'War on Islam' in Egypt could unite clashing groups

“Outright war on Islam.”

“War announced by the coup’s Interior Ministry.”

This is how the Muslim Brotherhood’s youth wing and the Building and Development Party, the political wing of salafi group al-Gama’at al-Islamiyya, described the Interior Ministry’s decision to root out posters displayed in cars across Egypt.

Egypt’s Interior Ministry provoked outcry on Monday when it announced its opposition to publicly displayed posters, many of which bear religiously-oriented slogans such as “Pray upon the Prophet [Peace Be Upon Him].”

Abdel Fattah Othman, an official from the ministry’s media department, told the presenter of the satellite programme Cairo Today Amrou Adib that Egyptian law “criminalises the use of posters or signs in cars.”

He went on to say that the ministry will be “putting a stop to” the posters, which have a “sectarian orientation.”

After the official’s announcement, the posters have spread to Twitter, with the youth wing of the Muslim Brotherhood launching the hashtag #HaveYouPrayedUponTheProphetToday?

Translation: Have you prayed upon the Prophet today?! Where is the sectarian orientation in that?! And what’s new about it? For a long time we have seen posters saying “Keep God in mind” and “My headscarf is my virtue” and so on.

Translation: Would the Interior Ministry dare to take down a cross from a car or from anywhere…!!! #HaveYouPrayedUponTheProphetToday?

Translation: Did you know that if you use the phrase “Have you prayed upon the Prophet today”, they will put a stop to you!!

Muntasir Zeyat, lawyer for the salafist group al-Gama’at al-Islamiyya, predicted that the decision would “provoke anger and discord on the streets.”

He told MEE that “they are without doubt fomenting a revolution with their stupidity.”

Meanwhile, the youth arm of the Muslim Brotherhood has announced that Friday 20 June will see a targeted campaign, with activists sticking up posters bearing the same slogan as those that have been deemed illegal by the Interior Ministry.

Coming together in protest

Outcry against the Interior Ministry’s stance, commonly interpreted as being not only anti-Islam but also anti-religion, is coming from diverse quarters.

Rami Jan, a prominent Coptic journalist and head of Christians Against the Coup, came out strongly against suggestions of a poster ban.

He wrote on Facebook: “They said it is an expression that ignites sectarian discord. The answer to this should be: Have you prayed upon the Prophet today?”

Ahmed Ezz, an engineer from Cairo, also took to Facebook to share a story of the campaign spreading through different sections of Egyptian society.

“A taxi driver was standing putting up a poster reading ‘Have you prayed upon Muhammad today?’", he wrote.

"I told him the government would make him take it down, but the driver said, 'My name is Amad Nabil and I am a Christian', raising his arm so I could see the cross tattooed on it."

"I asked him, 'Why are you putting up the poster then?'"

"He said, 'Because the government is being petty with us, and they need to know that there is nobody more childish than us.'"

"I said, 'Let me shake your hand.'"

Mohamed Okda, an Egyptian political analyst and a founding member of the salafi party al-Watan, explained that the slogans on cars and posters are not oriented towards one religion or another.

"I don't see what about it is disturbing them. Before 2011 if you drove around Egypt you would see these folk-art slogans everywhere. It is a traditional symbol of the society. It says 'Praise the Prophet' but in Egyptian culture it really means 'chill out' or 'take it easy.'"

There are also suggestions that the campaign could bring together the Muslim Brotherhood and salafi-oriented political parties, who were most recently split in February 2013 after former President Mohamed Morsi sacked a prominent advisor from the salafi party al-Nour over allegations that he "attempted to exploit his position for personal gain."

Since then the Muslim Brotherhood and the various salafi-oriented political parties have been at loggerheads, with rumours that the prominent salafi party al-Wasat pulled out of the Alliance Supporting Legitimacy, a cross-party coalition of pro-President Morsi forces, in February 2014 without stating a reason.

The similar statements made by officials from the Muslim Brotherhood and various salafi political parties including al-Nour and Building and Development, all of whom have described the Ministry's position as a "war" against Islam, points towards at least the development of a shared language, if not yet to the beginnings of an effective and unified anti-Sisi bloc.

The Muslim Brotherhood is “in communication with salafi youths” to plan the renewed poster campaign set to launch on 20 June, reports Egyptian daily al-Masry al-Yawm.

Muhammad al-Saghir, a prominent official in the Building and Development party, told MEE that "there is co-operation [with the Muslim Brotherhood] on all issues relevant to returning democratic life to its proper path."

Are we seeing in this campaign hints of a rapprochement between the Muslim Brotherhood and some of Egypt’s salafist political parties?

Okda suggested that such a reconciliation could be on the cards.

"I don't think there was a co-ordinated effort from the Muslim Brotherhood and salafi groups initially, but because of the idiotic response from the illegitimate regime, there is now a social media campaign by activists."

Though the posters are not necessarily religiously-oriented, attempts to crack down on them are being interpreted as "an infringement on the religious freedom of the population", according to Okda.

Salafi schisms

However, there seems little chance that the issue will reunite Egypt’s fractured salafi groups, such as the Alliance for Egypt.

The alliance was a salafi-oriented political bloc that came together for the 2011 parliamentary election, winning roughly 28 percent of the seats.

It has since seen fierce discord, though, with the largest party, al-Nour, shearing off and announcing its support for President Sisi during the most recent presidential campaign, a move decried by the other coalition members.

Though the Interior Ministry’s position provoked negative comment from Nour, with the party representative for Dakahlia governorate calling it “extreme provocation”, it seems unlikely that the rift between the Nour and the Building and Development parties will be healed any time soon.

Muhammad al-Saghir, lead representative for the Building and Development Party’s parliamentary bloc, told MEE that Nour Party will not participate in the campaign, though it is open to all as an “Egyptian social heritage.”

“There can be no agreement with al-Nour Party after their support for the coup [by President Sisi] and the continuous massacres.”

"We expect that they will do whatever the regime [led by Sisi] demands of them."

Nour Party has sought to distance itself from the posters, with their spiritual leader and the deputy head of Alexandria-based al-Da'wa al-Salafiyya Yasir Burhami telling news site al-Shorouk that the appearance of the posters simply represents the individual behaviour of pious people.

The issue has also ignited discord between salafi groups that are politically oriented and those which are more quietist.

Sheikh Muhammad al-Abassiri, a prominent salafi preacher who has in the past been dogged in his criticism of politically-oriented salafi groups, accused parties of using the poster campaign to exploit religion in the name of political propaganda in the run-up to Egypt’s parliamentary elections.

He told news site al-Yawm al-Sabi on Wednesday that he suspected the poster campaign had been launched by the Alexandrian political party al-Da’wa al-Salafiyya, “which aims to gain control over parliament by exploiting nationalist and religious slogans.”