially says: 'If you lie, we'll give you the documents you need but, if you tell the truth about your religion, we'll make your life miserable by withholding them'," Stork said.
"It is punishing people solely on the basis of their religious beliefs."
Egypt's top religious advisor, Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, caused controversy in July after he said that while it would be a "grave sin" for Muslims to convert to another religion, worldly punishment should only be meted out if their actions endangered society.
The report calls for Egypt either to abandon the description of religion on ID cards or to allow people to choose exactly what they want to have written -- on papers and in centralised archives.
"Eliminating the religion line in IDs would send a positive signal of the state's neutrality regarding the religious affiliation, if any, of citizens," the EIPR's Hossam Baghat said.
Hundreds of Bahais and converts have tried to take their cases to court, but few positive rulings have been handed down.
Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court is set to decide on November 17 on the right of Christian converts to Islam to convert back to Christianity, in a ruling that rights groups hope will set a positive precedent.
However, the same court in December ruled that Bahais did not have the right to state their religion on identity papers because "those who belong to this religion are apostates of Islam, because the faith's principles contradict the Islamic religion and all other religions."
The Bahai faith is an independent, monotheistic religion founded in the 19th century in Shiite Muslim Persia.
Egypt ID cards sentence minorities to non-life: report
3 hours ago
CAIRO (AFP) — Christian converts and members of minority religions suffer daily discrimination in Egypt, which restricts their access to work, education, travel and healthcare, a rights report said on Monday.
State reluctance to allow citizens to put their religion of choice on national identity cards also forces many to obtain forged documents that can result in criminal prosecution, said the joint report by New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).
Every Egyptian over 16 years old must have an ID card which mentions religious belief, but the interior ministry systematically prevents converts from Islam and members of the minority Bahai faith from registering their belief or just putting nothing, it said.
Many of those interviewed for the report told how interior ministry officials tried to intimidate or bribe them into identifying themselves as Muslims because of a personal interpretation of Islamic sharia law that does not exist in Egyptian law.
"Interior ministry officials apparently believe they have the right to choose someone's religion when they don't like the religion that person chooses," said Joe Stork, deputy director of HRW's Middle East and North Africa division.
One case documented in the report is that of Salwa Iskandar Hanna, a Bahai who died in October 2005.
Her family was able to bury her, but to this day has not been granted a death certificate because the state requires her to posthumously convert to Islam -- or one of the only two other officially recognised religions.
"We tried, but were told we had to choose Muslim, Christian or Jew," said Salwa's sister Labib.
As in death, an ID card is required for the most basic needs in Egypt -- to open a bank account, get a driver's licence, obtain a pension cheque, enrol at school, get a job, and even for childhood immunisations.
While there are around 2,000 Bahais in Egypt, Muslims who convert to Christianity account for many more and their treatment is often harsher as they are considered to be apostates, which some Muslims see as punishable by death.
As a result, many seek forged documents that turn them into criminals.
"State security tried to persuade us both to be Muslims," said one convert couple. "We were exhausted, more than 24 hours with no food. When they failed to convince us to become Muslims, they referred us to criminal investigation.
"From five in the morning until five at night, the state security grilled us. They said that they would bring forgery charges against both of us."
Consigned to lead a life of severely diminished existence, others simply allow a religion that is not their own to be put on their ID cards.
"The interior ministry's policy essentially says: 'If you lie, we'll give you the documents you need but, if you tell the truth about your religion, we'll make your life miserable by withholding them'," Stork said.
"It is punishing people solely on the basis of their religious beliefs."
Egypt's top religious advisor, Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, caused controversy in July after he said that while it would be a "grave sin" for Muslims to convert to another religion, worldly punishment should only be meted out if their actions endangered society.
The report calls for Egypt either to abandon the description of religion on ID cards or to allow people to choose exactly what they want to have written -- on papers and in centralised archives.
"Eliminating the religion line in IDs would send a positive signal of the state's neutrality regarding the religious affiliation, if any, of citizens," the EIPR's Hossam Baghat said.
Hundreds of Bahais and converts have tried to take their cases to court, but few positive rulings have been handed down.
Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court is set to decide on November 17 on the right of Christian converts to Islam to convert back to Christianity, in a ruling that rights groups hope will set a positive precedent.
However, the same court in December ruled that Bahais did not have the right to state their religion on identity papers because "those who belong to this religion are apostates of Islam, because the faith's principles contradict the Islamic religion and all other religions."
The Bahai faith is an independent, monotheistic religion founded in the 19th century in Shiite Muslim Persia.
Monday, October 08, 2007
பெண்ணுக்கு பதிலாக பர்தா அணிந்து டிரைவிங் டெஸ்ட் எடுத்த ஆண் கைது
ஒரு பெண்ணுக்கு பதிலாக போலியாக பர்தா அணிந்து டிரைவிங் டெஸ்ட் எடுக்க முனைந்த ஆண் கைது செய்யப்பட்டார். இவ்வாறு போலியாக டெஸ்ட் எடுக்க 750 ரியால் பணம் வேறு வாங்கியிருக்கிறார் இவர்.
எகிப்தில் இவ்வாறு நிகாப் என்னும் முழு அங்கி அணியும் பெண்கள் குறைவாம்.
இவ்வாறு முழு அங்கி அணிந்து கண்ணுக்கு ஒரு ஓட்டை மட்டும் போட்டுக்கொண்டு வண்டி ஓட்டுவது மிகவும் ஆபத்தானது என்று பலர் கூறுகிறார்கள்.
Man wearing 'face veil' tries to pass driving test as a woman
Posted : Mon, 08 Oct 2007 10:21:04 GMT
Author : DPA
Category : Middle East (World)
Cairo - A man concealed behind niqab - a piece of cloth that some female Muslims cover their faces with in a show of piety - pretended to be a woman during a driving test in Cairo in an incident reported by local press on Monday. The 30-year-old man had attempted to deceive authorities and pass the test for another woman in exchange for 700 Egyptian pounds (126 US dollars).
The woman, a 30-year-old teacher, was later arrested and is being questioned for charges of fraud, according to the daily al-Akhbar newspaper.
The practice of wearing the so-called niqab has started seeping into Egypt several years ago although the dress code itself was almost restricted to the Gulf countries, especially to Saudi Arabia where it is aggressively encouraged as both a tradition and a religious act.
The niqab is not confined to covering only the face, but as a tradition it means that the woman should be shrouded in a gown that covers her entire body except for the eyes. Some women even wear see- through veils over the eyes, or black sunglasses as an "extra act of piety."
Most Muslim scholars do not believe that covering the face is obligatory in Islam. However, among some circles, especially where a strict Saudi-inspired interpretation of Islam is popular, women believe that it is a must.
The practice has sparked debate among Muslim liberals in Egypt. It has also been briefly banned in some educational institutions, like the American University in Cairo, for security-related reasons.
In one of Egypt's universities, women wearing the niqab were even prevented from entering the students' dorm houses so that later men disguised as female students would not sneak in.
When driving, niqab wearers could only see through two eye slits in their usually black face veils; a situation that has caused concern among many who say that when the line of sight is limited accidents could easily occur.
எகிப்தில் இவ்வாறு நிகாப் என்னும் முழு அங்கி அணியும் பெண்கள் குறைவாம்.
இவ்வாறு முழு அங்கி அணிந்து கண்ணுக்கு ஒரு ஓட்டை மட்டும் போட்டுக்கொண்டு வண்டி ஓட்டுவது மிகவும் ஆபத்தானது என்று பலர் கூறுகிறார்கள்.
Man wearing 'face veil' tries to pass driving test as a woman
Posted : Mon, 08 Oct 2007 10:21:04 GMT
Author : DPA
Category : Middle East (World)
Cairo - A man concealed behind niqab - a piece of cloth that some female Muslims cover their faces with in a show of piety - pretended to be a woman during a driving test in Cairo in an incident reported by local press on Monday. The 30-year-old man had attempted to deceive authorities and pass the test for another woman in exchange for 700 Egyptian pounds (126 US dollars).
The woman, a 30-year-old teacher, was later arrested and is being questioned for charges of fraud, according to the daily al-Akhbar newspaper.
The practice of wearing the so-called niqab has started seeping into Egypt several years ago although the dress code itself was almost restricted to the Gulf countries, especially to Saudi Arabia where it is aggressively encouraged as both a tradition and a religious act.
