Egypt Today, January 6
Egypt’s Minister of Education, Ibrahim Ghoneim, told Akbar Al-Youm newspaper that Bahais cannot enroll in public schools in Egypt, saying it would violate the Constitution.
“The Constitution only recognizes the three Abrahamic religions, and as religion is a subject taught in schools, they do not meet the requirements for enrollment,” he said. [By this reasoning, atheists, Buddhists, Hindus and many other groups will also be excluded from education in Egypt under the new administration. It is notable that Dr. Ghoneim is a technocrat, not affiliated with either the Brotherhood or the Salafists ~ Sen]
Update: The Minister’s actual words are online in a bilingual, Arabic and English, format on the Rose Bouquet blog.
Short link: http://wp.me/pNMoJ-1BH
Older items can be found in the archive, here. Even older news is here.
Sen's daily 
Shame on these ignorants…
Comment by nazanin — January 7, 2013 @ 16:32 |
Incredible! I can´t believe, what I´m reading!! .. :-0
Comment by Hanna — January 7, 2013 @ 17:01 |
I am sure, we can solve it in a different way can’t we? We can’t just not allow them at school, i mean we all deserve education and its one of the rights when you are born as a human being … Doesn’t matter where we are from and which religion ..
Comment by sujon — January 7, 2013 @ 18:08 |
This is against all common desency. There is no reason that these Baha’i children can’t be taught the three Abrahamic religions as Baha’is learn from all religions. So this man is so wrong!!!
Comment by Cindy Catches — January 7, 2013 @ 20:27 |
Mr. Ghoneim,
We are all children of one God. To torment any of his children is a deviation from His Messenger’s teaching. No human government should sit in judgment of God’s children. The judgement is for Him alone. Be aware that you may not violate His Books, for our time one earth is but a blink of an eye!
Comment by Hamid Taghdiri — January 8, 2013 @ 10:45 |
Professor Basma Moussa, a Baha’i activist in Egypt, has made a response to the Minister:
“I have a question for the Minister. What are these conditions that are required for a Baha’i child to enroll in a public school, a school that we all used to attend without conditions, a school from which we succeeded and went on to hold prominent positions that serve our dear country, Egypt? According to the new constitution itself, education is the right of every child, so please tell us, what are your conditions for an education so that Baha’i parents can figure out how to enroll their children in Egyptian schools, school that are built from the taxes that are taken from us, like they are taken from all Egyptians without discrimination. Please respond, thank you.”
Comment by norma beatriz latapie — January 8, 2013 @ 14:31 |
Congratulations to our dear Bahai’ Children of Egypt and their families since they have been chosen by the Blessed Beauty Himself to proclaim The Greatest Name all over the world and follow His own way in their lives. We only wonder why The government of Egypt haven’t experienced that these persecutions only cause The Bahai’ Faith to be known better and therefore, be accepted by the people of the world sooner?! Hope to see the world without any prejudice, injustice and war, the very wishes that Bahai’s are doing their best to fulfill them and are honered to bear any cruelty for that.
Comment by elham — January 8, 2013 @ 20:35 |
What a pity that the ignorant people are in charge. Ignorance is a bliss for them. They are just deranged.
Comment by Frank Master — January 10, 2013 @ 03:06 |
Baha’is are most definitely an Abrahamic religion, as Baha’u’llah is descended from Abraham via his wife, Katurah.
Comment by Valerie Smith — July 3, 2013 @ 17:32 |
[edited] … I pray for Egypt to become a free and democratic country, setting the pace for all Muslim countries to follow.
Comment by Ali Sina — July 4, 2013 @ 21:25 |
I am sorry that the title of doctor is given to [edited]. and i am sorry for Egypt with this kind of doctors . if the people of Egypt do not act now the country will be worst than Iran & other domed countries .
Comment by bj — July 5, 2013 @ 09:11 |
Education is a human right and no child should be excluded from education. It is also a human right to choose one’s religion freely – or to choose not to believe. All children – no matter what religious background they have should be able to enroll into public schools and universities. This will bring about the betterment of any state. For the future of Egypt it is therefore mandatory that the Egyptian government begins to protect human rights and allows all children (including Baha’i children) to enroll into the public schools.
Comment by Barbara — July 5, 2013 @ 15:29 |
Muhammad himself in his writings said all of the Disciples of the Bab will be killed but One and He will make it into Akka and this will be the most blessed place on the earth. It will be 1000 years after the death of Hussein which occurred in 260 that the Qaim shall appear . 1260 AH is that date and it is the time of the Gentiles in Israel which means the Muslims since Rome controlled that area for a little over 900 years. Five 1260 AH dates in the Qu’ran; 16 126 AH dates in the Bible the time of their two bodies laying in the streets 42 months etc are Muslim references dates. Zoroastrian faith says Hushidar will appear to Unite all peoples in the 1260 AH year of the Arabian (Muslim) calendar. So far there are over 54 1260 AH or 1844 AD dates in the Holy Books of all faiths and this is His plan and Muslims like Christians remain without ear or eyes for being a true seeker.. Read “Thief in the Night” by William Sears still in print and his “Prisoner and the Kings the Man who changed the world by same author still in print.
Comment by David Lewis — July 9, 2013 @ 00:15 |
Muhammad didn’t leave us any writings, David (although it appears he could read and write). I think you are citing a tradition, and the great majority of the traditions are not authentic. It’s an uncertain science to sort out the authentic from the dubious and the obviously fraudulent. This is why, for the Bahais, only the authentic texts count. The International Teaching Centre writes (in a letter regarding ‘calamity’ rumours):
Comment by Sen — July 9, 2013 @ 10:39 |
For so years many have tried denying rights to Bahais, but all have failed to dampened the God’s progression. If these kind of ignorant people think by doing such things they are slackening the Bahais, know this, all your efforts are useless. We will overcome.
However, you are forcing uneducated nationals in your country which is making your kinda people proud and content.in your heads, but missing the fact that you are promoting illiteracy. Thank you Education Minister, job well done. One plus one is two and does not care you are Muslim, Buddhist, etc. Wake up and really educate yourself sir.
Comment by Mike — September 10, 2013 @ 22:17 |
Anyone familiar with the definition of the Genocide Convention would quickly recognize that what Mr. Ghoneim is recommending is a violation of the Genocide Convention. Any act that prevents a minority group, whether race, religion or otherwise from excelling and making a living is considered a genocide. This is particularly shameful when you consider Baha’is to be a pacifist people and usually constitute the most educated stratum of the society. Mr. Ghoneim has exhibited ignorance of monumental proportion particularly for a person whose job is to sanction education for its citizens. If in fact the education of Baha’is and other religious minorities is a violation of Egypt’s constitution, that constitution should be burned and re-written. Mr. Ghoneim, your best option is to resign!
Comment by Mchael — September 11, 2013 @ 00:17 |