Tens of thousands of Egyptians rallied in Tahrir Square in central Cairo on Friday in a massive show of force by Islamist groups seeking to shape the country’s political future after this year’s popular uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
Huge crowds chanting slogans calling for the application of Islamic law poured into Tahrir and other squares in big cities, prompting liberal activists to withdraw in anger, and underscoring the deepening rift between the political forces that led the revolt against Mr Mubarak, the former president.
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As Egypt approaches crucial parliamentary elections later this year, to be followed by the drafting of a new constitution, political groups of all hues have been jostling to influence the emerging state and shape it in their image.
“Egypt’s Islamic identity is a red line. The people are proud of their Islam and reject secular and liberal ideas,” said one large banner in Tahrir Square.
Shouts of “The people want the implementation of God’s law!” rose periodically above the vast square packed with thousands of members of ultra-conservative Salafi factions and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest political organisation.
Also present were supporters of the Islamic Group, the organisation responsible for attacks against tourists and policemen during the 1990s, but which has forsworn violence and now reconstituted itself into a political party.
Liberals who withdrew from the square accused the Islamists of going back on their word to avoid divisive and controversial slogans that had not been agreed upon before the protest.
It had always been planned as a mainly Islamic rally. However, groups from across the spectrum had come together in talks before the event in an attempt to ensure the day passed off peacefully, because Tahrir Square remains the scene of a sit-in by hundreds of youth activists from secular groups.
There had been fears that tensions between Islamist demonstrators and the protesters camped in the square would erupt into violence.
“[We] were surprised by the flagrant violation by some Islamist forces of all agreements to avoid contentious issues and emphasise points on which there is consensus,” said a statement signed by 28 secular and leftwing groups.
Many Islamist protesters in the square complained that secularists and liberals were trying to undermine democracy by seeking to include in the new constitution a document containing a list of irrevocable basic rights.
Political groups have produced different versions of this document, intended to allay the fears of many Egyptian worried that the new constitution will be drafted by a parliament in which Islamists are likely to emerge as the dominant force.
“Why are they trying to pre-empt the drafting of the constitution by an elected parliament?” asked one protester, Ahmed Salah. “It is as if they are telling the people that they are not up to the job, and that they still need to be under some kind of tutelage. It is the same thinking of Mubarak.”
Some in the square argued that there was nothing controversial about calling for the application of Islamic law, since most Egyptians were Muslim.
“The only agreement is that the people should rule and the will of the people should come before everything except, of course, God’s law,” said Osama Abdalla.
“God’s law will be implemented whether people agree or not, because God made this revolution.”
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