Egypt, you are in our prayers!

[Alceste]

I'm going to go back to watch the videos. For now, I want to say that I I deeply appreciate the effort RF's Egyptian members have put into learning English. Without this effort I would have nothing but "the news" to tell me what is going on over there. I've had a go at Spanish and French, but Arabic is so different. Different alphabet and everything. Much respect. Keep me posted, as the news is bollox, much of the time.

 

[Alceste]

Tip of the hat to Asmaa Mafouz, and looking forward to an English (or French, or Spanish) translation of Ghonim's comments.

 

[Sahar]

Ghonem's comments are translated on Al Jazeera but written. I posted them earlier in the other thread: http://www.religiousforums.com/foru...cs/110460-situation-egypt-50.html#post2347136

Live blog Feb 8 - Egypt protests | Al Jazeera Blogs

 

[Peace]

When the Social Contract is Breached on One Side, It's Breached on Both Sides
by Hamza Yusuf​

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

– The Declaration of Independence​

July 4, 1776​

America, where are you? The people of Egypt are clamoring for the very right of dissolving the social contract with their current government due to its long string of abuses, a right enshrined in our nation's foundational document. It behooves America to lend a helping hand to Egypt's people at this crucial moment.

This is clearly a historic turn in the largest Arab nation, a widespread non-ideological movement, fueled by the long-repressed aspirations of the majority of Egyptians. Meanwhile, the ruthlessness of the powers that be in Egypt has been fully exposed in the sinister Machiavellian antics on display, being recorded this past week by the international media and by such American media celebrities as Anderson Cooper and Nicholas Kristof, who are sounding more revolutionary in their comments than some of the people they're interviewing. These courageous journalists have recognized the significance of the story and placed themselves on the front lines. While Hosni Mubarak is unleashing his thugs on innocent protesters and journalists, President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton, are apparently missing in action.

Something has irreversibly changed in the land of the Pharaohs. It has to do with the basic social contract, the relationship of a people to their leaders.

The oppression that the Egyptian youth have experienced for as long as they have been alive has stripped them of their basic human dignity. In many parts of the Arab world, including Egypt, it is not uncommon to see a grown man slapped and abused publicly by a police officer and have no recourse to justice. I have witnessed this several times during my time in the Arab world. Arab citizens are too often treated paternalistically at best and sadistically at worst. Not much has changed since the days of the preferred pre-modern method of public torture: the bastinado, which Florence Nightingale witnessed and recorded in her travelogue highlighting her stay in Egypt in the 1840s.

But for the youth of Egypt, enough is enough. They've come of age in a wired world that highlights the rebellious youth culture of the West. Many of them are more inspired by Bob Marley than by their local imam quoting Sahih al-Bukhari. "Them belly full but we hungry; a hungry mob is an angry mob."

The Egyptian people, many for the first time in their lives tasting the inebriating wine of political freedom, are challenging their government, courageously defying the fear factor so ruthlessly cultivated in the belly of the bestial state security apparatus. This mirrors what happened in the 1960s when African Americans lost their fear of a brutal system that had kept them in check for centuries and after much rebellion and rioting resulted in a freer and more enfranchised society.

America's Founding Fathers understood well that in order for a government to govern effectively and for its laws to be obeyed, the individual must have a respectful fear of the coercive power that government yields, but that, conversely, in order for a government not to abuse its laws and exploit its coercive power to further the selfish ends of its administrators or those who gain control over them, it must fear the aggregate of people for which it was established to serve. When a people, as in Egypt's case, collectively fear their government and are forced to bear its abuses, that government is a tyranny and not a servant of its people, despite the so-called elections in which Mubarak supposedly won about 90 percent of the people's votes.

***** ***** *****
It is important to note that this is not an ideological movement. This is not about Right or Left, Communist or Capitalist, Liberal or Conservative, Islamist or secularist—even if all of these elements are invariably reflected in the various motivations of the diverse peoples populating Independence Square and other sites of protest. This is far more basic: it's about jobs, food prices, fair elections, reducing poverty, social justice, and above all, not living in fear of a government that should be serving the needs of its people instead of making them the servants of its wants.

