Sharia in action in Egypt: Islamic morality police unleashed

"Pundits and politicians are already ringing the alarm bells. The common refrain you hear in the US: The Middle East is being overrun with religious radicals bent on oppressing women and destroying Israel. That is nonsense, of course." -- Reza Aslan

"Egypt unleashes Islamic morality police force," by Katerina Nikolas for the Digital Journal, March 3 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Cairo - A new informal police force has been launched in Cairo, to ensure Islamic morals are adhered to. The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice denies it is linked to Saudi's dreaded morality police, which share the same name.
Islamic Cleric Hisham el-Ashri, founder of Egypt's newly launched Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, stated the morality police will only use "non-violent methods" to implement the moral principles of Islam, the IB Times reported.
El-Ashri said: "We will only offer advice to those who want to listen. We shall have no business with people who refuse to listen to us."

In spite of el-Ashri's declarations of non-violence the Salafist morality enforcers will carry canes to beat violaters. According to Bikya News they will be provided with electric tasers at some point in the future.

Following his recent return from the U.S. el-Ashri gave a television interview during which he declared: "It is the dream of my life to wage war against Israel." He also stated: "There is no such thing as a Christian religion."

Activists in Egypt have condemned the launch of the morality police as Islamic bigotry that flies in the face of the freedoms they have fought for. One activist told Bikya the Islamists will undoubtedly abuse any powers they derive from their membership of the morality police, saying “the reality is that they will abuse it and force people, especially women, to act in stupid conservative ways."

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7 Comments

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duh_swami | March 3, 2013 10:34 AM | Reply

We shall have no business with people who refuse to listen to us."

That will last about ten seconds...

the morality police will only use "non-violent methods" to implement the moral principles of Islam...

That will last about 11 seconds...

Buraq | March 3, 2013 11:14 AM | Reply

When I lived in Saudi during the 1990s, I saw the Mutawa (religious police) literally pick guys up and throw them into the mosque at prayer time if they were still on the street!

Saw it with my own eyes!

Salah | March 3, 2013 2:03 PM | Reply

The people's reaction:

"Activists have announced they will be re-enacting the viral (Harlem Shake) dance in front of the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in Moqattam, Egypt, as part of a protest."

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/03/03/harlem-shake-inspires-activists-in-egypt

Sam | March 3, 2013 5:19 PM | Reply

Time to get rid off pagan pyramids also....

Truthseeker | March 3, 2013 5:28 PM | Reply

This could be a valuable study in social development?

- Does greater "adherence to the law" create greater coherence, unity and harmony in society?

- Will the above steps increase greatly needed tourist revenue in Egypt?

- How will such efforts compare to England's Puritan period under Cromwell?

- How will such efforts compare to the longed for religious freedom of the Puritans of Massachusetts?

- What will we learn about the intersection of religion and law in the development of society? The precise and energetic study of social process and law actually aided Europe to become more effective in the Renaissance period?

- Might this be but one segment of a global Renaissance process as we all examine closely the "Science of Government" and what creates the wisest and most efficient developmental process. (As proud as we in the US are of our many accomplishments it would seem that there is a bit of unfinished business to attend to as well?)

Respectfully yours, TS

Wellington | March 3, 2013 6:35 PM | Reply

Here's a given: The more Islam a nation has the more a "morality police" will have to exist. It's a directly proportional relationship.

You'd think Western leftists, who so often decry anything approaching traditional morality or its implementation, would be in the forefront of opposing Islam's reactionary ways and methods (which go way beyond what Western conservatives desire, but then most Western leftists are so clueless they can't distinguish between conservatives and reactionaries), but to do so one would have to accord to modern leftists a consistency of thought and a revulsion for double standards. This would give them far more credit than they deserve, than they are perhaps even capable of.

Again can be seen that evil, in this case Islam pure and simple, is not the main problem. Rather, the excuse making for evil is. And modern leftists in the West are in the forefront of excuse-making for Islam. Shame on them for all time. Modern Western leftism is an idiot many times over, never more so than with its continuing effort to run interference for that spiritual totalitarianism known as Islam.

Yes, many on the right who are well known still don't understand Islam, but many on the right who are well known do. Who on the left, well known, does? Maybe one or two but this still adds up to the modern left being a collective idiot, the village idiot, on the matter of Islam.

Alice | March 3, 2013 9:12 PM | Reply

Guess I'll never see the pyramids now. That's that last straw.

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