Religion in Egypt
Encyclopedia
Religion in Egypt controls many aspects of social life and is endorsed by law. The 2006 census counting method did not include religion, so the number of adherents of the different religions are usually rough estimates made by religious and non-governmental agencies.
Egypt
is predominantly Muslim, with Muslim
s accounting for between 80% and 90% of a population of around 80 million Egyptians The vast majority of Muslims in Egypt are part of the Sunni Islam
. A significant number of Muslim Egyptians also follow native Sufi
orders
, and there is a minority of Shi'a numbering a few thousands.
The remainder of Egyptians, numbering between 10% and 20% of the population, belongs to the native Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, an Oriental Orthodox Christian
Church. The most recent declarations, made by Pope Shenouda III and bishop Morkos of Shubra in 2008, put forward the number of Orthodox Copts in Egypt as being over 12 million. Other estimates made by church officials estimate this number to be 16 million. Protestant churches claim a membership of about 300,000 Egyptians, and the Coptic Catholic Church
is estimated to have a similar membership among Egyptians. Based on these estimates, the total number of Christians in Egypt is between 15% and 20% of a total population of 80 million Egyptians. While some government sources have claimed a percentage of around 6 to 10%, a number of published sources such as the Washington Institute
, in addition to some of the Copt
ic sources, uphold that Christians represent more than 10% of the total population and claim that they actually still compose up to 15 or even 20% of the Egyptian population.
There is also a small, but nonetheless historically significant, non-immigrant Bahá'í
population, estimated around 2000 persons, and an even smaller community of Jews
about 200, then a tiny number of Egyptians who identify as atheist and agnostic. The non-Sunni, non-Coptic communities range in size from several hundreds to a few thousand. The original Ancient Egyptian religion has all but disappeared.
According to the constitution of Egypt
, any new legislation must at least implicitly agree with Islamic law
; however, the constitution bans political parties with a religious agenda.
Egypt hosts two major religious institutions. Al-Azhar Mosque
, founded in 970 A.D by the Fatimids as the first Islam
ic University in Egypt and the main Egyptian Church the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria established in the middle of the 1st century by Saint Mark
.
In Egypt
, Muslims and Christians live as neighbors, they share a common history
and national identity
, they also share the same ethnicity, race, culture
, and language
.
Religion plays a central role in most Egyptians' lives, The Adhan
(Islamic call to prayer) that is heard five times a day has the informal effect of regulating the pace of everything from business to media and entertainment. Cairo
is famous for its numerous mosque
minaret
s and is justifiably dubbed "the city of 1,000 minarets", with a significant number of church towers
. This religious landscape has been marred by a history of religious extremism, recently witnessing a 2006 judgement of Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court
, which made a clear legal distinction between "recognized religions" (i.e., Islam
, Christianity
, and Judaism
) and all other religious beliefs. This ruling effectively delegitimizes and forbids practice of all but the three Abrahamic religions. This judgement had made it necessary for non-Abrahamic religious communities to either commit perjury or be denied Egyptian identification cards (see Egyptian identification card controversy
), until a 2008 Cairo court case ruled that unrecognized religious minorities may obtain birth certificate
s and identification documents, so long as they omit their religion on court documents.
In 2002, under the Mubarak government, Coptic Christmas
(January the 7th) was recognized as an official holiday, though Copt
s complain of being minimally represented in law enforcement, state security and public office, and of being discriminated against in the workforce on the basis of their religion. The Coptic community, as well as several human rights activists and intellectuals (such as Saad Eddin Ibrahim and Tarek Heggy
), maintain that the number of Christians occupying government posts is not proportional to the number of Copts in Egypt. Of the 32 cabinet ministers
, two are Copts: The successful Finance Minister Dr. Youssef Boutros Ghali
and the Minister of Environment Magued George; and of the 25 local governors, only one is a Copt (in the Upper Egypt
ian governorate of Qena
). However, Copts have demonstrated great success in Egypt's private business sector; Naguib Sawiris
, one of Egyptians
successful businessmen and one of the world's wealthiest 100 people is a Copt
. At the same time there is a numerous number of private companies shared by both Muslims and Copts.
in Egypt is hampered to varying degrees by discriminatory and restrictive government policies.
Coptic Christians, being the largest religious minority in Egypt, are the most negatively affected. Copt
s have faced increasing marginalization after the 1952 coup d'état
led by Gamal Abdel Nasser
. Until recently, Christians were required to obtain presidential approval for even minor repairs in churches. Although the law was eased in 2005 by handing down the authority of approval to the governors, Copts continue to face many obstacles in building new churches. These obstacles are not as much in building mosques.
Muslim
and Christian
share a common history and national identity; however, at times religious tensions have arisen and individual acts of prejudice and violence occur. The most significant was the 2000-2001 El Kosheh attacks, In which Muslims and Christians were being involved in bloody inter-religious clashes following a dispute between a Muslim and a Christian. "Twenty Christians and one Muslim were killed after violence broke out in the town of el-Kosheh, 440 kilometres (275 miles) south of Cairo". In 2005, In Kafr Salama village, Sharqiya governorate, altercation between a Muslim and a Christian resulted in the death of the Muslim. Muslim villagers later attacked the Abu Sifin Church and several Christian homes, and looted several shops before the authorities restored order. In 2006, one person who was both drunk and mad, attacked three churches in Alexandria
left one dead and from 5 to 16 injured, although the attacker was not linked to any organisation. On January 7, 2010, Muslim Gunmen open fire on Christian worshipers leaving a church in Nag Hammadi
resulting in the murder of nine Coptic Christians.
