Abstract
This chapter re-frames the trajectory of the 2011 Egyptian revolution as a clash between liberal freedom and Islamist justice. Although the Egyptian intellectual classes, whether liberals or Islamists, shared an admiration for Western-style liberal democracy and a belief in its potential for solving the economic decay of the country, they differed in their methods of implementation. Non-Islamist activists, who generally championed the revolutionary coalitions, wanted a free society with democratic government that limits, but does not eliminate, the role of Islam in the state. Islamists, on the other hand, while stopping short of calling for the full implementation of Shari’a (excluding the Salafi groups), envisioned a central role for Islam in the newly reformed state and insisted on reforming it according to their concept of justice. Political freedom was not perceived as indispensable for the just state in the way that literal justice was. This chapter draws on these groups’ revolutionary slogans, banners, and graffiti to support this argument.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Carl Becker, The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth-Century Philosophers (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003).
- 2.
Data accumulated from open sources and specially Wikipedia’s list of revolutions and rebellions during this timeframe. Accessed in May 2013 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_revolutions_and_rebellions and also see Meredith Reid Sarkees and Frank Wayman, Resort to War 1816–2007 (Washington: CQ Press, a Division of SAGE, 2010).
- 3.
Nidal Dawud al-Mumini, Ash-Sharif al-Ḥusayn ibn ‘Ali wa-al-Khilafah (Amman: al-Maṭba‘ah as-Safadi, 1996).
- 4.
P. M. Holt, The Mahdist State in the Sudan 1881–1898: A Study of Its Origin, Development, and Overthrow (Clarendon: Oxford University Press, 1958).
- 5.
Qays al-Ghariri, Rashid Ali al-Gaylani wa Dawruhu al-Watani (Baghdad: Baghdad University Press, 2001). And also see Malka Salman Al Saadi, Tabibah Min Bilad al-Rafidayni 2013, 4; https://books.google.co.ma/books?id=MXDfAgAAQBAJ&hl=fr&source=gbs_navlinks_s.
- 6.
Branche Raphaëlle, La Guerre d’Algérie: Une Histoire Apaisée? (Paris: Seuil, 2005).
- 7.
Mbaye Lo, “Religion and Religious Teachings in al Qaeda.” In Religion and Terrorism. Edited by Veronica Ward and Richard Sherlock (Lexington Books. 2014), pp. 171–201.
- 8.
Quran: 8: 22.
- 9.
Read on Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal in Mansoor Jassem Alshamsi, Islam and Political Reform in Saudi Arabia: The Quest for Political Change (Rutledge, 2012), 51.
- 10.
Quoted in Muhammad ‘Ammara’s book, Islam wa al-Thawra (Cairo: Dar al-Shurooq, 1988), 271.
- 11.
Al-Masry Al-Youm Newspaper, July 15, 2012: Issue 2954, p. 8.
- 12.
The cover page of the Economist Magazine of July 13, 2013, asks: Has the Arab Spring Failed? Muhammed Fadel “What Killed Egyptian Democracy? For Liberals and Islamists, Theory Matters.” In Boston Review (Tuesday, January 21, 2014). Retrieved on January 23, 2014, at http://www.bostonreview.net/forum/mohammad-fadel-what-killed-egyptian-democracy. This view also echoes Peter Gelderloos’ book The Failure of Nonviolence: from the Arab Spring to Occupy (Left Bank Distribution, 2013).
- 13.
A related reading is Iliya Harik’s criticism of the Freedom House Argument in “Democracy, ‘Arab Exceptionalism,’ and Social Science.” In Middle East Journal, Vol.: 60, No. 4 (2006), pp. 664–684.
- 14.
Rachid Ghannushi, “Fulfilling North Africa’s Promise” a roundtable discussion on Friday, January 24, 2014, at The World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. Accessed on January 25, 2014, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6kpco7sidA.
- 15.
Gilbert Achcar, The People Want (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013), 1.
- 16.
