An Egyptian lawmaker has announced plans to criminalise disbelief in God amid growing moral panic in the country.
Amr Hamroush, the head of parliament's religious committee, made the announcement in local daily al-Shorouq on Saturday.
"The phenomenon is being promoted in society as freedom of belief when this is totally wrong," Hamroush said.
"It must be criminalised and categorised as contempt of religion because atheists have no doctrine and try to insult the Abrahamic religions," he said.
He added that there were no legal obstacles to implementing the proposal into law, which already can prosecute atheists for expressing their disbelief in public.
The move to criminalise disbelief in God has received backing from al-Azhar - the country's highest Islamic religious institution.
"It is necessary to enact laws that deter people from violating the natural instincts of man and punish those who have been seduced into atheism," said Mohamed Zaki, the head of al-Azhar's supreme council for dawah.
"The deterrent must be harsh and impeding to suit this malicious call and stop this poisonous thinking from spreading among Muslims and young people," Zaki. [The New Arab] Read more
