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Voting in Egypt
as 'Holy War'
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Despite the fact that some in the West
portray Islam and democracy as being perfectly compatible, evidence continues
to emerge that, for many countries in the Middle East, democracy
and elections are various means to one end: the establishment of a
decidedly undemocratic form of law—Islamic, or Sharia Law.
Thus, Egyptian cleric Dr. Talat Zahran
proclaimed that it is "obligatory to cheat at elections, a beautiful
thing," his logic being that voting is a tool, an instrument, the only
value of which is to empower Sharia. Likewise, Hazim Shuman, a cleric who has
his own TV program, issued a fatwa
likening the voting for Islamist candidates as a "jihad," adding
that paradise awaits whoever is "martyred" during the electoral
campaign.
Most recently, according to Al
Wafd, last Friday, May 18, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, one of if not the
most authoritative clerics in the Islamic world, "called on all
Egyptians to vote for one of the Islamist candidates," specifically
naming the three Islamists, Muhammad Mursi (candidate of the Salafist party),
Abd al-Mun'im Abu al-Futuh (candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood's political
wing), and Muhammad al-Salim al-Awwa. Qaradawi described them as "best
for Egypt" because they will "apply the Islamic Sharia and achieve
justice." Moreover, during his Friday sermon, Qaradawi said that it is
"mandatory for every Egyptian to go and vote at the presidential elections,"
calling it a form of "obligatory testimony" on behalf of Islam, and
quoting Koran 2:283 as proof: "And do not conceal testimony, and whoever
conceals it, his heart is surely sinful; and Allah knows what you do."
Qaradawi's position was restated yesterday,
Monday May 21, when, according to Al Ahram, the Sharia
Body for Rights and Reforms—one of the most powerful Islamic organizations,
with members from the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafis, and Al Azhar—issued a
fatwa asserting that it is "impermissible to vote for anyone not
intending to apply Islamic Sharia, and it is obligatory to vote for those who
do seek to implement it," adding that the "presidential election is
a modern way of directing the state, and therefore it behooves Muslims to use
it as a way to enforce Sharia."
If Qaradawi and many others are stressing the
obligation to vote for those most likely to enforce Sharia, Sheikh
Osama Qassim, a member of Egypt's notorious Islamic Jihad, which also
seeks to enforce Islamic law, recently attacked the non-Islamist
candidates—specifically naming Ahmed Shafiq and Amr Mussa—saying that if they
win the presidential elections, it will only be "by cheating," at
which point "the Islamist organizations" will resort to "armed
action" (code for Jihad), adding that such presidents will suffer the
same fate of Anwar Sadat (assassination), but that this time, the struggle
will see "the Islamists achieve complete domination" in Egypt.
Raymond
Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center
and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
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