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In Egypt, Baha'is face challenges over religious identity and belief; a court ruling on all-important state ID cards stirs a major controversy in Egypt and the Arab world, drawing attention to the plight of Baha'is and larger issues of religious freedom.

Article Excerpt
CAIRO -- Normally, a driver's license in Egypt is good for ten years. But when Basma Moussa sought recently to renew hers, officials gave her one that is valid for just a month.

The problem is her state identity card is an old-style paper document, not one of the new computer-generated plastic ID cards that are currently being phased in by the government. Officials want to see the new card before granting a long-term license.

But Dr. Moussa, an assistant professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery at Cairo University, cannot get a new computerized card without lying--which is firmly against her religious principles.

That's because Dr. Moussa is a Baha'i, and the new ID card system is designed to lock out any religious affiliation except Islam, Christianity, or Judaism, which are the three officially recognized religions here.

The inability to properly renew a driver's license may seem a small thing, but it illustrates a much wider problem facing the small but active Egyptian Baha'i community.

Because of their inability to get new identification cards, Baha'is are gradually losing virtually all rights of citizenship, including access to education, financial services, and government health care--not to mention freedom of movement and security of property.

"By the end of the year, the acceptance of hand-written ID cards will stop," said Dr. Moussa. "And at that time, everything in our lives will stop. We won't be able to go to the bank, or have any dealing with any government office, whether hospitals, schools, or even at routine police check points."

The whole issue of identity cards and religious affiliation has become something of a cause celebre in Egypt since a lower court upheld the rights of Baha'is to be properly identified on government documents.

That ruling, handed down by a three-judge administrative court on 4 April 2006, held that government efforts to deprive Baha'is of ID cards were illegal--and that Baha'is, even if their faith is not recognized as a religion, have every right as citizens to be identified as Baha'is on official documents.

While Egyptian human rights groups immediately hailed the decision, influential Islamic organizations vehemently objected--including scholars at Al Azhar University and representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood.

"Public shock has given way to heated debate over an administrative court ruling sanctioning an...

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