Emad Abdullatif, Balaghat al Huriyyah (Cairo: Al-Tanwir Publication, 2012), 46.
- 17.
Accessed on the Language Monitor website on April 11, 2012, at http://www.languagemonitor.com/911/top-words-of-2011/.
- 18.
Aya Nassar “The Symbolism of Tahrir Square.” In Jadaliyya: May 11, 2011. Accessed on May 20, 2016, at http://english.dohainstitute.org/release/ccfc38f8-eae6-4542-9fb0-13dd6075ed7c.
- 19.
Following his second speech as he responded the initial demand of the protesters, millions of Egyptian descended to Tahrir with only one word irhal. See YouTube link at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DnzR2DghDU.
- 20.
Interviewed on June 17, 2012, at the Arab and African Research Center, Cairo.
- 21.
Lee Smith, The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations (New York: Doubleday, 2010).
- 22.
Elder, Charles D. and Roger W. Cobb. The Political Uses of Symbols (New York, Longman, 1983), 28–29.
- 23.
“Egypt’s population rises by 1 million in 6 months.” In Ahram Online, Friday 21 Feb 2014. Accessed on March 15, 2014, at http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/94853/Business/Economy/Egypts-population-rises-by%2D%2Dmillion-in%2D%2Dmonths.aspx.
- 24.
Information collected from Egypt State Information Service Official Website. Accessed on February 15, 2015, at http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Default.aspx.
- 25.
Fahmi al-Huwaidi, “So not to make Islam the Problem). Paper published in Al Jazeera Arabic, documented on March 3, 2013. Website: http://www.aljazeera.net/opinions/pages/97729918-8F36-43F8-9E77-520104603C10.
- 26.
Abdelwahab El-Affendi “The Political Discourse in the Arab Spring Democracies.” A lecture at Al Jazeera Centre for Studies. Qatar: April 15, 2013.
- 27.
Al-Masry Al-Youm Newspaper: April 20, 2013.
- 28.
Arabic newspapers surveyed during the study are Egypt’s three official newspapers—Al Gomhuria, Al-Dostour, and Al-Ahram in addition to Akhabar al-Youm, Shurooq, and the Muslim Brotherhoods’ Sahifat al-Hurriyyah wa al-‘Adalah.
- 29.
Ebrahim al Bahrawi, “Jum’atu-l al-Wifaq Bayn Generalat al-Jaysh wa Shabab al-Thawrah” [The Friday of Harmony between the Army Generals and the Revolutionary Youth]. In Al-Masry Al-Youm: July 19, 2011. Issue: 2592.
- 30.
Nawal Saadawi “La Karamat Li Thawrat Fi Wataniha” [No Reverence for a Revolution in its Own Locality]. In Al-Masry Al-Youm: July 19, 2011. Issue: 2592. Available at http://www.almasryalyoum.com/news/details/209249.
- 31.
Jalal Amin, Qisat al-Iqtisad al-Misri: Min ‘Ahd Muhammad Ali ila ‘Ahd Mubrak [The Story of the Egyptian economy: From the Era of Muhammad Ali to the Era of Husni Mubark] (Cairo: Dar al-Shurooq, 2013).
- 32.
Sayyid al-Qimni, Shukran Bin Laden [Thanks, Bin Laden] (Cairo, Dar Misr al-Mahroosah, year NK).
- 33.
Sherif Younes, “al-Ikhwaniyyah al-Mubarakiyyah.” In Ahram Newspaper, September 29, 2014: accessed at http://www.ahram.org.eg/NewsQ/328409.aspx#.VCmh6TqSi0M.facebook.
- 34.
This is the name of Jonathan Brown’s 2012 book.
- 35.
Interviewed in Cairo at Ahram Center on May 29, 2013.
- 36.
Emad Abdellatif, op. cit.
- 37.
Nader Srage, Miṣr al-Thawrah wa-Shiʻaraat Shababiha: Diraasah Lisaniyyah fi ‘Afawiyat al-Ta’bir (Qatar: al-Markaz al-‘Arabi lil-Abḥaath wa-Dirasaat al-Siyasaat, 2014).
