The Baha'is of Egypt have been subjected to persecution and systematic oppression. While their quest for equality has been finally heard by many of their fellow citizens, there remain challenges and obstacles to the implementation of laws intended to grant them their full civil rights and equal opportunity in their society. With the emergence of the new Egypt, they seek to be given the opportunity to actively engage in rebuilding their nation.
Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court is scheduled, on 2 February 2009, to announce its verdict regarding the appeal brought by Islamist lawyers in their attempt to reverse the 29 January 2008 ruling that allowed the Baha'is of Egypt to obtain ID cards and birth certificates. This appeal is thought to be the last apparent hurdle to granting the Baha'is their due identity rights. In order to review the recent history of this case, please look at the last post linked here....
A global prayer chain has been organized by world youth, linked to at this site.
Before posting the remarks made during that symposium, it would be helpful to reintroduce the person in question:
Gamal El-Banna is known in the Egyptian society as a progressive, moderate and liberal thinker who is also a scholar who has published several books and manuscripts on various aspects of reform of religion and Islam as it applies to the modern Egyptian society.
On several occasions, El-Banna has publicly defended the civil rights of Egyptian Baha'is, and their entitlement to recognition and equal treatment under the law.
His older brother Hassan El-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt's Suez Canal city of Ismailia in 1928. The movement was subsequently outlawed, its followers were incarcerated over the years, and its founder was assassinated in 1949.
The following is a verbatim translation of the article that was published in Arabic on Copts United:
[Translator’s notes appear in square brackets [ ].]
Copts United [a liberal electronic newspaper concerned with Copts in Egypt] 24 November 2008 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gamal El-Banna:
- 90% of the heritage [doctrinal works of Islamic scholars] is no longer valid. - Anyone who, after sincere consideration, converts to another religion does not incur punishment in this life. - Who says that religions are only three; this is sheer stupidity! - Hassan el-Banna was a liberal. - When there is a conflict between the Text of the Qur’án and the commonweal, the latter should prevail.
Reported by-Emad Thomas
Islamic writer and controversial thinker Gamal el-Banna launched an unprecedented attack on the old books of our [Islamic] heritage and demanded that they be put in museums, adding that he is not bothered with Al-Bukhari and others like him, because he is a human being and is not infallible.
In a symposium titled “Freedom of Thought in Islam” hosted by Dar Haven for Translation and Publishing on Saturday evening, 22 November 2008, Gamal el-Banna said: “We should not give ourselves headaches and waste our time with heritage, because we have the genuine heritage—the Qur’án—and if we want to refine our heritage, it will take an age to get there.” He likened the heritage to a vein of gold in a mountain of iron; [in order to get hold of it] the whole mountain needs to be demolished. He further asked: “Why don’t we use our brains? Our ancestors could not dream of the knowledge and technology we have today.” El-Banna rejected the idea of refining the [Islamic] heritage as 90% of it is no longer valid—as he put it.
The punishment for apostasy El-Banna emphasized that although apostasy is mentioned in the Qur’án, there is no punishment attached to it in this life. It is not a crime for someone to be guided to another religion, after due consideration; it is freedom of belief. El-Banna agreed with the scholars who have stated that there is no judgement on a person who thinks sincerely and converts to another religion, quoting the Quranic verse, “On no soul doth God place a burden greater than it can bear”.
Baha’ism is welcomed El-Banna was very welcoming of the Bahá’í religion and whoever wishes to embrace it—in the framework of freedom of thought—and demanded freedom for Bahá’ís; he added that if God had so willed, He could have made mankind one people, but He created the nations with inherent differences. Therefore, we should accept pluralism and conversion from one religion to another—after all, everyone believes in one God. The Islamic writer [El-Banna] then added: “Who says that we believe in three religions only? This is sheer stupidity; China has more than three religions and it is an advanced country. He stressed that according to the Qur’án, there are prophets we do not know about.
Hassan El-Banna Gamal el-Banna said that his late brother, Hassan el-Banna, founder of the Society of Muslim Brotherhood, was a liberal and a genius in the way he organised the structure of the Brotherhood group, which began with six individuals in the city of Isma‘iliyyah in 1928 and became “a way of life” in 1948. He added that all the women in the Brotherhood [Society] wore no veils at that time.
Najmuddin al-Tufi In support of his assertions, El-Banna referred to the Hanbali scholar Najmuddin al-Tufi [who had stated that] in the event of a conflict between the Text of the Qur’án and the commonweal, the latter should prevail, as “the commonweal is the ultimate purpose of the lawgiver [God], and should be observed if a contradiction occurs between the commonweal and the Text, not as a means of fabricating the Text, but as a way of interpreting it”, and this for the purpose of “greater benefit for a larger number”. Commenting on freedom of thought and the religious institutions’ attitude to it, El-Banna said: “Who can believe that Christianity is the religion of love when the Church in the middle ages instituted courts of inquisition for its followers. There is a close relationship between freedom of thought and religions; religions should be a call for freedom and not fanaticism; freedom in Islam is part of the mechanism which ‘Aqqad referred to as “an Islamic obligation”. El-Banna further added that all the Quranic verses call for freedom of thought; people’s misconception of religion is the cause of their retardation. At the symposium, Gamal el-Banna also spoke about his big renaissance project, established under the title “Islamic Revival”, which he began fifty years ago when he published his book A New Democracy in 1946; the book included a chapter entitled “A New Understanding for Religion” which incorporated the core of the idea for his renaissance project—belief in the human being—“do not believe in faith; believe in the human being”, the wording has progressed to “Islam sought the human being, but scholars sought Islam”. The key idea in this call is to take Islam back to what it was fourteen centuries ago—a revolution to free people leading them out of darkness into light, a desire to change a society that worships in the ways of its forefathers, and to spread noble values.
Cameos: - [Judiciary] Counselor Dr. Hassan Hind conducted the symposium, and Dr. Afaf Abdel-Mu‘ti, director of the publishing house, Dar Heffen, was the coordinator. - Gamal el-Banna, the Islamic writer, presented three booklets as gifts to those present; a booklet about the topic of the symposium “Freedom of Thought in Islam” was one of them. - The symposium received extensive media coverage in a number of electronic sites as well as the Egyptian and Arab press. - The next Dar Heffen symposium on freedom of thought and belief is on the theme of rights of women in relation to personal status, and will be held on Saturday 27 December 2008.
