Continuing arrests of Egyptian Christians (and Muslims, as well), accused of insulting Islam have sparked a debate about blasphemy and renewed calls to abolish the crime from Egyptian law. Despite calls for reform, lawsuits that infringe on freedom of expression are still being pursued under the concept of “hisbah,” an Islamic doctrine involving the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice.
Al-Monitor In recent years, Egypt has witnessed a “return to hisbah lawsuits, which are a threat to freedom of opinion, expression, thought, belief and human rights,” said a statement by the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights. Hisbah — meaning “accountability” — is an Islamic doctrine involving the ruler or government’s duty to promote what is right and prevent wrong.
Journalist Fatima Naaot was accused of contempt for Islam and mocking the Islamic al-Adhiya (sacrifices) ritual. She had described the annual Islamic holiday of sacrifice — Eid al-Adha — in an October 2014 Facebook post as “a massacre committed because of the startling nightmare one of the righteous ones had about his son,” in a reference to the story of Abraham in the Quran.
Mahmoud Othman, a legal scholar at the Institution of Freedom of Thought and Expression, said hisbah lawsuits are based on Article 3 of the Code of Procedure, which allows anyone to file a lawsuit against any creative work by an artist, writer or public figure as long as the plaintiff has an interest in it. Also, the lawsuit must be aimed at avoiding imminent damage or at documenting evidence. Such lawsuits are submitted to the public prosecutor, who determines their merit.
Othman told Al-Monitor that hisbah lawsuits violate the Egyptian Constitution, which says, “Freedom of thought and opinion is guaranteed. Every person has the right to express his opinion verbally, in writing, through imagery, or by any other means of expression and publication.” The constitution also states, “Freedom of artistic and literary creativity is guaranteed. The state shall encourage arts and literature, sponsor creative artists and writers, and protect their productions. … No lawsuit may be initiated or filed to stop or confiscate any artistic, literary or intellectual work.”
How Christian-majority Egypt became Muslim-majority Egypt:
The persecution against minorities in Egypt is so extreme that acknowledging their existence can be interpreted by conservative authorities as normalization and therefore support and therefore an offense. Mohamed, who is both atheist and gay, for 26 years had to hide both identities. But on 11 February 2018 he decided to come out of the closet with his atheism – coming out as both together would probably have earned an even worse backlash.
Mohamed was invited to a TV show called “Egyptian Street” to discuss his atheism with an Imam. But there was no real “discussion” at all. Mohamed had barely the time to say that he didn’t believe in God when the host interrupted him and started to rail against him, inviting him to see a psychiatrist and kicking him off the show.
Soon after this interview, Mohamed fled Egypt before he could be prosecuted for blasphemy and jailed. He is now in Germany:
Al-Monitor On Nov. 11, the Supreme State Security Prosecution investigated two Christians — Ayman Rida Hanna and Mounir Masaad Hanna — and referred them to criminal court on the grounds of mocking Islam and insulting religion.
Amr al-Qadi, one of a team of attorneys for the two defendants, told Al-Monitor about the case. He said, “The security forces arrested them in June 2019 after they appeared in a video discussing prayer in Islam.” He added, “The two men remained in pre-trial detention until the prosecution [charged them] despite our repeated calls to release them.”
In another incident, a Christian teacher and a Muslim girl were arrested Nov. 11 in the coastal Ismailia governorate over comments on Facebook posts that security forces described as “insult and contempt of religion.”
The next day, Nov. 12, the public prosecution ordered the arrest of the teacher, identified as Youssef Hani, and the girl, who goes by the name Sandosa on Facebook, on charges of blasphemy.
In a Nov. 14 statement to Al-Monitor, Makarios Lahzy, director of the Minority and Religious Groups department of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, said, “The lawyers appealed the detention order and their appeal was accepted. A decision to release them on bail was issued, and investigation in the case will continue until their trial.”
Lahzy added, “I was among the lawyers who volunteered to defend the Christian man and the Muslim girl. … We asked for the charges to be dropped, as the charges they are facing are unconstitutional.”
Article 98 (F) of the Criminal Code of Egypt penalizes “ridiculing or insulting a heavenly religion or a sect following it.” Lahzy said the article is unconstitutional, explaining, “It does not clearly and expressly define contempt of or defamation and leaves the notion loose and unreliable.”
Youssef and Sandosa were just two of many who were detained recently and charged with insulting religion. Young Muslim comic Mohammad Ashraf was recently detained for mocking Islam.
On Nov. 13, the public prosecution arrested Ashraf on charges of “insulting Islam and threatening Egyptian family values and insulting the hosts of the radio station, in addition to publishing content that threatens social peace and security and vilifies the station.”
Under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s regular police and National Security officers routinely torture political detainees with techniques including beatings, electric shocks, stress positions, and sometimes rape.
Widespread and systematic torture by the security forces probably amounts to a crime against humanity. Prosecutors typically ignore complaints from detainees about ill-treatment and sometimes threaten them with torture, creating an environment of almost total impunity, Human Rights Watch said.
NBC News An Egyptian court convicted four Christian teens of blasphemy after they appeared in a video mocking the terror group ISIS.
A leading rights group on Monday called on Egyptian authorities to quash blasphemy sentences handed down to four teens and their teacher for a video they made mocking ISIS.
An Egyptian court convicted the four Christian teenagers for contempt of Islam on February 25 after they appeared in the video appearing to make fun of Muslim prayers, according to The Associated Press. Three were sentenced to between three and five years in prison while a fourth was referred to a juvenile detention facility, the news agency added.
