Personal Status Law: the road to full protection of religious diversity

By: Steven Aiello

The decision a few weeks ago by the Supreme Administrative Court to order Pope Shenouda III and the Coptic Church to allow divorced Christians to remarry, created a plethora of concerns for those following the political-religious arena in Egypt. These include increased hostility between the Coptic Church and the state, internal church fighting and a rift between different Christian sects in Egypt. It also raised questions of the extent of the government’s ability to interfere with internal religious affairs.

Nonetheless, in the long run these events may prove to be a windfall for followers of the Coptic Church as well as many of Egypt’s other minority religious groups. The controversy over the court decision and the mobilization of activists on behalf of the Church may have generated enough political capital to achieve ratification of a long-sought personal status law. The proposed law would be a seminal move in the protection of members of Egypt’s minority religions. 

The law is not without its own controversy of course. In addition to fighting forces within the government and broader Egyptian community that are opposed to such bold action in support of non-Muslim religious practices, proponents of the bill face internal adversity. 

The various churches within the Egyptian Christian community don’t share the same religious doctrine and follow different laws. Thus for example, the Coptic and Protestant Churches have argued about their differing views on the requirements for divorce. Still, this bill has the potential to help all Christian sects in Egypt, as well as other religious groups. This is evidenced by recent requests by Bahaii and Greek Orthodox leaders to have their followers included in the law as well. To his credit, Pope Shenouda III, leader of the Coptic Church, seems to be committed to a bill that will cover all of the Christian sects. 

It is imperative that Pope Shenouda and fellow leaders of minority religious groups band together to form a coalition that can represent their mutual interests. They should recognize that they all stand to gain from this bill and must simultaneously encourage and pressure the legislators working on this project to keep moving towards a final draft.

If and when the bill is passed, it will truly be a monumental feat. This bill has the potential to protect members of many different religious sects. Its political implications include a commitment to religious diversity in Egypt, something that can benefit Muslims as well as the minority religions. It will circumvent situations similar to the current conflict between the government and the Coptic Church. Ultimately, it represents the ability of the government and leaders of religious minority groups, to take a challenging situation and cooperate to reach a mutually acceptable resolution.

The road to full protection of religious diversity is never an easy one. But it is a worthy goal and Pope Shenouda and his allies, such as the Egyptian Human Rights Federation, are committed to their values and rights. Should they succeed, it will be a complete reversal of fortunes, from another headline that threatened to be politically divisive to a ground-breaking piece of civil rights legislation more than twelve years in the making, a turnaround that promises hope for the future. 

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Steven Aiello is the editor of the 5F website, an initiative by the American Islamic Congress North Africa Bureau dedicated to promoting tolerance and coexistence among different religious groups in Egypt.