In its session today, Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court postponed its verdict on the appeal by the Islamist lawyer, named Abd El-Mageed El-Aanany, who was not a party to lawsuits brought by the Baha'is in their quest for obtaining ID cards and birth certificates. Cairo's Administrative Court had ruled in favor of the Baha'is on 29 January 2008, and allowed them to obtain ID cards and birth certificates with dashes [--] inserted in place of religious identification.
Instead of ruling on the case today, the Supreme Administrative Court decided to announce its final verdict regarding the appeal during its upcoming session of 2 February 2009.
Such an appeal is not an obstacle to enforcing the lower court's ruling unless the court had decided to stop the implementation of the said ruling. The courts have not done so, thus there are no barriers to the government's enforcement of the lower court's ruling. So far, not a single Baha'i in Egypt has been able to obtain identification documents under this ruling.
Additionally, the Supreme Administrative Court's own State Judiciary Council had considered the appeal and had rejected it. The court is expected to abide by the decision of the Council.
As was described in a previous post, the Baha'is of Egypt have been awaiting two court dates scheduled to issue final verdicts regarding the challenges and appeals lodged against the previous court rulings that were in their favor. The 17 January 2009 date, quoted below, concerns the challenge by an Islamist lawyer intended to halt the court ruling allowing the Baha'is to obtain birth certificates and ID cards with dashes [--] inserted instead of their religious identity.
...scheduled for 17 January 2009, on which Cairo's Seventh Circuit Administrative Court will rule on achallenge(a stalling tactic--not an appeal) to the same ruling of 29 January 2008 of the First Circuit Administrative Court, in which another Islamist lawyer challenged the competence of the judge. Consequently, the judge had referred the case out of his court to the Seventh Circuit Court for an unbiased determination.
In its session today, Cairo's Seventh Circuit Administrative Court rejected the challenge filed by the said lawyer, Hamed Saddiq, who was acting on behalf ofEgypt's Islamic Research Council which is under the auspices of al-Azhar University. His challenge had the effect of stalling the implementation of the favorable 29 January 2008 court ruling.
Today's verdict implies that the 29 January 2008 court ruling in favor of the Baha'is can be enforced by the Ministry of Interior and that it can proceed, without delay, to issue the Baha'is of Egypt birth certificates with dashes [--] inserted in the religion section of these documents. Today's verdict concerns only the case of 14-year-old twin children, Emad and Nancy Raouf Hindi whose father has been requesting the issue of their birth certificates.
The Other case concerning the 18-year-old university student Hussein Hosni Bakhit Abdel-Massih, who is in quest for his ID card (he was dismissed from the university consequent to his inability to obtain a military postponement certificate, required for the continuation of his education), was heard on 15 January 2009 and postponed until 24 February 2009 for a final verdict on the challenge, filed by the same lawyer (Hamed Saddiq). The 29 January court verdict had also ruled in his favor to obtain an ID card with dashes [--] in place of his religion.
The next date to watch is 19 January 2009, on which Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court will issue its final verdict on an appeal by another Islamist lawyer, named Abd El-Mageed El-Aanany. He was not a party to the lawsuit, but appeared to act on behalf of extremists. The appeal could not stop the implementation of the ruling unless the court had decided to do so. In this case, the court has not stopped the implementation of the lower court's ruling, and the Ministry of Interior has not appealed either.
It is anticipated the the Supreme Administrative Court will reject the appeal since its own State Judiciary Council has already recommended this course of action.
Based on these developments, it is becoming clearer that Egypt's judiciary is on a righteous path that is headed towards a resolution to the dilemma of the Baha'is of Egypt, who are in quest of their basic civil rights.
Just received a communication today from e-Justice website informing me that this blog "Baha'i Faith in Egypt" was listed among the top 50 human rights blogs. The post listing these blogs is entitled: "World Watchdogs: Top 50 Human Rights Blogs."
Welcome to e-Justice where we tackle issues that matter to your safety and well-being. Our security and law experts provide the essential information you need to safely navigate through an often dangerous and confusing world. From cyber-law to personal security, we confront the issues that are important to you and your family. Join us in the pursuit for justice; take some time to read through our blog and become a more pro-active and informed citizen.
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Prison cell of Baha'u'llah while in exile (closed door on left)
This is a continuation of the previous post regarding the message of the Baha'i religion and its intended purpose.
Those who oppose the Baha'is in Egypt and Iran claim that the Baha'i religion is not a "heavenly" or a "divine" one, and that it is a man-made philosophy and such other unfounded claims by those who are ill-intentioned or misinformed.
Even with such ongoing opposition and the repeated attempts at the extermination of the founders and followers of the religion at its birthplace, the Faith has proven its worth by surviving such desperate maneuvers for over a century and a half. It is now considered as one of the fastest growing religions and it has been recognized, after Christianity, as the second-most widespread religion in global geographic distribution.
The following paragraphs and quote give a glimpse of some of the basic teachings of the Baha'i Faith that illustrate the clear message on how man should regard his Creator and the power of His revelation through His Manifestations on earth:
The first of Bahá’u’lláh’s Teachings I will describe for you is about God and our relationship with Him. Bahá’u’lláh teaches us that God is unknowable in His Essence. This means that we should not make images of God in our mind, thinking of Him, for example, as a man. In general, that which has been created cannot understand its creator. For instance, a table cannot understand the nature of the carpenter who made it. The carpenter’s existence is totally incomprehensible to the objects he makes.
God is the Creator of all things. He has made the heavens and earth, with its mountains and valleys, its deserts and seas, its rivers, its meadows and trees. God has created the animals and God has created the human being. The reason behind our creation, we are told by Bahá’u’lláh, is love. He says:
“O Son of Man! I loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life.”
So although God’s existence is far beyond our understanding, His love touches our lives and our beings ceaselessly. The way this love flows to us is through His Eternal Covenant. According to this Eternal Covenant, God never leaves us alone and without guidance. Whenever humanity moves away from Him and forgets His Teachings, a Manifestation of God appears and makes His Will and Purpose known to us.