On January 1, 2011, at least 21 people were killed and 83 injured when a car bomb exploded outside a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria
.
While freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Egyptian constitution, according to Human Rights Watch
, "Egyptians are able to convert
to Islam generally without difficulty, but Muslims who convert to Christianity face difficulties in getting new identity papers and some have been arrested for allegedly forging such documents. The Coptic community, however, takes pains to prevent conversions from Christianity to Islam due to the ease with which Christians can often become Muslim. Public officials, being conservative themselves, intensify the complexity of the legal procedures required to recognize the religion change as required by law. Security agencies will sometimes claim that such conversions from Islam
to Christianity
(or occasionally vice versa) may stir social unrest, and thereby justify themselves in wrongfully detaining the subjects, insisting that they are simply taking steps to prevent likely social troubles from happening. In 2007, a Cairo administrative court denied 45 citizens the right to obtain identity papers documenting their reversion to Christianity after converting to Islam. However, in February 2008 the Supreme Administrative Court overturned the decision, allowing 12 citizens who had reverted back to Christianity to re-list their religion on identity cards, but they will specify that they had adopted Islam for a brief period of time.
Bahá'ís
in Egypt, whose population is estimated to be around two thousand persons, have long been persecuted, having their institutions and community activities banned. Since their faith is not officially recognized by the state, they were not allowed to use it on their national identity cards
. Without valid identity cards Bahá'ís encounter difficulty registering their children in school, opening bank accounts, and establishing businesses. Police also regularly detain those without correct documentation and thus some Bahá'ís frequently stay home to avoid possible arrest.
In 2008 a court case allowed Bahá'ís to obtain birth certificates and identification documents, so long as they omit their religion on court documents.
There are Egyptians who identify as atheist and agnostic, but their numbers are largely unknown, as openly expressing such positions risks legal sanction on the basis of apostasy (if a citizen takes the step of suing the 'apostating' person, though not automatically by the general prosecutor). In 2000, an openly atheist Egyptian writer, who called for the establishment of a local association for atheists, was tried on charges of insulting Islam in four of his books.
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Islam has been the state religion
in Egypt since the amendment of the second article of the Egyptian constitution in the year 1980, before which Egypt was recognized as a secular country. The vast majority of Egyptian Muslims are Sunni, with a small Shi'ite community making up the remainder. A significant number of Sunni Egyptians also follow native Sufi
orders
. Egypt hosts the most important Sunni institution in the world, Al-Azhar University
. It is the oldest Islamic institution of higher studies (founded around 970 C.E.
), and is considered by many to be the oldest extant university in the world.
Egypt's various social groups and classes apply Islam differently in their daily lives. The literate theologians of Al-Azhar generally reject the popular version of Islam practised by religious preachers and peasants in the countryside, which is heavily Sufi-influenced. Sufism has flourished in Egypt since Islam was first adopted. Most upper- and middle-class Muslims believed either that religious expression is a private matter for each individual or that Islam should play a more dominant role in public life. Islamic religious revival movements, whose appeal cuts across class lines, have been present in most cities and in many villages for a long time.
According to the constitution of Egypt
, any new legislation must at least implicitly agree with Islamic law
. The mainstream Hanafi
school of Sunni Islam is largely controlled by the state, through Wizaret Al-Awkaf (Ministry of Religious Affairs). Al-Awkaf controls all mosques and supervises Muslim clerics. Imam
s are trained in Imam vocational schools and at Al-Azhar. The ministry supports Sunni Islam and has commissions authorised to give Fatwā
judgements on Islamic issues.
Copt
s do not see themselves as a cultural or ethnic minority
but Egyptians
whose ancestors embraced Christianity
in the first century. The Copt
ic Christian population in Egypt is the largest Christian community in the Middle East
. About 95% of Egypt's Christians are members of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. an Oriental Orthodox
Church, established in the 1st century A.D. by Saint Mark
. The Church is headed by the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, attests to Egypt's strong Christian heritage. It has a followers of approximately 20 million Christian
s worldwide.
Other native Egyptian Christians are adherents of the Coptic Catholic Church
, the Coptic Evangelical Church
and various Coptic Protestant
denominations. Non-native Christian
communities are largely found in the urban regions of Alexandria
and Cairo
, and are members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria
, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church
, the Armenian Apostolic Church
, the Roman Catholic Church
, the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East
, the Maronite Church
, the Armenian Catholic Church
, the Chaldean Catholic Church
, the Syriac Catholic Church
, or the Syriac Orthodox Church
.