The lack of an ideology, for me, is the most refreshing aspect of this uprising. The stale rhetoric of "Islam is the solution" that has marked countless demonstrations for decades is absent. The pathetic socialist slogans of the Libyan revolution as well as the Syrian and Iraqi Arab nationalist slogans are all conspicuously absent. Islam is not a political ideology and hence does not offer a political solution per se; basic morality in politics is the solution. Most Muslims would be content living under Finnish or Swedish forms of governance, with a few adjustments to the sexual liberties in those countries, and feel as if it were the time of Saladin, given that they are committed to eradicating poverty and hunger, serving the aged, and even ensuring rights for dogs and cats. If you torture a dog in Stockholm, you go to jail. In the jails of Egypt, people can be tortured with impunity by dogs of the state.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, the number two man of al-Qaeda, was a pediatrician from one of the most respected families in Cairo. His maternal great-grandfather was a distinguished Egyptian lawyer, and his paternal great-grandfather was Shaykh al-Azhar, Muhammad al-Zawahiri. After Sadat’s assassination, under Mubarak’s orders, Ayman was arrested with a slew of other suspected "Islamists," beaten mercilessly, and burnt severely and repeatedly with cigarette butts by Egyptian torturers. According to a well-known American journalist who lives in Cairo and knew Ayman personally, he came out a very different man than he went in. We are all paying the price of this failed system that can drive normally decent people into the abnormal heinousness of nihilistic violence.

Islam is not an ideology, political or otherwise. It is a revelation from God that explains and reminds people of their duties toward their Creator in honoring and worshipping God with gratitude for the gift of life and all the concomitants of that gift, and of their duties toward their fellow creatures as unique and protected creations of God. Those duties are well described in all the Books sent by God and enshrined most succinctly in the Ten Commandments. Politics involves making sure the mail gets out, allotting appropriate monies for public works, and ensuring the security of a people from internal or external threats; all of these can be done without recourse to any specific religious tradition.

(2nd part below)

 

[Peace]

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, left no specific system of government; rather, he taught "constitutional" principles upon which governance should be based. Many of those principles, quite revolutionary at his time, have become common coin for most people today: the idea of equality among races and gender, the concept of economic justice, and the right of an individual to be protected in his person and property from unjust search or seizure. These are constitutional principles accepted by most governments today; whether they are practiced or not is another matter. There are, however, two clearly articulated aspects of governance that do have relevance in any state run by Muslims. The penal code of Islam was developed specifically for an Islamic polity, but only a few actual punishments are agreed upon, and the circumstances of its various applications are highly nuanced in Islamic legal texts, with an aim to avoid their implementation whenever possible. The gross and often perverse so-called "Islamic punishments" meted out today—invariably on the poorest and most helpless in societies—have nothing to do with the Prophet’s teaching, peace and blessings be upon him. Commercial law is, undeniably, another developed area in Islamic law that has implications in the running of a state.


***** ***** *****

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, warned that "Governance is great remorse on the Day of Judgment. Power is a luxurious wet-nurse and a terrifying weaner." Scholars interpreted this saying to mean that once a man tastes the perks of power, he finds it difficult to give up, but death comes to us all, and at that point, the crisis of having failed in one's duties to the people will turn into great remorse.

Since the American and French Revolutions, it is increasingly accepted that leaders must only lead when they have the support and the confidence of their people. If leaders breach the social contract of popular consent of the governed through abuses, they not only lose legitimacy but they must relinquish their mandate to govern. There can be no doubt—if there ever was—that Hosni Mubarak has lost his legitimacy with his people despite the apparent legality of his rule, whether it be cloaked in constitutional or Islamic principles.

These are indeed times that try men's souls, and the scholars of Egypt need to offer good counsel to their people. If the scholars are to have any relevance when the dust settles, they must take firm positions now. If they merely wait to see what happens, they lose the very thing that empowers them: the people's trust. Amr Khaled has courageously marched with the protesters in solidarity, despite his usual avoidance of politics, but in this situation, the cause is just and the stakes are high, and so he has taken a stand, and people will long remember that. Scholars need to guide and not be dictated to by the puppet masters of power who cut their strings as soon as their usefulness is over, leaving them in the paralysis of paltriness.