The niqab is not confined to covering only the face, but as a tradition it means that the woman should be shrouded in a gown that covers her entire body except for the eyes. Some women even wear see- through veils over the eyes, or black sunglasses as an "extra act of piety."
Most Muslim scholars do not believe that covering the face is obligatory in Islam. However, among some circles, especially where a strict Saudi-inspired interpretation of Islam is popular, women believe that it is a must.
The practice has sparked debate among Muslim liberals in Egypt. It has also been briefly banned in some educational institutions, like the American University in Cairo, for security-related reasons.
In one of Egypt's universities, women wearing the niqab were even prevented from entering the students' dorm houses so that later men disguised as female students would not sneak in.
When driving, niqab wearers could only see through two eye slits in their usually black face veils; a situation that has caused concern among many who say that when the line of sight is limited accidents could easily occur.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
பெண்குறி வெட்டியதில் இன்னொரு சிறுமி மரணம்
பெண்குறியை வெட்டும் பழக்கத்தின் காரணமாக ஏராளமான சிறுமிகள் இறக்கிறார்கள்.
இந்த பழக்கத்தின் காரணமாக இன்னொரு சிறுமி கொல்லப்பட்டிருப்பது வெளிச்சத்துக்கு வந்திருக்கிறது.
எகிப்தில் கரிமா ரஹிம் மசூது என்ற 13 வயது சிறுமி பெண்குறி வெட்டும்போது இறந்துவிட்டாள்.
இந்த பழக்கத்தை கிறிஸ்துவர்களும் இஸ்லாமியரும் செய்வதாக கூறப்படுகிறது.
அவருக்கு என் அஞ்சலி
Second Egyptian girl reported to have died during circumcision
The Associated Press
Published: August 11, 2007
CAIRO, Egypt: A 13-year-old Egyptian girl died during a circumcision operation, the second such case reported over the past two months, local media said Saturday.
The doctor involved has been referred to the state prosecutor for investigation and his clinic in the rural Gharbiyah province has been closed down, state-owned al-Gomhoria daily reported.
The earlier death of a 12-year-old girl during a circumcision operation in June sparked a public outcry and prompted the government to officially ban hospitals from performing the traditional procedure which is widespread throughout Egypt.
The latest death was uncovered when Karima Rahim Massoud's father applied on Friday for a death certificate, insisting his daughter had died from natural causes, reported the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm. The father has also been referred to the prosecutor.
The reports could not be immediately confirmed as judicial authorities could not be reached for comment Saturday.
Today in Africa & Middle East
New Israeli highway separates PalestiniansSierra Leone counting votes from first poll since withdrawal of UN troopsKuwaiti company denies kidnapping Filipinos to work in Iraq
Female genital mutilation usually involves the removal of the clitoris and other parts of female genitalia on the grounds it tames girl's sexual desire and maintains her honor.
It is practiced by Muslims and Christians alike, deeply rooted in the Nile Valley region and parts of sub-Saharan African, and is also done in Yemen and Oman.
While top clerics insist the practice has nothing to do with Islam, parents, especially in rural villages and Cairo slums, believe they are helping their daughters by protecting their virginity before marriage.
A 2003 survey by UNICEF said that 97 percent of married women in Egypt have undergone genital mutilation. A recent study by Egypt's Ministry of Health and Population found that only half of all girls between the age of 10-18 years have been circumcised.
இந்த பழக்கத்தின் காரணமாக இன்னொரு சிறுமி கொல்லப்பட்டிருப்பது வெளிச்சத்துக்கு வந்திருக்கிறது.
எகிப்தில் கரிமா ரஹிம் மசூது என்ற 13 வயது சிறுமி பெண்குறி வெட்டும்போது இறந்துவிட்டாள்.
இந்த பழக்கத்தை கிறிஸ்துவர்களும் இஸ்லாமியரும் செய்வதாக கூறப்படுகிறது.
அவருக்கு என் அஞ்சலி
Second Egyptian girl reported to have died during circumcision
The Associated Press
Published: August 11, 2007
CAIRO, Egypt: A 13-year-old Egyptian girl died during a circumcision operation, the second such case reported over the past two months, local media said Saturday.
The doctor involved has been referred to the state prosecutor for investigation and his clinic in the rural Gharbiyah province has been closed down, state-owned al-Gomhoria daily reported.
The earlier death of a 12-year-old girl during a circumcision operation in June sparked a public outcry and prompted the government to officially ban hospitals from performing the traditional procedure which is widespread throughout Egypt.
The latest death was uncovered when Karima Rahim Massoud's father applied on Friday for a death certificate, insisting his daughter had died from natural causes, reported the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm. The father has also been referred to the prosecutor.
The reports could not be immediately confirmed as judicial authorities could not be reached for comment Saturday.
Today in Africa & Middle East
New Israeli highway separates PalestiniansSierra Leone counting votes from first poll since withdrawal of UN troopsKuwaiti company denies kidnapping Filipinos to work in Iraq
Female genital mutilation usually involves the removal of the clitoris and other parts of female genitalia on the grounds it tames girl's sexual desire and maintains her honor.
It is practiced by Muslims and Christians alike, deeply rooted in the Nile Valley region and parts of sub-Saharan African, and is also done in Yemen and Oman.
While top clerics insist the practice has nothing to do with Islam, parents, especially in rural villages and Cairo slums, believe they are helping their daughters by protecting their virginity before marriage.
A 2003 survey by UNICEF said that 97 percent of married women in Egypt have undergone genital mutilation. A recent study by Egypt's Ministry of Health and Population found that only half of all girls between the age of 10-18 years have been circumcised.
கிறிஸ்துவத்துக்கு மதம் மாறிய எகிப்தியரை கொல்ல கூக்குரல்
எகிப்தில் ஒரு முஸ்லீம் கிறிஸ்துவத்துக்கு மதம் மாறியுள்ளார்.
அத்தோடு, அரசாங்க பதிவேட்டில் தன் மதமாக கிறிஸ்துவத்தை போட வேண்டும் என்று அரசாங்கத்துக்கு மனு செய்திருக்கிறார்.
எகிப்து சட்டத்தில் ஒரு முஸ்லீம் கிறிஸ்துவத்துக்கு மதம் மாறக்கூடாது என்று ஏதும் இல்லை. ஆனால், இஸ்லாமின் படி, ஒரு முஸ்லீம் மதம் மாறினால், அவரை கொல்ல வேண்டுமாம்.
அதனால், இவரை கொல்லவேண்டும் என்று பலத்த கூக்குரல் எழுந்துள்ளது.
A Muslim converts to Christianity foments sectarian antagonism
The Associated PressPublished: August 11, 2007
CAIRO, Egypt: An Egyptian Muslim who converted to Christianity has gone into hiding, facing death threats after he launched an attempt to get official recognition of his change of religion, an unprecedented step in this conservative Islamic nation.
An Islamist cleric has vowed to seek Mohammed Hegazy's execution as an apostate, his family has shunned him, and Hegazy raised a storm of controversy when pictures of him posing for journalists with a poster of the Virgin Mary were published in the newspapers.
"They think I am crazy or something," the 25-year-old Hegazy said of his family, speaking to The Associated Press by phone from his hideout.
Hegazy made an unusual public splash because he sought to raise a court case to officially change his religion on his national ID card, likely the first time a Muslim-born convert has sought to do so in Egypt. His first lawyer filed the case, but then quit after the uproar, and his second is still considering whether it's worth pursuing the attempt.
Hegazy said he received death threats by phone before he went into hiding, in an apartment bare of furniture where he lives with his wife, who is also a convert from Islam and is four months pregnant. He would not say where the apartment was located.
"I know there are fatwas (religious edicts) to shed my blood, but I will not give up and I will not leave the country," Hegazy said.
There is no law on the books in Egypt against converting from Islam to Christianity, but in this case tradition trumps the law. Under a widespread interpretation of Islamic law, converting from Islam is apostasy and is punishable by death — though killings are rare and the state has never ordered or carried out an execution.
Most Muslims who convert usually practice their new religion quietly, seeking to avoid attention, or flee the country to the West. In Egypt, at the very least they face ostracism by their families, but if their conversion becomes known they can receive death threats from militants, or harassment by police, who use laws against "insulting religion" or "disturbing public order" as a pretext to target them.
The overwhelming taboo against conversion has made even trying to get official recognition unthinkable, leaving it unknown if a court would accept it. Christians who become Muslims are able to get their new religion entered on their ID and face little trouble from officials — though they too are usually thrown out by their families.