Significant minorities within Egypt's Christian community include the following denominations:
Before 1956 and according to the 1947 census Egyptian Jews were 65,639 who were mostly Karaites
, participated in all aspects of Egypt's social, economic, and political life; one of the most ardent Egyptian nationalists, Yaqub Sanu
' (Abu Naddara), was Jewish, as were the famous musician Dawoud Husni, popular singer Leila Mourad
, and prominent filmmaker Togo Mizrahi. For a while, Jews from across the Ottoman Empire
and Europe were attracted to Egypt due to the relative harmony that characterized the local religious landscape in the 19th and early 20th centuries. After the 1956 Suez Crisis
, a great number of Jews were expelled by Gamal Abdel Nasser
. Their Egyptian citizenship was revoked and their properties were confiscated. A steady stream of emigration of Egyptian Jews followed, reaching a peak after the Six-Day War
with Israel
in 1967. Today, Jews in Egypt number fewer than 200.
is traditionally an unrecognized sect of Islam in the Muslim world. Ahmadis are small community in Egypt, though the history of Ahmadiyya in Egypt begins in the 1930s. Recently there has been an upsurge of persecution of Ahmadiyya in Egypt.
population in Egypt
suggest that there are approximately 2,000 Bahá'ís
currently resident in Egypt." They have been traditionally marginalized as a religious community in Egypt, and recently found themselves in court battling for the right to obtain identification cards
.
On 16 December 2006, after only one hearing, the High Court of Egypt ruled against the Bahá'ís
, stating that the government would not recognize their Faith in official identification cards. The ruling left Bahá'ís
unable to obtain ID cards, birth certificates, or death certificates. They cannot get marriage or divorce certificates or passports, nor can they be employed, educated, treated in hospitals, or vote.
On January 29, 2008 Cairo's court of Administrative Justice, ruling on two related court cases, ruled in favour of the Bahá'ís, allowing them to obtain birth certificates and identification documents, so long as they omit their religion on court documents. The ruling accepted the compromise solution offered by the Bahá'ís, allowing for them to obtain identification papers without the Bahá'í Faith being officially recognized.
and agnostic
; until 2008 only one case is reported, but their numbers are unknown as openly expressing such positions risks legal sanction on the basis of apostasy
; however, as religious crimes in Egypt hold a status to Antragsdelikt
, this occurs only if a citizen takes the step of suing the person engaging in apostasy, and cases are not initiated by the general prosecutor. In 2000, an openly atheist Egyptian writer, who called for the establishment of a local association for atheists, was tried on charges of insulting Islam in four of his books. Ir-religious and atheists are notably increasing, though it is difficult to get an estimate because the state does not recognize any religion other than Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Any atheist or ir-religious can not change his or her official religious status, thus statistically they are counted as followers of the religion they were born with. Many are now publicly expressing their views using pseudonyms on social networks and blogs.
Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
is predominantly Muslim, with Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s accounting for between 80% and 90% of a population of around 80 million Egyptians The vast majority of Muslims in Egypt are part of the Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
. A significant number of Muslim Egyptians also follow native Sufi
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
orders
Tariqah
A tariqa is an Islamic religious order. In Sufism one starts with Islamic law, the exoteric or mundane practice of Islam and then is initiated onto the mystical path of a tariqa. Through spiritual practices and guidance of a tariqa the aspirant seeks ḥaqīqah - ultimate truth.-Meaning:A tariqa is a...
, and there is a minority of Shi'a numbering a few thousands.
The remainder of Egyptians, numbering between 10% and 20% of the population, belongs to the native Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, an Oriental Orthodox Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
Church. The most recent declarations, made by Pope Shenouda III and bishop Morkos of Shubra in 2008, put forward the number of Orthodox Copts in Egypt as being over 12 million. Other estimates made by church officials estimate this number to be 16 million. Protestant churches claim a membership of about 300,000 Egyptians, and the Coptic Catholic Church
Coptic Catholic Church
The Coptic Catholic Church is an Alexandrian Rite particular Church in full communion with the Pope of Rome. Historically, Coptic Catholics represent a schism from the Coptic Orthodox Church, leaving that church in order to come into full communion with the Bishop of Rome.The current Coptic...
is estimated to have a similar membership among Egyptians. Based on these estimates, the total number of Christians in Egypt is between 15% and 20% of a total population of 80 million Egyptians. While some government sources have claimed a percentage of around 6 to 10%, a number of published sources such as the Washington Institute
Washington Institute for Near East Policy
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy is a think tank based in Washington, D.C. focused on United States foreign policy in the Middle East. It was established by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in 1985...
, in addition to some of the Copt
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
ic sources, uphold that Christians represent more than 10% of the total population and claim that they actually still compose up to 15 or even 20% of the Egyptian population.
There is also a small, but nonetheless historically significant, non-immigrant Bahá'í
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
population, estimated around 2000 persons, and an even smaller community of Jews
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
about 200, then a tiny number of Egyptians who identify as atheist and agnostic. The non-Sunni, non-Coptic communities range in size from several hundreds to a few thousand. The original Ancient Egyptian religion has all but disappeared.
According to the constitution of Egypt
Constitution of Egypt
The Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt was the fundamental law of Egypt. It was adopted on September 11, 1971 through a public referendum. It was later amended in 1980, 2005 and 2007. It was proclaimed to update the democratic representative system in assertion of the rule of law,...
, any new legislation must at least implicitly agree with Islamic law
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
; however, the constitution bans political parties with a religious agenda.