The need for resolute positions of solidarity with the Egyptian people in their pleas for political change is undeniable. I personally feel that the scholars, inside and outside of Egypt, have a responsibility to stand with the Egyptian people in their pleas for reform in Egypt. While scholars have a right to their own opinions on this and other matters, my personal opinion is that in order to stop further conflict and prevent more blood from being spilt, the scholars of Egypt should call for an immediate change in the government of Hosni Mubarak.

Having said that, I believe we should maintain a good opinion of the scholars who either take a position or choose to remain silent—a valid option during fitnah. We must recognize that personal ijtihad in difficult times is to be respected. The Mufti of Egypt is an honorable and pious man; he understands the complexity of the situation, the dangers of instability, and the tragedies that can quickly arise when conflagrations take a life of their own. Moreover, his position is certainly consonant with a traditional approach that was taken by many of the great scholars of the past. While some may not agree with his opinion, Muslims should respect religious authority, acknowledge a scholar's right to it, and not assume we know anyone's intentions. God alone is the Judge of men's hearts.

A few caveats are necessary in this current crisis. The idea that Mubarak is the sole problem is in itself a problem. Mubarak represents a certain ruling elite in Egypt that controls immense wealth and holds the country in its vice-grip of graft and corruption. If he goes today, it is likely that the ruling elite will make some cosmetic reforms, such as reduce the price of food, and promise free and fair elections, but when the foreign media leaves, it'll be business as usual. Moreover, the United States has its largest embassy in Egypt, and with tens of billions of dollars in investments over the years, mostly in military aid, Washington will invariably not want such a strategically significant place as Egypt to fall into the hands of a real reformer, despite the administration's rhetoric of "spreading democracy."

It's also worth noting that Egypt suffers from major systemic problems that make any immediate transition to a Western style democracy not only improbable but more likely a destabilizing factor that results in life becoming even more unbearable than it is now. America's experiment in Iraqi democracy is worth reflecting upon.

The real problem in Egypt is not the lack of freedom of expression; the Egyptians are some of the most outspoken people in the world. In fact, the world's problems are solved daily in the cafes of Cairo with creative solutions coming from the waiters as well as the waited upon. What is lacking in Egypt is a reasonable living standard that enables average wage earners not to succumb to the necessity of graft, a government that serves the people, a sound judicial system relatively free from corruption, and, most importantly, basic human dignity—the right to be respected in your own land.

Other Arab countries exist with far less freedom of expression than Egypt—which happens to have the freest press in the Muslim world—but nonetheless have stable societies because the per capita income is high and people live reasonably well. American voter apathy—between 40-50 percent of eligible voters don't vote—proves that democracy is not a priority when all is going well, but when all is not well, tea parties arise, or perhaps in Egypt's case, qahwa parties, meant to awaken the failing government.

Fitnah is worse than killing, according to the Qur'an, and in this case, the fitnah is persecution. The Egyptians have been persecuted for too long, and while traditional scholars since the days of the early fitnahs have sided with stability in order to prevent bloodshed that often resulted in worse situations than the ones being opposed, in an age where peaceful protest is the only rational means of a people to redress the wrongs of their government, the scholars should not only support but acknowledge this change in the world. The situation in the Middle East is intolerable, and as John F. Kennedy rightly remarked, "If we make peaceful revolution impossible, we make violent revolution inevitable."

Sandala Productions

 

[Kathryn]

Very interesting and informative article. Thank you!

The American people are very supportive of the Egyptian people during this time.

I believe that our government should stay out of this as much as possible though. Don't you agree?

 

[Peace]

The Regional Manager of Google in the Middle East has just been released after 11 days detention by security forces

From the BBC
Wael Ghonim, the Google marketing executive who was behind a Facebook page credited with sparking the demonstrations, was freed on Monday after being detained for 11 days.

He said he had not been ill-treated in custody but was shocked to be branded a traitor.

"Anyone with good intentions is the traitor because being evil is the norm," he told a TV channel.

"If I was a traitor, I would have stayed in my villa in the Emirates and made good money and said, like others, 'Let this country go to hell'. But we are not traitors."

