{"id":14973,"date":"2026-02-03T13:22:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T11:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/?p=14973"},"modified":"2026-02-03T13:22:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T11:22:04","slug":"religious-freedoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/religious-freedoms\/","title":{"rendered":"Between Law and Practice: How Egypt Restricts Freedom of Belief"},"content":{"rendered":"

A young man in his late twenties has been living in constant fear for months. Security forces raided his home after online posts in which he expressed non-traditional religious beliefs, leaving him suddenly trapped between detention, psychological intimidation, and social stigmatization. He committed no crime other than freely expressing his ideas, which made him the target of a broad security and judicial campaign, he tells Zawia3<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The experience of \u201cAdam\u201d (a pseudonym) is not unique. Dozens of people in Egypt are going through the same scenario, where prosecutions extend to enforced disappearance, pretrial detention, and psychological and social pressure. Freedom of belief and expression thus becomes little more than a constitutional text on paper, far removed from everyday reality.<\/p>\n

During 2025, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights<\/strong> documented<\/a> the arrest of 52 individuals across seven different cases, most of them accused of belonging to groups established in violation of the law or of contempt of religion. Many were subjected to enforced disappearance for periods ranging from days to weeks before being brought before the Supreme State Security Prosecution.<\/p>\n

Among the most prominent of these cases is Sherif Gaber<\/strong>, who has faced repeated prosecution for several years due to his religious views and critical writings on social media. Three criminal convictions have already been issued against him, the most recent being a five-year prison sentence in 2024. He was arrested again in November 2025 and placed in pretrial detention in Case No. 11005 of 2025 on charges of joining a group established in violation of the law and contempt of religion. Meanwhile, one of the Initiative\u2019s clients died in prison in January 2026, underscoring the severity of the humanitarian situation facing these defendants.<\/p>\n

In the same context, a number of individuals holding different religious views were arrested as part of a wide-ranging campaign targeting Muslims, religious critics, non-religious Christians, and atheists, often solely for expressing their beliefs on social media platforms. Among them is Maged Zakaria<\/strong><\/a>, known as \u201cMufti of Humanity,\u201d who was arrested in September 2025 and denied contact with his family or lawyer until he appeared before the prosecution ten days later. The campaign also extended to others who appeared with him in his programs and online groups on YouTube and Facebook, including members of the \u201cArab Atheists Network and Forum.\u201d<\/p>\n

These prosecutions come despite official statements by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi<\/strong> affirming the state\u2019s commitment to freedom of belief. Last November, he called on preachers of the Ministry of Endowments to act as \u201cguardians of freedom and choice,\u201d stressing that \u201cno one is a guardian over anyone.\u201d In September 2021, el-Sisi stated that \u201cthe fundamental principle is freedom of belief,\u201d emphasizing that it includes an individual\u2019s right to believe or not believe, and that \u201cthere is no guardianship over people\u2019s choices in this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Escalating Prosecutions: Why Now?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Although this campaign has seen a clear escalation in recent months, it does not represent an isolated case of targeting individuals in Egypt for holding non-traditional religious beliefs. Over the past decade, similar cases have repeatedly affected atheists, non-believers, and holders of critical religious views, whether through direct security prosecutions or by initiating court cases on charges such as \u201ccontempt of religion\u201d or \u201cpromoting extremist ideas.\u201d These cases have relied on legal provisions<\/a> that have been deployed to restrict freedom of belief and expression, according to documentation by local and international human rights organizations.<\/p>\n

During the same period, the security campaign has encompassed a number of individuals with non-traditional religious beliefs as part of a broader operation targeting diverse groups, whether through social media platforms or in private spaces. This reflects an expanding scope of targeting that includes anyone who diverges from prevailing religious interpretations or expresses their views freely, and underscores the persistence of an escalating pattern of restrictions on freedom of belief and expression in Egypt.<\/p>\n

