Christians Under Attack

The court said no harm was inflicted on the wife as a result of the conversion (File)
Cairo, 7 January 2009:-An Egyptian court dismissed Monday a divorce lawsuit filed by a Coptic wife against her husband, who recently converted to Islam.

In the first ruling of its kind, the Cairo Personal Status Court refused to grant Laila Hanna a divorce from her husband based on the principle of “no harm, no foul,” a judiciary source told AlArabiya.net.

“The fact that the Christian husband converted to Islam does not invalidate the marriage contract since Islam allows the marriage of Muslim men to Christian women,” he said.
This is applicable as long as no harm was inflicted on the wife as a result of the conversion. Hanna’s lawsuit, filed almost a year ago, did not mention any afflictions. On the contrary, Hanna said her husband treats her well.

The reason she cited for seeking a divorce was that the marriage contract was ecclesiastic and was signed by members of the Christian clergy. She said this was enough to annul the contract since marrying a Muslim requires two Muslim witnesses.

“The court goes by the purpose of the contract back when the husband was Christian,” the verdict said. “The fact that the husband converted does not invalidate this.”