EGYPT: Politicized faith

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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