Egypt Declares War on Atheism — From Incitement to Legislation
🔹 Beginnings: Official Declaration of War (2014)
In July 2014, the Egyptian government officially declared a “war on atheism,” as part of a campaign led by the Ministries of Endowments, Youth, and Education, in cooperation with Al-Azhar and the Church, in an attempt to stop what it described as the “spread of atheism among youth.” Source: Al-Shorouk – Government declares war on atheism (11 July 2014) https://www.shorouknews.com/news/view.aspx?cdate=11072014&id=36dda517-a293-4505-8e3c-25baf7570607
Two months later, Ahmed El-Moslemany, then presidential media advisor, said that “terrorism and atheism are two sides of the same coin,” linking freedom of thought with religious crime. Source: Sada El-Balad – Terrorism and atheism are two sides of the same coin (30 September 2014) https://www.elbalad.news/1173793
🔹 Toward Criminalizing Atheism: From Parliament to Law (2017–2018)
Over time, the discourse moved from religious and media statements to explicit legislative calls. In December 2017, MP Omar Hamroush, Secretary of the Parliamentary Religious Committee and a Sharia professor at Al-Azhar University, said “the atheist is no less dangerous than the terrorist,” calling for the legal criminalization of atheism. Source: Al-Jarida – The atheist is no less dangerous than the terrorist (28 December 2017)
https://www.aljarida.com/articles/1514396509963263100
A few days later, Hamroush announced that Parliament was preparing a law to confront atheism with “deterrent” penalties. Source: Parlmany – Law to combat atheism will impose deterrent penalties (4 January 2018)
https://www.parlmany.com/News/4/209757/%D8%A3%D9%85%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B9%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AC%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%89
Then, in January 2018 before Parliament, Minister of Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa said that “the ideas of atheists and deviants are ticking time bombs,” asserting that his ministry was working to “immunize society” against them. Source: Akhbar El-Yom – Ideas of atheists and deviants are ticking time bombs (15 January 2018)
https://akhbarelyom.com/news/newdetails/2605043/1/
🔹 Renewed Official Discourse: Atheism as an Enemy of the State (2022)
In December 2022, Presidential Advisor for Religious Affairs Osama El-Azhari repeated the same rhetoric, saying “terrorism and atheism are two sides of the same coin,” reflecting the continued security framing of non-believers. Source: Youm7 – Terrorism and atheism are two sides of the same coin (25 December 2022)
https://www.youm7.com/story/2022/12/25/6022441
🔹 From Discourse to Implementation: Government Programs Against Atheism (2025)
The official discourse evolved into government programs targeting youth directly. In January 2025, the Ministry of Youth and Sports announced a national program titled “Youth Against Atheism,” in cooperation with Al-Azhar and the Church, to confront “electronic atheism.” Source: Ministry of Youth and Sports – Preparation to launch program to confront electronic atheism (14 January 2025) https://www.emys.gov.eg/news/184/
In May 2025, the program was officially launched at the Youth Innovation Center in Gezira, attended by ministry and Al-Azhar leaders. Source: Ministry of Youth and Sports – Launching the program to confront electronic atheism (12 May 2025) https://www.emys.gov.eg/news/17403/
In September 2025, the Ministry of Endowments chose the Friday sermon topic “Certainty and Plans to Confront Atheism” for nationwide delivery. Source: Youm7 – Certainty and Plans to Confront Atheism (26 September 2025) https://www.youm7.com/story/2025/9/26/7134396
📺 Media as a Weapon — Expulsion and Humiliation of Atheists On Air
Television programs have been used to publicly humiliate and expel atheists live on air. Examples include:
9 November 2013 – Reham El-Sahly (Al-Mehwar, 90 Minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X2nZ87Rdtg&t=130s14 May 2014 – Reham Saeed (Al-Nahar, Sabaya El-Kheir)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k9b_V-YN-A&t=2214s3 November 2015 – Rania Mahmoud Yassin (Al-Assema, Sabah Al-Assema)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7S72bDigIk&t=1355s10 December 2016 – Mohamed Moussa (Al-Hadath, Khat Ahmar)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg_hCRQJyP8&t=2410s11 February 2018 – Mahmoud Abdel-Halim (Al-Hadath, Al-Share‘ Al-Masry)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzKSt1TPYyo&t=910s
⚖️ Legal Framework for Criminalizing Atheism in Egypt
There is no explicit law criminalizing atheism, but several Penal Code provisions are used to prosecute non-believers and independent thinkers:
Article 98(f): “Contempt of religions.”
Articles 160, 161, 176: Offenses against religions and anti-discrimination provisions.
Article 189: Liability for publishing via media channels.
Law 175 of 2018, Article 25: Penalties for attacking family values online.
These provide a broad legal basis for criminalizing freedom of thought and non-religious belief without mentioning atheism explicitly.
🧩 Human Rights and Media Context
According to a TIMEP report published in January 2022:
“The suffering of atheists and non-believers in Egypt continues, despite positive signals from officials about respecting freedom of religion or belief. Atheists in Egypt live between security persecution and social ostracism, and official institutions have continued to fight atheism publicly and relentlessly since 2014.”
Source: TIMEP – Atheists in Egypt: Living on the Edge of Death (January 2022)
https://timep.org/2021/12/29/atheists-in-egypt-life-on-the-edge-of-civil-death/
🚨 Recent Cases of Arrests and Prosecutions (2025)
15 July 2025: Arrest of Saeed Abdel Razek (“Saeed Abu Mostafa”) after applying to change his religion from Muslim to Christian. https://copticsolidarity.salsalabs.org/freesaidabdelrazek/index.html
30 August 2025: YouTuber Hesham Al-Masry sentenced to six months in prison and fined 20,000 EGP.
https://www.shorouknews.com/news/view.aspx?cdate=30082025&id=32b48175-585c-4001-a6a7-e3365053051316 September 2025: Arrest of seven Syrian Druze members: Hossam Abou Khair, Majed Al-Reeshani, Anad Kamal, Zuhair Al-Halabi, Shafei Al-Ahmad, Najib Break, and Kinan Azy.
https://www.facebook.com/nivin.albaset/posts/pfbid026KqjTv7pwiHFT675mUuVLVJdjfLVT2GADXmfaaDGnRLQdBYk9LkdMHxpfkJbkjt2l13 September 2025: EIPR has documented the arrest of at least 14 individuals in the past few weeks who are believed or perceived to hold beliefs that deviate from mainstream religious beliefs. The persecution campaign was launched on 13 September 2025, with the arrest of Maged Zakaria Abdel Rahman, known as "Mufti of Humanity." He was not permitted contact with his family or lawyer until he appeared before the SSSP ten days after his arrest. Arrests then followed for individuals who appeared with him on his YouTube programme or who posted video clips of themselves on open or closed Facebook groups, including the group "Arab Atheists Network and Forum." https://eipr.org/en/press/2025/10/security-crackdown-extends-non-religionists-atheists-and-those-dissenting-religious
🧠 Conclusion
This more-than-a-decade trajectory shows how Egypt’s official and media discourse toward non-believers shifted from moral warning to legal and executive persecution. While the state speaks of “protecting society from atheism,” non-believers face increasing violations of their fundamental rights to freedom of thought and belief, in the absence of any meaningful public or parliamentary debate on the right not to believe.
