Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

Ismācīl Husnī, researcher in political Islam, opens his article reflecting on the decision taken by the General Assembly of the State Council to refuse appointments for judicial positions to women.  Husnī asserts that this decision results of a religious background propagated by political Islam, and thus mingles the concept of the civil state with that of a religious one.

Husnī then goes on to elucidate the meaning of each concept, drawing a clear distinction between them. On one hand, in a religious state the relationship between citizens and the government is based in religion.  It is therefore impossible to obtain equality among citizens with different religious identities; for example, Muslims equal to non-Muslims, men equal to women, etc.  Neither men whose religious identity in not that of the majority nor women are able to lead such a state.  According to Husnī, this makes the state a sectarian one; though with the exceptions of Israel, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran, this type of states is no longer existent.  Furthermore, the fundamental principles from which the religious state is constructed all come from the heavenly books, hadīths, and fiqh.

The civil state, on the other hand, is a neutral state; in it, the relationship between citizens and the government is founded in a principle of citizenship completely divorced from colour, gender, or religion which is applied indiscriminately.  Its background principles stem not from religion but from a constitution which organizes various affairs and is can be altered according to the requirements of society.

After dissecting each concept individually, Husnī concludes that the existence of such fundamental differences between the religious and civil state make the two mutually incompatible; it is impossible to combine both concepts in one slogan without contradicting the fundamental principles of one or the other.