BBC News - Egypt unrest: New call by protesters to oust Mubarak


UNQUOTE

A wealthy young man who loves his country explains what happened to him in the first TV program

[youtube]8Gpzo9016oQ[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gpzo9016oQ (Part 1)

[youtube]Hs4cNuAs[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs4cNo_OuAs (Part 2)

[youtube]ppBc4TtRKFE[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppBc4TtRKFE (Part 3)

(The interview is in Arabic, as it was only aired a few hours ago)

He couldn't control himself from crying from time to time and he made me cry too.
His appearance on TV made hundreds of people cry including me after he said, talking about the martyrs of freedom,"It is not our fault, this is the fault of everyone on the authority and did not want to leave".

 

[Peace]

Egypt Revolution Martyrs…Islam Bakeer

Islam, 22, got a killer bullet in his back, joining a long list of people who sacrificed their lives for a better future of their own country.​

CAIRO – Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians have taken to the streets demanding the ouster of the 30-year regime of President Hosni Mubarak.
More than 300 have lost their lives in the popular uprising for a brighter future for the Arab world’s most populous country.
OnIslam.net gives its audience a close look on those who have sacrificed their lives for the welfare of their homeland​

Islam Bakeer
He has always dreamed of a better future for his homeland, Egypt, but when his dream was closer to come true, Islam Bakeer lost his life.
Born in 1989, Bakeer graduated from the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University.
On January 25, the enthusiastic young man left his home in Dokki district to Tahrir Square, though he initially did not intend to join the massive protests against President Hosni Mubarak’s regime.

Watching people in his age chanting for better living conditions, Bakeer could not prevent himself from raising his voice against the Egyptian regime.

As police started to shoot at protestors, Bakeer was shot in the leg by a rubber bullet. However, the shooting did not prevent the young man from chasing his dream for a better Egypt.

Determined to play a role in writing his country’s history, Bakeer left his home for the last time on Friday, January 28, to take part in massive protests against Mubarak’s regime.

As he enthusiastically chanted for change, the young man got a killer bullet in his back, joining a long list of people who sacrificed their lives for a better future of their own country.

Egypt Revolution Martyrs

 

[Peace]

Tip of the hat to Asmaa Mafouz, and looking forward to an English (or French, or Spanish) translation of Ghonim's comments.

This is a summary.​

“This is Not Our Fault”​

CAIRO – Google’s executive, who has been released after 12-day detention, has blamed Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak for the death of protestors in anti-government demonstrations.

"I want to tell families who lost their sons this is not our fault,” Wael Ghonim said in an interview on Dream TV late Monday, February 7.

“This is the fault of those clinging to power," he added, breaking down in tears.

The young Egyptian could not complete the interview and stormed out of the studio.

Ghonim, Google’s head of marketing for the Middle East, was released Monday after being held in police custody for 12 days.

Activists said Ghonim had been involved in founding "We are all Khaled Said," an anti-torture Facebook group named after an Egyptian was reportedly beaten to death by police in the port city of Alexandria. Two officers now face trial.

The young Egyptian is praised for being behind massive protests demanding Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981, to step down.

“I’m not a hero,” Ghonim said after his release.

“The heroes are those who went down to the streets.”
Egypt has been engulfed by massive protests since January 25 demanding an immediate ouster of the aging Egyptian leader.

The protests, which started Tuesday, January 25, were actually an online rallying cry by the youth against what they see as tyranny, corruption and torture.

As many as 300 people were killed in the brutal security crackdown on the protestors, according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

No to Mubarak’s Party

Ghonim called for rooting out Egypt’s ruling party from the political landscape in the country.

“I no longer want to see any sign of the National Democratic Party,” an emotional Ghonim said.

The NDP, led by President Mubarak, is accused of monopolizing the political life in the Arab world’s most populous country.

The party was blamed for the deadly clashes in Cairo last week, which left at least 10 people dead and scores injured after its supporters attacked protestors in Tahrir Square.

Ghonim accused the Egyptian media of tarnishing the image of the peaceful protests in Tahrir.

"The Egyptian State TV channels didn't portray the truth, that is why people watch the private channels now."

Ghonim denied that allegations that “foreign hands” were behind the anti-Mubarak protests.

"The interrogators wanted to know if outsiders were involved. I convinced them this was a purely Egyptian movement," added Ghonim.

Ghonim was born in 1980 to a middle-class family.
He obtained a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from the Engineering College, Cairo University, in 2004.

