Well, not really, because it doesn’t really exist:
CAIRO, Egypt — An Egyptian Muslim who converted to Christianity and then took the unprecedented step of seeking official recognition for the change said he has gone into hiding following death threats.
Mohammed Hegazy, who sparked controversy when pictures of him posing with a poster of the Virgin Mary were published in newspapers, was shunned by his family and threatened by an Islamist cleric vowing to seek his execution as an apostate.
“I know there are fatwas (religious edicts) to shed my blood, but I will not give up and I will not leave the country,” the 25-year-old Hegazy told The Associated Press from his hideout Thursday.
Hegazy made a public splash when he took the unusual step of going to court to change his religion on his national ID card. His first lawyer filed the case, but then quit after the uproar; his second is still considering whether it’s worth pursuing.
Hegazy said he received telephoned death threats before he went into hiding in an apartment with his wife, a Muslim who took the name Katarina when she converted to Christianity several years ago. She is four months pregnant.
He said he wants to change the religion on his ID 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 is Muslim, because a child is registered in the religion of the father.
And this is in Egypt, a supposed American ally and supposedly moderate Muslim nation. Moderation or not, though, religious law seems to triumph over individual liberty:
There is no Egyptian law against converting from Islam to Christianity, but in this case tradition takes precedent. Under a widespread interpretation of Islamic law, converting from Islam is apostasy and punishable by death _ though killings are rare and the state has never ordered or carried out an execution on those grounds.
Most Muslims who convert usually practice their new religion quietly or leave the country. Egypt is overwhelmingly Muslim. Only 10 percent of the 76 million population is Christian and converts are typically ostracized by their families. If the conversion becomes known, they may receive death threats from militants or harassment by police, who use laws against “insulting religion” or “disturbing public order” to target them.
This case is disturbingly similar to that of Adbel Rahman, an Afghan man who was sentenced to death for converting to Christianity in 2006, and who was later forced to leave the country because of it. Things may not get that bad for Hegazy, but the mere fact that he’s been forced into hiding because of his religious beliefs is, I think, an indication of the nature of the enemy we’re dealing with.
August 12th, 2007 at 11:13 am
We all ought to convert to islam, then 5 minutes later, become apostates. Just to annoy the imams.
August 12th, 2007 at 11:29 am
Since the event concerns Egypt, perhaps the Grand Mufti Egypt’s statement about apostasy is more than a little relevant.
Ahmed Jamal
August 12th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
I fail to understand why anyone regards this story as a big deal, or even a little deal. All of it could, and does, happen in the good ol’ USA as well. Lots of American Christian families would disown a son who converted to Islam. American police routinely find some law to charge those who they or soiciety doesn’t like, without regard to whether any law has actually been broken. Same old, same old. It’s reported in America only because it makes Muslims look bad. If it happened to an American who converted to Islam, there’s be no mention at all.
Jenny
August 12th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
I think the vast majority of Muslims will agree that this is a direct result of ignorance and there’s no condoning it. But yeah, it would have been nice if you had mentioned the Grand Mufti’s affirmation of freedom of religion. I’m probably expecting too much though — Americans have been serially brainwashed over the last 7 years. And yes, I know your blog is generally outspoken against Bush, but that doesn’t count for much when you have clearly bought into his Islamo-fascist rhetoric. I find your ‘nature of our enemy’/OMG-look-they’re-barbarians rhetoric quite sad — the US and its citizens have no moral cachet left at this point. Feel free to call the Muslim world names, but at least we don’t flout international law to invade other countries, ostensibly to forcibly install democracy (which is laughable in itself) but in fact to raid and pillage their natural resources.
Shame on you, sir, for not *demanding* that your government change course, and instead succumbing to the atmosphere of fear your idiot president and his cohorts have established. Have the decency to understand the incident you are describing in its entirety, and to present it thus to your readers.
August 12th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Uzair makes an excellent point. The quote “the nature of our enemy” is as ambiguously fear mongering as any other Bush catch phrase that is used as a provocation of war and for stealing civil liberties. Though I’ve never been to Egypt, I’m sure if one was to walk its streets, and look upon the faces of its people, they would find a world very similar to their own.
Though I am a little offended at Uzair similarly categorizing Americans as brain washed ignorant spineless sheep, I find that I still have no excuse for the actions of my government or my countrymen.
