EGYPT: Politicized faith

Egypt’s top Muslim religious leaders have recently elicited a huge uproar across the country by issuing fatwas and making statements that reinforced the common conception that they advance a version of Islam that suits the interests of the ruling regime.

The first statement was made by the grand sheik of Al Azhar last month when he stated that whoever commits libel or spreads false information should get 80 lashes. Mohammed Sayed Tantawi’s statement came on the heels of the referral of an Egyptian prominent editor to court on charges of spreading rumors that the president was not in good shape.

Ultimately, Tantawi caused a huge stir among journalists who perceived his statement as another assault on freedom of expression in a country where journalists still face prison sentences for crossing red lines.

Lately, Egypt’s grand mufti, Ali Gomaa, stirred a storm of anger not only in intellectual circles but also among lay Egyptians after he made a statement refusing to consider young Egyptians who drowned on their way to Italy as martyrs. The mufti did not stop there, but went further with his criticism of the poor young men, accusing them of throwing themselves into a perilous situation “for the sake of greed and ambition.” This statement hit a nerve with many Egyptians who sympathized with the victims and believed that the deteriorating economic conditions were the main reason behind their decision to run the risk of sailing to Italy in wonky boats in search of better opportunities to make a living.

Gomaa’s statement was believed to be an attempt by a state-sanctioned religious leader to dispel criticism of a government that has failed to provide real job opportunities to desperate youths. “We want your Greatness to be a mufti not a government employee,” wrote Madgy El Gallad, addressing the Gomaa in his column in the prominent independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm.

— Noha El-Hennawy in Cairo

Comments

[Omar Khalil]

I believe that writing about the Islamic Establishment clerics in Egypt is a waste of time. Those gentlemen (I think that women should be proud that they are not included in this gang that can not shoot straight) have elevated Al-Azhar and Dar Al-Iftaa to the highest level of irrelevance. The best these Fatwas can do is to provide a comic relief for some intellectuals. The worst is to hurt the feelings of the families who lost their struggling young ones. The Mufti was a great scholar when he started, but as years passed, he lost his logical approach and is running to please. He should simply know that for Muslims, God is the only arbiter who goes where in the other life. This is not the decision of any human being, even a high-ranking Egyptian Government employee. I think the best way to treat those men is for the independent press to completely ignore their utterances. Save what they say to Al-Ahram, where the obituaries are the only section that is close to being factual.
Thank you for bringing this issue to the LA-Times Blog. For the LA Times readers, be thankful that you do not have those Sheiks here.