EL-SAF, Egypt – Police cars crammed the courtyard of a youth center in this rural town outside Cairo, where an ultraconservative Islamist party was holding a conference on the draft national constitution. The new charter, written mainly by liberals and backed by the military, would ban political parties based on religion, give women equal rights and protect the status of minority Christians.
But the police were not out to harass the Al-Nour Salafi party, as they have the Muslim Brotherhood, which is organizing a boycott of this week’s referendum on the new constitution.
Salafis advocate strict segregation of the sexes and an unbendingly literal interpretation of the Quran, saying society should mirror the way the Prophet Muhammad ruled the early Muslims in the 7th century. They say they want to turn Egypt into a pure Islamic society, implementing strict Shariah, or Islamic law. Men are known for their long beards, with the mustache shaved off – a style they say was worn by Muhammad – while the women wear the “niqab,” an enveloping black robe and veil that leaves only the eyes visible.
They also reject democracy as a heresy, since it would supplant God’s law with man’s rulings – though they decided to set those concerns aside to enter elections after the 2011 ouster of former leader Hosni Mubarak.
The group’s rallies around the country have been held in carefully selected venues, most tightly secured and well-planned. A senior security official in the southern city of Aswan, where Al-Nour had a recent rally, said police and party leaders coordinate ahead of local events to ensure limited and vetted attendance.
The Brotherhood and other Islamist groups have increasingly targeted Al-Nour during their protests, with some of its offices outside of Cairo attacked and its politicians heckled.
Authorities have been cracking down on people trying to distribute pamphlets calling for a “no” vote in the balloting to be held Tuesday and Wednesday, mostly on grounds they were representatives of the Brotherhood, which the government has declared a terrorist group. But the Brotherhood and other Islamist organizations have called for a boycott.
Founded after the 2011 revolution against Hosni Mubarak, Al-Nour party won about a quarter of the vote in the country’s first parliamentary election held later that year – coming behind only the Brotherhood. It soon broke with the Brotherhood, accusing it of monopolizing power. And today Al-Nour argues that it is not a religiously-based party, but rather one with a “religious background” that focuses on social priorities such as health insurance and economic development.
Al-Nour party’s backing of the military-backed government marks a return to an earlier political posture of ultraconservative Salafis, who had for long stayed out of politics and instead supported the party in power. Under Hosni Mubarak, Salafi clerics had urged their followers not to go against their leader. Some Salafi movements in Egypt discouraged their followers from joining the January 2011 uprisings.
Sabah Mohammed, a 47-year-old government employee who wears the veil of conservative Muslim women, said she was confident Al-Nour was ultimately true to its Islamist principles.
“They are a religious party ... I know they would apply (Islamic law). They are good. I’ve seen nothing from them that was bad,” she said, sitting at the back corner of the male-dominated gathering.
El Deeb reported from Cairo. Associated Press Writer Mamdouh Thabet contributed to this report from Assiut, Egypt.
