Earlier this month I noted an important decision by Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court which, basically, over-ruled the Coptic church on the question of allowing divorced Christians to remarry.

The Coptic leader, Pope Shenouda III, rejected the court's decision – setting the scene for a confrontation between the church and the Egyptian state.

Now, in a move to defuse the situation, the government is promising a new "Unified Personal Status Law for Non-Muslims". This has been talked about for years but the Justice Ministry is said to have "almost finished work" on the draft and President Mubarak has asked for it to be finalised within two months.

Already there is also discussion about changing the law's name. One suggestion is to call it the "Unified Law for Christians in Egypt". According to al-Masry al-Youm, the aim of that would be "to deter other non-Muslim sects – such as Baha'is and certain Christian sects not recognised by the orthodox churches – from asking to be included in the draft law".

In the midst of all this, Pope Shenouda has adopted an extremely reactionary position, similar to that of the mroe conservative Muslim scholars who insist that sharia law is fixed for all time and cannot be opened up for debate. 

In a sermon on Wednesday, he argued that religious law does not change over time and criticising those who say it "should change to keep pace with changes in society". He continued: "God's word remains constant over the ages; we will adhere to and leave as-is the laws that Christ laid down."

(As far as I'm aware, Jesus never expressed any views about the remarriage of divorced Christians but presumably Shenouda has some reason for thinking he did.)

If the new personal status law does eventually materialise, I really can't see it resolving much. Arab countries have got themselves into a terrible mess by trying to operate multiple legal systems based around the various religions and sects. The general nature of the problem is explained here in an article by Sami Awad al-Deeb. This in turn feeds into the much wider debate about the need of a secular state.

Reforming personal status laws is a huge and complex task, and it isn't going to be achieved overnight. At present, though, there seems to be no clear vision of what the ultimate goal should be.

It ought to start with a recognition that parallel legal systems are unsustainable in the long run, so the need is for state-run laws and courts that treat everyone equally, regardless of their religion. Beyond that, there should be space for believers to manage their personal affairs freely, so long as they don't impinge on the rights of others.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 18 June 2010.