A bit more religious freedom for Egyptian Baha’is?

Today’s edition of The Economist has a story about what may be a modest increase in religious freedom in Egypt.

Last year Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti, who is the government’s highest religious adviser, declared that nowhere in Islam’s sacred texts did it say that apostasy need be punished in the present rather than by God in the afterlife. In the past month, Egyptian courts have issued two rulings that, while restricted in scope, should ease some bothersome strictures. Bahais may now leave the space for religion on their identity cards blank.

Small steps, perhaps, but they point the way towards freedom of choice and citizenship based on equal rights rather than membership of a privileged religion.

Hmm. We shall see. These are very small steps and, while they will make life for Egyptian Baha’is somewhat easier, they do not address the basic issue: Baha’i activities were banned by President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1960 under Presidential Decree 263. This decree has never been rescinded.

By the way, there is an irony attached to Ali Gomaa’s declaration that apostasy does not need to be punished in this life. Iran is currently contemplating a new penal code that would include a mandatory death sentence for apostasy. So no increase in religious freedom in Iran, then.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, religious freedom, apostasy, Egypt, Iran