SHAFAQNA- The climate for Egypt’s Shia-Muslim community has improved little since the 2011 revolution. Shias have been subject to discrimination, hate-speech, arrests, and violence under successive governments. They are continuously prevented from freely practicing their beliefs. Shia Muslims are discussed not only as a religious threat, but also a shadowy political menace.
The vast majority of Egyptians are Sunni Muslims. There are no reliable statistics on Egypt’s Shia population. Members of Egypt’s Shia-Muslim community – whose numbers remain the source of debate – say they continue to face discrimination and persecution. Egyptian religious leaders to stand trial for promoting Shia Islam. Egypt’s Shia minority allege that they face discrimination despite there being no legislation that prohibits their religious activities.
Although the Egyptian Constitution, under Article 46, provides for freedom of belief and the practice of religious rites, Shia Muslims are a minority group that is not allowed to practice their faith in public or in private Islamic centers. An Egyptian court has banned Shia websites and TV channels, under the pretext that they threaten national security, Al-monitor reported.
Egyptian officials announced that the reasons behind this verdict are based on the dangers of Shia ideology on Egyptian society and national security as Shias in Egypt use religion for political manipulation. In the popular imagination, the closing of websites is part of the government crackdown on freedom of expression, opinion and religion.
Egypt’s fear of growing Shia influence is especially manifest on Ashura, the tenth day of the Islamic Month of Muharram and a day of mourning for Shias for the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (A.S), a grandson of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). Egyptian authorities shut down Al-Hussain (AS) Mosque in the heart of Fatimid Cairo and prevented Shia Muslims from entering the Mosque to mark the day. Authorities closed the Mosque under the pretext that it was under maintenance.
A young Egyptian Shia-Muslim man, Mohamed Asfour, was sentenced to three years in jail. Asfour maintained that his arrest came after a month-long campaign of abuse by village residents following his conversion to Shia Islam. His own parents-in-law reportedly forced his wife to divorce him over his change in faith.
“Few media outlets reported the incident,” says well-known Egyptian Shia activist Ahmed Rassam El-Nafis. El-Nafis added that although Asfour’s prison sentence was commuted from three years to one year, the case did not get the national attention it deserved. Asfour’s story, El-Nafis tells Ahram Online, is an example of a crackdown on religious minority groups, particularly Shias, in post-revolution Egypt , Economic mentioned.
A December 2012 report by UN refugee agency UNHCR highlighted the fact that Shia Muslims still cannot openly practice their religious rituals in Egypt. Egypt government believes that the purpose of those who advocate Shia ideology is aimed at creating discord in the country and implementing the agendas of foreign countries to destroy the Egyptian state. But, As Shias, they do not want to convert Egyptians to the Shia Islam. They have their own ideas and perceptions and they are not hurting anyone.
Egyptian media publish false stories about Shias. No one cares about the troubles these Egyptians suffer or even their right to citizenship. For decades, international organisations – including the UN, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International – have documented instances in which Egyptian Shia Muslims have been targeted for their religious beliefs.
The systematic crackdown has extended in a way that forced the Shia to hide their religious identity in fear of persecution, Alahadnews told. The systematic campaign against the Shia Egyptians becomes legal as the country’s judicial body joins this trend.