Key Models of Religious Institutions’ Interaction in the Context of the State-Church Relations in Russia and Egypt

Criterion

Egypt

Russia

Total population, mln (2021)

106,437,241

142,320,790

Official Religion

Sunni Islam

Orthodoxy

Religious Adherents

Muslim (all denominations combined), %:

88.4

10.6

Sunni Muslim

88.3

10

Shia Muslim

0.2

0.7

Other and unknown Muslim

> 0.1

—

Christian (all denominations combined), %:

10.9

48.2

Orthodox

9.3

44.6

Pentecostal

0.3

1.5

Protestant

1.1

1.1

Catholic

0.2

0.5

Other and unknown Christian

> 0.1

0.5

Ethnoreligionist
(incl. Animist, Shamanist), %

—

1.4

Buddhist (all denominations combined), %:

—

0.5

Vajrayana Buddhist

—

0.5

Other and unknown Buddhist

—

0.1

Other Religionist, %

> 0.1

0.1

Not Religious (incl. Atheist), %

0.6

8.2

Unknown, %

—

31

No.

Index

Egypt

Russia

1

State Regulation of Majority or All Religions Index (0—87, lower means less regulation)

29

17

2

State Religious Minority Discrimination Index (0—108, lower means less discrimination)

46

49

3

State Funding of Religion Summary (0—10, lower means less state funding)

6

4

4

Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions Index (0—81, lower means less discrimination)

62

26

5

Religious Legislation Index (0—52, lower means less religious legislation)

28

12

6

Average social regulation score over ARDA researchers’ coding of 2003, 2005 and 2008 U.S. Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Reports (0—10, lower means less regulation)

8

9.8

7

Religious Freedom Composite Score for Nonpreferred Religion(s) (0—4, lower means more freedom) (2015)

1.3

2.0

8

Average number of people physically abused, displaced, imprisoned, or killed due to their religion according to the U.S. Department of State’s 2005 and 2008 International Religious Freedom Reports (as coded by ARDA researchers). 0 = None; 1 = 1—10; 2 = 11—20;
3 = 21—100; 4 = 101—500; 5 = 501—1000; 6 = 1001—5000; 7 = 5001—10 000;
8 = 10 001—50 000; 9 = 50 001—100 000; 10 = greater than 100 000

7

3

9

Religious Official Status Composite Score of Preferred Religion(s)
(0—4, lower means less established or favored)

3.5

3

10

Religious Official Status Composite Score of Nonpreferred Religion(s)
(0—4, lower means less established or favored)

0.5

1

11

Religious Education Composite Score of Preferred Religion(s) (0—4, lower means less religious education requirements)

2

2

12

Religious Education Composite Score of Nonpreferred Religion(s) (0—4, lower means less religious education requirements)

1

1

13

Religious Financial Support Composite Score of Preferred Religion(s) (0—4, lower means less financial support)

4

2

14

Religious Financial Support Composite Score of Nonpreferred Religion(s) (0—4, lower means less financial support)

0

2

Criterion

Egypt

Russia

Is proselytizing Legal?

Yes

Official Support: The formal relationship between religion and state

State controlled religion, positive attitude

Multi-tiered preferences

The extent to which religious education is mandatory in public schools

Mandatory for all; the course must be in religion

Mandatory, but upon specific request, a student may opt out of the course

The extent to which funding is exclusive to one or a few religions

Government funding of religion goes primarily to one religion but at least some other religions receive some funds

Is religious registration sometimes denied?

Registration is required but sometimes denied

What are the consequences of registration?

Groups are officially required to register, and the government enforces this and discriminates against unregistered groups.