Al-Azhar International Center for Electronic Fatwa gave its opinion on the issue of the Egyptian child, whose case raised public opinion after he was separated from a Christian family that was caring for him and changed his religion from Christianity to Islam.
The Christian family, which did not have children, took care of the child in 2018, after it said that it had found it while it was newborn in the bathrooms of a church in Cairo.
According to Egyptian newspapers, the family was slandered by one of the relatives, who feared that the child would get the largest share of the inheritance. Last year, the police reported that the child had not been found inside the church, but outside it.
Mada Masr said that the Public Prosecution took the child and placed him in one of the care homes affiliated with the Ministry of Social Solidarity. His name was changed from “Shenouda” to “Youssef”, and his religion was from Christianity to Islam.
For its part, the Al-Azhar International Center for Electronic Fatwa wrote on its Facebook account on Wednesday: “A question was sent to the Al-Azhar International Center for Fatwa to inquire about the religion of the child who was found inside a church: This issue in which scholars went to multiple opinions, and which Al-Azhar tends to be among these Opinions is what a group of Hanafi gentlemen went to, which is that if a foundling child is found in a church and the found one is not a Muslim, then he is on the religion of the one who found him.
And he added: “This is what the Hanafi masters stipulated in their books: “If he was found in one of the villages of the people of the Dhimmis, or in a sale or church, he was a Dhimmi.”
The case shed light again on the issue of changing the religion in Egypt, and the related legal and social problems.
Last Saturday, the Administrative Court decided to reject the family’s claim to demand the cancellation of the decision to change the child’s religion and return him to her home, claiming that the court did not have jurisdiction, according to Najeeb Gabriel, the family’s lawyer, who confirmed that he would appeal the decision in the Supreme Administrative Court.
The mother, who took care of the child, Amal Fikry, told Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper that she wished herself to take him back again, especially since he was placed in a care home, noting that she hoped that the issue would be considered further, and allowed for his return and upbringing within a family and home. They save him.
