Egypt Muslim Council: Building Churches Is 'Sin'

The Christian Post reports that a human rights group are fighting an Islamic council after the council issued a fatwa (Islamic edict) declaring that building a church is "a sin against God." According to Egyptian Union Human Rights Organization President Dr. Naguib Gabraeel, the controversy began after his group found a troubling passage in a Cairo University textbook. The passage, dealing with inheritance and execution of wills, said that "it is forbidden for a person to donate money for what would lead to sin, such as donating in his will money towards build[ing] a church, a nightclub, a gambling casino, towards promoting the alcohol industry or for building a barn for rearing pigs, cats or dogs." When asked, the Fatwa Council upheld the passage even though it contradicts Egypt's constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.