The advance of Egyptian Salafism highlights the country’s deepening religious divisions and the dangers posed by powerful external influences. Several violent clashes have occurred in the last year-and-a-half. In one of the worst attacks, 12 people died when a church and other buildings used by Christians, who constitute 10 per cent of Egypt’s 85 million population, were set ablaze in May. Christians are not the only targets; there have also been attacks on Sufi shrines. Salafism, a rigid version of Islam modeled solely on the lives led by the first three generations of Muslims, is metamorphosing into a potent form of political fundamentalism in Egypt. Salafist leaders disclaim responsibility for the violence but their increasing influence on the Egyptian public sphere was shown when they took over a “Day of Unity” demonstration in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on July 29. The process, aided by lucrative Salafist TV stations, is causing alarm, particularly among the younger protesters who so inspiringly forced the dictator Hosni Mubarak out in February; it is also dividing the Muslim Brotherhood into moderate and extreme factions.
To regard the effects of Salafism purely as an internal matter is to overlook the international interests that exacerbate them. To start with, there has been no significant change in the United States’ policy attitude to Egypt, which has received civil assistance totaling $50 billion from the US Agency for International Development (USAID/CIA...) over the last 40 years, and continues to receive $1.3 billion every year in military aid. Secondly, the military government in Cairo ensures that NGOs which promote democracy are excluded from U.S. civilian aid. Successive administrations in Washington have rejected tying military aid to human rights improvements in Egypt. In effect, U.S. arms manufacturers gain, Egypt rocks no Israeli boats, and the junta is relatively free to intensify its authoritarian tendencies. This means less transparency and more opportunity for corruption and abuse of power — the very factors that rejuvenated the Muslim Brotherhood as a then hard-line form of resistance to Mr. Mubarak in the 1990s. This time the main beneficiaries will be the Salafists. A further complication is the attitude of Saudi Arabia, which denies providing funds but may well regard Egyptian Salafism as a counterweight to any Iranian Shia influence in the region. There could be few better examples of international double standards over West Asia and North Africa; the greatest losers will be those brave Egyptians who have made a principled stand for nothing less than representative democracy....
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