Source: Baha’i World News Service

The Universal House of Justice, the highest governing body of the Baha’i community, has sent a letter to the Baha’is of Egypt, encouraging them to continue in their efforts to acquire their national ID card required for rights of citizenship. The letter follows the decision made on 16th December by Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court to uphold an appeal by the government’s Interior Ministry against Baha’is being able to legally apply for required national ID cards. (see here, here or here for more information).

The letter calls on Egyptian Baha’is to “…stand firm and persevere in your effort to win affirmation of this right. To do less would be to deprive the authorities of Egypt of the opportunity to correct a wrong which has implications for many others, no less than for yourselves. Moreover, to relent would be to disregard the moral courage of those organizations, media, and persons of goodwill who have joined their voices to yours in the quest for a just solution to a serious inequity.”

The full letter can be downloaded in English or Arabic from the Baha’i World News Service.

The virgin birth is remembered, and sung about, as a miraculous event. Something that is not often thought about is what it must have been like for Mary, not only from the perspective of having to give birth in a stables, but to have become pregnant without a physical father and to have to explain it to people around her, who surely would not have believed her story.

The following is from Baha’u'llah in The Kitab-i-Iqan, quoting the Quran:

“…reflect upon the state and condition of Mary. So deep was the perplexity of that most beauteous countenance, so grievous her case, that she bitterly regretted she had ever been born. To this beareth witness the text of the sacred verse wherein it is mentioned that after Mary had given birth to Jesus, she bemoaned her plight and cried out: “O would that I had died ere this, and been a thing forgotten, forgotten quite!” I swear by God! Such lamenting consumeth the heart and shaketh the being. Such consternation of soul, such despondency, could have been caused by no other than the censure of the enemy and the cavilings of the infidel and perverse. Reflect, what answer could Mary have given to the people around her? How could she claim that a Babe Whose father was unknown had been conceived of the Holy Ghost? Therefore did Mary, that veiled and immortal Countenance, take up her Child and return unto her home. No sooner had the eyes of the people fallen upon her than they raised their voice saying: “O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of wickedness, nor unchaste thy mother.“

There are wide-spread misconceptions about how the Baha’is in Egypt are being denied human rights, and while I have linked extensively to the Baha’i Faith in Egypt blog which explains these matters very well, I feel the facts deserve broader coverage.

The Baha’is are not merely being denied the right to state their Faith on their ID cards, as is the headline on many articles, they are losing many rights. Officially Baha’is will not be able to leave their homes, furthermore they will be obstructed from doing all the following:

travelling, getting married, getting divorced, collecting salaries or pensions, getting money out of bank accounts, registering child births, obtaining death certificates, obtaining employment, obtaining a driver’s license, obtaining mobile phones, obtaining vehicles or property, obtaining hospital treatment, obtaining medicine from a pharmacy, obtaining a school education for their children, enrolling in a university, obtaining a national draft number, obtaining public or social services or obtaining hotel accommodation.

The denial of these rights for Baha’is in Egypt is not caused solely by the governments refusal to officially recognise the Baha’i Faith as a religion. There are several countries that have a list of officially recognised religions excluding the Baha’i Faith while managing to ensure that basic rights of citizenship are still available to Baha’is.

The decision of the Supreme Administrative Court, on Saturday, to uphold the appeal of the Interior Ministry against Baha’is being able to give their religion on ID cards on the grounds that the Baha’i Faith is not one of the three recognised religions of the country is not, in itself, the main cause of denial to Baha’is of their basic human rights in Egypt. However, had the decision gone the other way and Baha’is had been allowed to record Baha’i as their faith then it would have removed the very obstacle by which Baha’is are denied their rights, and this is why this was seen as a major test case for human rights in Egypt.

In Egypt citizens are required, by law, to carry an identity card. Every Egyptian has to apply for a new identity card before the end of this year. In order to apply for an identity card you have to list your religion as Islam, Christianity or Judaism, you may not list any other faith or use the term “other”, and you must, of course, sign a declaration that states: “that all details in this application are correct and real; I accept responsibility for consequences, with the full knowledge that providing any incorrect information in this application is considered forgery of official documents and is legally punishable according to the articles of the penal code”.

