Andrew and Mario
The Court of Cassation, the highest Court in Egypt, last Monday issued a ruling in the case of the Christian twins Andrew and Mario Medhat Ramsis. The Court said that even though the boys would remain in their Christian mother’s custody, they will be Muslims according to their convert father’s religion.
The court battle for the custody of the twins has been ongoing for some two years between their Christian mother and Muslim father. Egyptian law normally grants the mother custody of children until they are 15, after which the children are given the choice of which parent to live with.
Ramsis had converted to Islam in 2005, which makes his sons automatically Muslim by law, a matter which the Christian-born twins adamantly refused. The case of the twins had gained notoriety when they went so far as to risk their scholastic future by refusing to sit for the mandatory exam in [Islamic] religion, each of them writing a single phrase “I am Christian” on his exam sheet. The Education Minister Yusri al Gamal issued an exceptional decree allowing them to continue their studies until their case was resolved in court.
Since the case is now a public opinion case, the aftermath of the last ruling remains to be seen.