The issue of conversion is an inflammatory one in Egypt, which is majority Muslim but has a large Christian community estimated at about 10 percent of the 76 million population. Tensions have run high in recent years, with sectarian clashes in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and small villages in southern Egypt.
Many Egyptian Christians complain of discrimination, Islamic hard-liners oppose any moves that could be seen as encouraging the spread of Christianity — and the Coptic Church together with the government are extremely wary of any steps that could anger conservative Muslims.
Hegazy — who has taken the Christian name Beshoy, after an Egyptian monk — said he converted to Christianity nine years ago and began attending church in his hometown of Port Said, a city on Egypt's Suez Canal.
"I started readings and comparative studies in religions," he said. "I found that I am not consistent with Islam teachings. The major issue for me was love. Islam wasn't promoting love as Christianity did."
After his conversion was discovered, police detained him for three days and tortured him, he said. He was harassed several more times, then in 2001 he published a book of poems critical of the security services. He was quickly arrested again and held for three months on suspicion of sedition, disturbing public order and insulting the president, though he was finally released without charge.
Last year, he was finally baptized at a Coptic Orthodox Church, he said. Soon after, he married his wife, a Muslim named Um Hashim Kamel who had converted several years earlier, taking the name Katarina. She too had been ostracized by her family.
He said he wants to officially change his religion on his ID card for two reasons — to set a precedent for other converts and to ensure his child can openly be raised Christian. He wants his child to get a Christian name, birth certificate and eventually marry in a church. That would be impossible if Hegazy's official religion in Muslim, since a child is registered in the religion of the father.
Hegazy's first lawyer, Mamdouh Nakhlah, told the AP he initially accepted the case because of an editorial last month by one of Egypt's highest Islamic clerics, the Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, who wrote against the killing of apostates, saying there is no worldly retribution for Muslims who abandon their religion.
"The essential question before us is can a person who is Muslim choose a religion other than Islam? The answer is yes," Gomaa, who is Egypt's highest authority for issuing fatwas, wrote in the editorial in The Washington Post.
Gomaa's comments were sharply criticized by Muslim conservatives, who said he was opening the door for Muslims to leave their faith.
Still, Nakhlah said he had hoped Gomaa's statement could signal the chance to set a legal precedent. He submitted Hegazy's suit to the courts, but when the uproar in the press , Nakhlah backed out.
"Its very sensitive case and the atmosphere is not suitable," Nakhlah told a press conference in Cairo on Tuesday.
Hegazy's new lawyer, Ramsis el-Nagger, says he had not decided whether to pursue the case and is pessimistic the suit could be won "because of all the conflict" around it.
If the case makes it to court, it is opening an unknown realm of Egyptian law. Earlier this year, a court rejected an attempt by a group of Christians who had converted to Islam but then returned to Christianity and sought to restore their original religion on their ID cards.
The judge ruled that the group was treating religion like a "game" and "exploiting religion." When a higher court agreed last month to hear the group's appeal, it raised a new storm of controversy, and the appeals court has yet to rule.
அத்தோடு, அரசாங்க பதிவேட்டில் தன் மதமாக கிறிஸ்துவத்தை போட வேண்டும் என்று அரசாங்கத்துக்கு மனு செய்திருக்கிறார்.
எகிப்து சட்டத்தில் ஒரு முஸ்லீம் கிறிஸ்துவத்துக்கு மதம் மாறக்கூடாது என்று ஏதும் இல்லை. ஆனால், இஸ்லாமின் படி, ஒரு முஸ்லீம் மதம் மாறினால், அவரை கொல்ல வேண்டுமாம்.
அதனால், இவரை கொல்லவேண்டும் என்று பலத்த கூக்குரல் எழுந்துள்ளது.
A Muslim converts to Christianity foments sectarian antagonism
The Associated PressPublished: August 11, 2007
CAIRO, Egypt: An Egyptian Muslim who converted to Christianity has gone into hiding, facing death threats after he launched an attempt to get official recognition of his change of religion, an unprecedented step in this conservative Islamic nation.
An Islamist cleric has vowed to seek Mohammed Hegazy's execution as an apostate, his family has shunned him, and Hegazy raised a storm of controversy when pictures of him posing for journalists with a poster of the Virgin Mary were published in the newspapers.
"They think I am crazy or something," the 25-year-old Hegazy said of his family, speaking to The Associated Press by phone from his hideout.
Hegazy made an unusual public splash because he sought to raise a court case to officially change his religion on his national ID card, likely the first time a Muslim-born convert has sought to do so in Egypt. His first lawyer filed the case, but then quit after the uproar, and his second is still considering whether it's worth pursuing the attempt.
Hegazy said he received death threats by phone before he went into hiding, in an apartment bare of furniture where he lives with his wife, who is also a convert from Islam and is four months pregnant. He would not say where the apartment was located.
"I know there are fatwas (religious edicts) to shed my blood, but I will not give up and I will not leave the country," Hegazy said.
There is no law on the books in Egypt against converting from Islam to Christianity, but in this case tradition trumps the law. Under a widespread interpretation of Islamic law, converting from Islam is apostasy and is punishable by death — though killings are rare and the state has never ordered or carried out an execution.
Most Muslims who convert usually practice their new religion quietly, seeking to avoid attention, or flee the country to the West. In Egypt, at the very least they face ostracism by their families, but if their conversion becomes known they can receive death threats from militants, or harassment by police, who use laws against "insulting religion" or "disturbing public order" as a pretext to target them.
The overwhelming taboo against conversion has made even trying to get official recognition unthinkable, leaving it unknown if a court would accept it. Christians who become Muslims are able to get their new religion entered on their ID and face little trouble from officials — though they too are usually thrown out by their families.
The issue of conversion is an inflammatory one in Egypt, which is majority Muslim but has a large Christian community estimated at about 10 percent of the 76 million population. Tensions have run high in recent years, with sectarian clashes in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and small villages in southern Egypt.
Many Egyptian Christians complain of discrimination, Islamic hard-liners oppose any moves that could be seen as encouraging the spread of Christianity — and the Coptic Church together with the government are extremely wary of any steps that could anger conservative Muslims.
Hegazy — who has taken the Christian name Beshoy, after an Egyptian monk — said he converted to Christianity nine years ago and began attending church in his hometown of Port Said, a city on Egypt's Suez Canal.
"I started readings and comparative studies in religions," he said. "I found that I am not consistent with Islam teachings. The major issue for me was love. Islam wasn't promoting love as Christianity did."
After his conversion was discovered, police detained him for three days and tortured him, he said. He was harassed several more times, then in 2001 he published a book of poems critical of the security services. He was quickly arrested again and held for three months on suspicion of sedition, disturbing public order and insulting the president, though he was finally released without charge.
Last year, he was finally baptized at a Coptic Orthodox Church, he said. Soon after, he married his wife, a Muslim named Um Hashim Kamel who had converted several years earlier, taking the name Katarina. She too had been ostracized by her family.
He said he wants to officially change his religion on his ID card for two reasons — to set a precedent for other converts and to ensure his child can openly be raised Christian. He wants his child to get a Christian name, birth certificate and eventually marry in a church. That would be impossible if Hegazy's official religion in Muslim, since a child is registered in the religion of the father.
Hegazy's first lawyer, Mamdouh Nakhlah, told the AP he initially accepted the case because of an editorial last month by one of Egypt's highest Islamic clerics, the Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, who wrote against the killing of apostates, saying there is no worldly retribution for Muslims who abandon their religion.
"The essential question before us is can a person who is Muslim choose a religion other than Islam? The answer is yes," Gomaa, who is Egypt's highest authority for issuing fatwas, wrote in the editorial in The Washington Post.
Gomaa's comments were sharply criticized by Muslim conservatives, who said he was opening the door for Muslims to leave their faith.
Still, Nakhlah said he had hoped Gomaa's statement could signal the chance to set a legal precedent. He submitted Hegazy's suit to the courts, but when the uproar in the press , Nakhlah backed out.
"Its very sensitive case and the atmosphere is not suitable," Nakhlah told a press conference in Cairo on Tuesday.
Hegazy's new lawyer, Ramsis el-Nagger, says he had not decided whether to pursue the case and is pessimistic the suit could be won "because of all the conflict" around it.
