Moreover, this is a clear violation of Egyptians’ right to knowledge.

I doubt that the agency does not have any data on the number of Muslims and Christians in Egypt, given that several years ago I noticed that the agency yearbook included statistical data regarding every single demographic detail, yet ignored the issue of religion and sects. 

In 1999, I asked the agency president at the time about that. He replied that they used to collect statistics regarding the religion of Egyptian citizens, but they stopped. He explained that when problems erupted between his Holiness Pope Shenouda III and the state of Egypt, the Coptic Pope complained about the counting of Copts and claimed that the agency wanted to show a reduced number of Copts in order to make this sect seem less valuable. After that, the agency decided to avoid further problems by no longer publishing figures related to this issue. 

From his answer, I gathered that these figures do exist, but they have not been leaked to us as citizens. However, it is only recently that we have heard there have been no religious statistics at all since 1986. 

The statistical yearbook that the agency issues annually includes many details, such as the number of citizens who own single-room apartments, two-bedroom apartments and so on. It includes the number of Egyptians owning more than one apartment, those who have one wife or more than one, those who are single, etc.

The book even gives details about the number of times Egyptian citizens go to the theater and see a movie every year, and so on. Yet the book completely ignores figures on religion in society, most importantly the number of Christians and Muslims.

However, we hope for more than just that. We need to know the number of Sunnis and Shiites, even if the latter numbered at 100 citizens. We need to know whether there are followers of another sect or Muslim group.

As for the Christians, we need to know the number of Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants as well as other denominations such as Mormons, followers of Maximus and others. The yearbook is supposed to include statistics on other religions, too, such as Bahais, Satanists and followers of other so-called faiths.

According to the way the agency operates, which is scientific, I expect that statistics are available on the number of times every citizen frequents a house of worship, how many days he or she observes, the number of times each citizen performs a pilgrimage, frequents God’s sanctuaries and performs other religious practices.

The absence of the religious dimension from the statistics makes us experience a sort of scientific blindness. Some use this lack of information to intimidate others, while some are reassured.

We confidently say that we are a religious people by instinct; we note that mosques are packed with worshippers on Friday, but they are almost empty on other days of the week. 

International surveys show that Egypt is among the top countries in the world affected by human trafficking and that the rate of prostitution — in all its forms — is increasing. How can these two realities meet in a single society?

Having accurate statistical numbers regarding religion would make us aware of many problems, not only in terms of values and ethics, but also regarding sectarian tensions. These problems occasionally emerge, and will most likely grow and expand in the coming years.

Anyone who reads “Description de l’Egypte” — specifically the volume centered on population — will be shocked to learn that scholars from Napoleon Bonaparte’s campaign conducted an approximate census of the Egyptian population, including a religious and sectarian breakdown.

We will be more astonished when we discover that those who study the history of Egypt during the Islamic, Mamluk and Ottoman eras can easily access statistical figures on religion, based on tax records. However, at present, we do not deal with this issue in a scientific way.

The supervisors at CAPMAS probably fear that announcing the population breakdown by religion could aggravate sectarian tensions. However, it could be the beginning of a balanced relationship in society.

Anyway, this is the job of politicians and heads of state, rather than statisticians, since the latter’s work is scientific and technical.

The absence of this dimension paved the way for arbitrary figures. While some Wahhabis say that the number of Copts in Egypt is less than 4 million, some pro-Copts argue that their number exceeds 35 million. A small number should never lead to eroding the rights of the Copts and a big number should never stand behind tyranny.

However, this issue must be statistically resolved. Based on that, the building of a modern civil state will start, which — as President Mohammed Morsi said — we are seeking to achieve.