- 38.
A relevant book in this discussion of Friday during the revolution is Sam Cherribi, Fridays of Rage: Al Jazeera, The Arab Spring and Political Islam (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017).
- 39.
Quoted in Timeline: Egypt’s Revolution. Al Jazeera Net: February 14, 2011. Accessed at http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/01/201112515334871490.html.
- 40.
Story also covered in Shurooq Newspaper on July 19, 2011: issue 899, p. 14.
- 41.
Al-Masry Al-Youm Newspaper, July 30, 2011: Issue No. 2603, p. 1.
- 42.
Al-Masry Al-Youm Newspaper, July 25, 2011: Issue No. 2598, p. 1.
- 43.
Al-Masry Al-Youm Newspaper, July 27, 2011: Issue No. 25600, p. 1.
- 44.
Al Gomhuria Newspaper: July 28, 2011, p. 5.
- 45.
Al-Masry Al-Youm Newspaper, July 30, 2011: Issue No. 2603, p. 1.
- 46.
Al-Masry Al-Youm Newspaper, July 30, 2011: Issue No. 2603, p. 6.
- 47.
Al-Masry Al-Youm Newspaper, July 30, 2011: Issue No. 2603, p. 6.
- 48.
Al Gomhuria Newspaper: July 28, 2011, p. 5.
- 49.
Interviewed in Cairo at Aldiwan Arabic Language Center, Garden City, May 30, 2011.
- 50.
Al-Masry Al-Youm Newspaper, February 22, 2011.
- 51.
Nahdat Misr, July 30: 2011; issue: 2295, p. 6.
- 52.
Ibid., p. 6.
- 53.
Quoted in Al-Masry Al-Youm, July 24, 2011. Issue: 2597, p. 1.
- 54.
Statement reproduced in Al-Masry Al-Youm Newspaper, July 24, 2011. Issue: 2597, p. 5.
- 55.
Quoted in Al-Masry Al-Youm, July 24, 2011. Issue: 2597, p. 21.
- 56.
Nahdat Misr Newspaper, p. 2.
- 57.
Al-Shurooq Newspaper: July 31, 2011: Issue: 911, p. 7.
- 58.
SCAF Communiqué #69, and also read Al Akhbar Newspaper: July 24, 2011, p. 3.
- 59.
- 60.
Kamal al-Helbawi’s video was accessed on June 5th at http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2823.htm.
- 61.
Mohamed Elmeshad, Profile “Kamal al-Helbawy, a defector of conscience.” In Egypt Independent, 09/04/2012. Accessed on May 12, 2016, at http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/profile-kamal-al-helbawy-defector-conscience.
- 62.
Kamal al-Helbawi, ibid.
- 63.
Kamal al-Helbawi, Rais Intiqali … Thawrah Mustamirrah [An Interim President … The Revolution Continues] (Cairo: Dar al-Misriyyah al-Lubnaniyyah, 2014).
- 64.
Interviewed in al-Sharq al-Awsat Newspaper on August 4, 2013. Interview available at http://archive.aawsat.com/details.asp?section=4&article=738870&issueno=12668#.V268CqKTP8d.
- 65.
Hisaam Tamam , Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh: Shahid ‘ala al-Tarikh al-Haraka al-Islamiyya Fi MaSr 1970–1984 (Cairo: Dar al-Shurooq, 2010), 61.
- 66.
Ibid., p. 41.
- 67.
Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, Mujaddidun la Mubaddidoun (Renovators, not Dispellers) (Cairo: Tatwir lil-Nashr wa al-Tawzi’, 2005), 29–30.
- 68.
Ibid., 69.
- 69.
Ibid., 75.
- 70.
Ibid., 92.
- 71.
Ibid., 93.
- 72.
Ibid., 110.
- 73.
Ibid., 124.
- 74.