Al-Azhar Mosque
Al-Azhar Mosque is a mosque in Islamic Cairo in Egypt. Al-Mu‘izz li-Dīn Allāh of the Fatimid Caliphate commissioned its construction for the newly established capital city in 970. Its name is usually thought to allude to the Islamic prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatimah, a revered figure in Islam...
, founded in 970 A.D by the Fatimids as the first Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic University in Egypt and the main Egyptian Church the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria established in the middle of the 1st century by Saint Mark
Mark the Evangelist
Mark the Evangelist is the traditional author of the Gospel of Mark. He is one of the Seventy Disciples of Christ, and the founder of the Church of Alexandria, one of the original four main sees of Christianity....
.
In Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Muslims and Christians live as neighbors, they share a common history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and national identity
National identity
National identity is the person's identity and sense of belonging to one state or to one nation, a feeling one shares with a group of people, regardless of one's citizenship status....
, they also share the same ethnicity, race, culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
, and language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
.
Religion plays a central role in most Egyptians' lives, The Adhan
Adhan
The adhān is the Islamic call to prayer, recited by the muezzin at prescribed times of the day. The root of the word is meaning "to permit"; another derivative of this word is , meaning "ear"....
(Islamic call to prayer) that is heard five times a day has the informal effect of regulating the pace of everything from business to media and entertainment. Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
is famous for its numerous mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
minaret
Minaret
A minaret مناره , sometimes مئذنه) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery....
s and is justifiably dubbed "the city of 1,000 minarets", with a significant number of church towers
Steeple (architecture)
A steeple, in architecture, is a tall tower on a building, often topped by a spire. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religious structure...
. This religious landscape has been marred by a history of religious extremism, recently witnessing a 2006 judgement of Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court
Egyptian Judicial System
The Egyptian Judicial System in Egypt, is an independent branch of the government which includes both secular and religious courts.The Egyptian judicial system is based on Europe and primarily French legal concepts and methods...
, which made a clear legal distinction between "recognized religions" (i.e., Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, and Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
) and all other religious beliefs. This ruling effectively delegitimizes and forbids practice of all but the three Abrahamic religions. This judgement had made it necessary for non-Abrahamic religious communities to either commit perjury or be denied Egyptian identification cards (see Egyptian identification card controversy
Egyptian identification card controversy
The Egyptian identification card controversy is a series of events, beginning in the 1990s, that created a de facto state of disenfranchisement for Egyptian Bahá'ís, atheists, agnostics, and other Egyptians who did not identify themselves as Muslim, Christian, or Jewish on government identity...
), until a 2008 Cairo court case ruled that unrecognized religious minorities may obtain birth certificate
Birth certificate
A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a child. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensuing registration of that birth...
s and identification documents, so long as they omit their religion on court documents.
In 2002, under the Mubarak government, Coptic Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
(January the 7th) was recognized as an official holiday, though Copt
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
s complain of being minimally represented in law enforcement, state security and public office, and of being discriminated against in the workforce on the basis of their religion. The Coptic community, as well as several human rights activists and intellectuals (such as Saad Eddin Ibrahim and Tarek Heggy
Tarek Heggy
Tarek Heggy is a liberal Egyptian author, political thinker and international petroleum strategist. His extensive writings advocate the values of modernity, democracy, tolerance, and women's rights in the Middle East – advancing them as universal values essential to the region's progress...
), maintain that the number of Christians occupying government posts is not proportional to the number of Copts in Egypt. Of the 32 cabinet ministers
Cabinet of Egypt
The Cabinet of Egypt is the chief executive body of the Arabic Republic of Egypt. It consists of the Prime Minister and the cabinet ministers....
, two are Copts: The successful Finance Minister Dr. Youssef Boutros Ghali
Youssef Boutros Ghali
Youssef Raouf Boutros Ghali is a former Minister of Finance of Egypt. He served from 2004 to 2011. He was succeeded by Samir Radwan on 31 January 2011.-Education:...
and the Minister of Environment Magued George; and of the 25 local governors, only one is a Copt (in the Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...
ian governorate of Qena
Qena
Qena is a city in Upper Egypt, and the capital of the Qena Governorate. Situated on the east bank of the Nile, it was known as Kaine during the Greco-Roman period and as Cainepolis in antiquity.- Overview :...
). However, Copts have demonstrated great success in Egypt's private business sector; Naguib Sawiris
Naguib Sawiris
Naguib Onsi Sawiris is an Egyptian businessman and politician. He was executive chairman of the telecommunications companies Wind Telecom and Orascom Telecom Holding before turning to politics in May 2011...
, one of Egyptians
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
successful businessmen and one of the world's wealthiest 100 people is a Copt
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
. At the same time there is a numerous number of private companies shared by both Muslims and Copts.
Freedom of religion and human rights
Religious freedomFreedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
in Egypt is hampered to varying degrees by discriminatory and restrictive government policies.
Coptic Christians, being the largest religious minority in Egypt, are the most negatively affected. Copt
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
s have faced increasing marginalization after the 1952 coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
led by Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
. Until recently, Christians were required to obtain presidential approval for even minor repairs in churches. Although the law was eased in 2005 by handing down the authority of approval to the governors, Copts continue to face many obstacles in building new churches. These obstacles are not as much in building mosques.
Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
share a common history and national identity; however, at times religious tensions have arisen and individual acts of prejudice and violence occur. The most significant was the 2000-2001 El Kosheh attacks, In which Muslims and Christians were being involved in bloody inter-religious clashes following a dispute between a Muslim and a Christian. "Twenty Christians and one Muslim were killed after violence broke out in the town of el-Kosheh, 440 kilometres (275 miles) south of Cairo". In 2005, In Kafr Salama village, Sharqiya governorate, altercation between a Muslim and a Christian resulted in the death of the Muslim. Muslim villagers later attacked the Abu Sifin Church and several Christian homes, and looted several shops before the authorities restored order. In 2006, one person who was both drunk and mad, attacked three churches in Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
left one dead and from 5 to 16 injured, although the attacker was not linked to any organisation. On January 7, 2010, Muslim Gunmen open fire on Christian worshipers leaving a church in Nag Hammadi
Nag Hammadi massacre
The Nag Hammadi massacre was a massacre of Coptic Christians carried out on the eve of January 7, 2010, in the Egyptian city of Nag Hammadi. The massacre occurred at the hands of Muslim gunmen in front of the Nag Hammadi cathedral, as Coptic Christians were leaving the church after celebrating the...
resulting in the murder of nine Coptic Christians.
On January 1, 2011, at least 21 people were killed and 83 injured when a car bomb exploded outside a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
.
While freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Egyptian constitution, according to Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, "Egyptians are able to convert
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
to Islam generally without difficulty, but Muslims who convert to Christianity face difficulties in getting new identity papers and some have been arrested for allegedly forging such documents. The Coptic community, however, takes pains to prevent conversions from Christianity to Islam due to the ease with which Christians can often become Muslim. Public officials, being conservative themselves, intensify the complexity of the legal procedures required to recognize the religion change as required by law. Security agencies will sometimes claim that such conversions from Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
(or occasionally vice versa) may stir social unrest, and thereby justify themselves in wrongfully detaining the subjects, insisting that they are simply taking steps to prevent likely social troubles from happening. In 2007, a Cairo administrative court denied 45 citizens the right to obtain identity papers documenting their reversion to Christianity after converting to Islam. However, in February 2008 the Supreme Administrative Court overturned the decision, allowing 12 citizens who had reverted back to Christianity to re-list their religion on identity cards, but they will specify that they had adopted Islam for a brief period of time.
Bahá'ís
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
in Egypt, whose population is estimated to be around two thousand persons, have long been persecuted, having their institutions and community activities banned. Since their faith is not officially recognized by the state, they were not allowed to use it on their national identity cards
Egyptian identification card controversy
The Egyptian identification card controversy is a series of events, beginning in the 1990s, that created a de facto state of disenfranchisement for Egyptian Bahá'ís, atheists, agnostics, and other Egyptians who did not identify themselves as Muslim, Christian, or Jewish on government identity...
. Without valid identity cards Bahá'ís encounter difficulty registering their children in school, opening bank accounts, and establishing businesses. Police also regularly detain those without correct documentation and thus some Bahá'ís frequently stay home to avoid possible arrest.
In 2008 a court case allowed Bahá'ís to obtain birth certificates and identification documents, so long as they omit their religion on court documents.
There are Egyptians who identify as atheist and agnostic, but their numbers are largely unknown, as openly expressing such positions risks legal sanction on the basis of apostasy (if a citizen takes the step of suing the 'apostating' person, though not automatically by the general prosecutor). In 2000, an openly atheist Egyptian writer, who called for the establishment of a local association for atheists, was tried on charges of insulting Islam in four of his books.
Islam
State religion
A state religion is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state...
in Egypt since the amendment of the second article of the Egyptian constitution in the year 1980, before which Egypt was recognized as a secular country. The vast majority of Egyptian Muslims are Sunni, with a small Shi'ite community making up the remainder. A significant number of Sunni Egyptians also follow native Sufi
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
orders
Tariqah
A tariqa is an Islamic religious order. In Sufism one starts with Islamic law, the exoteric or mundane practice of Islam and then is initiated onto the mystical path of a tariqa. Through spiritual practices and guidance of a tariqa the aspirant seeks ḥaqīqah - ultimate truth.-Meaning:A tariqa is a...
. Egypt hosts the most important Sunni institution in the world, Al-Azhar University
Al-Azhar University
Al-Azhar University is an educational institute in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 970~972 as a madrasa, it is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Islamic learning in the world. It is the oldest degree-granting university in Egypt. In 1961 non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum.It is...
. It is the oldest Islamic institution of higher studies (founded around 970 C.E.
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
), and is considered by many to be the oldest extant university in the world.
According to the constitution of Egypt
Constitution of Egypt
The Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt was the fundamental law of Egypt. It was adopted on September 11, 1971 through a public referendum. It was later amended in 1980, 2005 and 2007. It was proclaimed to update the democratic representative system in assertion of the rule of law,...
, any new legislation must at least implicitly agree with Islamic law
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
. The mainstream Hanafi
Hanafi
The Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...
school of Sunni Islam is largely controlled by the state, through Wizaret Al-Awkaf (Ministry of Religious Affairs). Al-Awkaf controls all mosques and supervises Muslim clerics. Imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
s are trained in Imam vocational schools and at Al-Azhar. The ministry supports Sunni Islam and has commissions authorised to give Fatwā
Fatwa
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
judgements on Islamic issues.