As the people born into a world guided by Islam don’t wish to be discriminated against by the actions of their more misguided neighbors, nor do the citizens of the US. There are people that hope for justice and peace across the world, we need to overcome the barriers placed between us by our governments and learn to appreciate the similar struggle were all fighting for.
August 12th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
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August 12th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam all share common tactics for controlling their followers: fear of punishment by an angry deity or angry human representative purporting to be in the service of a male deity, an outmoded worldview with little regard for scientific discovery and free thought, and the core belief that some humans are better than others: men over women, straights over everyone else, etc. These religions are at the core of much aggression and social conflict throughout history. When will humanity learn that we are already spiritual in nature and do not need such nasty religious belief systems, as we outgrew them ages ago?
August 12th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Wow. You take one country and call it “The Muslim World”
August 12th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Yeah right @ nature of the enemy we are dealing with. You don’t know shit what you’re talking about. we have freedom of religion .. so please stop uttering mindless stuff (as you do in the post). I think you are one of those dumb people who support that war, you are an enemy to yourself and society.
August 12th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Beetle,
Except for the fact that this same thing has happened more than once, and in more Muslim countries than just Egypt.
Dude,
We have freedom of religion.
They don’t
That’s the difference.
August 12th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
The only point Uzair has is the one on top of his head. I have been on the Muslim boards and newsgroups on the internet and read what the fanatics say and believe. Uzair, you know the men I am talking about. Go and tell THEM that you have a right to be an apostate. Then come back and tell us about it, IF you are still alive. I know many Syrian, Iranian, and Filipino Christians who have told me the truth about how they were hounded out of their countries by Muslims. I have read the words of the Copts and how they are treated in Egypt. Are you truly that naive, or just engaging in a bit of takkiyah? Islam is truly a religion of the sword. Yes, there is the quote about no compulsion in religion, and also two hundred quotes or so where a moslem is permitted to strike me at the base of the neck, to take my wife and children for concubines and slaves, and to take my possessions as “property of the right hand.” And now you’ll accuse me of being Islamophobic. Any Kufr who is aware is Islamophobic, only those ignorant of your faith believe it to be a religion of peace. Next you’ll accuse me of being racist. Is Islam a race? I have many friends and aquaintances who are Christian Arabs, Persians, and Filipinos. Unfortunately I have no Christian friends from Turkey, because the Turks declared Jihad on the Greeks and Armenians and committed genocide on them after WWI. Genocide was the word coined to describe your Jihad. Jihad is Genocide.
Am I brainwashed? I have read the very words of your people, asked them exactly what they mean. Before 9/11 I had a few Moslem friends who explained all this to me in the nicest way possible. Their pleasant words echo those of the fanatics: convert, pay Jizaya and accept the second class citizenship and opression that it entails, or die. There is always the fourth wall, though, Uzair: Fight back and win. George Bush has tried to please everybody by fighting the Iraq war like it was a therapy session. Perhaps it will ultimately work. I hope so, for your sake. The other side of the Jihad coin is the Crusade, and more and more of us are paying attention, now, and that coin is still in spin. Jihad is genocide. Crusade is also genocide. We’ll do it to you if we must. No more hudna, no more takkiyah. You call us ignorant? Perhaps you are right. Remember Hiroshima, Uzair–and go and tell your violent friends about peace and love, while you still have time.
And Adam–indeed, not all of us are spineless sheep. By your arguments you are starting to awaken. Go to the American heartlands–flyover country the New York Times has called it. There are tens of millions who are not afraid of firearms, and who know the value of freedom. Those people give support and credence to your words of peace. They are armed, and they are peaceful. So far. Lord God of Hosts grant that we are given cause to remain peaceful.
August 13th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
To Jenny Allen,
I would maintain that there is a small difference between disowning someone and calling for their death.
If a Christian converts to Islam, we morn. We do not try to kill them, or encourage others to do so. I did the same when a cousin of mine converted to Mormonism (that was 8 years ago, I still have dinner with him as often as I can. Even tho he left the faith).
That would go against Jesus’s own teaching of the Parable of the Good Samaratin. I would list it hear, but you probably don’t know it, so it would probably do you good to look it up.