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EGYPT CASE STUDIES

RANYA ABD AL-MASIH 44

Thirty-nine-year-old Ranya vanished from Mina village in Menoufia Governorate on April 22, 2020. The following day, the family reported the disappearance of the English teacher and mother of three to the police. 45

A few days later a video was released on social media. In it, Ranya, a devout Christian who was active in her local Coptic Orthodox church, appeared wearing a Muslim Al-Amira headscarf, saying she had converted to Islam nine years previously. She stated that she had left her home of her own free will, taking her jewellery with her. She recited the shahada (Islamic profession of faith) and asked her husband and family to stop searching for her. The family was extremely suspicious as, contrary to what was said in the video, none of her jewellery was missing. Her brother Remon, said: “She was deÀnitely kidnapped and forced to make that video.” He added that he believed she had been “threatened and coerced.” 46

Al-Aila aims to overcome sectarianism and promote national unity between those of different faiths. The Assembly of Priests denounced Beit Al-Aila for its “utter passivity” in Ranya’s case. 47 The Church kept the pressure on. In June, ofÀcers arrested 15 Copts participating in a peaceful sit-in in Mina village, which was organized to protest against police inaction. They were released the following day. 48 On July 15 th , Ranya was Ànally set free. Pictures of her, back home with her family, went viral on social media, as did her declaration that she had never converted to Islam. Although no details of her disappearance were made public, Al-Azhar , the Islamic authority which registers conversions to Islam, backed her up by saying she had not converted, as in Islam there can be “no compulsion in religion.” Bishop Binjiman later conÀrmed that Ranya had indeed been kidnapped, having been forced into a car by two women. He said that police had told the family not to talk publicly about the case, adding that he was aware of 15 similar cases of kidnappings.

Ranya’s family also claimed that police knew where she was being held.

No progress was made until the local diocese led by Coptic Orthodox Bishop Binjiman of MenouÀa took up her case. In early May, the MenouÀa Assembly of Priests released a statement asking authorities to take action. Three weeks later, with no sign of any signiÀcant movement in Ranya’s case, the Assembly stated that until steps were taken to secure her return they would be withdrawing from Beit Al-Aila ― a government backed interfaith initiative. Established in 2011, Beit

The bishop said that, during the almost three months that she was held, Ranya had been sexually and psychologically abused by her captors. 49

14 | HEAR HER CRIES