It is, therefore, impossible for a person who believes in a faith that is not officially recognised by the state of Egypt to acquire the national ID card, and therefore the many human rights which are only available to citizens who have identity cards are withheld from such individuals because of their beliefs.

The appeal of the Baha’is to be allowed to list Baha’i as their religion on their ID cards was not an appeal to have their Faith officially recognised as a true religion by the Egyptian government, it was rather an appeal to be allowed to acquire an ID card. For those who face this identity card crisis the option of listing their religion as other or merely leaving the box blank would suffice, but in Egypt this is not acceptable, you must consider yourself a follower of a recognised religion for the government to recognise you as a citizen.

Egypt’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, has been quoted as saying that the Baha’is can claim ID cards by listing Baha’i as sect of Islam, since they claim to believe in Muhammad, Jesus Christ and Moses as do the Muslims. However, in 1940 Egypt’s highest ecclesiastical court in Cairo stated that “The Baha’i Faith is a new religion, entirely independent, with beliefs, principles and laws of its own” and that “No Baha’i”…”can be regarded a Muslim or vice-versa, even as no Buddhist, Brahmin, or Christian can be regarded as Muslim or vice-versa.” Clearly Egypt’s history would deny the Baha’is the right to list their faith as a sect of Islam, and no Baha’i would feel that they were filling the application form honestly or correctly if they were to list their Faith as a sect of Islam.

Of course, the government could provide guidelines as to what people of other Faiths should enter and then alter the declaration to state that the applicant believed the details to be correct “according to the guidelines provided”, but they have not given any such guidelines.

Writing in Aljazeera Magazine, Sheikha Sajida states that “Supporting the Bahais in their quest for recognition, just like Christians and Muslims, is another attempt to shake the unity of the Egyptian society, and hurts Muslims, who form the majority of the Egyptian public.”

The Baha’i quest is not a quest for recognition, but rather it is a quest for unity. Baha’is believe firmly in building a united society free from divisions based on gender, race, class or religion, and where they are permitted to do so they frequently strive toward this goal.

Surely it hurts a Muslim less to let a man claim he personally believes there was a Messenger from God after Muhammad than it hurts them to have a reputation of refusing rights of citizenship to people born and raised in their country on the basis of such beliefs? I am sure it would be unimaginable that a Muslim would call it just for Christian countries to deny rights to Muslims on the basis that the teachings of Jesus Christ do not appear to encompass Islam for the majority of Christians who do not accept Muhammad as a Prophet. If it is acceptable that a Muslim state withholds rights from individuals whose beliefs are, at some level, incompatible with their own then surely they should expect many non-Islamic states to withhold rights from Muslims. Thankfully most of the world see the rights to freedom of belief as having a wider implication than merely accepting those beliefs that are most compatible to your own way of thinking. Thankfully religions co-exist throughout the world by focussing on their common belief in God and the many character building principles that most Faiths share in common.

Accepting that an Egyptian citizen has religious beliefs that are not wholly compliant with the official religion of the country does not require that the state officially recognises those beliefs as being true. The insistence of the Egyptian government that Egyptians must adopt a belief that the state recognises as being a true religion is an infringement on the right of freedom of belief for the individual, and the denial of further rights of citizenship to those who do not comply with this wish is an unacceptable sanction.

It is not clear if it is by design, or by accident, that Egyptian laws force people to be denied their rights if they do not belong to one of the three recognised faiths, but it is clear that it is a situation that is not acceptable in the world we live in and a solution is definitely required, quickly.

The United Nations’ General Assembly adopted a resolution yesterday (19th December), expressing serious concern over human rights abuses in Iran. The resolution was recommended to the General Assembly on 21st November by its Third Committee, which considers human rights issues on their behalf, and was accepted by the General Assembly with a vote of 72 in favour to 50 against, with 55 abstentions.

The resolution calls upon the Government of Iran to ensure full respect for the rights to freedom of assembly, opinion and expression, and to eliminate the use of torture and other cruel forms of punishment, as well as discrimination based on religious, ethnic, linguistic and gender grounds.

See also: UN Concern over Human Rights in Iran

The 25th anniversary commemoration of the adoption of the “UN Declaration on the Elimination of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief” was held in Prague, and broadcast live over the Internet, on the 25th November.