The word “manifest” means to reveal, to bring forth something that was not known before. The Manifestations of God are those special Beings Who reveal to humanity the Word and the Will of God; thus when we listen to Them, we are responding to the Call of God.
There is an example from the physical world that helps us to understand the concept of “Manifestation” as taught by Bahá’u’lláh. In this world, the sun is the source of all warmth and light, without which life would not exist on the planet. Yet the sun itself does not descend to earth, and if we tried to approach it, we would be totally consumed.
But suppose we take a well-polished mirror and point it towards the sun. In it we will see the image of the sun, and the more perfectly polished the mirror, the more perfect the image will be. The Manifestations of God are like perfect Mirrors that reflect the Light of God in all its Splendor. And all these Mirrors reflect the same Light. While God is beyond our reach, these perfect Beings come to us from time to time, live among us, give us guidance, and fill us with the energy we need to progress, materially and spiritually.
While several thousand Baha'is continue to struggle in Egypt to survive in an oppressive environment that sanctions discrimination against them by depriving them identification (ID) documents, the Egyptian Ministry of Interior and the Foreign Ministry are deputizing emissaries to the United States and Canada to meet with Egyptian expatriates, in these countries, so that they would facilitate and expedite the issue of ID cards to these citizens living abroad.
This information was published in one of Egypt's leading newspapers, Al-Gomhoreyah [the Republic] in its 3 January 2009 edition (attached with this post). It announces that this consular mission, headed by Ambassador Muhammad Al-Dorghamy will travel to the cities of "New York, Washington, and Los Angeles in the US" as well as the "cities of Montreal and Toronto in Canada." This mission will also be accompanied by representatives of other Egyptian government agencies.
One cannot but to wonder at the irony of this precarious situation: government ministries that deprive its Egyptian citizens, living in their homeland, of their basic civil rights merely because of their religion while, at the exact same time, have its representatives travel thousands of miles to faraway lands in search for Egyptians--who are enjoying their full rights in these foreign countries (regardless of their religion)--to facilitate the issue of ID cards to such individuals who do not necessarily feel the urge or the need to acquire these documents!
A question that always appears to linger in our minds is Why Baha'is continue to be actively and systematically persecuted in Egypt & Iran? If one attempts to find a justification, one fails to find any logical reason for such uncalled-for treatment of the followers of a religion that seeks peace, equality and justice.
Considering the events in Egypt and Iran over the past couple of years, an unprecedented spontaneous large-scale media publicity was the natural outcome of these events. This publicity and exposure was not limited to only the Middle East, but rather spread to the entire world. Human rights organizations, activists, free thinkers as well as academics and prominent media persona and bloggers played an active part in making the case of the oppressed Baha'is publicly known, have condemned the unjust and illegitimate treatment of the Baha'is, and have been playing a very active part in the defense of their rights.
A natural consequence of such publicity and exposure is that any independent seeker of truth will attempt to investigate for him/herself what this religion is all about. Thus, in order to begin this process, let us do just that by directly examining the religion itself. This careful examination will be presented over the next few posts and will begin with the following paragraphs:
The Baha'i Faith is a world religion whose purpose is to unite all the races and peoples in one universal Cause and one common Faith. Baha'is are the followers of Bahá’u’lláh, who they believe is the Promised One of all Ages. As you know, the traditions of almost every people include the promise of a future when peace and harmony will be established on earth and humankind will live in prosperity.
Baha'is believe that the promised hour has come and that Bahá’u’lláh is the great Personage Whose Teachings will enable humanity to build a new world. In one of His Writings, Bahá’u’lláh says:
"That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith."
The Bahá’í Faith is a world religion whose purpose is to unite all the races and peoples in one universal Cause and one common Faith.
This comic was published on the 13th of December on page-19 of Al-Ra'i [the opinion] newspaper in Kuwait. It addresses the current situation of the Baha'is of Egypt. It's author is Mr. Amro Salim. It translates as follows:
The writing on the right side of the comic next to the child's head states: "the judiciary forced the [Ministry of] Interior to place (-) in the religion section of the [ID] card of the Baha'i."
The angry father of this bewildered child is complaining to the officer at the police station by saying: "I want to make a [police] report regarding the headmaster of the school of my boy...they are teaching the boy the Baha'i [religion] Ya-Basha [sir]!"
As to the evidence shown to the officer, he points to a page from a notebook with the title "arithmetic" that shows under the title "2 - 1 = 1" with the minus sign, in bold, resembling the dash (-) for religion on ID cards.
Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court convened today to rule on the appeal described in this previous post and quoted below:
The first one will be on 15 December 2008 at Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court when a decision is expected regarding the appeal of a non-party (by an Islamist lawyer) to the 29 January 2008 ruling that allowed the Baha'is to obtain identification documents and birth certificates by inserting dashes "--" in place of religion in these documents. It is expected that the court will endorse the recommendation of its own State Judiciary Council to reject the appeal since the appellant, as stated by the council of judges, has no right to interfere with this lawsuit, and since the defendant (the Ministry of Interior) had not appealed the ruling and had accepted it on its face.
The court decided to postpone its verdict again until 19 January 2009.
The Baha'is of Egypt are eagerly awaiting two court dates that might greatly influence their struggle to obtain identity documents.
The first one will be on 15 December 2008 at Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court when a decision is expected regarding the appeal of a non-party (by an Islamist lawyer) to the 29 January 2008 ruling that allowed the Baha'is to obtain identification documents and birth certificates by inserting dashes "--" in place of religion in these documents. It is expected that the court will endorse the recommendation of its own State Judiciary Council to reject the appeal since the appellant, as stated by the council of judges, has no right to interfere with this lawsuit, and since the defendant (the Ministry of Interior) had not appealed the ruling and had accepted it on its face.
The second date is scheduled for 17 January 2009, on which Cairo's Seventh Circuit Administrative Court will rule on a challenge (a stalling tactic--not an appeal) to the same ruling of 29 January 2008 of the First Circuit Administrative Court, in which another Islamist lawyer challenged the competence of the judge. Consequently, the judge had referred the case out of his court to the Seventh Circuit Court for an unbiased determination.
Meanwhile, as of today, the Baha'is of Egypt remain "without identity."
