WATANI International
3 July 2011
Watani talks to Helmy al-Namnam
Helmy al-Namnam is one of the most prominent figures on the Egyptian cultural scene. He is editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine al-Hilal which, considering that it was first issued in 1892 in Cairo by Jurji Zaidan, is one of the oldest magazines concerned with culture yet on the market. He is deputy head of the General Egyptian Book Organisation, and is a prominent columnist. Mr Namnam is famous for his calm, reasonable, critical thinking; his moderate political views; and his enlightened, liberal call for civil rule.
Watani talked to Helmy al-Namnam. The conversation turned to political Islam: the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and Salafi movements which have been dominating the headlines in post-revolutionary Egypt.
The Salafis and the MB
Mr Namnam warned of the threat the Salafis and the Muslim Brotherhood pose for the civil state. He said he believed the MB’s relations with the previous regime involved “exchange of interests”, and said he expects that current investigations into cases of political and financial corruption would reveal something to that effect.
The Muslim Brothers, Mr Namnam said, insinuate that they have powerful grassroots backing, but he believes that in any future elections they would garner no more than 15 per cent of the vote. He put this down to lack of support of the Sufis, who in Egypt are well over 15 million strong. Sufis, largely present in rural communities, want neither the Salafis nor the MB.
As for the Salafis, they have emerged in force since the revolution. “We did not hear of them before, since I believe they were just a tool used by the former regime to attack the MB. In October 2010 the Salafis issued a fatwa supporting Mubarak and hoping any succession would be protected from sedition. Now their attitude has changed and they are attempting to jump on the revolution bandwagon. If this happens, it will be the beginning of a new era of religious tyranny.”
The Salafis form part of the conservative wing of Islam. Historically, Mr Namnam explained, the Salafis backed the belief of Imam Ahmad Ibn-Hanbal and Ibn-Taymiyya, the teachers of Mohamed Abdel-Wahab who is the founder of Wahabi Islam. Modern-day Egyptian Salafis, he said, attempt to implant Egyptian Wahabism. They are not politically savvy; their focus varies from calling for the niqab—the full face veil for women—to the demolition of shrines. Such issues, he said, do not sit well with Egyptian social and cultural heritage.
“I am worried about seeing the civilian Egyptian revolution turn into a Salafi one that would not recognise Egyptian culture or Statehood; for them the homeland would be the Islamic World, and the culture would be Islam,” he said
Deeply worrying
In answer to a question about the recent attacks against Copts in several places in Egypt, in which the Salafis were accused of being the main perpetrators, Mr Namnam expressed deep concern. “But what is especially worrying,” he said, “is that the government found no way to dispel the Salafi riots other than through asking leading Salafi sheikhs to persuade the rioters to stop the violence. This happened in the attack against the Copts in Etfeeh last March, during the civil disobedience in Qena last April, and during the unrest at al-Nur Mosque in Abbasiya when they dislodged the mosque imam and instated a Salafi imam instead. In all such cases, he said, the authorities were too slow to act, leaving matters to get out of hand then rushing to the Salafi sheikhs for help. The military and the government should have dealt with the Salafi perpetrators of violence in a firm yet legal manner, Mr Namnam insisted. Even though the military rebuilt the churches the Salafis had burnt, it did nothing to bring the culprits to justice, he said.
“Since the revolution erupted on 25 January we have been living in a state of chaos, and I think this will continue until the parliamentary and presidential elections take place,” he said. “Both the military council and Cabinet use any means, with good will, to put the fire out. In the shadow of the rampant climate of religiosity in Egypt, the Salafis have carved a niche for themselves in public life.” There is, in Mr Namnam’s opinion, a significant risk this could lead to disaster in the community if the governoment does not appreciate the danger.
Power-hungry
Watani asked Mr Namnam what he thought about talk in some Egyptian circles that the chaos in Egypt is the outcome of collaboration between elements of the former regime and the Salafis and MB. “I do not believe the so-called talk of ‘elements of the former regime’. Since the fall and detention of the leaders of the National Democratic Party, all the remnants of the old regime disappeared. Now, besides the proponents of political Islam, the Egyptian arena is dominated by thugs and law-breakers.”
Mr Namnam expects a possible appeasement of the MB since they have put themselves forward as the next force. “Several figures or parties will join the MB in the coming elections,” he said. “The MB plays with everyone without rules or principles; besides using religion to delude ordinary people. In my book Hassan al-Banna al-lathi la Yaarifahu Ahad (The Hassan al-Banna Nobody Knows), published by Madbouli, Cairo, just before the revolution, I warned of the danger of the power-hungry MB and how to confront it. [Hassan al-Banna founded the MB movement in the 1920s]
Watani asked why the Egyptian authorities do nothing about the widely circulated foreign funding of the Brotherhood and the Salafis.
“There is no doubt that financial support for the Islamists exists. And if such funding is used to strike at the foundation of Egyptian culture and society, something must be done to put an end to it. The Salafis do not threaten Christians and Sufis only; they threaten Muslims as well,” Mr Namnam said.
The moderate al-Azhar
How does the West deal with the MB? According to Mr Namnam, the West knows the MB very well since the 1940s, and is willing to collaborate with them if needs be. The MB have had several instances of talks with the West—notably, in 1953 the MB leader Said Ramadan and several of his colleagues were received by the US president at the White House—yet they depict themselves to Egyptians as hostile to the western, non-Muslim world.
This raises an important question. Where does the moderate version of Islam, propagated assiduously by al-Azhar, come in the light of the influence of the MB and Salafis on the grassroots?
“We are in need of an active role by al-Azhar, which represents moderate Islam and backs the civil State,” Mr Namnam says. “Since extremist Islamic thought is propagated through the pulpits of mosques, I call on al-Azhar Grand Imam, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, to demand that all the mosques in Egypt be placed under the supervision of al-Azhar. In this demand, we have to strongly back Sheikh Tayeb because he himself is under fire from the extremists. The Al-Azhar institution is protecting Egypt from an invasion of Wahabism. Had it not been for al-Azhar in the 1950s, political Islamism would have taken over the entire Arab region.
Reason for optimism
So what chance do the proponents of an Egyptian civil State stand against political Islam? Watani asked.
There are several political movements or parties on the field, which form a strong ‘civil force’ against the risk of a religious State, Mr Namnam said.
Asked whether the political power of Islam might breed violence, Mr Namnam said he hoped never to reach that phase. “I imagine that Egyptian society would not accept being trapped in religious violence at such a critical turning point in its history. The Brothers themselves would not accept this. The Salafis have now lost a lot because of their violent actions against the community, and many Muslims are standing against them,” he said.
This, in Mr Namnam’s opinion, is a good reason for optimism.