The following is a report of the event from the Baha’i World News Service:

PRAGUE, 19 December 2006 (BWNS) — Although it was negotiated at the height of the Cold War, a 25-year-old international agreement on freedom of religion or belief remains as relevant today — and perhaps even more so — said speakers at a major United Nations-sanctioned observance here in late November.

Some 350 participants representing more than 60 governments, UN agencies, and various international non-governmental organizations — including the Baha’i International Community — gathered on 25 November 2006 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.

The commemoration was marked by speeches, workshops, and an end-of-the-conference statement. They echoed a common theme: that the 1981 Declaration remains a critical document for the protection of freedom of religion or belief, especially at a time when religious conflict seems on the rise.

“These days, we live in a globalized world,” said Piet de Klerk, Ambassador-at-Large of the Netherlands on Human Rights. “This means that different cultures, including different faiths, meet each other more frequently and in a more intense manner than during previous periods of time.”

Mr. de Klerk said that although it was initially negotiated at a time when issues of freedom or religion or belief concerned the ideological struggle between Communism and the West, the Declaration is nevertheless today helpful in addressing the challenges posed by global diversity because it is “based on the conviction of many that the freedom of religion or belief itself offers a way forward for fighting intolerance.”

Asma Jahangir, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, said the principles of the Declaration remain “pivotal” in the current “polarized climate.”

“We all need to join our efforts to disseminate the principles contained in the 1981 Declaration among lawmakers, judges and civil servants but also among non-state actors,” said Ms. Jahangir. “We need to eliminate the root causes of intolerance and discrimination and to remain vigilant with regard to freedom of religion or belief worldwide.”

Ms. Felice Gaer, chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, also said the Declaration has become more important over time.

“The right of everyone to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion is universal, as the unanimous adoption of the Declaration on Religious Intolerance showed - even in 1981,” said Ms. Gaer. “Regrettably, violations of this universal right continue to be committed across the globe.

“The occasion of the 25th anniversary is a call to all governments to intensify their efforts to protect freedom of religion or belief at home and to advance respect for religious freedom abroad. The ability of people throughout the world to live in peace and freedom depends on it.”

Other speakers included Diane Alai, the Baha’i International Community’s representative to the United Nations in Geneva, who co-presented at a workshop on the right to “change” one’s religion, along with Ms. Jahanghir. In that workshop, Ms. Jahanghir noted that although the Declaration does not specifically mention the word “change,” it is clearly implied in an article that says everyone has the “freedom to have a religion or belief of his choice.” As well, Ms. Jahangir said, other UN treaties and statements have clearly upheld this right.

Ms. Alai said upholding the right to change one’s religion is of “practical importance” overall in the regime of religious freedom, in that the denial of such a right also essentially denies all of the other rights guaranteed in the Declaration, as well as rights guaranteed in other international treaties, such as the right to freedom of association, the right to privacy, freedom of expression, and minority rights.

Yet the right to change one’s religions is not always upheld, said Ms. Alai, because some governments today want “to preserve the popularity stemming from a particular state-religion relationship” and so they restrict the right to change one’s religion through particular laws and policies.

This is of critical importance, said Ms. Alai, because there are some countries where the right to “change” one’s religion is consider apostasy, which is punishable by death under some interpretations of religious law.

Ms. Alai pointed specifically to the situation of the Baha’i communities of Iran and Egypt, which currently face persecution and discrimination over religious belief, and where Baha’is have indeed been labelled as apostates, a “crime” which is punishable by death in Iran.

“People are known and respected for risking imprisonment, torture and even death because they uphold a certain political ideology, however, this is not yet fully recognized when it comes to a religious belief,” said Ms. Alai.

Other workshops at the commemoration considered issues relating to freedom of religion versus freedom of expression, freedom of religious for the individual versus society at large, and freedom of religion in the context of the propagation of religion.

A final statement, titled the “Prague Declaration on Freedom of Religion or Belief,” was announced by the gathering. “We consider it essential for governments and international organizations, such as the UN and various regional organizations, to give priority to the protection of the freedom of religion or belief and to the eradication of all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief,” said the Prague Declaration.

