Legislative Member of Parliament: There is no legal text requiring that the religion of a child of unknown parentage be Islam

Dr. Ihab Ramzi, a member of the Legislative Committee in the House of Representatives, confirmed that the issue of determining the religion of a child lost between two religions – “of unknown parentage” – is an old problem that there is no clear legislative text to address. ‎

He said during statements to the “Editing Hall” program with the journalist Azza Mustafa, broadcast on the “Sada El Balad” screen on Tuesday evening, “There is no clear legislative text that requires the child’s religion to be Islam, or a text that regulates the matter of religion in the event that the father and mother’s religion is not known.” “.

He explained that the law does not obligate administrative authorities to determine the child’s religion as Muslim if the religion of his parents is not known, nor does it regulate the child’s religion if he is adopted by a Christian family.

He pointed out that the new alternative family law requires that the child be of the same religion as the adoptive family, pointing out that this point raised many questions about the right of Christian families to adopt children.

He stated that the Ministry of Social Solidarity was confirming that the unknown child’s religion was innately Islamic, explaining that Al-Azhar Al-Sharif resolved the problem by issuing a fatwa confirming that the child’s religion was not “innate.” Rather, it follows the religion of the person who found it

He stressed the need for new legislation to address this issue once and for all, pointing out that this legislation will be included in the new Personal Status Law scheduled to be issued soon.