A 60-year-old man, Fathi Labib Yousef, a convert to Christianity who was officially labeled a Muslim for 31 years, has won a rare legal victory by officially registering his "new" faith.
An administrative court in Alexandria granted Yousef the right to be registered as a Christian. This happened at a court hearing on 20.12.08.
Yousef grew up as a Coptic Christian but converted to Islam in 1974 in order to divorce his Christian wife. He reconverted to Christianity in 2005 after an Orthodox clergy council gave its permission, according to the US Copts Association.
Yousef then applied for civil registration to have his change of faith recognized that same year. But the government refused, so Yousef filed a lawsuit against the Egyptian Prime Minister, Minister of Interior and the Chairman of the Civil Status Council.
However, Yousef doubts his status will be recognized. His lawyer stated that other Egyptian Christians have won the right to return to Christianity only to see government officials stall the realization by refusing to put the change on paper. Other blockages could be that courts "infiltrated by Muslim fundamentalist ideologies are appealing the rulings," the lawyer said. (Compass Direct/Danish European Mission)