Al-Shurooq Newspaper: July 19, 2011. Issue 899: 6.
- 75.
Interview accessed in a YouTube video uploaded on January 21, 2012. Accessed on June 5, 2016, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj6HtSmMsjk.
- 76.
Rachid Ghannushi “Secularism and the Relation of Religion to the State.” A talk delivered at the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), Tunisia, March 2, 2011.
- 77.
Shafiq in a TV interview uploaded onto YouTube on May 21, 2012. Accessed on October 11, 2012, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UR5xtp0nA8&feature=player_embedded.
- 78.
Federalist Papers, No. 63.
- 79.
Al Akhbar, July 24, 2011, p. 14.
- 80.
Al Akhbar, July 24, 2011, p. 14.
- 81.
Review more details on Hassan al-Turabi in Chap. 7 of this book.
- 82.
Song accessed on December 3, 2012, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeQqMuNdJvY.
- 83.
Ellen McLarney, “Women’s Rights in the Egyptian Constitution: (Neo) Liberalism’s Family Values,” In Jadaliyya (May 22, 2013).
- 84.
For more details, review presentations at the Conference on “Reality and the Challenges of Dawla Madaniyya Project After the Arab Spring,” organized by Shabakatu Ibn Rushd li-l-Dawlah Madaniyya. Tunisia: March: 18–19, 2014; and also follow the NPR interview “Women In The Egyptian Revolution: An Evolution of Rights.” Broadcasted on July 13, 2013. Accessed at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=201851115.
- 85.
Al-Shurooq Newspaper interview on July 19, 2011: issue 899, p. 6.
- 86.
Abdel Omar Sherif, “The Relationship between the Constitution and the Shari’a in Egypt,” In Constitutionalism in Islamic Countries: Between Upheaval and Continuity. Rainer Grote, Tilmann Röder (Eds.) (Oxford University Press, 2012), 121–134.
- 87.
Gamal Gasim, “Explaining Political Activism in Yemen” In Taking to the Streets: The Transformation of Arab Activism. Edited by Lina Khatib, Ellen Lust (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014).
- 88.
Al-Shurooq Newspaper: July 30, 2011; Issue: 910, p. 1.
- 89.
Abu Fahr al-Salafi, Al-Dawla al-Madaniyya: Mafaheem wa Ah-kaam [The Civilian State: Concepts and Provisions] (Cairo: Al-‘ASriyyah Lil Nashr wa al-Tawzi’, 2011), 50.
- 90.
Abu Fahr (al-Salafi), p. 33.
- 91.
Muhammad Abduh, al-Islam Bayn al-‘Ilm wa al-Madaniyya (Cairo: al-Hayah al-Misriyyah li-l Kitaab, 1988).
- 92.
Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Min Fiqh Dawla Fi al-Islam (Cairo: Dar al-Shurooq, 2001).
- 93.
Muhammad Ammarah, Dawla al-Islamiyyah Bayna al-‘Almaniyyah, wa Al-Sulta al-Diniyyah (Cairo: Dar al-Shurooq, 1988).
- 94.
Muhmmad Ammarah, op. cit., 55.
- 95.
Al-Salafi, op. cit., 66.
- 96.
Al-Salafi, op. cit., 77.
- 97.
Muhammad Habib, “Al-Azhar wa al-Jama’aat, wa Dawla Madaniyya.” In Al-Masry Al-Youm, October 5, 2015.
- 98.
Al-Azhar, “Wathiqatu al-Azhar” (the Al-Azhar Statement), January 2012. Accessed on February 23, 2015, at http://alazharmemory.eg/topics/topicsDetails.aspx?id=365#.
- 99.
Axel Honneth , Freedom’s Right: The Social Foundations of Democratic Life (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lo, M. (2019). The Collapse of the Egyptian Revolution: Liberal Freedom Versus Islamist Justice. In: Political Islam, Justice and Governance. Political Economy of Islam. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96328-0_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96328-0_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-96327-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-96328-0
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)