Last Update: Saturday, 20 April 2013 KSA 12:41 - GMT 09:41
‘Martyrdom’ paves a way to stronger Egypt, Salafist leader says
Saturday, 20 April 2013
During Friday's prayer, Abu Ismail said being martyred is the only solution to
build a strong nation. (Reuters)
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Al Arabiya -
The only way to build a strong Egypt is to have tens of thousands
fight and be martyred under in the name of God, a prominent Salafist
politician told worshipers during a Friday televised sermon at mosque.
Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, who is a former presidential candidate,
compared the importance of jihad to the country’s Jan. 25 2011
revolution that saw the deaths of 846 Egyptians who clashed with
security forces from the toppled regime.
“So what if a hundred
or a thousand, or even ten thousands are martyred to build a
long-prevailing nation,” Abu Ismail said. “There is no other plan but to
be martyred,” he added.
During Egypt’s first democratic
presidential elections last year, analysts believed Abu Ismail could
make it to the second round of the election.
With the long
beard of a Salafist Muslim, softly-spoken Abu Ismail attracted Egyptian
supporters who voted for both the Muslim Brotherhood and the
ultraconservative Nour Party in the legislative elections. Together,
they won two thirds of the parliament.
Salafists in Egypt have
long refused to participate in the country’s politics as they viewed the
autocratic rule of the ousted Hosni Mubarak as “un-Islamic.”
After the revolution, however, they decided to take part in politics in order
to protect Egypt’s Islamic identity.
Egyptian liberals, Islamists clash
Abu Ismail’s Friday speech came as the the country is witnessing deep
divisions between Islamist supporters of President Mohammed Mursi, a
member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and liberal forces in the country, who
are doubtful of the leader’s sweeping grip on power.
While
Egyptian Salafists and the Brotherhood had feuds before, observers may
describe Abu Ismail’s comments as a way to threaten liberal forces in
the country and show backing to any Islamist group including the
Brotherhood.
On Friday, at least 30 Egyptians were wounded in
clashes between liberal opposition activists and thousands of Islamists
rallying outside the Supreme Court in central Cairo demanding “the
cleansing of the judiciary.”
Opposition activists fear the
Muslim Brotherhood seeks to purge many judges so Islamists can install
new ones more supportive of their agenda.
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