If the case makes it to court, it is opening an unknown realm of Egyptian law. Earlier this year, a court rejected an attempt by a group of Christians who had converted to Islam but then returned to Christianity and sought to restore their original religion on their ID cards.
The judge ruled that the group was treating religion like a "game" and "exploiting religion." When a higher court agreed last month to hear the group's appeal, it raised a new storm of controversy, and the appeals court has yet to rule.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
முஸ்லீம்கள் மதம் மாறலாம் என்று நான் சொல்லவில்லை - முப்டி
எகிப்து நாட்டு முப்டி வாஷிங்டன் போஸ்ட் விவாதக்களத்தில் "முஸ்லீம்கள் மதம் மாற சுதந்திரம் உண்டு. அது அவருக்கும் இறைவனுக்கும் இடையேயான விஷயம்" என்று சொன்னதாக பேசப்பட்டது.
அது எகிப்து நாட்டில் பெரும் பிரச்னையாக உருவெடுத்தது. இதனால், கெய்ரோவில் எகிபது நாட்டு தலைமை முப்டி நான் அப்படி சொல்லவில்லை என்று அறிக்கை வெளியிட்டார்.
இஸ்லாமை விட்டு வெளியேறினால், அப்படி வெளியேறுபவருக்கு இந்த உலகத்திலேயே தண்டனை (மரண தண்டனை) வழங்கப்படும் என்பதில் மாற்றுக்கருத்து இல்லை என்று முப்டி டாக்டர் அலி கோமா தெரிவித்தார்
Top cleric denies 'freedom to choose religion' comment
By Ramadan Al Sherbini, Correspondent
Published: July 24, 2007, 23:05
Cairo: Egypt's top cleric yesterday denied in a statement that he had said a Muslim can give up his faith without punishment.
Ali Goma'a, the mufti of Egypt, was quoted as saying in a posting on a Washington Post-Newsweek forum that Muslims are free to change their faith and this is a matter between an individual and God.
"What I actually said is that Islam prohibits a Muslim from changing his religion and that apostasy is a crime, which must be punished," Goma'a said.
The alleged fatwa coincides with an uproar over the case of 12 Egyptians who converted to Islam from Christianity and now want to re-embrace Christianity.
"There is a campaign by secularists to distort the image of Dr Ali Goma'a," a senior official in Al Azhar told Gulf News.
"He cannot deny punishment in this life for the apostate," said Mustafa Al Chaka of the Islamic Research Centre.
அது எகிப்து நாட்டில் பெரும் பிரச்னையாக உருவெடுத்தது. இதனால், கெய்ரோவில் எகிபது நாட்டு தலைமை முப்டி நான் அப்படி சொல்லவில்லை என்று அறிக்கை வெளியிட்டார்.
இஸ்லாமை விட்டு வெளியேறினால், அப்படி வெளியேறுபவருக்கு இந்த உலகத்திலேயே தண்டனை (மரண தண்டனை) வழங்கப்படும் என்பதில் மாற்றுக்கருத்து இல்லை என்று முப்டி டாக்டர் அலி கோமா தெரிவித்தார்
Top cleric denies 'freedom to choose religion' comment
By Ramadan Al Sherbini, Correspondent
Published: July 24, 2007, 23:05
Cairo: Egypt's top cleric yesterday denied in a statement that he had said a Muslim can give up his faith without punishment.
Ali Goma'a, the mufti of Egypt, was quoted as saying in a posting on a Washington Post-Newsweek forum that Muslims are free to change their faith and this is a matter between an individual and God.
"What I actually said is that Islam prohibits a Muslim from changing his religion and that apostasy is a crime, which must be punished," Goma'a said.
The alleged fatwa coincides with an uproar over the case of 12 Egyptians who converted to Islam from Christianity and now want to re-embrace Christianity.
"There is a campaign by secularists to distort the image of Dr Ali Goma'a," a senior official in Al Azhar told Gulf News.
"He cannot deny punishment in this life for the apostate," said Mustafa Al Chaka of the Islamic Research Centre.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
பெண்குறியை வெட்டுவதை பற்றி எகிப்து கிராமத்தவர் பேட்டி
பெண்குறியை வெட்டுவதை பற்றி எகிப்து கிராமத்தவர் பேட்டி
Sunday, July 01, 2007
எகிப்தில் 50 முஸ்லீம் தீவிரவாதிகள் கைது
எகிப்து அரசாங்கம் முஸ்லீம் பிரதர்ஹூட் என்ற அமைப்பை சார்ந்த 50 தீவிரவாதிகளை கைது செய்திருக்கிறது. இந்த அமைப்பை சார்ந்தவர்கள் பல வருடங்களுக்கு முன்னர் எகிப்துக்கு வரும் டூரிஸ்டுகளை தாக்கி கொன்றார்கள்
Egypt detains 50 Muslim Brotherhood students: source
Sat Jun 30, 2007 12:23PM EDT
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police detained 50 students from the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's most powerful opposition group, in a renewed crackdown on the movement Saturday, a Brotherhood source said.
A security source gave the figure as 45 detained.
The detainees are students from several universities throughout Egypt and had been holidaying in the coastal city of Alexandria when police raided their lodgings, the Brotherhood source said.
The security source said they had been detained for holding meetings and possessing Brotherhood literature.
Brotherhood deputy leader Mohamed Habib said the crackdown on the group's youth wing was part of the government's continuing efforts to contain and marginalise the movement.
"The students are among the active elements of the Brotherhood, particularly in the universities," Habib told Reuters.
An interior ministry spokesman said he knew nothing about the detentions.
The government says the Brotherhood is an illegal organisation and it frequently detains its members, often releasing them without charge after days or weeks in detention.
But the organisation runs an office in Cairo and fields candidates in elections as independents.
The Brotherhood, which rejects violence, won 88 seats in the 454-seat parliament in 2005, but failed to win any seat to the upper house of parliament in June elections that were marred by reports of widespread irregularities.
Egypt detains 50 Muslim Brotherhood students: source
Sat Jun 30, 2007 12:23PM EDT
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police detained 50 students from the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's most powerful opposition group, in a renewed crackdown on the movement Saturday, a Brotherhood source said.
A security source gave the figure as 45 detained.
The detainees are students from several universities throughout Egypt and had been holidaying in the coastal city of Alexandria when police raided their lodgings, the Brotherhood source said.
The security source said they had been detained for holding meetings and possessing Brotherhood literature.
Brotherhood deputy leader Mohamed Habib said the crackdown on the group's youth wing was part of the government's continuing efforts to contain and marginalise the movement.
"The students are among the active elements of the Brotherhood, particularly in the universities," Habib told Reuters.
An interior ministry spokesman said he knew nothing about the detentions.
The government says the Brotherhood is an illegal organisation and it frequently detains its members, often releasing them without charge after days or weeks in detention.
But the organisation runs an office in Cairo and fields candidates in elections as independents.
The Brotherhood, which rejects violence, won 88 seats in the 454-seat parliament in 2005, but failed to win any seat to the upper house of parliament in June elections that were marred by reports of widespread irregularities.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
பெண்குறியை அறுப்பதை எகிப்து அரசாங்கம் தடைசெய்திருக்கிறது
பெண்குறியை அறுப்பதை எகிப்து அரசாங்கம் தடைசெய்திருக்கிறது. சென்ற வாரம் ஒரு 12 வயது சிறுமியின் பெண்குறியை அறுத்ததில் அந்த பெண் இறந்துவிட்டார். இது எகிப்து மற்றும் உலகெங்கும் பெரும் எதிர்ப்பை உருவாக்கியது.
Egypt officially bans female circumcision
Egypt on Thursday finally banned all female circumcision, the widely-practiced removal of the clitoris which just days ago cost the life of a 12-year-old girl.
Genital cutting of girls, often referred to as female genital mutilation or circumcision, is banned in Egypt although the practice remains widespread as a rite of passage for girls and is often viewed as a way to protect their chastity.
Officially the practice, which affects both Muslim and Christian women in Egypt and goes back to the time of the pharoahs, was banned in 1997 but doctors were allowed to operate ‘in exceptional cases’.
On Thursday, Health Minister Hatem Al Gabali decided to ban every doctor and member of the medical profession, in public or private establishments, from carrying out a clitoridectomy, a ministry press official said.
Any circumcision ‘will be viewed as a violation of the law and all contraventions will be punished,’ said the official, adding that it was a ‘permanent ban’.
A survey in 2000 said the practice was carried out on 97 percent of the country’s women.
