The Allocation of Power between Religious and Secular Authorities in Egypt

The struggle over religious authority in organized societies, and hence the allocation of power between religious and secular authorities in the modern state, is at the heart of constitutional law. In Egypt, the Supreme Constitutional Court, one of the oldest institutions endowed with constitutional review powers in the region of the Middle East and North Africa, has developed over the past decades an interpretation of the pertinent Constitutional provisions. The chapter, referring to three landmark rulings of the Supreme Constitutional Court, is discussing who should have the final role on sharia and whether secular authorities have the legitimacy to be allocated such a power. The author illustrates the complexity of the interpretation of the constitutional articles, and highlights the Supreme Constitutional Court’s stance not to allocate supremacy of a particular constitutional provision over the other ones, but instead to consider all the provisions as an interrelated organic unit. As the institution exclusively endowed with power to interpret the Constitution, it is the Supreme Constitutional Court to have the final word.