The following is a recent report of the UK-based Foreign Policy Centre. The FPC refers to itself as "Britain's leading progressive foreign affairs think tank," and this report is one of the first (if not the only) to compare women, Kurds and Baha'is in Iran. It focuses on identity-based discrimination and systemic obstacles to equality in Iran, and it draws on the experiences of all three groups to underline common concerns.
Publications
A Revolution Without Rights? Women, Kurds and Baha'is Searching for Equality in Iran
In this new Foreign Policy Centre pamphlet, written by Geoffrey Cameron and Tahirih Danesh, the authors examine the religious, legal and social obstacles to equality faced by women, Baha'is and Kurds in Iran, comparing the experiences of the groups.
Cameron and Danesh evaluate the Iranian government's compliance with its own constitution and look at how Iran's treatment of women and minorities measures up to the international agreements it has signed. The pamphlet lays out practical steps that British and European policy-makers can take to support the equal treatment of women and minorities with their fellow citizens in Iran.
The pamphlet will be launched on Tue 25 Nov at 6.15pm in the Wilson Room, Portcullis House. Full events details can be found on our homepage: www.fpc.org.uk
If you would like to attend, please send your details by email to: events@fpc.org.uk
A new site named Iran Press Watch is worth a visit on a regular basis. It provides the latest news regarding the Baha'is of Iran and their persecution by their own government. It also updates its readers with the world's reaction to the gross injustice experienced by the Baha'is of Iran.
In its latest post, the site reported on a speech made by a Brazilian congressman regarding the current condition of the Baha'is in Iran. The following is a reprint of that post:
Brazilian Congressman on Baha’is in Iran December 1, 2008
The following is a speech provided by Congressman Geraldo Resende at the October 16th, 2008 Session of Congress in Brazil. Translated by Sam Cyrous. BAHÁ’ÍS: MORE THAN A RELIGIOUS QUESTION — A QUESTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Congress: Iran astonishes the world with its Nuclear Program and, above all, with the intransigence of its President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in not allowing members of the United Nations Organization — the UN — to inspect its nuclear facilities, but what I wish to bring up here is another issue regarding Iran which has not received the attention that it deserves from the rest of the world — the persecution of the followers of the Bahá’í religion and the imprisonment of its believers who have been falsely charged with espionage.
Since May 14th, seven Iranian Bahá’ís have been kept in captivity, without access to lawyers and without any communication with their families. They are people of goodwill who have committed the “crime” of belonging to a religion unrecognized by the Iranian State. These seven Bahá’ís, who make up a group that took care of the interests of more than 300 thousand Iranian Bahá’ís, were arrested arbitrarily and taken from their homes and commercial establishments by the Iranian police. This group’s work consisted of providing help to the Baha’i community through the establishment of regular prayer meetings, children activities, funerals, weddings, and a few other community activities. And what is even more worrisome, Mr. Chairman, is that after four months, these Bahá’ís continue to be incarcerated in a completely arbitrary way, and have now been accused of espionage and of belonging to an anti-Islamic and anti-Iranian group. More recently the situation of the Bahá’ís has worsened. This June, three Bahá’ís of Iranian origin, all with successful businesses and families established in Yemen, had their houses attacked and their documents, CDs, photographs and even computers confiscated.
Despite any formal accusation, government officials indicated that these Bahá’ís were detained under suspicion of some sort of “proselytization,” a violation of the law in Yemen, which is denied by the Bahá’ís, but which puts them under the threat of imminent deportation to Iran, where Bahá’ís are intensely persecuted and would probably face prison and torture. Mr. Chairman, these accusations are not true. I know many Bahá’ís in my State, and I know perfectly well that they do not involve themselves in any political or religious disputes and, above all, they struggle vigorously for peace and unity in the world. It is important to remember that it was the Persian government which exiled the founder of the Bahá’í Faith to the city of Akka [part of the Ottoman Empire at the time], today part of Israeli territory. Therefore, accusing Bahá’ís of having political connections with Israel because of the fact that their holy shrines, with the mortal remains of the founders of their faith, are located in that region clearly demonstrates the intention of the Iranian government to discriminate against these seven Bahá’ís at any cost. Noble colleagues, even other Iranian citizens are rising in defense of the Bahá’ís, because they, neighbors, colleagues and friends, know that Bahá’ís are not part of any secret Israeli organization, and that they deserve all due respect as human beings.
The Iranian and Muslim Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebade, rose up to defend the Bahá’ís, resulting in a newspaper alleging that Shirin’s daughter had converted from Islam to the Bahá’í Faith, an accusation which has no foundation [and which carries a death sentence in Islamic law]. Analyzing this question, we clearly understand that those who defend the Bahá’ís are also being persecuted, and for this reason the Brazilian government, as well as other governments in the world, should denounce these sad violations, since these seven Bahá’ís are at risk of being executed at any moment. All vulnerable groups in Iran count upon international pressure to aid their plight, to ensure that their rights will be preserved and that they will be treated with at least minimal dignity. Iranian Bahá’ís are only one more of these groups that apprehensively await for action to be taken in their defense.
It should be clear, Mr. Chairman, that the Bahá’í Faith preaches the unity of God, of Religion and of Humankind. Bahá’u’lláh, founder of the Bahá’í religion, states that the fundamental objective animating the Faith of God and His religion is the protection of the interests of humanity and the promotion of unity, and the nourishment of the spirit of love and friendship for all of humanity. The Bahá’í Faith is an independent world religion with its own laws and scriptures that emerged in 1844, in Persia, currently known as Iran. Bahá’u’lláh, whose given name was Mirzá Husayn Ali, lived between the years of 1817 and 1892. The Faith which he founded does not possess dogmas, rituals, clergy or a sacerdotal class. The Bahá’í International Community with approximately 6 million followers is the second most widely diffused religion in the world, surpassed only by Christianity. Bahá’ís reside in 178 countries of the world and can be found in practically all territories of the globe. The Bahá’í Faith has been established in Brazil since February 1921, when Lady Leonora Holsapple Armstrong arrived to teach the religion to its residents. Today, [Brazilian] Bahá’ís are a contingent of approximately 47 thousand people, from diverse social, cultural and economical classes, who reside in approximately 1,215 Brazilian municipalities.