In the latest fatality, 12-year-old Bedur Ahmed Shaker was taken by her mother to a private clinic in Minya, a town on the Nile south of Cairo, for the operation.
She died before she could be transferred to hospital.
Her mother accused the woman doctor of negligence, charging that her daughter’s death was linked to the anaesthetic and not the removal of the clitoris, for which she had paid 50 pounds (nearly nine dollars). Police have arrested both women.
Egypt's state-appointed Grand Mufti, in the strongest statement yet on the issue by the government's official arbiter of Islamic law, said on Sunday Islam forbade the "harmful tradition of circumcision" of girls.
The Grand Sheikh of Cairo's prestigious al-Azhar mosque, Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, has also described the practice as un-Islamic, but some other clerics have supported it.
Both Tantawi and Coptic Pope Shenouda, the leader of Egypt's minority Christian community, have said that neither the Koran nor the Bible demand or mention female circumcision, which is usually performed on pre-pubescent girls.
பெண்குறியை அறுப்பது இஸ்லாமிய முறைதான். அதனை நபிகள் நாயகமே பரிந்துரை செய்திருக்கிறார் என்று பல இமாம்கள் வன்மையாக கூறுகிறார்கள்.
Imam Fatty rebuts FGM claim
Written by Sanna Jawara
Jun 06, 2007 at 08:27 AM
Alhaji Abdoulie Fatty, the Imam of State House Mosque has rebuted claims published on 1st June edition of the Daily observer, entitled “Female Genital Cutting Unislamic” as utter rubbish.
In an interview with the Daily Observer, Imam Fatty said “as far as Islam is concerned “we do observe circumcision not mutilation”.
He then noted that the tradition has been in existence hundreds of years ago, well before the advent of the modern civilisation.
According to him, “in the Muslim ummah nobody can tell us what is good or not good for our tradition. Before anyone tells us about our tradition, you must convince us that you have a degree or degrees in Islamic studies”
He did not hesitate to describe the publication as a big insult to the Muslim ummah and then urged the perpetrators to desist from such in the interest of religious tolerance and world peace.
According to Imam Fatty, a person who has never experienced Muslim circumcision cannot say anything genuine about it. “If the individual has undergone through the process, and as a result, contracted HIV/AIDS, and died at delivery process or the child died, this can then serve as an evidence of the dangers associated with the practice,” he added.
Imam Fatty further stated that as far as Islam is concerned, Prophet Muhammad (PBU), and his disciples, Islamic Schools of thoughts and Haddish, have all spoken well of the circumcision. He then quoted verse 36, which states that ‘Those who disbelieve and spend their wealth to hinder ‘men’ from the part of Allah, so will they continue to spend it. But in the end it will become an anguish for them. They will be overcome and those who disbelieve will be gathered unto hell”.
The Imam made several quotations from Dr Jack Faal, a renown Gynaecologist, who conducted extensive research on female circumcision, saying “despite all that has been said about it, the surgery in Female Circumcision is simple. What happens is a cutting of the skin, a piece of skin, no bone is involved in it. It amazed people who say you bleed to death in circumcision”.
The State House Imam urged religious leaders to desist from being used by other people for their selfish interest.
He clearly stated that, “there is nothing horrible and sympathetic than those who drills their nose, lips, breast tips, eyes brows, biblical cords, etc, and put in irons there, all in the name so-called fashion” .
Egypt officially bans female circumcision
Egypt on Thursday finally banned all female circumcision, the widely-practiced removal of the clitoris which just days ago cost the life of a 12-year-old girl.
Genital cutting of girls, often referred to as female genital mutilation or circumcision, is banned in Egypt although the practice remains widespread as a rite of passage for girls and is often viewed as a way to protect their chastity.
Officially the practice, which affects both Muslim and Christian women in Egypt and goes back to the time of the pharoahs, was banned in 1997 but doctors were allowed to operate ‘in exceptional cases’.
On Thursday, Health Minister Hatem Al Gabali decided to ban every doctor and member of the medical profession, in public or private establishments, from carrying out a clitoridectomy, a ministry press official said.
Any circumcision ‘will be viewed as a violation of the law and all contraventions will be punished,’ said the official, adding that it was a ‘permanent ban’.
A survey in 2000 said the practice was carried out on 97 percent of the country’s women.
In the latest fatality, 12-year-old Bedur Ahmed Shaker was taken by her mother to a private clinic in Minya, a town on the Nile south of Cairo, for the operation.
She died before she could be transferred to hospital.
Her mother accused the woman doctor of negligence, charging that her daughter’s death was linked to the anaesthetic and not the removal of the clitoris, for which she had paid 50 pounds (nearly nine dollars). Police have arrested both women.
Egypt's state-appointed Grand Mufti, in the strongest statement yet on the issue by the government's official arbiter of Islamic law, said on Sunday Islam forbade the "harmful tradition of circumcision" of girls.
The Grand Sheikh of Cairo's prestigious al-Azhar mosque, Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, has also described the practice as un-Islamic, but some other clerics have supported it.
Both Tantawi and Coptic Pope Shenouda, the leader of Egypt's minority Christian community, have said that neither the Koran nor the Bible demand or mention female circumcision, which is usually performed on pre-pubescent girls.
பெண்குறியை அறுப்பது இஸ்லாமிய முறைதான். அதனை நபிகள் நாயகமே பரிந்துரை செய்திருக்கிறார் என்று பல இமாம்கள் வன்மையாக கூறுகிறார்கள்.
Imam Fatty rebuts FGM claim
Written by Sanna Jawara
Jun 06, 2007 at 08:27 AM
Alhaji Abdoulie Fatty, the Imam of State House Mosque has rebuted claims published on 1st June edition of the Daily observer, entitled “Female Genital Cutting Unislamic” as utter rubbish.
In an interview with the Daily Observer, Imam Fatty said “as far as Islam is concerned “we do observe circumcision not mutilation”.
He then noted that the tradition has been in existence hundreds of years ago, well before the advent of the modern civilisation.
According to him, “in the Muslim ummah nobody can tell us what is good or not good for our tradition. Before anyone tells us about our tradition, you must convince us that you have a degree or degrees in Islamic studies”
He did not hesitate to describe the publication as a big insult to the Muslim ummah and then urged the perpetrators to desist from such in the interest of religious tolerance and world peace.
According to Imam Fatty, a person who has never experienced Muslim circumcision cannot say anything genuine about it. “If the individual has undergone through the process, and as a result, contracted HIV/AIDS, and died at delivery process or the child died, this can then serve as an evidence of the dangers associated with the practice,” he added.
Imam Fatty further stated that as far as Islam is concerned, Prophet Muhammad (PBU), and his disciples, Islamic Schools of thoughts and Haddish, have all spoken well of the circumcision. He then quoted verse 36, which states that ‘Those who disbelieve and spend their wealth to hinder ‘men’ from the part of Allah, so will they continue to spend it. But in the end it will become an anguish for them. They will be overcome and those who disbelieve will be gathered unto hell”.
The Imam made several quotations from Dr Jack Faal, a renown Gynaecologist, who conducted extensive research on female circumcision, saying “despite all that has been said about it, the surgery in Female Circumcision is simple. What happens is a cutting of the skin, a piece of skin, no bone is involved in it. It amazed people who say you bleed to death in circumcision”.
The State House Imam urged religious leaders to desist from being used by other people for their selfish interest.
He clearly stated that, “there is nothing horrible and sympathetic than those who drills their nose, lips, breast tips, eyes brows, biblical cords, etc, and put in irons there, all in the name so-called fashion” .
Sunday, June 24, 2007
எகிப்தில் காப்டிக் கிறிஸ்துவர்களை ஒடுக்கும் இஸ்லாமிய அரசாங்கம்
எகிபதில் அதிகரித்துவரும் கிறிஸ்துவர்களுக்கு எதிரான வன்முறை கவலை தரும் விதமாக எகிப்து முழுவதும் பரவலாம் என்று கருத்து தெரிவிக்கிறது இந்த கட்டுரை.