“Mocking ISIS, or any religious group, with a childish joke is not a crime,” Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
Two relatives of the teens told the AP that Younan filmed the video shortly after an ISIS affiliate released images of 21 abducted Christians being beheaded in Libya. The teens are members of Egypt’s ancient Coptic Christian minority from Minyam, a region around 160 miles south of Cairo where 20 of those killed in the ISIS beheading video are from.
Below are graphic photos from one of the infamous ISIS beheadings in 2015 of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya. An affiliate of Islamic State in North Sinai started an insurgency after the Egyptian military’s ouster in 2013 of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.The photos are from the ISIS video entitled “A Message Signed With Blood to the Nation of the Cross.”
According to the AP, the 30-second video showed the four pretending to pray, with one kneeling on the floor while reciting Quranic verses and two others standing behind him and laughing. One waved his hand under a second’s neck in a sign of beheading.
The video prompted calls by angry Muslims to evict the students and the teacher from their village of Bani Mazar, AP reported. Mobs attacked the students’ houses in the village and security forces arrested the students while the teacher and his family were ordered to leave the village after a meeting of the village elders, the news service added.
A rights activist who works on such cases told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “The Egyptian authorities have recently been expanding their detention or prosecution of citizens on charges of blasphemy.”
He added, “We are currently working on a bill to amend the blasphemy article in an effort to stop the imprisonment of citizens based on comments or sarcastic videos, because this violates freedom of expression. After completing this amendment, we will submit it to the parties concerned and the Supreme Constitutional Court for review.”
Reason’s Justin Monticello spoke with Egyptian Copt Cynthia Farahat about her mission to bring a true political alternative to the region, why she vociferously advocates for the Muslim Brotherhood to be labeled a terrorist organization, how Coptic Christians in Egypt are persecuted and blamed for American foreign policy, and why she believes people across the Middle East are hungry for civil liberties and free markets.
Daniel Erbstoesser says
Why are all surprized, this all could have read in the history books then the islam has taken over 54 countries and soon it will be way more. See the story of libyia, there was a christian population of about 90% and it was called the pearl of the orient. Then libbyia opened the doors for the muslim. First they came as friends and as soon as the numbers rose they took over and today libbyia has a christian population of about 1.5% and its sinking fast. This is the normal way that islam comes and takes over but our politicians know otherweise dont they. Dont think that it will go another way for us and our countries then our politicians that say this are bought, stupid, or hate our nations but sad to say they sit in power and yes they can and will destroy our nations and us. Soon cometh the hour of power and then all will be cleansed of the filth.
Arindam Sarkar says
Egypt used to worship RA, HERA Osiris etc. So ow does Egypt become Christian in the first place? By skinning Hypatia alive and throwing her flailed body into fire and burning the Great library of Alexandria to the ground. Sorry to say but Christianity roots are equally barbaric.
LGBTRANNY KILLER says
What is this some random White claiming themselves as Egyptian christian, Egypt is islamic and will always be, to claim otherwise is treason
Most Egyptian Christians in west are are rabid islamophobes, so Egypt’s response is fitting
Ramez Fekry says
Fuck your islam, fuck your allah, and fuck your prophet!
Daniel Erbstoesser says
Amen to that.
Mary C says
Besides having once been a Christian-majority nation, Egypt was also one of the world’s most prosperous and advanced civilizations for many centuries. Then the so-called religion of peace called Islam took over…
BareNakedIslam says
Once a Christian-majority country, too, Lebanon used to be considered the “Paris of the Middle East.” Look at it now.
Daniel Erbstoesser says
Yeah take a good look but learn out of the good long look then the happenings have happened over 50 times and nobody learned a thing then they are being invited to come and enlighten us and no worry they are all our friends, just like atory about a rabbit with three foxes that discuss what supper will be. Bonni this will soon fall on all our feet and the faulty ones are the only ones that come out unscathed but we the people will have to fight this out and as of today we have a problem (see our youth) and this problem will soon make itself be seen, what then and for all with what will we defend or fight.
Arindam Sarkar says
Sorry to burst your bubble, but Egypt was prosperous and an advanced civilization way before Christians took over. Alexandria was the centre of knowledge and learning in the African region. As mentioned above, christian zealots flailed her with broken pottery and seashells, then threw her body into fire while she was still alive. Cyril the man who carried this out became a saint. All the “pagan” scrolls and books were burned alongwith the Library of Alexandria. This loss of knowledge was permanent and set back Europe by a thousand years and one of the big factors for the Dark Ages.
from a third person perspective, it sounds no different from similar acts carried out by marauding Islamic invaders in India during their early invasions. Afghanistan used to be a part of India and great libraries of knowledge were burned to the ground and all the buddhist monks beheaded.
Sounds familiar.
Jack Rider says
Rather than just asserting “ what-aboutism,” a reasonable individual operating with his or her God-given intellect would see that such atrocities are committed by religious mentalities empowered by their control over society. The solution is an independent judiciary charged with vindicating constitutional values which protect individual and human rights, government which separates itself from religious control, separation of church/masjid and state, separation of powers, checks and balances and a free press.
Arindam Sarkar says
what aboutism is not beneficial but totally ignoring one’s own historical atrocities while highlighting other’s historical atrocities is just denial or ignorance of oneself. When one compares religions, one should use the context as well. I commented because the person had assumed that Egypt was prosperous and advanced under Christian rule and regressed only because of Islam.
Daniel Erbstoesser says
You are right but please name one conflict were the muslim is not present, ok the ukraine war but that is it. Africa al nusra, al shabap, indien rohinga, china uiguren, and that is whitout the middle east arab nations. Answer there is no conflict were the muslim is not the cause so dont come to me with bursting bubbles but read the history books and there you can see that history is a circle.