It is important to remember, Mr. Chairman, that this very National Congress of Brazil has honored Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, in a solemn session held on May 28th of 1992, the centenary year of his passing, an occasion at which representatives of many political parties spoke about the life and teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. Also in 1992, during the World Conference for Environment and Development, Eco ‘92, the Bahá’í Community conveyed its greetings to all the Chiefs of State and Government in the Official Conference and offered as a gift to the city of Rio de Janeiro and to all those who promoted the World Conference, a beautiful monument in shape of an hourglass, dedicated to World Peace, established in the Aterro do Flamengo, and conceived by renowned artist Siron Franco, who is also a member of the Bahá’í Community. In addition, the Bahá’í Community is distinguishing Brazil with the establishment of economic and social development projects in diverse regions of the country. For example, here in Brasília, the community has established the SCHOOL OF NATIONS, which promotes an education embracing concepts of the unity of humankind and world citizenship. The Bahá’í International Community is the first non-governmental organization formally credentialed by the United Nations, approximately 50 years ago, which has supported all of the actions of the United Nations, aimed at the establishment of world peace, tolerance, and understanding amongst the peoples of the world.
Considering all which has been previously stated, Mr. Chairman, the Bahá’í community residing in the Brazilian state looks for action from this government, which has always shown itself to be concerned with human rights.
A baby, named Shehab Shady Moussa, was born in Cairo on the 9th of November of this year to Baha'i parents. When his father went to the civil affairs agency, charged with registering newborns and producing their birth certificates, he was told that they received recent instructions from the Ministry of Interior forbidding them from issuing birth certificates to Baha'is. This is despite multiple court rulings ordering the Ministry to issue certificates to children born to Baha'is with dashes "--" inserted in place of their religious identity.
This news item was published in today's edition of Cairo's Al-Badeel newspaper (attached, with a photograph of the Minister of Interior, Habib Al-Adly). The baby's father told the newspaper that this means that his newborn child cannot be counted in Egypt's census, he cannot be vaccinated against serious infectious diseases and that the baby's mother cannot obtain maternal leave from her employment.
This newborn can be now added to a long list of Egyptian children, born to Baha'i parents, who live in the shadows, and whose existence has been denied by their own government. They are deprived of all their human and civil rights, including the rights to health care and education. By doing so, Egypt continues to be in gross violation of all international covenants that guarantee the rights of man, to which Egypt is a co-signatory.
The entire world must express its outrage at this inhumane treatment of children in a nation considered to be a so-called mainstream, moderate and modern, as well as one that is regarded to represent a unique ancient civilization--admired by all. Is this what Egypt wants to be remembered by? One would doubt this very much, and one would expect otherwise.
The world continues to express its hunger for a solution to its widening disunity. An example of such movements--intended to break through the divisive nature of religious intolerance and widespread dislike of what others believe in--is a newly formed alliance between the technology industry and Hollywood elite. A project, named Charter for Compassion, was launched 3 days ago during a Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference in California.
What is even very telling and worth noting is that Charter for Compassion--as stated below in the introduction to its movement--is inviting people of all nations, all faiths and all backgrounds to contribute to the writing of its charter:
Over the next four weeks, everyone is invited to help write the Charter for Compassion. Please choose the active phase below, read the description, be inspired by the sample text, and share your own words or suggestions for that section of the Charter. [link]
In order to find out more about the background of this project and to know what is meant by the "Golden Rule," please view the video below, which is introduced by Karen Armstrong.
The Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights (MNBR), an independent website organized by youth from the Middle East and dedicated to the defense of the Baha'is in the region, was just featured in The Media Line (TML) website.
The Media Line™ (TML) is a unique non-profit news organization established to enhance and balance media coverage in the Middle East, promote independent reporting in the region, and break down barriers to understanding in the Arab and Israeli journalism communities.
TML’s mission is to provide credible, unbiased content, background and context to local media outlets throughout the Middle East and around the world, including the United States, Canada, Europe and Australasia.
In addition to its own reporting, which reaches millions of news consumers daily, TML promotes accuracy and fairness among other regional journalists by designing and implementing ongoing educational, training and dialogue-building projects.
For ease of access, the full article is also posted below:
Muslims for Baha’i Human Rights
Written by Esra'a Al Shafei Published Thursday, November 13, 2008
Iran might be famous for Avicenna, the Cyrus cylinder, and its leaders' scathing remarks, but for over 6 million Baha'is across the world, it holds a special significance, as it is the birthplace of their faith.
Founded a century and a half ago, the Baha'i faith encourages the independent investigation of "truth," and calls – among other things – for the unity of religion and humankind, and the elimination of gender inequality. However, one of its central tenets – that Islam is not the final revelation of God – has led to it being declared a heresy, and its adherents denounced as apostates.
The earliest followers of the Baha'i faith in Iran experienced imprisonment, expulsion and execution, but as the faith's followers grew in number and spread over more countries in the region, it soon became evident that other states would not provide a safe haven for Baha'is to freely practise their faith.
Communities from Morocco to Egypt, Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere underwent an onslaught of propaganda attacks and arrests, and several countries placed a ban on all Baha'i activities.
While in recent years the situation of Baha’is has improved (with Indonesia, for instance, repealing a ban on Baha’i activities), Iran remains the only country where Baha'is experience grave persecution. To date, however, hardly any Muslim-majority countries recognize the Baha'i faith as an independent religion. The lack of recognition rendered many Baha'is incapable of obtaining identification documents, effectively denying them their right to equal citizenship.
The Muslim Network of Baha'i Rights was founded in an effort to address and challenge the discrimination that Baha'is have to suffer under the supposed banner of Islam. Its mission is to secure their basic human rights within our societies, through raising awareness of the plight of Baha'is in many Muslim-majority countries, and encouraging fellow Muslims to speak out against such injustices.
Propaganda campaigns (spread primarily by state-owned media and religious clerics) have led to a deep and dangerous misunderstanding amongst many Muslims of Baha'is and their faith, wrongly associating them with political ideologies like Zionism or referring to them as "Satanists."
