The week preceding
the assassination of Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid on 6 February 2013, a hardline Egyptian Salafi
cleric proclaimed it permissible to kill the opponents of the
president.
Many see the cleric’s fatwa as a possible prelude to assassinations carried
out by Islamists against the president’s opponents.
Salafi preacher Mahmoud Shaaban appeared on the Egyptian religious channel
al-Hafez citing a number of
hadiths, or sayings by the Prophet Mohammad,
to call for the execution of those who spread chaos and instigate subversion.
In a widely-shared
clip,
Shaaban claimed that the main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front
(NSF), was seeking to burn the whole country. He mentioned by name Hamdeen
Sabahi, founder of the Popular Current movement, and Mohammed Baradei, founder
of the Constitution Party.
A long discussion ensued between the preacher and the program host of
“Fil-Mizan,” meaning “In the Balance,” over who should carry out the fatwa – the
government or ordinary citizens.
Following the uproar caused by those remarks,
Shaaban denied issuing a fatwa calling for the elimination of dissidents. The
cleric claimed that the clip had been “spliced and manipulated” by unknown
parties seeking to tarnish the image of Islamists.
However, the Salafi preacher confirmed that he had said that it is the right of
the ruler to kill opposition figures that contest his authority.
Shaaban's
repudiation only added insult to injury. This prompted al-Azhar's Islamic
Research Academy to issue a statement rejecting what it described as a
“misinterpretation and abuse of religious texts.”
The academy said that “murderers and instigators of murder are equally guilty
of the sin and receive the same share of punishment in this world and the
hereafter.”
Egypt’s interior minister posted a security detail at Mohammed Baradei’s
home, while sources close to Sabahi said that he refused protection because “he
is an ordinary citizen and does not need it.”
In turn, Prime Minister Hisham Qandil rejected such extremist edicts. He said
in a statement that the cabinet would take necessary legal action against anyone
who issues fatwas inciting violence against opponents.
Meanwhile, Prosecutor General Talaat Ibrahim ordered an investigation into
Shaaban after a lawyer filed a complaint accusing the Salafi cleric of inciting
violence.
For its part, the NSF issued a statement mourning Chokri Belaid, and said
that his assassination “raises alarm bells from Tunis all the way to Cairo.” The
opposition coalition also stressed that “handing out death fatwas against
[opposition] leaders...in Egypt and Tunisia shall stop the march of the
revolution.”
Assassinations or Street Violence?
In recent days, there have been several killings in Egypt, including
administrators of anti-Islamist and Muslim Brotherhood websites. Do such
incidents portend that Egypt is only a small step away from systematic
assassinations of dissidents?
Khaled Abdul-Hamid, member of the Socialist Popular Alliance (SPA), said that
he doubted that the administrators had been targeted specifically. Abdul-Hamid
then proclaimed that the assassination of Belaid “will not intimidate us here in
Egypt.”
This was echoed by Hussam Hindi, a journalist who has often reported on
protests in the country, both before and after the uprising.
Hindi believes that there is a difference between Tunisia and Egypt, and said
that those who have been killed in Egypt were not deliberately targeted, but
instead died during clashes and protests.
“The regimes in Egypt and Tunisia are oppressive, but the Muslim Brotherhood
would not carry out assassinations themselves. However, they might use Salafi
groups for that purpose.” Still, these groups “do not assign any importance to
young activists, and would rather focus on public figures.”
Essam Shaaban, member of the Egyptian Communist Party’s central committee,
predicted that there would be a confrontation with right-wing religious parties,
especially “if the regime continues the same failed policies, because they will
have nothing other than oppression and coercion to silence Egyptians.”
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic
Edition.
Uprooted Palestinian
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