ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Egyptian jurisprudence produced on the status of the Bahai minority, who constitute a relatively small proportion of the population but offer the most significant challenge to the constitutionally guaranteed right to religious liberty. It analyzes the several of the judgments issued by Egyptian administrative courts that try to reconcile the right to freedom of belief that the constitution guarantees with the state's right to limit the public expression of the Bahai faith. The chapter presents the analysis of key cases in the jurisprudence of the European Court in which the principle of religious liberty and public order is invoked. The paradox haunts the jurisprudence of the Egyptian courts as much as the European Court of Human Rights. Throughout modern history, secularism, as a principle of state governance, has entailed less the separation of religion from politics than the ongoing regulation of religion through state and civic institutions that constantly entwine religion with politics.