Christianity
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
s do not see themselves as a cultural or ethnic minority
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
but Egyptians
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
whose ancestors embraced Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
in the first century. The Copt
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
ic Christian population in Egypt is the largest Christian community in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. About 95% of Egypt's Christians are members of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. an Oriental Orthodox
Oriental Orthodoxy
Oriental Orthodoxy is the faith of those Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only three ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the First Council of Ephesus. They rejected the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon...
Church, established in the 1st century A.D. by Saint Mark
Mark the Evangelist
Mark the Evangelist is the traditional author of the Gospel of Mark. He is one of the Seventy Disciples of Christ, and the founder of the Church of Alexandria, one of the original four main sees of Christianity....
. The Church is headed by the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, attests to Egypt's strong Christian heritage. It has a followers of approximately 20 million Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s worldwide.
Other native Egyptian Christians are adherents of the Coptic Catholic Church
Coptic Catholic Church
The Coptic Catholic Church is an Alexandrian Rite particular Church in full communion with the Pope of Rome. Historically, Coptic Catholics represent a schism from the Coptic Orthodox Church, leaving that church in order to come into full communion with the Bishop of Rome.The current Coptic...
, the Coptic Evangelical Church
Evangelical Church of Egypt (Synod of the Nile)
The Evangelical Church of Egypt , in Arabic El-Kanisah El-Injiliyah , and sometimes referred to as the Coptic Evangelical Church of Egypt, is a Protestant church that started as a mission of the United Presbyterian Church of North America among Muslim and Coptic Egyptians in the late nineteenth...
and various Coptic Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
denominations. Non-native Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
communities are largely found in the urban regions of Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
and Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, and are members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria
Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria
The Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, also known as the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity.Officially, it is called the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria to distinguish it from the...
, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church
Melkite Greek Catholic Church
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. The Melkites, Byzantine Rite Catholics of mixed Eastern Mediterranean and Greek origin, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, Syria, of...
, the Armenian Apostolic Church
Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
, the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East
Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East
The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East is a province of the Anglican Communion stretching from Iran in the east to Algeria in the west, and Cyprus in the north to Somalia in the south. It is the largest and the most diverse Anglican province. The church is headed by a President...
, the Maronite Church
Maronite Church
The Syriac Maronite Church of Antioch is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See of Rome . It traces its heritage back to the community founded by Maron, a 4th-century Syriac monk venerated as a saint. The first Maronite Patriarch, John Maron, was elected in the late 7th...
, the Armenian Catholic Church
Armenian Catholic Church
|- |The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church sui juris in union with the other Eastern Rite, Oriental Rite and Latin Rite Catholics who accept the Bishop of Rome as spiritual leader of the Church. It is regulated by Eastern canon law...
, the Chaldean Catholic Church
Chaldean Catholic Church
The Chaldean Catholic Church , is an Eastern Syriac particular church of the Catholic Church, maintaining full communion with the Bishop of Rome and the rest of the Catholic Church...
, the Syriac Catholic Church
Syriac Catholic Church
The Syriac Catholic Church is a Christian church in the Levant having practices and rites in common with the Syriac Orthodox Church. They are one of the Eastern Catholic Churches following the Antiochene rite, the Syriac tradition of Antioch, along with the Maronites and Syro-Malankara Christians...
, or the Syriac Orthodox Church
Syriac Orthodox Church
The Syriac Orthodox Church; is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Eastern Mediterranean, with members spread throughout the world. The Syriac Orthodox Church claims to derive its origin from one of the first Christian communities, established in Antioch by the Apostle St....
.
Significant minorities within Egypt's Christian community include the following denominations:
- Apostolic Catholic and Orthodox Churches:
- The Coptic Catholic ChurchCoptic Catholic ChurchThe Coptic Catholic Church is an Alexandrian Rite particular Church in full communion with the Pope of Rome. Historically, Coptic Catholics represent a schism from the Coptic Orthodox Church, leaving that church in order to come into full communion with the Bishop of Rome.The current Coptic...
(an Eastern Catholic Church) has around 210,000 members in Egypt and roughly 50,000 adherents abroad. It is in union with the PopePopeThe Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
in Rome. It is headed by the Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria, currently Antonios NaguibAntonios NaguibAntonios I Naguib is the Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria since 30 March 2006....
. - The Greek Orthodox Church of AlexandriaGreek Orthodox Church of AlexandriaThe Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, also known as the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity.Officially, it is called the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria to distinguish it from the...
(an Eastern Orthodox ChurchEastern Orthodox ChurchThe Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
) has around 350,000 adherents in Egypt, out of whom approximately 45,000 are of GreekGreeksThe Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
(Hellenic) descent. The Church has another 1.5 million adherents in AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and between 10,000 and 15,000 ex-patriates in EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, NorthNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. The current Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria is Pope Theodoros IIPatriarch Theodore II of AlexandriaTheodore II is the current Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa...
. - The Melkite Greek Catholic ChurchMelkite Greek Catholic ChurchThe Melkite Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. The Melkites, Byzantine Rite Catholics of mixed Eastern Mediterranean and Greek origin, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, Syria, of...