In this context, Ishak Ibrahim<\/strong>, Director of the Equality and Non-Discrimination Unit at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights<\/strong>, says that the security campaign against atheists and non-believers is not a new phenomenon. Its features, he explains, began to take shape as early as 2015, when a group known as \u201cPreachers of the Religion of Peace\u201d and \u201cAl-Nour Al-Mohammadi\u201d was targeted. Sixteen people were arrested at the time, one of whom was deported due to his Syrian nationality, while the others remained in detention for extended periods.<\/p>\n

Ibrahim tells Zawia3<\/strong> that a broad campaign has intensified since last September, encompassing individuals from diverse backgrounds: Muslims with critical positions toward certain religious practices, Christians who criticize the church, as well as non-believers and atheists. He notes that these prosecutions are often based on charges such as \u201ccontempt of religion,\u201d or other vague accusations including \u201cbroadcasting false news\u201d and \u201cjoining a group established in violation of the constitution and the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the widespread use of the label \u201catheist\u201d in public discourse to stigmatize anyone who declares a departure from religion, particularly Islam, academic literature distinguishes more precisely between three main categories: the atheist, who denies the existence of a creator god; the agnostic, who neither affirms nor denies the existence of a god; and the non-religious individual, who believes in a creative force behind the universe but rejects affiliation with any specific religion or submission to its institutions and rituals. In the Egyptian context, there are no reliable official statistics on the numbers of people in these categories. They are divided between those who publicly declare their views and those who choose to conceal their religious convictions for social and legal reasons, rendering all circulating figures closer to conflicting estimates that reflect controversy more than they provide an accurate scientific picture.<\/p>\n

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International and domestic law emphasize the need to adopt a broad definition of freedom of religion and belief, in line with Article 18<\/strong><\/a> of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which forms part of Egyptian legislation pursuant to Article 93 of the Constitution. This definition includes protection for monotheistic and non-monotheistic religions, as well as atheistic beliefs, without limiting interpretation to dominant religions alone. Paragraph 2 of the article further stipulates the prohibition of any coercion that would impair individuals\u2019 right to adopt a religion or belief, including the use of threats of physical violence or criminal penalties to compel believers or non-believers to adhere to, or renounce, their convictions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The Legal Context and the Charges Brought Against Them<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In this context, Hazem Salah<\/strong>, a lawyer at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights<\/strong>, explains that the cases commonly referred to in the media as the \u201cnon-believers\u2019 cases\u201d are not limited to individuals who hold non-religious views. Rather, they include defendants from diverse religious backgrounds, among them Muslims and Christians, who have been prosecuted merely for raising questions or expressing criticism related to religion, in addition to the presence of some defendants who have no connection to the issue at all.<\/p>\n

Salah tells Zawia3<\/strong> that the charges brought against the 26 defendants in the most recent case, as well as in most similar cases, are based on provisions of the Penal Code. These include joining a group established in violation of the Constitution and the law, on the allegation that it seeks to undermine freedom of religion and harm national unity, in addition to the charge of contempt of one of the heavenly religions, as stipulated in Article 98 (w) of the Penal Code.<\/p>\n

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Article 98<\/a> of Egypt\u2019s Penal Code No. 58 of 1937 provides that \u201canyone who exploits religion, whether through speech, writing, or any other means, to promote extremist ideas with the aim of inciting sedition, denigrating or showing contempt for one of the heavenly religions or the sects affiliated with them, or harming national unity, shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of no less than six months and no more than five years, or by a fine of no less than 500 pounds and no more than 1,000 pounds.\u201d Article 86<\/a> bis further stipulates the punishment of anyone who establishes, organizes, or manages a group in violation of the Constitution and the law for the purpose of obstructing the provisions of the Constitution or the laws, or harming national unity. It also provides for imprisonment for anyone who joins or participates in such a group with full knowledge of its objectives.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Marital Blackmail in Egypt: How Husbands Exploit the Law to Abuse Women<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n