Since Baha'is are often censured within the mainstream media, such claims are hardly corrected, putting members of the faith in a very difficult situation. It is our responsibility as Muslims, and as members of the dominating majority, to raise awareness of who Baha'is actually are and to make sure that they are treated equally within the law and society. They are citizens of our countries regardless of their faith, which for the record is extremely respectful of Islam.
As practising Muslims we don't believe in the Baha'i faith, but why should that stand in the way of granting them their full rights? Why should our religious differences justify decades of abuse, wrongful imprisonment, murder, denial of education, and other crimes?
Baha'is have been ignored in their requests for peaceful coexistence, and despite the abuse they have never resorted to violence. It is therefore time for us to stand up and demand that their rights are fully ensured and legally protected. It is time for us to help Baha'is factually refute wrong accusations within regional media outlets that have dire consequences for their security.
As a strategy, and a recruitment tool, we have relied on the power of the Internet, the most open network in the world, to reach our target audience in an honest, uncensored fashion. It is to our advantage that increasingly more people rely on the Internet for news instead of traditional media, which in much of the Middle East is heavily censored. Many curious people resort to the Internet for research because of the amount of information that resides in it.
One of our biggest accomplishments was our successful utilization of creative media in order to raise awareness about the abuse perpetrated against the Baha'i minority in the Middle East, and encourage others into taking action.
Before any significant changes are made to the perceptions of citizens of the Middle East, or discriminatory laws are removed, it is important that we start a discussion, and our media productions have been more successful than any written post in achieving that.
Our first video campaign was documented in one of Egypt's most prominent papers within one week of its launch. Some of our comics have also been published and used in relevant conferences around the world. When the site was first established in the summer of 2007, it was covered by BBC Persian Service in an exclusive article only three weeks later. We owe this success to the accessibility of the Internet, where we break our way into global media outlets without having to worry about censorship.
Despite the amount of controversy we continue to stir in the Muslim world, we are committed to the cause of championing equal rights for the Baha’i minority in the region.
Esra'a Al Shafei is the executive director of MideastYouth.com and the Founder of the Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights. She is based in Bahrain.
Yesterday, 11 November 2008, witnessed another favorable milestone for the Baha'is of Egypt. Cairo's Administrative Court ruled in favor of a Baha'i university student, Hady Hosni Al-Qousheiry, and allowed him to obtain an ID card with dashes "--" in place of religious identification.
Mr. Hady Hosni, who was suspended from the Faculty of Agriculture at Alexandria University because he was unable to obtain an ID card to remain enrolled in the university, was forced to sue for his right to obtain this official document. As required by law, a new computerized ID card is necessary for acquiring a military draft postponement certificate needed for continuation of enrollment in higher education.
This court action is similar to the 29 January 2008 court action that allowed other Baha'i litigants to obtain ID cards and birth certificates, which is awaiting a final decision on the 15th of December by the Supreme Administrative Court because of a non-party appeal to the ruling.
This recent court decision should be regarded as a very significant one. This is because it affirms, again, the trend and the general leaning of the courts that favor finding a just solution to the dilemma of the Baha'is of Egypt. It also conforms to the constitutional guarantees of equal rights to all citizens of Egypt. In its decision, however, the court qualified these constitutional guarantees. It affirmed that "freedom of belief" is unrestricted and is a right for all humans, but that "freedom of religious practice" is regarded as limited to Egypt's only "three recognized religions," i.e. Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
The question is: how could one separate "religious belief" from "religious practice?"
In 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent from April to December touring North America. He is shown here (at center) with Bahá’ís at Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois, USA, in 1912.
Nearly a century ago, Abdu'l-Baha, the son of the founder of the Baha'i religion and the leader of the Baha'i community during that time period, revealed the following prayer on the occasion of his visit to the United States of America. As witnessed recently in the news, his words were indeed prophetic and his promises are gradually being realized:
O Thou kind Lord! This gathering is turning to Thee. These hearts are radiant with Thy love. These minds and spirits are exhilarated by the message of Thy glad-tidings. O God! Let this American democracy become glorious in spiritual degrees even as it has aspired to material degrees, and render this just government victorious. Confirm this revered nation to upraise the standard of the oneness of humanity, to promulgate the Most Great Peace, to become thereby most glorious and praiseworthy among all the nations of the world. O God! This American nation is worthy of Thy favors and is deserving of Thy mercy. Make it precious and near to Thee through Thy bounty and bestowal.
Even though the Supreme Court's State Judicial Council had paved the way for the Supreme Administrative Court to reject the appeal of a "non-party" to the lawsuit, in which Cairo's Administrative Court has permitted the Baha'is to obtain ID cards with "dashes" instead of religious identification, the Supreme Administrative Court appears to be hesitant to render a final decision in the case.
Today, in its scheduled session to rule on the appeal, Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court decided to postpone, again, its ruling and re-scheduled it for 15 December 2008. Reportedly there were several hostile extremists present in the court chambers today, slandering the Baha'is and terrorizing the court proceedings. The Court was not able to render its decision in this atmosphere of terror and the apparent state of anarchy.
Today is a dark day for justice and a dark day for Egypt!
The prominent Lebanese website Menassat [Platforms] has just published an article, written by the journalist Alexandra Sandels, and based on an interview with an Egyptian Baha'i blogger. The most striking aspect of this article is that it, very nicely and very clearly, presents and defines the case of the Baha'is of Egypt. It is also very timely, particularly when considering the imminent supreme court final decision awaited by many on the 3rd of November.
Regarding the website, it is described as follows:
Menassat.com is a website focusing on news, trends and events concerning the media in the twenty-two countries of the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa, defined as the twenty-two member states of the Arab League).
Menassat literally means "platforms" in Arabic; it also holds the acronym for the MENA region.
Our goal is to promote good journalism in the region by providing a platform for Arab journalism as well as specific tools to empower Arab journalists.
Menassat's editorial team is based in Beirut, Lebanon, with correspondents throughout the region....
The full article is posted below with credit to Menassat.
Setting the record straight about Egypt's Baha'i
Posted October 30th, 2008
Followers of the Baha'i faith in Egypt are living as second-class citizens because the authorities do not recognize their religious affiliation on official documents. MENASSAT met with Baha'i blogger Shady Samir, who uses the Internet to advocate for the rights of Egyptian Baha'i.