Adopted by the United Nations on 25 November 1981, the 1981 Declaration spells out and delineates the right to freedom of religion or belief, which was initially recognized in the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

The 1981 Declaration indicates, for example, that the right to freedom of religion or belief includes the right to “establish and maintain” places of worship; to “write, issue and disseminate” religious publications; to “observe days of rest and to celebrate holidays”; and to “establish and maintain communications with individuals and communities in matters of religion and belief at the national and international levels.”

The Prague commemoration was sanctioned as the official, international commemoration of the adoption of the 1981 Declaration by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. It was organized by Mr. Jan Ghanea Tabrizi of Tolerance 95, an NGO based in the Czech Republic, and Dr. Nazila Ghanea of the UK-based Centre for International Human Rights, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London. Funding was provided by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Full article and pictures available here.
Further pictures and transcripts available here.

This is a techy grumble. My blogs are still damaged by Google’s new beta version of blogger. If you read their blurb on progress you would think that everything was close to perfection. If you use he new blogger in the most simple of ways then there are indeed some nice new features available to you, but if you use FTP to host your own blog then the new blogger just introduces a few cosmetic changes, including the formatting of the atom XML feed. I had decided to transfer over to WordPress which would remain more under my control but the import feature of WordPress does not work with Blogger Beta. So, my site remains a little damaged for a while until I can find a work around for the cross-blog links to work again. I am concluding that while Blogger is an excellent entry vehicle into blogging, I have always felt it wins over Yahoo, MSN and MySpace in many ways, but at the end of the engine is still remotely-hosted, and somebody else controls your blog presence.

The war on Iraq is a sad state of affairs whatever your perspective on the rights or wrongs of the invasion and the continuing presence of foreign forces to assist in the rebuilding of the country, but this video, which claims to show US soldiers teaching Iraqi children a little English, is heart-destroying.

In the United Kingdom there has been much talk this year of replacing “Christmas” with a winter festival, to be politically correct in a multi-faith society. Virtually all the talk has come from local authorities and non-religious organisations rather than religious groups themselves, but the media have run several stories implying that it is the non-Christian Faiths who are to blame for this revolt against Christmas, particularly Muslims.

For most in the UK, Christmas is hardly seen as a major religious festival. In recent years our favourite Christmas songs have included “2 become 1″ by the Spice Girls, and children’s classic “Bob the Builder”. Our TV schedules offer just one hour of religious programming in the morning, on the two most popular channels, before launching into a schedule of popular recent films and innuendo-packed comedies.

Muslims believe in Jesus Christ, as do the Baha’is, and in addition to any feeling that they should honour the traditions of the country in which they live, which often seem to be Christian almost exclusively by name alone, most followers of Islam and the Baha’i Faith would probably prefer this nation to take a more religious approach to remembering the birth of Jesus Christ. Anything that promotes a non-fanatical interest in religion is good for followers of other Faiths as it nudges open a door to a more informed discussion of differing beliefs, rather than debates grown out of fear or prejudice.

As a non-Christian born in England, I certainly don’t have any objections to this Christian country celebrating Christmas. I tend to spare a little time on Christmas day to think about the Christian history that the day is supposed to celebrate, before generally enjoying stuffing myself with nice food and watching a mediocre movie that I might switch to another programme if I didn’t feel so weighed down by food in my chair.

The Birth of Baha’u'llah, the Prophet-Founder of the Baha’i Faith, is celebrated by Baha’is on November 12th each year, but our biggest festivals are our new year on March 21st and a pre-fasting “Intercalary” period at the end of February called Ayyam-i-Ha.

As for a Baha’i perscpective on Christmas, Baha’u'llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s Writings affirm the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary, stating that Christ found existence through the Spirit of God. Among the many Baha’i Writings which extol the station of Jesus Christ is the following from Baha’u'llah:

“Know thou that when the Son of Man yielded up His breath to God, the whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things. Its evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples of the earth, are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the influence exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive, and resplendent Spirit.

“We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendour of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified.

“Leprosy may be interpreted as any veil that interveneth between man and the recognition of the Lord, his God. Whoso alloweth himself to be shut out from Him is indeed a leper, who shall not be remembered in the Kingdom of God, the Mighty, the All-Praised. We bear witness that through the power of the Word of God every leper was cleansed, every sickness was healed, every human infirmity was banished. He it is Who purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with a face beaming with light, hath turned towards Him.”

Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court has ruled against Baha’is being able to acquire official documents by today upholding an appeal by the Interior Ministry.

