CAIRO: On Friday, Mohamed Amr watched as ultra-conservative Salafists converged on Egypt's iconic Tahrir Square. Their deafening chants of “Islamic state” resounding throughout downtown Cairo. For him, a liberal activist wounded in the January 2011 uprising that ousted the country's long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak, it was frustrating. “I am very worried about the future of the country and how the Salafists are trying to accuse liberals and those of us who fought and bled for change as foreigners in our own country,” he told Bikyamasr.com. “It is a sad time for the Egyptian revolution. It might be dead and what we are seeing is something very scary,” the former member of the April 6 Youth Movement added. Making matters worse for the left is the growing anti-liberal sentiment growing on the streets and in mosques. On Friday, as thousands of puritan Salafists gathered in Tahrir Square to demand that the new constitution for Egypt be an Islamic one, member of al-Gama'a Islamiya Sheikh Mohamed el-Soghir accused secular and liberal activists of pushing a Western agenda. “Our Prophet [Mohamed] fought the infidels of Mecca, who are now represented by the Liberals,” said El-Soghir in comments published by local media. He is a former member of Parliament – which was disbanded earlier this year by Egypt's top court – and a member of the Salafist Building and Development Party. He was speaking in Tahrir during the demonstrations and demanded that Egypt be an Islamic state. His comments received massive cheers from those who had gathered in the square, which is the symbol of change in Egypt. The sheikh added that it was unacceptable for Egypt, “the beating heart of Islam,” to be a place for those who are only concerned with their own interest and agendas. These “seculars” and liberals “do not believe in the things they call for – like democracy, they only believe in orders that are sent to them through mediators for the West,” claimed Soghir. He argued that it was “God's will” of granting Muslims' wish for a president who is representative of Egyptians and one that will rule by Islamic Sharia law, referring to President Mohamed Morsi, who came out of the Muslim Brotherhood. “We are still waiting for more, and will not blink until the law of God is applied. This is a wish we have for so long pursued,” the Salafist leader said. He further stated that their protest is a “duty towards the book of God [Quran].” For Amr and other activists in the country, they view the rise of the Salafists as a symbol of the failure of the revolution to reach a larger audience. “In many ways, it is our fault that the ultra-conservatives have so much power in this country and we must start to change the mind of people now before it is too late,” he added.
