Twenty-seven years ago, Egypt revised its secular constitution to enshrine Muslim sharia as "the principal source of legislation

admin2011-03-11  31

问题     Twenty-seven years ago, Egypt revised its secular constitution to enshrine Muslim sharia as "the principal source of legislation". To most citizens, most of the time, that seeming contradiction-between secularism and religion-has not made much difference. Nine in ten Egyptians are Sunni Muslims and expect Islam to govern such things as marriage, divorce and inheritance. Nearly all the rest profess Christianity or Judaism, faiths recognised and protected in Islam. But to the small minority who embrace other faiths, or who have tried to leave Islam, it has, until lately, made an increasingly troubling difference.  
    Members of Egypt’s 2,000-strong Bahai community, for instance, have found they cannot state their religion on the national identity cards that all Egyptians are obliged to produce to secure such things as driver’s licenses, bank accounts, social insurance and state schooling. Hundreds of Coptic Christians who have converted to Islam, often to escape the Orthodox sect’s ban on divorce, find they cannot revert to their original faith. In some cases, children raised as Christians have discovered that, because a divorced parent converted to Islam, they too have become officially Muslim, and cannot claim otherwise.  
    Such restrictions on religious freedom are not directly a product of sharia, say human- rights campaigners, but rather of rigid interpretations of Islamic law by over-zealous officials. In their strict view, Bahai belief cannot be recognised as a legitimate faith, since it arose in the 19th century, long after Islam staked its claim to be the final revelation in a chain of prophecies beginning with Adam. Likewise, they brand any attempt to leave Islam, whatever the circumstances, as a form of apostasy, punishable by death.  
    But such views have lately been challenged. Last year Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti, who is the government’s highest religious adviser, declared that nowhere in Islam’s sacred texts did it say that apostasy need be punished in the present rather than by God in the afterlife. In the past month, Egyptian courts have issued two rulings that, while restricted in scope, should ease some bothersome strictures.  
    Bahais may now leave the space for religion on their identity cards blank. Twelve former Christians won a lawsuit and may now return to their original faith, on condition that their identity documents note their previous adherence to Islam.  
    Small steps, perhaps, but they point the way towards freedom of choice and citizenship based on equal rights rather than membership of a privileged religion.
According to the text, what impact did the revision of Egypt’s secular constitution have on its citizens’ lives?

选项 A、It did not make much difference to all the citizens.
B、Most of the Muslims felt that there was no much difference, but Christians, Judaists and people who embraced other religions felt increasing troubles.
C、Muslims, Christians and Judaists were protected in Islam, thus feeling no much difference, while other who embraced other faiths felt increasingly troubling difference.
D、Only Buddhists were specially treated, while others not.

答案C

解析 A项,没有影响所有的公民,但是第一段中明确说明有一小部分所受影响严重,故A项错误。B项,只有穆斯林没觉得有变化,而其他宗教的信徒都觉得有区别,但是文中是说Nearly all the rest profess christianity or Judaism,faiths recognised and protected in Islam,故B项也不对。C项,穆斯林,基督徒和犹太教徒都不会受太大影响,除了一小部分其他信仰者或是那些试图脱离伊斯兰教者,故此C正确。D项提到了佛教徒,但是文中并未提及,故D项不选。   
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/4r0RFFFM
0

最新回复(0)