Via National Review:
Thanks to an Andrew Bostom blog post over at the American Thinker, I was alerted to the strong Sharia language in the Egypt’s new constitutional declaration. It follows:
“The Arab Republic Of Egypt is a state whose system is democratic, based on the principle of citizenship; Islam is the religion of the state; Arabic is its official language; and the principles of Islamic Sharia — which include its general evidences, its fundamental and jurisprudential rules, and its recognized sources in the doctrines of the people of the Sunna and Jam’aan (i.e., Sunnism)— are the main source of legislation.”
Deposing the Muslim Brotherhood was an important and critical step in halting the spread of jihadist Islam, but we can’t look at Egypt with rose-colored glasses. Remember, the more radical Salafist party was the second-largest vote-getter in pre-revolution Egyptian elections, and jihadism has hardly disappeared from Egyptian politics.
Via Ahram Online:
Egypt’s Maspero Youth Union, a Coptic activist group, has expressed its opposition to the constitutional declaration issued on Monday by interim president Adly Mansour.
In a statement released Tuesday, the group described the 33-article declaration, which outlines the roadmap for the transitional period expected to last six months, as “shocking.”
“The [constitutional declaration] is not compatible with the ideals of the 30 June uprising… that went out for a civil state that upholds religious and cultural diversity,” the statement read.
The declaration was criticised for its first article that states that the Arab Republic of Egypt is a democratic system based on citizenship, that Islam is the religion of the state, Arabic is its official language and the principles of sharia law derived from established Sunni canons are its main source of legislation.
This article combines Articles 1, 2 and 219 of the suspended constitution. The latter was added by Islamists to outline the meaning of “principles of Islamic sharia” mentioned in the second article.