Protestors in early April carrying banners opposing the exclusion of Hazem Salah Abu Ismail from the upcoming Egpytian presidential elections at the end of May. MCT Campus
With the Egyptian presidential election, set for May 23 and 24, quickly approaching, thousands of Egyptians from differing political spheres took to protesting in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on April 20 in defiance of remnants from Hosni Mubarak’s administration and the military rule that took power after Mubarak’s expulsion in January.
The protest began after Egypt’s election commission disqualified 10 of the 23 candidates running for the presidency. Muslim Brotherhood’s Khairat el-Shater was among the disqualified, along with Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, a conservative Islamist leader.
Reem Nour, a former San Diego State student who graduated in 2010 with a double major in journalism and political science and is now a news reporter and anchor for Nile TV International said, “some of the demonstrators accused officials of manipulating the presidential elections so that they could extend their powers.”
To suppress the remnants of the past regime, the “Disenfranchisement law,” which prevents anyone who was involved in the Mubarak regime in any way to run for the presidency, was passed a few days ago. The new law, however, begs the question of whether it is undemocratic in itself.
“Things have been really unstable, confusing and crazy here and people don’t know what’s going to happen anymore,” Nour added. “There’s a lot of underlying political tension and frustration.”
Regarding the current state of Egypt, Nour said, “There’s a lot of controversy and debate surrounding the legitimacy of the parliament, the formation of the constituent assembly and drafting of the constitution … At the end of the day, I’ve learned that nothing is ever far-fetched anymore and you have to expect the unexpected.”
Here are some reasons Islam and democracy are incompatible.
• Inimical to ‘social freedoms’, demanding that all people obey their 7th century moral codes without question or criticism, under penalty of death.
• Inimical to ‘man made’ laws, claiming that their laws are given to them by God/Allah and all must obey them, in submission, under penalty of death.
• Inimical to the ‘social contract’ that is democratic constitutional government, for the people and by the people, in pursuit of ‘life, liberty, and happiness’, as these are ‘man made’ ideas, and to submit to them over Allah’s laws is apostasy, punishable by death.
• Inimical to the ‘rights of individuals’ to pursue their own ideals and beliefs, freedom of worship, freedom of inquiry of truth, freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of artistic expression, freedom of loving other human beings, freedom of choice, freedom of pursuing one’s life with reciprocal respect for others regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity, or sex, as these are our ‘inalienable’ rights; to pursue these may be punishable by death.
• Inimical to ‘democratic freedoms’ as protected by (man made) constitutional laws agreed upon by social contract to protect the rights of individuals, but in favor of ‘dictatorship’ politics supported by the Ulama with the ultimate goal of imposing a universal Caliphate dictating all society according to (Allah/Mohammad’s) Sharia, where submissive obedience is rigorously mandatory, under penalty of death.
• Inimical to intellectual ‘secularism’ in all its forms, in education, in philosophical inquiry and discourse, in the sciences, in religious studies, in history studies, in sociological studies, in anthropological studies, in archeology studies, if these are not in concordance with the ‘religious’ teachings of the Koran, except as studies of ‘infidel’ societies to be subdued, conquered for conversion, to pay the jizyah, or be put to death.
• Inimical to social ‘equality’ of all human beings, especially of the female sex, women kept in oppression as chattel for procreation and sexual gratification of males; as submissively obedient house slaves in violation of the sanctity of their personal humanity, unfree to seek life as they desire but must live in fear of their male masters who will punish them if they disobey, for violating their ‘honor’, with death.