Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

The term "constitution" means a host of fundamental laws which show the State's system of governance and how much power the State has over individuals. Hence, a constitution is the structure which regulates the State's movement and activity.

In other words, the constitution is the fundamental law which defines the State's entity and its legislative, executive and judicial authorities. It also streamlines the individuals' contribution to forming such authorities. It is also open to democracy in its four aspects, namely secularism and the social contract theory, enlightenment and liberalism. If secularism is the beginning of democracy, then liberalism is the end, and if. secularism means being aware of what is around us,  then liberalism is freedom from thinking about the absolute.

The first article of the Egyptian Constitution stipulates that the system of governance is democratic, which means that the state should refrain from tyrannical behavior. The State becomes a tyrant when it becomes dogmatic, i.e. when it imagines that it is the owner of the absolute truth and that it has a particular belief, whereby restricting the freedom of citizens. This applies to the second article of constitution, which stipulates that the state’s religion is Islam.

However, the State has no jurisdiction in imposing particular beliefs concerning "religious education," as set out in Article 19 of Constitution, which stipulates that religious education is a basic subject in the public education curricula.