(an Eastern Catholic Church) has about 7,000 members in Egypt. The eparchy of Egypt is looked after by a ProtosyncellusProtosyncellusA protosyncellus or protosynkellos is the principal deputy of the bishop of an eparchy for the exercise of administrative authority in an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic church...
, and has between 35,000 and 50,000 ex-patriates in Europe, North and South America, and AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. - The Armenian Apostolic ChurchArmenian Apostolic ChurchThe Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
(an Oriental Orthodox Church) has around 7,000 adherents in Egypt. Most of them follow the Holy See of EchmiadzinEchmiadzinMother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin is a 4th century Armenian church in the town of Ejmiatsin, Armenia. It is also the central cathedral of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin of the Armenian Apostolic Church....
in ArmeniaArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, rather than the Holy See of Cilicia in LebanonLebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. - The Roman Catholic ChurchRoman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
has around 7,000 adherents in Egypt. Most are citizens born in Egypt but of foreign descent, like Italians, MalteseMaltese peopleThe Maltese are an ethnic group indigenous to the Southern European nation of Malta, and identified with the Maltese language. Malta is an island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea...
and FrenchFrench peopleThe French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, or members of the foreign diplomatic corpsDiplomatic corpsThe diplomatic corps or corps diplomatique is the collective body of foreign diplomats accredited to a particular country or body.The diplomatic corps may, in certain contexts, refer to the collection of accredited heads of mission who represent their countries in another state or country...
in Egypt. There are very few native Christian Egyptians who adhere to the Roman Catholic Church, and those who do (several hundreds) do so mainly through marriage. - The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle EastEpiscopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle EastThe Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East is a province of the Anglican Communion stretching from Iran in the east to Algeria in the west, and Cyprus in the north to Somalia in the south. It is the largest and the most diverse Anglican province. The church is headed by a President...
(a Protestant Church known in Egypt as the Anglican ChurchAnglican CommunionThe Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
) has between 10,000 and 15,000 members in Egypt. - The Maronite ChurchMaronite ChurchThe Syriac Maronite Church of Antioch is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See of Rome . It traces its heritage back to the community founded by Maron, a 4th-century Syriac monk venerated as a saint. The first Maronite Patriarch, John Maron, was elected in the late 7th...
(an Eastern Catholic Church) has around 5,000 adherents in Egypt. - The Armenian Catholic ChurchArmenian Catholic Church|- |The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church sui juris in union with the other Eastern Rite, Oriental Rite and Latin Rite Catholics who accept the Bishop of Rome as spiritual leader of the Church. It is regulated by Eastern canon law...
(an Eastern Catholic Church) has around 1,200 adherents in Egypt. - The Chaldean Catholic ChurchChaldean Catholic ChurchThe Chaldean Catholic Church , is an Eastern Syriac particular church of the Catholic Church, maintaining full communion with the Bishop of Rome and the rest of the Catholic Church...
(an Eastern Catholic Church) has about 500 members in Egypt. - The Syriac Catholic ChurchSyriac Catholic ChurchThe Syriac Catholic Church is a Christian church in the Levant having practices and rites in common with the Syriac Orthodox Church. They are one of the Eastern Catholic Churches following the Antiochene rite, the Syriac tradition of Antioch, along with the Maronites and Syro-Malankara Christians...
(an Eastern Catholic Church) has around 2,000 adherents in Egypt. - The Syriac Orthodox ChurchSyriac Orthodox ChurchThe Syriac Orthodox Church; is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Eastern Mediterranean, with members spread throughout the world. The Syriac Orthodox Church claims to derive its origin from one of the first Christian communities, established in Antioch by the Apostle St....
(an Oriental Orthodox Church) has a very small population in Egypt, numbering between 450 and 500. Most are students of the Catechetical School of AlexandriaCatechetical School of AlexandriaThe Catechetical School of Alexandria was and is a place for the training of Christian theologians and priests in Alexandria. The teachers and students of the school were influential in many of the early theological controversies of the Christian church.The earliest recorded instructor at the...
, or foreign students studying in Egyptian universitiesEgyptian universitiesUniversities in Egypt are generally either state-funded or privately funded. Education in Egypt is free by law, however there are very small fees paid for enrollment. Public institutions, with few exceptions are generally overcrowded with a student body of several thousands...
.
- The Coptic Catholic Church
- The Protestant churches also exist in Egypt, bringing the total number of Protestant denominations in Egypt to around 200,000. they are:
- The Evangelical Church of Egypt (Synod of the Nile)Evangelical Church of Egypt (Synod of the Nile)The Evangelical Church of Egypt , in Arabic El-Kanisah El-Injiliyah , and sometimes referred to as the Coptic Evangelical Church of Egypt, is a Protestant church that started as a mission of the United Presbyterian Church of North America among Muslim and Coptic Egyptians in the late nineteenth...
(a ProtestantProtestantismProtestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
Church) has around 140,000 members in Egypt. - The Assemblies of GodAssemblies of GodThe Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
Church, which has around 40,000 adherents in Egypt. - The Free Methodist Church, which has 120 churches and has around 10,000 adherents in Egypt.
- The Christian Brethren Church, which has around 5,000 adherents in Egypt.
