Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt

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Document Information:

  • Year:
  • Country: Egypt
  • Language: English
  • Document Type: Domestic Law or Regulation
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In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

This is Our Constitution, Egypt is the gift of the Nile for Egyptians and the gift of Egyptians to humanity.

With its unique location and history, Egypt is the Arab heart of the world. It is the meeting point of world civilizations and cultures and the crossroads of its maritime transportation and communications. It is the head of Africa on the Mediterranean and the estuary of its greatest river: the Nile.

This is Egypt, an immortal homeland for Egyptians, and a message of peace and love to all peoples.

In the outset of history, the dawn of human conscience arose adn shone forth in the hearts of our great ancestors, whose goodwill banded together to found the first central State that regulated and organized the life of Egyptians on the banks of the Nile. It is where they created amazing wonders of civilization, and where their hearts looked up to heavens before earth knew the three Abrahamic religions.

Egypt is the cradle of belief and the banner of glory of the revealed religions.
On its land, Prophet Moses – to whom Allah spoke – grew up and on Mount Sinai, the Revelation of Allah shone on his heart and Divine message descended.

On its land, Egyptians harbored in their bosoms Virgin Mary and her baby and offered thousands of martyrs in defense of the Church of Jesus, Peace Be Upon Him.

When the Seal of the Messengers Mohammad (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him) was sent to all mankind to perfect the sublime morals, our hearts and minds were opened to the light of Islam, and we, labeled the best soldiers on Earth fighting for the cause of Allah, disseminated the message of truth and sciences of religion across the world.

This is Egypt, a homeland in which we live and in our souls it lives.

In modern age, minds were enlightened, humanity became mature, and nations and peoples progressed on the path of knowledge, raising the banners of freedom and equality. Mohamed Ali founded the modern Egyptian State with a national army as its pillar. Refaa, the Azharian, called for having the homeland “”””… a place of happiness shared by all its people.”””” We, Egyptians, strived to keep up with the pace of advancement and offered up martyrs and made sacrifices in several uprisings and revolutions until our patriotic army stood up for the overwhelming will of the people in the “Jan 25 – June 30” Revolution that called for freedom, human dignity and social justice for all, and for Egypt to regain its independent will.

This revolution is continuation of national struggle whose brightest symbols were Ahmed Oraby, Mostafa Kamel, and Mohamed Farid, and is a culmination of two great revolutions in our modern history:

The 1919 revolution that had rid Egypt and the Egyptians of the British protection, established the principle of citizenship and equality for all the people. Its leader, Saad Zaghloul, and his successor, Mosfata El-Nahhas, in adopting democracy asserted that “Right is above power and the nation is above government”. During this revolution, Talaat Harb laid down the cornerstone of the national economy.

The July 23, 1952 revolution led by Gamal Abdel Nasser and embraced by the popular will rendered true the dream of generations for independence and evacuation of foreign forces. Egypt affirmed its Arab allegiance, opened up to its African continent and Muslim world, supported liberation movements across continents, and took firm steps on the path of development and social justice.

This revolution is an extension of the revolutionary march of Egyptian patriotism, and enhances the strong bond between the Egyptian people and their national army that assumed the duty and shouldered the responsibility of protecting the homeland, by virtue of which we achieved victory in our greatest battles including driving off the 1956 Tripartite Aggression to defeating our defeat through the glorious victory of October 1973 that gave President Sadat a special place in our recent history.

Compared to major revolutions in the history of mankind, the Jan 25 – June 30 Revolution is unique with its high density of popular participation – estimated to be in the tens of millions – and the prominent role of youth aspiring at a brighter future. It is also unique in that the masses transcended class and ideology divides to reach out to more expansive horizons, the people’s will was defended by their army, and that it had the blessings of Al-Azhar and the Egyptian church. This Revolution is further unique because of its peacefulness and ambition to achieve freedom and social justice combined.

This revolution is both a sign and a good omen; a sign of a past that is still present and a good omen of a future at which all humanity aspires.

The world is about to turn the last few leaves of this era that has been torn up by conflicts of interest between the East and the West, and the North and the South; an era where disputes and wars erupted between classes and peoples, where dangers grew threatening the existence of mankind and life on Earth which Allah entrusted us to preserve. As humanity hopes to move from the age of maturity to the age of wisdom to build a new world where truth and justice prevail, and where freedoms and human rights are protected, we, Egyptians, believe that our revolution is a resumption of our contribution to drafting a new history for humanity.

We believe that we are capable of using the past as an inspiration, stirring up the present, and making our way to the future. We are capable of raising this homeland and rising with it.
We believe that every citizen is entitled to live in this homeland safe and secure, and that every citizen has the right to live at present and in the future.

We believe in democracy as a path, a future, and mode of living, political pluralism and the peaceful rotation of power. We affirm the right of the people to make and determine their future. The Egyptian people, is the sole source of authority. Freedom, human dignity, and social justice are the rights of every citizen. We and our future generations are masters in a sovereign homeland that is master of its destiny.

We are now drafting a Constitution that embodies the dream of generations for a prosperous consolidated society and a just State that realizes the present and future ambitions for the individual and the community.
We are now drafting a Constitution that seeks the completion of building a modern democratic State having a civil government.

We are drafting a Constitution that prevents any corruption or tyranny and by which we heal the wounds of the past, from the days of the old Eloquent Peasant to the victims of negligence and the martyrs of the revolution in our present time, and relieve our people who have – for long – been suffering injustice.

We are drafting a Constitution that affirms that the principles of Islamic Sharia are the principal source of legislation, and that the reference for the interpretation of such principles lies in the body of the relevant Supreme Constitutional Court Rulings.

We are drafting a Constitution that paves the way to the future for us, and which is consistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which we participated in drafting and adopted..
We are drafting a Constitution that maintains our freedom and protects our nation against any peril that threatens it or our national unity.

We are drafting a Constitution that holds all of us equal in rights and duties without discrimination of any kind.

We the citizens, women and men, the Egyptian people, sovereigns in a sovereign homeland, this is the manifestation of our volition, this is the Constitution of our revolution.

This is our Constitution.