CAIRO, October 29, 2008 (MENASSAT) – It has been fours years since Shady Samir lost his father, but the Egyptian state still doesn't consider him to be officially dead.
Samir's father was an adherent of the Baha'i faith, and in order for him to obtain a death certificate, he would have to posthumously convert to one of Egypt's three official faiths – Christian, Muslim or Jewish.
It is only one of many problems faced by the adherents of the Baha'i faith in Egypt.
It was issues like these, coupled with the misinformation being spread about the Baha'i faith that prompted Samir to join the information war and "set the record straight" with his blog Egyptian Baha'i.
The Baha'i religion was founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century Persia. It emphasizes the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Baha'i around the world in more than 200 countries and territories
Stateless
Samir's father may remain officially "alive" for some time to come, seeing that he specifically asked his family not to resort to a posthumous conversion to obtain the death certificate.
"It was his last will to die as a Baha'i," Samir told MENASSAT.
Official papers like identity cards and birth certificates are obligatory in Egypt and not having them can cause immense obstacles. Egyptians cannot enroll in schools or universities, receive medical treatment, or even buy a car without a national ID card.
Those Baha'i who refuse to change religion on their official papers effectively become "stateless" in their own country, without the right to access the most elementary public services.
Instead, most Baha'i tend to possess passports – the only official Egyptian document that doesn't require statement of religious affiliation.
"The government certainly makes it easy for us to leave. Is it done on purpose? I don't know," Samir shrugs.
WATCH THE TRAILER FOR AHMED EZZAT'S FILM, IDENTITY CRISIS
In a bid to regain their basic rights in their own country, Egypt's Baha'i community has been fighting a court battle since 2004 to get their faith recognized on the new, computerized ID cards. Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court reversed a December 2006 ruling in favor of the Baha'i after the government appealed.
Legal battle
Since then, the Bahai community have gone back to demanding the right to leave the religion field on official papers blank.
"We want our documents without being forced to write something we're not. It's as simple as that," says Samir.
A court case involving three Bahai citizens demanding this right has been on-going for some time.
The suit concerns 15-year-old twins Imad and Nancy Raouf Hindi, who found themselves unable to obtain birth certificates unless they claimed to be Muslim, Christian or Jewish.
It also involves 19-year-old Hosni Hussein Abdel-Massih, who was suspended from his university due to his inability to present an identity card.
On January 29, 2008. Cairo's Court of Administrative Justice again ruled in favor of the Baha'i plaintiffs, allowing them to obtain birth certificates and identification documents without being required to state a religious affiliation.
But Egypt's Ministry of Interior has yet to implement the ruling and Egyptian Baha'i remain in a legal vacuum.
"Now when you ask for ID papers, they tell you to wait for the final verdict in the case," Samir sighs.
After the initial December 2006 ruling, there was a lot of coverage of the Baha'i in the Egytpian media. But Samir felt it often misrepresented his religion or in some cases even slandered it.
It was what spurred him to start his blog, Egyptian Bahai.
"It is an outlet for me to correct false information that is said about us on blogs and in the media. I mainly target news that spreads untrue information about the Baha'i," he says.
Death threats
Samir gets "lots of feedback" on his blog, he says. but the majority of it is negative.
"I get comments like 'The Bahai faith is not a religion. Stop and think about what you are doing.'"
One message read, "If I see you I will kill you."
The situation of the Egyptian Baha'i has attracted the interest of Egyptian and international human rights organizations.
Several protests were staged in Cairo during in 2006 and 2007 in support of the Baha'i, in which activists held up enlarged versions of Baha'i ID cards.
In February 2007, freelance Egyptian filmmaker Ahmed Ezzat released the documentary "Identity Crisis," in which he portrayed the situation of the Baha'i.
The film focuses in part on the December 2007 verdict. It shows a group of Islamist activists at the courthouse triumphantly shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) while holding up the Quran before a stunned group Baha'i, human rights activists and journalists.
One of the Islamist activists, Mohamed Salem, proceeds to state before the camera that Baha'i are apostates and that "infidels should be killed."
The film goes on to interview rights activists and Egyptian Baha'i such as Dr Basma Moussa, an assistant professor in oral surgery at Cairo University, who claims that Egypt's highest Islamic institution, Al-Azhar, issued a certificate stating she was an apostate, which delayed her tenure for several years.
Ezzat's film was banned from several Egyptian film festivals, including the Alexandria Film Festival.
Samir, whose wife is American, recently obtained his Green Card for the US, but he says that he won't leave his country until he is granted his rights.
"I don't want to run away. I will receive all my rights. I believe that," he says.
Baha'i have lived in Egypt for more than a hundred years. In 1924, Egypt became the first Muslim country to recognize the Baha'i faith as an independent religion apart from Islam.
But ever since President Nasser shut down the Baha'i national assembly in the 1960s, and the government proceeded to confiscate Baha'i properties such as libraries and cemeteries, there has been no official record of the group.
Baha'i institutions and community activities remain banned under Egyptian law to this day.
In a surprise move, Egypt's Ministry of Religious Endowment (Awqaf) has just made public statements that vindicate the Baha'is of Egypt of any links to Zionism--accusations that were previously alleged, without any proof, by the same Ministry.
This new development was published in Copts United website two days ago. The independent site of "the Muslim Network for Baha'i Rights" provided a translated summary of the article in one of its recent posts. The following is some of what the Network has provided in its post.
In an unprecedented move that represents a positive development in the dealing of the Ministry of Religious Endowments with Egypt’s Baha’i community, Sheikh Salim Abdul Jaleel - the under-secretary for religious advocacy, gave the following response to a query on the Ministry’s accusations that Egyptian Baha’is support the Zionist movement:
There is no proof available that incriminates the Baha’is of Egypt with supporting Zionism. But I generally say that the existence of any sect that follows a faith that isn’t divinely inspired serves our enemies. But to state that the Baha’i Faith serves Zionism or that it’s related to it or that its movements are dictated by Zionism or that it is linked to it - these are all accusations that lack evidence, and it’s being repeated by the Intelligence agencies, and not Islamic scholars.
Not only do we accept calls for dialogue, but in fact we call others with whom we disagree to dialogue in order to reach a common ground.