14 நூற்றாண்டுகளாக வாழ்ந்துவரும் காப்டிக் கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் தங்களது சர்ச்சுகளை புனருத்தாரணம் செய்தாலோ அல்லது இடம் மாற்றி வேறு இடத்தில் கட்டினாலோ அந்த பகுதி முழுவதும் கலவரம் உருவாகிறது. அரசாங்கமும் இப்படிப்பட்ட புனருத்தாரணங்களுக்கு அனுமதி வழங்குவதில்லை. மிகுந்த இடர்ப்பாடுகளுக்கு பிறகு அனுமதி வாங்கினாலும், அந்த பகுதியில் கலவரம் ஆரம்பித்து கிறிஸ்துவர்களின் வீடுகளும் கடைகளும் கொளுத்தப்படுகின்றன.
இருவரது மதவெறியும் ஒன்றுக்கொன்று குறைந்ததில்லை என்று காணும்போது அமைதிக்கான வாய்ப்பு குறைவாகவே தோன்றுகிறது.
EGYPT: Clashes Could Bring Sectarian Conflict
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO, Jun 21 (IPS) - After a year of relative tranquility, recent clashes between Muslims and Christians have again raised the spectre of sectarian discord in Egypt.
The clashes were ultimately resolved by state-sponsored reconciliation councils, but the incidents have highlighted longstanding tensions between the country's Muslim majority and its Christian minority.
"The biggest danger in Egypt right now is that of festering sectarian conflict," Ragaa Attiya, member of al-Azhar University's Islamic Research Centre told IPS.
Interfaith relations have traditionally been peaceful in this country of 75 million, of which Christians are estimated to represent roughly 10 percent, most of them from the Egyptian Orthodox, or Coptic, Church. The rest of Egypt's population is almost entirely Sunni Muslim.
But despite a long history of peaceful coexistence, recent months have seen several cases of sectarian violence.
On Jun. 8, clashes broke out between Muslim and Christian youths who fought each other with clubs and kerosene bombs in the Qabbari district of Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city on the Mediterranean coast, a little more than 100km north of Cairo. Although no serious injuries were reported, one Christian-owned shop was destroyed during the melee.
Hostilities flared up again Jun. 12, when Muslim residents clashed with their Coptic counterparts outside a church in the coastal city's Dakhila district. Security forces quickly intervened, arresting ten persons from both sides on charges of "inciting sectarian discord."
Some observers were quick to assert that religious motivations stood behind the violent episodes. But according to subsequent accounts in the state and opposition press, both incidents had been triggered by personal disputes.
"It was nothing more than a quarrel between thugs," Nader Marcos, member of the state-run Confessional Council, which is responsible for Coptic affairs, was quoted as saying in independent daily al-Dustour after the first incident. "It had nothing to do with religion."
The Alexandria disturbances were not, however, the only recent examples of interfaith hostility.
In mid-May, violence also erupted in the small village of Bemha, some 70 km south of Cairo, after Muslim residents tried to prevent local Christians from building a church. That incident left 10 people injured and dozens of Christian-owned homes and shops destroyed.
Security forces eventually intervened, arresting scores of Muslim residents. Despite heavy security presence in the town, disturbances continued for several days, with reports of reciprocal attacks against both Christian and Muslim properties.
As in most such cases, the state-controlled Islamic authorities hastened to condemn the incident.
"These acts were not perpetrated by rational people," Mohamed Sayyid Tantawi, Sheikh of al-Azhar University, Egypt's premier Islamic authority, was quoted as saying in the May 14 edition of independent daily al-Masri al-Youm. "Islam respects the practitioners of other faiths and their right to worship."
But it was not the first time that the issue of church building -- a historical sectarian flashpoint -- has led to fatal consequences.
"What happened in Bemha happens whenever Christians try to build or renovate churches," Youssef Sidhoum, editor-in-chief of Coptic weekly al-Watani told IPS.
In 2005, police arrested 80 people in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Minya after sectarian clashes left one person dead. At that time, too, violence erupted when Muslim residents confronted a number of local Copts attempting to build a church without government permission.
Early last year, sectarian violence also broke out in the village of Udaysat, some 500 km south of Cairo. Here again, hostilities flared after a number of Copts tried building a church without a permit. That incident left one person dead and fourteen injured, including several policemen.
Many Copts are quick to point out the many legal and bureaucratic obstacles faced by Christian communities when trying to build or renovate churches. At the same time, they say, attempts to build mosques face little if any official obstruction.
"The only example of official discrimination against Christians in Egypt is the law that currently governs the construction of religious edifices," said Sidhoum.
In an effort to mollify Christian sentiment, a 2005 presidential decree gave provincial governors authority to grant permission for renovating or enlarging local churches. Previously, Christian communities had to obtain permission directly from the President.
Critics of the situation, however, say the presidential ruling has translated into few real improvements on the ground.
"The decree was a nice gesture, but local governors have not respected it, and continue to prevent its implementation," said Sidhoum. He added, however, that pressure was building in parliament to discuss a new draft law that would apply the same restrictions to all religious construction projects, be they mosques or churches.
Other observers, meanwhile, say that the church building issue has been blown out of proportion.
"There is a degree of exaggeration in these requests for more churches," said Attiya, adding that the current number of churches in Egypt "is generally in proportion to the country's Christian population." He conceded, however, that some Christian communities did have "a legitimate need" for more, or bigger, places of worship.
The incident in Bemha moved Pope Shenouda III, leader of the Coptic Church, to express his disapproval of the government's treatment of the issue. In a strongly worded letter to President Hosni Mubarak late last month, the pope blasted the inability of state security apparatuses to pre-empt the outbreak of sectarian conflicts.
"Security agencies have a responsibility to try to stop crimes before they happen," said Shenouda, who is not generally known for taking confrontational positions vis-a-vis the government. "They knew about the simmering tensions in Bemha for months, yet did nothing to prevent it."
Sidhoum agreed that heavy-handed government responses to sectarian flare-ups can end up perpetuating the problem.
"The security apparatuses tend to ignore signs of sectarian friction until the situation erupts into open violence," he said. "Then they arbitrarily arrest people from both sides and send them to trial without evidence, meaning that the real culprits are never punished."
On this point, Attiya also agreed. "A chief reason for this longstanding problem is that the government always treats sectarian tension as a security issue," he said. "Rather, it should exert efforts to find the problem's root causes."
Church-building aside, many Copts also complain of other forms of official anti-Christian discrimination. They point in particular to the under-representation of Coptic Christians in certain government and academic institutions.
"Very few Copts are appointed to key positions in the government or are candidates for parliament," noted a report issued last month by the UN-affiliated International Labour Organisation (ILO). "Enrolment of Copts in police academies and military schools is restricted and very few are teachers or professors."
Minister for Manpower and Immigration Aisha Abdel-Hady responded to the ILO's claims by saying that the Egyptian constitution guaranteed the rights of all citizens and "does not discriminate between Muslims and Christians." Quoted in the state press, she went on to point out that Coptic Christians "possess roughly one-third of Egypt's national wealth, in addition to owning several of the country's biggest companies."
In the meantime, state-sponsored reconciliation councils, attended by religious leaders from both sides, have been convened in both Bemha and Alexandria, bringing a modicum of resolution to the crises.
But some observers question the effectiveness of such committees, saying they seldom resulted in genuine reconciliation on the ground.
"These reconciliation councils are little more than stage-plays, in which the state takes on the role of the wise father trying to make peace between quarrelling children," said Sidhoum. "There's still plenty of anger." (END/2007)
14 நூற்றாண்டுகளாக வாழ்ந்துவரும் காப்டிக் கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் தங்களது சர்ச்சுகளை புனருத்தாரணம் செய்தாலோ அல்லது இடம் மாற்றி வேறு இடத்தில் கட்டினாலோ அந்த பகுதி முழுவதும் கலவரம் உருவாகிறது. அரசாங்கமும் இப்படிப்பட்ட புனருத்தாரணங்களுக்கு அனுமதி வழங்குவதில்லை. மிகுந்த இடர்ப்பாடுகளுக்கு பிறகு அனுமதி வாங்கினாலும், அந்த பகுதியில் கலவரம் ஆரம்பித்து கிறிஸ்துவர்களின் வீடுகளும் கடைகளும் கொளுத்தப்படுகின்றன.
இருவரது மதவெறியும் ஒன்றுக்கொன்று குறைந்ததில்லை என்று காணும்போது அமைதிக்கான வாய்ப்பு குறைவாகவே தோன்றுகிறது.
EGYPT: Clashes Could Bring Sectarian Conflict
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO, Jun 21 (IPS) - After a year of relative tranquility, recent clashes between Muslims and Christians have again raised the spectre of sectarian discord in Egypt.
