For the past few months, a major divide has been growing in Egyptian society. On the eve of January 25th, there was an unparalleled sense of achievement and elation. The Egyptian people seemed united and proud of what they have accomplished; the overthrow of a tyrant. However, bit by bit, the people have started to stray from common goals and began to promote their opposing visions for a new Egypt. Opposing calls for a "religious state" and a "liberal state" have swamped every media channel in Egypt, with supporters of each camp abusing the other verbally and sterotyping their opponents. Liberals being labelled as anti-religion and/or atheists while the other camp is being labelled anti-democratic and archaic. Needless to say, the verabl war has led to the polarization of Egyptian society with the liberal state opponents on one side and the religious state's on the other.
Religion plays an important role in the Egyptians' lives (whether Muslim or Christian), with charities on both sides helping their communities and garnering more support for religious institutions and groups. The Muslim Brotherhood, which have been present whether clearly or underground on the Egyptian political scene even before the 1952 revolution or coup, has become energized by the overthrow of Mubarak and is assuming a large role in post January 25th Egypt. However, the Muslim Brotherhood has gained enough political experience and diplomacy throughout the years that has enabled it to present a more moderate image of itself and even garner the support of many for its political aspirations (whether local or international). So, if that's the case, where's the problem? And why all the hype and verbal wars?! The problem lies with the new entrants on the scene; the Salafis (the traditionalists may be a close translation even if not extremely accurate). The Salafis, who are completely new to the political scene and who have been kept underground by the old regime, have no political finesse nor real political aspirations and their only aim is to have a "religious state". They have been opposed to the overthrow of Mubarak because they interpret religious scripture as opposing to any attempts to overthrow the ruler. However, they are quite happy to come after that overthrow and demand to impose their view of what the new Egypt should be like. In their quest, they have painted all dissenting opinions as immoral non-religious and "Western" (definitely used with its historical imperialist connotations). So, that's mainly the religious camp with its newly labelled moderates (the Brotherhood) and its newly acquired extremists (the Salafis).
On the other side, the liberal camp, which is composed of a number of thinkers and writers, have managed to garner the support of a large section of the elite and of course the local businessmen. However, they have failed to simplify their dialogue to attract the larger masses in addition to the fact that they don't have much presence outside of Cairo nor have the warm connection that the Brotherhood has with the masses as a result of their charitable work. The other problem of the liberal camp lies with one of the major problems that I have mentioned in earlier posts, illiteracy. The fact that Egypt has a high rate of illiteracy makes liberals sound like they are talking gibberish and also makes it easier for the masses to believe the accusations being levelled at them. Even the forums used by each camp reflects the failure of liberals to present their ideas to the masses. While the Salafis are using mosques and door to door techniques, the liberals are using their writings to convince an illiterate population!!! Not only that, even when using the most widely spread media channel i.e. TV, the liberals are talking about ideologies and theories instead of talking to the people about what these mean for their daily lives.
I fear that the end of this unequal war (and I am sad to say that those who supposedly are more educated are the ones who have the losing hand), we will have a new Egypt other than the one I dreamt of with millions of others. I can see some people trying to make a change but they need a lot of support in their efforts. One of these is the Freedom Bus, a great intiative that centers around political awareness and education, which is basically a bus full of volunteers touring Egypt to educate people about politics and their rights. I am "praying" for similar initiatives to fill the void liberals are intent on ignoring. People need to know that democracy is not foreign to Islam and that it ultimately serves the interests of the people. They need to know that it is possible to combine both religion and democracy in an equation that's purely Egyptian and build a better Egypt that allows all to prosper whether materially or otherwise.