Previously, however, the Ministry of Endowment had been quite vocal in its opposition to the Baha'is as was described in a previous post, quoted below:
...the Ministry of Religious Endowment, headed by Mr. Zaqzouq, has just instructed all mosques in Egypt to launch an attack on the Baha'is. The second, attached, Rose Al-Youssef newspaper article, published today, proudly announces this fresh piece of news.
In brief, the article states that the Ministry has distributed to all Mosque leaders (Imams) a book called "Baha'iy'ah and the position of Islam," aimed at telling people to watch-out for those Baha'is who are out to get them and destroy Islam in the process.
The book, and the article, repeat the usual falsehood that has been propagated in Egypt (and Iran) about the Baha'is, that is: the usual unfounded propaganda about connections to Zionism, etc.... It accuses the Baha'is of being apostates, and explains how Sheikh Al-Azhar in 1947 had classified them as such, and had declared their marriages to be null and void. It even incites Egyptians "to warn their youth about the dangers of 'Baha'iy'ah' so that they don't fall for its entrapment."
It must be emphasized that this development should be regarded as a very significant change of course in the position of this Ministry which, among its other responsibilities, is charged with overseeing all mosques and Islamic religious institutions in the country.
This also speaks for an emerging current of understanding and acceptance that appears to reflect a better appreciation of what the Baha'is are all about. The government and its agencies, as well as numerous prominent members and leaders of the society, appear to be learning the truth about the Baha'i Faith and the desire of the Egyptian Baha'is, as obedient citizens and well-wishers of their homeland, to join hands with their fellow Egyptians in promoting their collective welfare.
Although this transition is gradual and guarded, it demonstrates that the Egyptian authorities are finally nearing the conclusion that Baha'is are indeed well-wishers of their beloved country and that their intentions are to serve their fellow citizens and to promote unity and harmony wherever they reside. It is only natural that this gradual change of heart is happening...it is because of the unshaken course pursued by the Baha'is of Egypt in their struggle. They have always responded to aggressors with dignity, respect and resilience, even when they were faced with unprecedented vicious attacks by some. Additionally, while maintaining their composure and dignity, they have never hesitated to refute misrepresentations of their religion by some of the media and by the extremist elements of the society.
This past week has been full of events on many fronts, both personal and public. On a personal level, I would like to share the arrival of our first grandchild in San Francisco, a peaceful and happy baby girl who looks up to a future full of peace and harmony. More specifically to a future when people are not segregated based on their color, race, religion, ethnicity, class, political orientation, nationalism, or culture. A future when all people share the same opportunity regardless of where they are or who they are, and where people feel comfortable in their homelands without intimidation or alienation caused by ugly and divisive political and social rhetoric .
Regarding the recent news from Egypt, most significant is the decision of Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court on 20 October to postpone its final verdict on the question of issuing ID cards to the Baha'is until its next session of 3 November 2008.
As was posted before, "the State Council of the Supreme Administrative Court has produced a judicial memorandum requesting the Supreme Administrative Court to issue a final judicial judgment that affirms the [29 January 2008] ruling of Cairo's Administrative Court, which allowed placing dashes '--' for the Baha'is of Egypt in the religion section, since neither the Ministry of Interior nor the Attorney-General appealed the decision of the Administrative Court."
It is hoped and expected that the Supreme Court will abide by the decision of its own State Judicial Council. This will surely ease some of the serious difficulties encountered by the Baha'is of Egypt on a daily basis, simply because of their inability to possess identification documents and birth certificates.
Additionally, Egypt's National Council for Human Rights, a government-appointed official organization, has just proposed to the government the passing of a law that forbids discrimination based on religion, a law that would ensure equal treatment for all Egyptian citizens regardless of their belief.
As to Iran, a revealing piece of information has just made the world aware of a document vindicating the Baha’i youth prisoners in Shiraz. The youth, named: Raha Sabet, Haleh Rouhi and Sasan Taqva, have by now completed 10 months of their four-year sentence and continue to be incarcerated in the prison facility of the Ministry of Intelligence (known as Pelak 100), which is reserved only for interrogations and temporary arrests.
The two-page document, belonging to the office of the Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei], discovered in relation to the humanitarian activities of the 54 Baha’is in Shiraz arrested on 19 May 2006 on the charge of “participating in activities against state security,” showed that these individuals are indeed innocent. Of interest, the document's date is 16 June 2008, but it remained a secret until now, and the Iranian authorities did nothing to correct its wrongdoing and release these innocent youth. In order to read the entire translated (very revealing) document and view the original one, please refer to this site, named Iran Press Watch.
The following video illustrates clearly how art can contribute to the cause of human rights and its role in bringing about social awareness. It is indeed an inspiration to the youth everywhere, providing an example on how to engage oneself and be useful to society through creativity.
“All the Prophets of God,” asserts Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-Íqán, “abide in the same tabernacle, soar in the same heaven, are seated upon the same throne, utter the same speech, and proclaim the same Faith.” From the “beginning that hath no beginning,” these Exponents of the Unity of God and Channels of His incessant utterance have shed the light of the invisible Beauty upon mankind, and will continue, to the “end that hath no end,” to vouchsafe fresh revelations of His might and additional experiences of His inconceivable glory. To contend that any particular religion is final, that “all Revelation is ended, that the portals of Divine mercy are closed, that from the daysprings of eternal holiness no sun shall rise again, that the ocean of everlasting bounty is forever stilled, and that out of the Tabernacle of ancient glory the Messengers of God have ceased to be made manifest” would indeed be nothing less than sheer blasphemy.
“They differ,” explains Bahá’u’lláh in that same epistle, “only in the intensity of their revelation and the comparative potency of their light.” And this, not by reason of any inherent incapacity of any one of them to reveal in a fuller measure the glory of the Message with which He has been entrusted, but rather because of the immaturity and unpreparedness of the age He lived in to apprehend and absorb the full potentialities latent in that Faith. (Shoghi Effendi: The World Order of Baha'u'llah)
![[Cover of A Revolution Without Rights? Women, Kurds and Baha'is Searching for Equality in Iran]](http://fpc.org.uk/fsblob/1007.jpg)
In a surprise move, Egypt's 
