Political Islam is not dead, contrary to the overconfident predictions of those who not too long ago were denying its very existence and claiming that the Muslim Brotherhood was, in James Clapper’s words, “largely secular,” or at least “moderate.” “Egyptian Salafist Nour Party to ‘protect Islamic identity’ in new constitution,” from Albawaba, August 26:
Egypt’s Salafist Nour Party has decided to participate in the 50-member committee tasked with proposing amendments to the country’s temporarily suspended 2012 constitution, state news agency MENA reported.
The decision follows previous statements by Nour spokesmen stating that the party will not take part in the constitutional committee following the removal of article 219 by a technical committee, which amended the constitution before passing it on to the “˜50 committee”.
Article 219 defined Sharia (Islamic law), which is mentioned in Article 2 as the main source of legislation in Egypt. The article was added by the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly in 2012 under the former President Mohamed Morsi. It states that, “the principles of Islamic Sharia include its commonly-accepted interpretations, its fundamental and jurisprudent rules and its widely considered sources, as stated by the schools of Sunna and Gamaa.”
How interesting that this article can refer to “commonly-accepted interpretations” of Sharia with confidence that everyone will know what it means, while snake oil salesmen in the U.S. such as the Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf and Reza Aslan hoodwink the American public with claims that Sharia has no commonly-accepted interpretations, but is so amorphous as to defy characterization.
The Nour party has previously warned that eliminating this article translates as an attempt to move Egyptians away from their “Islamic identity.”
The group’s decision to join the committee, which is to have the final word on amendments before the constitution is subjected to a plebiscite, was partly taken in order to promote keeping article 219 in the constitution….
Nour Party, the second largest Islamist party in Egypt, was the only Islamist group openly condoning the deposition of Morsi after mass protests against him.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the party that nominated Morsi to the presidency, has rejected all steps taken after his overthrow to initiate dialogue, and insists he be reinstated.