He also completed his master’s in business administration from the American University in Cairo in 2007.
Ghonim’s tryst with the Net began in 1998 and he later worked for e-mail-based Gawab.com, from 2002 to 2005.

From 2005 to 2008, Ghonim and his team set up the information gateway: Mubasher.info, which is the largest information portal in Arabic for business marketing.

Ghonim also worked as a consultant for several projects, including the development of an e-government system for Egypt as well as the Sindbadmall.com commercial website.

In March 2009, the Dubai-based consultant proposed the development of a knowledge encyclopedia for the Arab world.

“This is Not Our Fault” - Africa - News - OnIslam.net

 

[maro]

Don't lecture us about the british values ,I am interested in the Egyptian values !!

[youtube]t4r1QEe9r2U[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4r1QEe9r2U

What’s the real concern is not Islam or radicalism; it’s independence. If the radical Islamists are independent, well, they’re an enemy. If secular nationalists are independent, they are an enemy. In Latin America, for decades, when the Catholic Church, elements of the Catholic Church, were becoming independent, the liberation theology movement, they were an enemy. We carried out a major war against the church. Independence is what’s intolerable, and pretty much for the reasons that the National Security Council described in the case of the Arab world 50 years ago.

Noam Chomsky (Part 2):

 

[Gharib]

es-selamu alaykum everyone.

i am saddened with what is happening in egypt. i hate an unjust and oppresive ruler, i wish i could be there with everyone else. my heart aches to hear of what is happening there, too many innocent people killed, i cannot stand hearing about such things. Allah states in the Qur'an that 'After every hardship comes relief' Allah never breaks his given word, await for your victory with salah (prayer) and with Sabr (patience). 'Verily Allah is with the Patient ones' (al Qur'an)

i hope you and your families are well. may Allah make this time of hardship easy for everyone who has had enough of yet another Firaun who has made the country suffer for so long once again.

salam to all.

 

[Peace]

This is a song by a group of American Muslim artists on the recent events unfolding in Egypt

[youtube]sCbpiOpLwFg[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCbpiOpLwFg

 

[Sahar]

Jazak Allahu Khayran eselam

 

[.lava]

i am glad to see you on line. you were not around on the first days of that chaos. i am glad you're well and i do hope your society and government get rid of whatever is there to bring Egypt down

.

 

[Sahar]

Thank you so much, lava...

 

[Cordoba]

Global Evening of Qiyam (prayers) for Egypt - 12 February 2011

We ask everyone who visits this blog, no matter where you are, to organize a local qiyam program to pray for the people of Egypt. National Muslim organizations, MSAs and regional coalitions, masajid, youth groups, families – even groups of neighbors! – can come together and raise your hands in du`a‘ for the people of Egypt. The time is short, and the task is large. This global event may not go down in the history books, but we pray it goes down in something even more valuable: our records of deeds. We pray that Allah showers the earth with His angels on Saturday, and that they find His slaves crying in sincere prayer.

Just as the Egyptians used Facebook, Twitter, text messaging, and the internet to stand for their liberation, let us also join them in using these tools to gather masses of Muslims to pray qiyam. When the Mubarak regime temporarily shut down the internet and cell phone services, they misunderstood something: they are unable to cancel the rest of the world’s access to these tools. They cannot control the blessings of Allah.

Let us honor the Egyptian example of using these tools for a just cause, and show them that the world is with them: standing in prayer, just as they are standing in Tahrir and elsewhere. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ taught us that there is no veil between the prayer of the oppressed and their Creator. Let us appeal to Him in prayer as an ummah on the same evening asking for the same things…

Global Evening of Qiyam for Egypt ​

 

[Sahar]

From Friday of Anger:

Injured with rubber bullets

 

[Peace]

Allahu Akbar! Congratulations my dear Egyptian sisters and brothers!!
Finally, the pharaoh stepped down!
You should all bow down and prostrate to Allah and thank Him for this great achievement and bounty, for without His support you won't have achieved what you achieved.
We are so happy for you and proud of you!
Alhamdulillah!

Again Alf mabrouk ​

 

[Genuine Realist]

Congratulations to the Egyptian people.

Blessings for a better day.

 

[TruthSpeaker]

i am praying to Allah for Egypt