Support From Islamists for Liberal Upends Race in Egypt

[WestVirginiaRebel]

NY Times:

ABU HOMOS, Egypt — Egypt’s most conservative Islamists endorsed a liberal Islamist for president late Saturday night, upending the political landscape and confounding expectations about the internal dynamics of the Islamist movement.

The main missionary and political groups of the ultraconservatives, known as Salafis, threw their support behind Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a dissident former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood known for his tolerant and inclusive view of Islamic law.

The endorsement goes a long way toward making Mr. Aboul Fotouh the front-runner in a campaign that could shape the ultimate outcome of the revolt that ousted the former strongman, Hosni Mubarak.

Mr. Aboul Fotouh’s liberal understanding of Islamic law on matters of individual freedom and economic equality had already made him the preferred candidate of many Egyptian liberals.

His endorsement on Saturday by the Salafis now makes him the candidate of Egypt’s most determined conservatives, too. Known for their strict focus on Islamic law, the Salafis often talk of reviving medieval Islamic corporal punishments, restricting women’s dress and the sale of alcohol, and cracking down on heretical culture.

The decision was announced by officials of the preaching group the Salafi Call and on the Web site of its allied party, Al Nour. Neither group gave a definitive reason for their pick.

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The lesser of two evils, New Egyptian style...

[Valin]

@WestVirginiaRebel

 

Sorry a liberal Islamist is still an Islamist.

 

Wikipedia: Muslim Brotherhood

 

Fotouh was a prominent student leader in the 1970s and coordinated with other students, including Essam Al Eryan and Ibrahim El Zafarany, to facilitate the entry of the many small Islamic organizations into the Muslim Brotherhood. For many years, he was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and served on its Guidance Bureau. He has been called "one of the Brotherhood's most respected members" but was expelled in 2011 for refusing to relinquish his independent presidential campaign

(Snip)

 

What the NY Times and so many don't seem to get is The Muslim Brotherhood are Salafists. It is but a short step from the "non-violent" Salafists/Islamist to the violent. When we get right down to it Salafists/Islamist are the enemy.