The clashes were ultimately resolved by state-sponsored reconciliation councils, but the incidents have highlighted longstanding tensions between the country's Muslim majority and its Christian minority.
"The biggest danger in Egypt right now is that of festering sectarian conflict," Ragaa Attiya, member of al-Azhar University's Islamic Research Centre told IPS.
Interfaith relations have traditionally been peaceful in this country of 75 million, of which Christians are estimated to represent roughly 10 percent, most of them from the Egyptian Orthodox, or Coptic, Church. The rest of Egypt's population is almost entirely Sunni Muslim.
But despite a long history of peaceful coexistence, recent months have seen several cases of sectarian violence.
On Jun. 8, clashes broke out between Muslim and Christian youths who fought each other with clubs and kerosene bombs in the Qabbari district of Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city on the Mediterranean coast, a little more than 100km north of Cairo. Although no serious injuries were reported, one Christian-owned shop was destroyed during the melee.
Hostilities flared up again Jun. 12, when Muslim residents clashed with their Coptic counterparts outside a church in the coastal city's Dakhila district. Security forces quickly intervened, arresting ten persons from both sides on charges of "inciting sectarian discord."
Some observers were quick to assert that religious motivations stood behind the violent episodes. But according to subsequent accounts in the state and opposition press, both incidents had been triggered by personal disputes.
"It was nothing more than a quarrel between thugs," Nader Marcos, member of the state-run Confessional Council, which is responsible for Coptic affairs, was quoted as saying in independent daily al-Dustour after the first incident. "It had nothing to do with religion."
The Alexandria disturbances were not, however, the only recent examples of interfaith hostility.
In mid-May, violence also erupted in the small village of Bemha, some 70 km south of Cairo, after Muslim residents tried to prevent local Christians from building a church. That incident left 10 people injured and dozens of Christian-owned homes and shops destroyed.
Security forces eventually intervened, arresting scores of Muslim residents. Despite heavy security presence in the town, disturbances continued for several days, with reports of reciprocal attacks against both Christian and Muslim properties.
As in most such cases, the state-controlled Islamic authorities hastened to condemn the incident.
"These acts were not perpetrated by rational people," Mohamed Sayyid Tantawi, Sheikh of al-Azhar University, Egypt's premier Islamic authority, was quoted as saying in the May 14 edition of independent daily al-Masri al-Youm. "Islam respects the practitioners of other faiths and their right to worship."
But it was not the first time that the issue of church building -- a historical sectarian flashpoint -- has led to fatal consequences.
"What happened in Bemha happens whenever Christians try to build or renovate churches," Youssef Sidhoum, editor-in-chief of Coptic weekly al-Watani told IPS.
In 2005, police arrested 80 people in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Minya after sectarian clashes left one person dead. At that time, too, violence erupted when Muslim residents confronted a number of local Copts attempting to build a church without government permission.
Early last year, sectarian violence also broke out in the village of Udaysat, some 500 km south of Cairo. Here again, hostilities flared after a number of Copts tried building a church without a permit. That incident left one person dead and fourteen injured, including several policemen.
Many Copts are quick to point out the many legal and bureaucratic obstacles faced by Christian communities when trying to build or renovate churches. At the same time, they say, attempts to build mosques face little if any official obstruction.
"The only example of official discrimination against Christians in Egypt is the law that currently governs the construction of religious edifices," said Sidhoum.
In an effort to mollify Christian sentiment, a 2005 presidential decree gave provincial governors authority to grant permission for renovating or enlarging local churches. Previously, Christian communities had to obtain permission directly from the President.
Critics of the situation, however, say the presidential ruling has translated into few real improvements on the ground.
"The decree was a nice gesture, but local governors have not respected it, and continue to prevent its implementation," said Sidhoum. He added, however, that pressure was building in parliament to discuss a new draft law that would apply the same restrictions to all religious construction projects, be they mosques or churches.
Other observers, meanwhile, say that the church building issue has been blown out of proportion.
"There is a degree of exaggeration in these requests for more churches," said Attiya, adding that the current number of churches in Egypt "is generally in proportion to the country's Christian population." He conceded, however, that some Christian communities did have "a legitimate need" for more, or bigger, places of worship.
The incident in Bemha moved Pope Shenouda III, leader of the Coptic Church, to express his disapproval of the government's treatment of the issue. In a strongly worded letter to President Hosni Mubarak late last month, the pope blasted the inability of state security apparatuses to pre-empt the outbreak of sectarian conflicts.
"Security agencies have a responsibility to try to stop crimes before they happen," said Shenouda, who is not generally known for taking confrontational positions vis-a-vis the government. "They knew about the simmering tensions in Bemha for months, yet did nothing to prevent it."
Sidhoum agreed that heavy-handed government responses to sectarian flare-ups can end up perpetuating the problem.
"The security apparatuses tend to ignore signs of sectarian friction until the situation erupts into open violence," he said. "Then they arbitrarily arrest people from both sides and send them to trial without evidence, meaning that the real culprits are never punished."
On this point, Attiya also agreed. "A chief reason for this longstanding problem is that the government always treats sectarian tension as a security issue," he said. "Rather, it should exert efforts to find the problem's root causes."
Church-building aside, many Copts also complain of other forms of official anti-Christian discrimination. They point in particular to the under-representation of Coptic Christians in certain government and academic institutions.
"Very few Copts are appointed to key positions in the government or are candidates for parliament," noted a report issued last month by the UN-affiliated International Labour Organisation (ILO). "Enrolment of Copts in police academies and military schools is restricted and very few are teachers or professors."
Minister for Manpower and Immigration Aisha Abdel-Hady responded to the ILO's claims by saying that the Egyptian constitution guaranteed the rights of all citizens and "does not discriminate between Muslims and Christians." Quoted in the state press, she went on to point out that Coptic Christians "possess roughly one-third of Egypt's national wealth, in addition to owning several of the country's biggest companies."
In the meantime, state-sponsored reconciliation councils, attended by religious leaders from both sides, have been convened in both Bemha and Alexandria, bringing a modicum of resolution to the crises.
But some observers question the effectiveness of such committees, saying they seldom resulted in genuine reconciliation on the ground.
"These reconciliation councils are little more than stage-plays, in which the state takes on the role of the wise father trying to make peace between quarrelling children," said Sidhoum. "There's still plenty of anger." (END/2007)
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
இஸ்லாமுக்கு கட்டாய மதமாற்றத்துக்கு பயந்து எகிப்தியர் அமெரிக்காவில் தஞ்சம்
எகிப்தில் இதுவரை 5000 கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் கொலை செய்யப்பட்டிருக்கிறார்கள். கட்டாயமாக இஸ்லாமுக்கு மதம் மாறவேண்டும் என்று வற்புறுத்தப்படுகிறார்கள்.
வோர்ல்ட் நெட் டெய்லி
Christian fears torture if deported
Man seeking asylum to avoid forced conversion to Islam
Posted: June 13, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Sameh Khouzam
A Coptic Christian from Egypt is battling for a court ruling to allow him to remain in the United States and avoid the sure torture he would face under Egypt's Islamic law, according to his supporters.
Sameh Khouzam, 38, who has been in the United States for about nine years already, is facing a court date June 18, when a decision will be announced on that deportation order.
His supporters say the issue is the torture he would face if returned to Egypt, which he fled under threats from Muslims who demanded that he and his family members convert to Islam.
"We need your help right NOW!!!" says a campaign being run by an organization called Coptic News.
A spokesman, Sam Grace, said because Egypt's constitution says that laws derive from the Quran, the persecution of Christians there is not only allowed, but endorsed, by government officials.
"In the last 10 years, more than 5,000 Christians have been massacred in Egypt," he told WND. "Hundreds of businesses and homes first have been looted, then burned and destroyed. Churches have been burned and destroyed.
"And you know what? Not one Muslim has been indicted, let alone convicted," he said.
The campaign is calling for Christians in the United States to e-mail or call:
"When it comes to [Egyptian] Christians asking for asylum in the U.S., very frequently, the U.S. administration lies … and deceives by saying when it comes to Christians suffering from persecution … there is no proof that Christians are persecuted in Egypt," said Grace.
However, such cases have been documented over and over by international Christian ministries as well as groups such as Human Rights Watch, he said. In fact, a recent court ruling in Texas, in another immigration dispute, included a statement from Judge Roxanne Hladylowycz that an Egyptian man would face such persecution.
"If the respondent is removed to Egypt, he will be surely tortured or killed," the judge said in that case.
