Christians Under Attack

Back in 2004, we reported on the case of two Egyptian teenagers whose Christian identity was challenged when they applied for the cards, because records showed their religion as Islam.

Apparently their father - who divorced their mother while they were infants, converted to Islam and married a Muslim woman - had changed their details and even their names on official records, before his death. The case went to court and the Civil Affairs Department were ordered to issue Christian identity cards to Olfat and Iman Ayet on May 31, 2005. The ruling stated, "It is not in any way acceptable that the civil authorities take advantage of their authority to force the plaintiffs to embrace Islam."

However, civil authorities failed to implement the decision by obstructing the issue of the cards. After considerable delay, the girls' attorney served notice to the Department, warning of the penalties for government employees who refused to obey court orders. Finally, on January 26, 2006, the applications were processed and the girls were able to collect their cards on February 4.

Without Christian ID cards, the girls would have been legally prevented from marrying Christians under the statutes of Islamic law in Egypt's legal codes, and were also vulnerable to accusations of apostasy (leaving Islam for Christianity).

Click on the following link for the source:

Egyptian girls win case to retain their Christian identity