Mohammed Hegazy

Mohammed Hegazy (, ; born 1982) is the first Egyptian Muslim convert to Christianity to seek official recognition of his conversion from the Egyptian government.

Conversion and legal case Hegazy grew up in Port Said on the Suez Canal in Egypt.

Conversion He converted to Coptic Orthodox Christianity from Islam in 1998 and took the name Beshoy after a Coptic monk and saint.

His wife, Um Hashim Kamel, also converted several years ago, taking the name Christine . They both have a daughter, Miriam who was born while in hiding. He reports that he converted after starting "readings and comparative studies in religions" finding that he was "not consistent with Islamic teachings." He claimed that "the major issue for me was love. Islam wasn't promoting love as Christianity did.''"

Hegazy raised a storm of controversy when pictures of him posing for journalists with a poster of the Virgin Mary were published in the newspapers.

Arrest of human rights workers On August 8, 2007, Egyptian police detained two Christian human rights workers, Adel Fawzy Faltas and Peter Ezzat, after their organisation was involved in several controversial human rights cases, including Hegazy's. They were subsequently held without charge and had their detention renewed on August 21. The two activists are members of the Middle East Christian Association (MICA). A Canadian non-governmental organisation applying for legal recognition with the Egyptian government in June 2007, MICA was involved in several controversial human rights cases.

Judge Husseini based his decision on Article 2 of the Egyptian constitution, which makes shari'a the source of Egyptian law. Hegazy has denounced the ruling as a violation of his basic rights. "What does the state have to do with the religion I embrace?" Hegazy questioned, according to the United States Copts Association following the ruling.

Reversion to Islam

On July 30, 2016, while he was in police custody, Hegazy announced that he left Christianity and returned to Islam. Then after release from prison he declared he is still a Christian and that he was forced under torture to claim that he converted to Islam.