Egyptian Islamists Join Case Against Convert to Christianity

Something that really infuriates Muslim zealots, apparently, is the conversion of a Muslim to another religion.

Conservative Islamic lawyers came out in support of the Egyptian government last week at the opening court hearing of a Muslim convert to Chris tianity.

In a move that has caused national uproar, former Muslim Mohammed Ahmed Hegazy is suing Egypt to change the religion listed on his identification papers to Chris tianity.

Even Hegazy's former lawyer, Mamdouh Nakhla, received threats:-

Under public criticism and death threats, Nakhla withdrew from Hegazy’s case days after it became public. Fanatics began harassing Hegazy and his pregnant wife, also a former Muslim, with angry telephone calls, forcing the couple into hiding.

“It’s quite sensitive,” Hegazy’s new lawyer, Rawda Ahmad, told Compass through a translator. “It would be the first time that someone who converted to Chris tianity would be able to change his ID card.”

Though Egyptian law does not forbid conversion from Islam to Chris tianity, it provides no legal means to make the change. Converts to Chris tianity usually hide their identity to avoid torture and forced recantation at the hands of family members and security police.

Apparently, even a single convert to Christianity threatens Egyptian stability:-

Egyptian media have criticized Hegazy in recent months, claiming that his conversion was motivated by money, blackmail, and foreign forces hoping to destabilize Egypt .

Why did he convert to Christianity:-

Now 24, Hegazy said he first made the decision to become a Chris tian when he was 16.

“My father was not a practicing Muslim, but he hated Chris tians and Jews as he believed Islam taught us to do so,” Hegazy said in a website statement. “As a child I was taught not to love or respect Chris tians, but rather treat them harshly because God hates them.”

As a teenager Hegazy enrolled in an institute to train as an Islamic preacher but said he did not like what he learned about Islam’s teaching on women and various subjects.

It was only at the age of 16, when he transferred to a class that had seven Chris tian students, that he began to think seriously about Chris tianity.

“It was the first time that I lived close to Chris tians, and their lives were like lights for me,” Hegazy said. One day he borrowed a Chris tian book from one of his classmates and read about the conversion of Saul. The story created a desire in him to know more about Chris tianity.

Then what happened?

State security police soon arrested the young man and tortured him for three days. Despite using a Coptic Orthodox priest to convince Hegazy to recant, the young convert said that police were unable to persuade him to revert to Islam. He eventually returned home, his father under the illusion that he was once again Muslim.

Historically, the punishment for an apostate from Islam was death, however, few Muslim countries now impose the death penalty for apostasy. Many Muslim countries, however, have some form of punishment for leaving Islam. This may involve imprisonment or they may just make life difficult for the apostate.

Often, however, the chief threat is not from the law, but from fanatical Muslims who are willing to take the law into their own hands.