The judge, after giving their verdict, stated that “the constitution promotes freedom of belief for the three recognised heavenly religions and they are Islam, Christianity and Judaism”, he went on to call members of the Baha’i Faith “apostates of Islam, because the faith’s principles contradict the Islamic religion and all other religions.”

The Baha’is principle representative to the United Nations, Ms Bani Dugal, said that “We deplore the Court’s ruling in this case, which violates an extensive body of international law on human rights and religious freedom”… “the Court’s decision threatens to make non-citizens of an entire religious community, solely on the basis of religious belief.”

Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said “It’s a regrettable decision, but it’s a crisis for the government more than for the Bahais, now the government is forced to find a solution for the hundreds of citizens who have no papers.”

This hope was also expressed by the Baha’i International Community’s Ms Dugal, who said “Our hope now is that the public debate over this issue will cause the Egyptian government to rectify its discriminatory policies. This could be accomplished either by allowing Baha’is to be listed on government documents, by abolishing the religious affiliation listing entirely or, simply, by allowing the word ‘other’ to be legally included on state identification forms.”

In Egypt citizens are required to hold an identity card on which they must list their religion as Islam, Christianity or Judaism. Human Rights groups have been aware that this causes problems for other Faith communities in Egypt, such as the Baha’is, who have had problems at school and university and with certificates for births and deaths.

The recent court case was prompted by a lawsuit filed against the government in 2004 by an Egyptian Baha’i couple who had their identification cards and passports, which listed the Baha’i Faith as their religion, confiscated when they applied to add their daughters to their passports. In April this year a lower court ruled in favour of the Baha’is being allowed to list their religion on ID cards but this decision was suspended pending an appeal by the Interior Ministry, it is that appeal which has been upheld by the Supreme Administrative court today.

Prior to April this year most Egyptians did not know much about the Baha’i Faith and its teachings, but since the Interior Ministry’s appeal there have been many features in papers and magazines, and on television, discussing the Faith with varying degrees of accuracy. The human rights issues raised by the case have found many Egyptians in support of the Baha’is and there will no doubt be continued discussion of the continuing denial of human rights to honest individuals who do not follow Islam, Christianity or Judaism as a result of this decision today.

The blog “Baha’i Faith in Egypt” has been following this story very closely and is likely to remain a good source of information for the debate that follows.

Links:
Baha’i World News Service - Egyptian Court Rules Against Baha’is…
Baha’i Faith in Egypt (blog) - Egypt Plunges Deeper into the Abyss
Middle East Online - Baha’is Lose Battle For Recognition
Reuters (South Africa) - Egyptian Court Overrules Baha’i right to register
Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights

The Tabernacle of Unity, The latest volume of Baha’u'llah’s writings to be translated and published by the Baha’i World Centre, is now available on-line.

The 28 page book contains five letters written by Baha’u'llah to individuals of Zoroastrian background in the 1800s.

The full book can be read on-line here, or downloaded in PDF or Microsoft Word format from this page of the Baha’i Reference Library.

The Baha’i Reference Library is an excellent resource for reading, searching through and downloading Baha’i literature in English, Arabic and Farsi.

Two other great resources for reading and searching through the Baha’i Writings are Ocean and BahaiResearch.com. Ocean is a tool that can be downloaded and used off-line to search through the texts of all the main religions, it also includes many books written about the Central Figures of the Faith (Baha’u'llah, The Bab, ‘Abdu’l-Baha) and it’s history. Ocean enables you to save your own compilations to disk for later use. BahaiResearch.com is an on-line project based on Ocean, allowing for a comprehensive search of sacred texts without downloading any software. Both resources are available in a number of different languages. Another site that allows searching through the Baha’i Writings online is True Seeker, this is more limited in features but, due to its simplicity, will work on systems where BahaiResearch.com might fail. At the time of writing this blog entry the Tabernacle of Unity is not available in the above three tools but it is likely to be available in them soon.

Finally it is worth mentioning that several Baha’i books can be downloaded in mp3 audio format and listened to off-line. These are available from the audio books page of the Baha’i Study Center.

Links:
The Tabernacle of Unity [on-line] [download]
Baha’i Reference Library
Ocean
Baha’iResearch.com
True Seeker
Baha’i Study Center