In a commentary by Patrick Poole, of the American Thinker, which was linked by the Assyrian International News Agency, he cited the beatings, prison detention and other torture the immigrant in that case endured before fleeing to the United States.
Grace told WND that attacks, lootings and burnings are common in Egypt on Fridays, after the local imam preaches violence against Christians at his mosque.
"Especially on Friday, after the Friday prayers, the Muslim mobs are incited on attacking Christians," Grace told WND. "It happened last Friday. Mobs attacked businesses and burned them, and Christian homes and two churches in Alexandria."
"The life of a Christian in Egypt is now worth zero. Every Muslim now knows killing a Christian [is not prosecuted,]" he said.
A report from the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights concluded that Coptic Christians in Egypt have been harassed, tortured and killed by Muslims for 1,400 years already.
"They have been subjected to all kinds of hate crimes including, the abduction of young Coptic girls, the killing of Coptic women and children and the destruction of their places of worship," the report concluded.
Over just the past 40 years, the Egyptian government has "endorsed and fostered … Islamic radicalism," again bringing persecution on Christians.
The Egyptian government has worked to place in its constitution a provision emphasizing the role of Islam as the main source of legislation, and not even three months ago, Muslims attacked a Coptic cathedral, injuring four Christians, but police refused to interfere.
"There are no Copts in the top 160 government positions and they are told that there is no promotion before converting into Islam," the report said.
Coptic News said it aims to "reveal the untold stories … which are not told by the conventional Arabic press."
In Khouzam's case, a federal court banned his deportation based on the threats he's reported. But now administration officials are planning a deportation anyway, citing "diplomatic assurances" from Egypt that the man will not face torture.
But, "Egypt's human rights record is abominable. The U.S. State Department has said that Egypt regularly tortures its prisoners. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch agree," the Copt organization said.
According to a report in the Lancaster, Pa., newspaper, Khouzam now is sitting in a York County jail until a decision on his case is announced.
He spent nearly eight years in immigration custody when he first arrived in the United States because Egyptian officials said he'd killed someone before leaving Egypt for the United States. He denied the accusation.
According to reports from his supporters, the scenario happened this way:
Khouzam was resisting police demands to convert to Islam, so authorities abducted his mother, and said she would not be released unless he converted. He made that promise, but when he was pulled in front of a Muslim woman, to whom he was ordered to be married as part of his conversion, he resisted.
The woman's mother tried to hit him with a vase but he blocked the shot and cut a tendon in his hand. While being treated for the injury, Khouzam climbed out an open bathroom window and escaped from the hospital, running for the airport where some friends helped him get a ticket to the U.S.
According to federal documents, it was confirmed by officials at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City that Khouzam arrived with a bandaged hand, a wound he blamed on a fight with that woman.
She was the one who allegedly was killed, police said, an incident for which Khouzam was convicted in Egypt even though he wasn't present.
It's just been in the last couple years he's been freed from prison and he has begun work with a Pennsylvania company.
His arguments are being pursued by Human Rights Watch and others, who are arguing that the use of torture in Egypt is so routine and well-documented deporting Khouzam would expose him to harsh treatment and violate the Convention Against Torture.
That prohibits foreign citizens from being repatriated to countries where they stand a reasonable chance of being tortured.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an agency created by Congress, lists Egypt on its watch list of countries, noting that it had "a poor overall human rights record."
வோர்ல்ட் நெட் டெய்லி
Christian fears torture if deported
Man seeking asylum to avoid forced conversion to Islam
Posted: June 13, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Sameh Khouzam
A Coptic Christian from Egypt is battling for a court ruling to allow him to remain in the United States and avoid the sure torture he would face under Egypt's Islamic law, according to his supporters.
Sameh Khouzam, 38, who has been in the United States for about nine years already, is facing a court date June 18, when a decision will be announced on that deportation order.
His supporters say the issue is the torture he would face if returned to Egypt, which he fled under threats from Muslims who demanded that he and his family members convert to Islam.
"We need your help right NOW!!!" says a campaign being run by an organization called Coptic News.
A spokesman, Sam Grace, said because Egypt's constitution says that laws derive from the Quran, the persecution of Christians there is not only allowed, but endorsed, by government officials.
"In the last 10 years, more than 5,000 Christians have been massacred in Egypt," he told WND. "Hundreds of businesses and homes first have been looted, then burned and destroyed. Churches have been burned and destroyed.
"And you know what? Not one Muslim has been indicted, let alone convicted," he said.
The campaign is calling for Christians in the United States to e-mail or call:
"When it comes to [Egyptian] Christians asking for asylum in the U.S., very frequently, the U.S. administration lies … and deceives by saying when it comes to Christians suffering from persecution … there is no proof that Christians are persecuted in Egypt," said Grace.
However, such cases have been documented over and over by international Christian ministries as well as groups such as Human Rights Watch, he said. In fact, a recent court ruling in Texas, in another immigration dispute, included a statement from Judge Roxanne Hladylowycz that an Egyptian man would face such persecution.
"If the respondent is removed to Egypt, he will be surely tortured or killed," the judge said in that case.
In a commentary by Patrick Poole, of the American Thinker, which was linked by the Assyrian International News Agency, he cited the beatings, prison detention and other torture the immigrant in that case endured before fleeing to the United States.
Grace told WND that attacks, lootings and burnings are common in Egypt on Fridays, after the local imam preaches violence against Christians at his mosque.
"Especially on Friday, after the Friday prayers, the Muslim mobs are incited on attacking Christians," Grace told WND. "It happened last Friday. Mobs attacked businesses and burned them, and Christian homes and two churches in Alexandria."
"The life of a Christian in Egypt is now worth zero. Every Muslim now knows killing a Christian [is not prosecuted,]" he said.
A report from the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights concluded that Coptic Christians in Egypt have been harassed, tortured and killed by Muslims for 1,400 years already.
"They have been subjected to all kinds of hate crimes including, the abduction of young Coptic girls, the killing of Coptic women and children and the destruction of their places of worship," the report concluded.
Over just the past 40 years, the Egyptian government has "endorsed and fostered … Islamic radicalism," again bringing persecution on Christians.
The Egyptian government has worked to place in its constitution a provision emphasizing the role of Islam as the main source of legislation, and not even three months ago, Muslims attacked a Coptic cathedral, injuring four Christians, but police refused to interfere.
"There are no Copts in the top 160 government positions and they are told that there is no promotion before converting into Islam," the report said.
Coptic News said it aims to "reveal the untold stories … which are not told by the conventional Arabic press."
In Khouzam's case, a federal court banned his deportation based on the threats he's reported. But now administration officials are planning a deportation anyway, citing "diplomatic assurances" from Egypt that the man will not face torture.
But, "Egypt's human rights record is abominable. The U.S. State Department has said that Egypt regularly tortures its prisoners. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch agree," the Copt organization said.
According to a report in the Lancaster, Pa., newspaper, Khouzam now is sitting in a York County jail until a decision on his case is announced.
He spent nearly eight years in immigration custody when he first arrived in the United States because Egyptian officials said he'd killed someone before leaving Egypt for the United States. He denied the accusation.
According to reports from his supporters, the scenario happened this way:
Khouzam was resisting police demands to convert to Islam, so authorities abducted his mother, and said she would not be released unless he converted. He made that promise, but when he was pulled in front of a Muslim woman, to whom he was ordered to be married as part of his conversion, he resisted.
The woman's mother tried to hit him with a vase but he blocked the shot and cut a tendon in his hand. While being treated for the injury, Khouzam climbed out an open bathroom window and escaped from the hospital, running for the airport where some friends helped him get a ticket to the U.S.
According to federal documents, it was confirmed by officials at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City that Khouzam arrived with a bandaged hand, a wound he blamed on a fight with that woman.
She was the one who allegedly was killed, police said, an incident for which Khouzam was convicted in Egypt even though he wasn't present.
It's just been in the last couple years he's been freed from prison and he has begun work with a Pennsylvania company.
His arguments are being pursued by Human Rights Watch and others, who are arguing that the use of torture in Egypt is so routine and well-documented deporting Khouzam would expose him to harsh treatment and violate the Convention Against Torture.
That prohibits foreign citizens from being repatriated to countries where they stand a reasonable chance of being tortured.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an agency created by Congress, lists Egypt on its watch list of countries, noting that it had "a poor overall human rights record."
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