Controversies about freedom of belief aren’t new to Egypt. In Egypt, the line between personal freedom and respecting others’ freedoms has always been blurred. We’ve been having increasingly intense debates since last Thursday about what defines personal liberty ever since news came out about a man who was fired for not praying, as well as news of people being arrested for not fasting.
“Despite “not fasting” not being a crime in the Egyptian penal code, the campaign was reportedly led by a government official.”
It was reported that a café in Al Aguza was raided by the police, who were aiming to chase away people who aren’t fasting during Ramadan. Despite “not fasting” not being a crime in the Egyptian penal code, the campaign was reportedly led by a government official.
Last Thursday as well, a man by the name of Adam Mubarak wrote a Facebook status about how he got fired because he doesn’t pray! Although most of the comments on the post attacked Adam for not praying instead of the management for firing him, later on the same day Adam wrote another post saying that the owner of the company apologized to him, saying Mubarak misunderstood him. Mubarak also added that the owner of the company offered him to continue working in his company.
“Those two incidents, though unrelated, all point in the same direction at the end of the day; freedom of belief is nonexistent in Egypt.”
Those two incidents, though unrelated, all point in the same direction at the end of the day; freedom of belief is nonexistent in Egypt. We boast our tolerance and ability to accept one another, but our government, as well as the citizens, choose to persecute anyone who makes different choices when it comes to their faith.
