By Tawfik Hamid
www.tawfikhamid.com
 
The fight over who will lead the future of Egypt has developed a new dimension after huge numbers of Islamists demonstrated in Egypt last Friday July 29 to demand an Islamic and Sharia (Islamic Law) controlled country.  These Islamists were largely from Salafi groups who want Egypt to implement a Taliban style of Sharia. In addition, some demonstrators chanted in support of Bin Laden.  This show of force by the Islamists was clear evidence that Mubarak's approach of using the military to crack down on these groups - without defeating their ideology - was ineffective.
 
Islamists, in general, successfully manipulate the emotional parts of the mind of many Muslims via the use of the word 'Islam'. Many in Egypt cannot refuse anything once it has the title 'Islamic' on it. This is partially because of the religious motivation and partially because of the growing influence of religious education that suppresses critical independent thought and fosters the fear of going to hell if they rejected 'Islam'. Islamists also, accuse liberals and secularists of being 'Un-Islamic' to defame them and to discourage people from following them.
The Islamists were actually very intelligent in bringing the fight with the liberals and seculars to Islam itself as this guarantees them the support of most Muslims in the society. Bringing the fight with the liberals and secularists to accepting or rejecting Islam has paralyzed the ability of ordinary people to have a free choice as their only current option is to either accept "Islam" or reject it which makes a person an "infidel" (the latter means in traditional Islamic understanding to be killed for being an apostate, to be tortured in the grave after death, and to stay in hell for eternity). The Liberals and Secularists MUST use the same tactic to fight back the Islamists.
 
1-     The Liberals need to shift the focus of the debate from "Islam" to "The understanding of Islam" so the fight needs to be over "the Salafi understanding of Islam" versus "Correct understandings of Islam" rather than "Islamic" vs. "Un-Islamic". This can make the Islamists unable to portray themselves as the guardians of the faith and will significantly weaken their ability to use the religion to manipulate people's minds and emotions.
 
2-   Liberal/Secular Muslims need to offer a competitive understanding of Islam as an alternative to the Salafi one. The typical Salafi understanding of Islam has the following narrative:
 
ØForcing people on following the religious edicts
ØForcing women on wearing the Hijab
ØForcing men on wearing beards
ØStopping restaurants from serving  alcohol
ØPreventing music and musical events
ØImplementing corporal punishments such as amputating limbs and stoning of those accused of adultery
ØKilling apostates (or Muslims who convert to other faiths)
ØConsidering Islam as the solution for ALL problems that people face (The slogan of many Islamic groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood "Islam is the Solution").
Liberal Muslims in Islamic countries such as Egypt need to create an Islamic-based counter narrative which can be based on the following Islamic facts:
a.      The Quran clearly prohibited forcing people on the religious edicts - Quran (2:256[i], 50: 45[ii], 88:22[iii]) and according to the Quran the Lord has blamed prophet Mohamed  for just thinking to force people on matters of faith (Quran 10:99[iv]) 
 
b.     The Quran gave freedom for people to choose their beliefs or faith as they wish {Quran 18:29[v]}.
 
 
c.      The Islamic state during prophet Mohamed's time did not force women on wearing the Hijab, did not punish men for not wearing a beard, did not stop serving alcohol in Hanat (Bars) , and did not punish people for playing music.
 
d.      The issue of using punishments (Hudod) is not vital to Islam as the second Islamic Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab -who is considered one of the main leaders of Islam and one of the 10 people who were promised by Prophet Mohamed to go to paradise ("Al-Ashara Al-Mubashareen Bi- Al Janna")- stopped amputations of the hands of thieves and invented new punishments that never existed in the Quran or the Hadith (sayings/deeds) of prophet Mohamed such as the well-known 80 lashes punishment for drinking alcohol.  
 
 
The former narrative can be used to bring the center focus of the debate between Salafists and Secularists to "the Salafi understanding of Islam" vs." the correct understanding of Islam".  The Liberals can actually turn the table on the Salafists by accusing them that their version or understanding of Islam contradicts the teaching of the Quran itself and is actually "Un-Islamic". The tactic of accusing the Islamists of not following Islam or being "Un-Islamic" is rarely used by liberal Muslims. Such a tactic can shake the foundations of Salafi Islamists and can significantly weaken their ability to use the title "Islam" to manipulate people's emotions.
 
The secularists can use the above example of Omar Ibn Al-Khattab to say to the Islamists that if they will accuse them as being Infidels for trying to stop punishments of Sharia Law  (the Hudod) then they should first of all accuse the second Islamic Caliph (Omar Ibn Al-Khattab) for being an Infidel as well- for banning the amputations of thieves' hands (Salafis will NEVER dare to accuse Omar Ibn Al-Khattab for being an "Infidel" as criticizing the disciples of Prophet Mohamed in such manner is one of the biggest sins in Islam). 
 
In addition the Liberals can further weaken the position of the Salafists by showing with EVIDENCE that their "Salafi understanding of Islam" failed to solve the problems or relieve poverty in many places such as Somalia which is currently suffering from famine and is dependent on donations from the "Infidel" western world in order to survive! On the contrary, the liberal/secular understanding of Islam such as the one practiced in Turkey- was much more successful than Salafi Islam in improving the socioeconomic circumstances of the society [vi].
In brief, Liberals in Egypt and other Islamic countries will lose the war with Islamists unless they develop an Islamic-based counter narrative to weaken the ability of the latter to use religion to control people's minds. The media in Egypt needs to challenge the Salafists with the former counter narrative as ignoring them -as is currently happening- allows them to win more support in the Egyptian street by portraying themselves as the ONLY guardians of the religion.