- The Pentecostal Church of GodPentecostal Church of GodThe Pentecostal Church of God is a trinitarian Pentecostal Christian denomination headquartered in Joplin, Missouri, United States. As of 2006, there were 117,000 members and 2,870 clergy in 1,170 churches in the United States. Sixty churches and missions exist among the Native Americans...
, which has Church around 3,500 adherents in Egypt. - The Pentecostal Holiness Church, which has 1,400 adherents in Egypt.
- The Church of God of ProphecyChurch of God of ProphecyThe Church of God of Prophecy is a Christian denomination with beliefs and principles similar to Pentecostal Holiness Christian faith. It is one of five Church of God bodies headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee that descended from a small meeting of believers who gathered at the Barney Creek...
, which has 1,100 adherents in Egypt. - The Seventh-day Adventist ChurchSeventh-day Adventist ChurchThe Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
has 852 adherents in Egypt.
- The Evangelical Church of Egypt (Synod of the Nile)
Judaism
Karaite Judaism
Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a Jewish movement characterized by the recognition of the Tanakh alone as its supreme legal authority in Halakhah, as well as in theology...
, participated in all aspects of Egypt's social, economic, and political life; one of the most ardent Egyptian nationalists, Yaqub Sanu
Yaqub Sanu
Yaqub Sanu , also known as James Sanua, was an Egyptian Jew born to an Egyptian mother and an Italian father. He became famous as a journalist, an Egyptian nationalist and a playwright...
' (Abu Naddara), was Jewish, as were the famous musician Dawoud Husni, popular singer Leila Mourad
Leila Mourad
Leila Mourad was an Egyptian singer and actress. She is also credited as "Laila Mourad" and "Layla Mourad".- Life :Leila Mourad was born in Al Daher, Cairo on February 17, 1918 to an Egyptian of Iraqi Jewish descent father, Zaki Mourad, a respected singer and musician in the twenties, and to a...
, and prominent filmmaker Togo Mizrahi. For a while, Jews from across the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and Europe were attracted to Egypt due to the relative harmony that characterized the local religious landscape in the 19th and early 20th centuries. After the 1956 Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
, a great number of Jews were expelled by Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
. Their Egyptian citizenship was revoked and their properties were confiscated. A steady stream of emigration of Egyptian Jews followed, reaching a peak after the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
with Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in 1967. Today, Jews in Egypt number fewer than 200.
Ahmadiyya Islam
AhmadiyyaAhmadiyya
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious revivalist movement founded in India near the end of the 19th century, originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad , who claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies about the world reformer of the end times, who was to herald the Eschaton as...
is traditionally an unrecognized sect of Islam in the Muslim world. Ahmadis are small community in Egypt, though the history of Ahmadiyya in Egypt begins in the 1930s. Recently there has been an upsurge of persecution of Ahmadiyya in Egypt.
Bahá'í Faith
"Informal estimates about Bahá'ísBahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
population in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
suggest that there are approximately 2,000 Bahá'ís
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
currently resident in Egypt." They have been traditionally marginalized as a religious community in Egypt, and recently found themselves in court battling for the right to obtain identification cards
Egyptian identification card controversy
The Egyptian identification card controversy is a series of events, beginning in the 1990s, that created a de facto state of disenfranchisement for Egyptian Bahá'ís, atheists, agnostics, and other Egyptians who did not identify themselves as Muslim, Christian, or Jewish on government identity...
.
On 16 December 2006, after only one hearing, the High Court of Egypt ruled against the Bahá'ís
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
, stating that the government would not recognize their Faith in official identification cards. The ruling left Bahá'ís
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
unable to obtain ID cards, birth certificates, or death certificates. They cannot get marriage or divorce certificates or passports, nor can they be employed, educated, treated in hospitals, or vote.
On January 29, 2008 Cairo's court of Administrative Justice, ruling on two related court cases, ruled in favour of the Bahá'ís, allowing them to obtain birth certificates and identification documents, so long as they omit their religion on court documents. The ruling accepted the compromise solution offered by the Bahá'ís, allowing for them to obtain identification papers without the Bahá'í Faith being officially recognized.
Atheism and agnosticism
There are Egyptians who identify as atheistAtheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
and agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
; until 2008 only one case is reported, but their numbers are unknown as openly expressing such positions risks legal sanction on the basis of apostasy
Apostasy
Apostasy , 'a defection or revolt', from ἀπό, apo, 'away, apart', στάσις, stasis, 'stand, 'standing') is the formal disaffiliation from or abandonment or renunciation of a religion by a person. One who commits apostasy is known as an apostate. These terms have a pejorative implication in everyday...
; however, as religious crimes in Egypt hold a status to Antragsdelikt
Antragsdelikt
In the criminal law of some countries, an Antragsdelikt is a category of offence which cannot be prosecuted without a complaint by the victim...
, this occurs only if a citizen takes the step of suing the person engaging in apostasy, and cases are not initiated by the general prosecutor. In 2000, an openly atheist Egyptian writer, who called for the establishment of a local association for atheists, was tried on charges of insulting Islam in four of his books. Ir-religious and atheists are notably increasing, though it is difficult to get an estimate because the state does not recognize any religion other than Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Any atheist or ir-religious can not change his or her official religious status, thus statistically they are counted as followers of the religion they were born with. Many are now publicly expressing their views using pseudonyms on social networks and blogs.