European Muslim Network

First of all the Portuguese Constitution defines Portugal as a Republic and unlike in the old times, before the 1974 Revolution, at present the State has no religion. It is therefore a Secular State.

But being a country with a majority of population, at least statistically, of Christian faith and mainly Roman Catholic, there is a “Concordata” between the Republic of Portugal and the Holy See, which has recently been revised in light of the new Constitution. Before this revision of the “Concordata”, which relates only to Roman Catholic Church, a new Law for Religious Freedom was passed by the Parliament after some lengthy and thorough discussion with the representatives of the main faiths represented in Portugal conducted by a Committee for the Revision of the Law of Religious Freedom.

Pursuant to this new law there is a Committee for Religious Freedom which is a consultative body which should look after the fair and impartial treatment of all religions as prescribed in the Constitution and in the Law for Religious Freedom making recommendations to the Government through the Minister of Justice for any corrective measures to be implemented in view of any possible distortion in the equality of treatment which should prevail regarding any religion.

The law of Religious Freedom deals with various items of which the main ones are referred to below and they represent the detailing and reinforcement of what is in broad terms enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Portugal:

• Freedom of choice of religion or not having any religion and the right not to be questioned by any authority about the religion professed as being a private matter
• All conflicts regarding the freedom of conscience, religion and cult involving one or more parties will be resolved with tolerance, respecting as far as possible the freedom of each party
• The right to holidays of each one’s religion and for weekly prayers (Friday in case of Muslims)
• The right for the parents to give names to children according to their religion
• Assistance in public hospitals according to the religion followed by the patients Assistance to people in prison according to their religion
• Assistance to people in the army according to each one’s religion
• Tax exemptions to the religious communities duly registered with the competent services of the Ministry of Justice but only on revenues which have no commercial nature
• Tax benefits given to the religious communities according to the wish expressed by the tax payers on their return filed with the Tax Authority (there is a certain amount which is allowed to be allocated to the respective community)

The above are the main points but it should be emphasised that there are certain aspects which are currently being looked at by the Government. This is the case for example of signs of the cross (crucifix) which were usually displayed in class rooms in primary and secondary schools which are now being removed by Ministerial Order and this is also the case of the same in public hospitals.

On visits for assistance to be given to Muslims in prisons and also in hospitals in practice it is given at solicitation of the Community which for example during Ramadan or in other occasions applies with the competent authority of the prison or hospital and it is not denied.

On names for children born in Muslim families the proper law (the Civil Registration Code) is being changed as per discussions held at the above referred Committee for Religious Freedom which will make recommendations for the change in law. Meanwhile, in practice we have not faced any problem as the Community issues a letter for each registry attesting that the name proposed by the parents is a genuine Muslim name and this document is accepted by the Civil Registry.

The law is still recent and therefore there are many aspects of everyday life which are being brought to the attention of the Committee which discusses it and then makes recommendation to the Minister of Justice. Only to mention some of the items discussed in the Meetings we have the following:

Some corrections on aspects of tax benefits in order to be more equitative with what has been historically given to the Roman Catholic Church in the context of the “Concordata”.

There is also the possibility of marriages carried out in the Mosque by the Imam being automatically accepted by the Civil Registry as it happens with the Catholic marriages carried in a Church and which are automatically valid in terms of civil law. Of course this has to be discussed thoroughly within the Community as I want to make sure that the Imam understands exactly his duty vis a vis the society which we are living and the responsibility he incurs in case of any lack of fulfilment of all the legal requirements for the validity of a marriage in terms of civil law.

Now the last two points are related to HIJAB and BEARD. We have not experienced any problems with hijab although this is only practiced by a minority of Muslim women in Portugal. Of course it goes without saying that all our sisters wear hijab when they come to the Mosque for prayers.

Beard is not a problem as also some non-Muslims do have beard and it is not seen as anything strange or forbidden.

In Portugal the policy has been in favour of the integration of all minorities whether ethnic or religious with a deep respect for the difference.