Bahai Library Online

Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith

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Date 2009-08-08, sorted by date, descending

date event tags firsts
2009 8 Aug
200-		 Two young Egyptian Bahá'ís, Imad and Nancy Rauf Hindi, received the new identity cards. They had been at the centre of a court case over religious identification on government documents. Their new computerized ID cards show a dash instead of their religion. They were the first such cards to be issued following a ruling by the Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court of 16 March, 2009 that cleared the way for the government to issue documents without reference to religious identity. For nearly five years, since the government began introducing a computerized identity card system that locked out all religious classifications except Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, Bahá'ís have been unable to get ID cards and other documents essential to day-to-day life in Egypt. [BWNS707, BWNS726, BWNS499, BWNS495, BWNS492, BWNS480]
  • The Bahá'ís secured the right to an identification card, however, legislation still refused to recognize the validity of the Bahá'í faith and maintained their secondary status within Egypt. Marriage and Bahá'í personal law were still not acknowledged by the state: married Bahá'ís who refused to be issued documentation that listed them incorrectly as 'single' still reportedly faced difficulties in setting up a bank account and other basic freedoms. This official 'invisibility' had also had a profound impact on their ability to participate in civil and political life. Bahá'ís were also the target of hostility towards the end of Mubarak's regime and in the wake of his resignation, including the torching of several Bahá'í homes where the perpetrators remain unpunished. {Minority Rights website]
    		• - Persecution; - Persecution, Court cases; - Persecution, Other; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS); Cairo, Egypt; Egypt; Human rights; Persecution, Egypt First government documents issued in Egypt to accommodate religious affiliation other than Muslim, Christian or Jewish religions.
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