MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

Egypt Independent – “Bassam al-Zarqa, one of the advisors to President Mohamed Morsy, said the Egyptian people have ‘an overwhelming desire to implement Islamic Sharia, and not only its principles.’

Zarqa, who is the secretary of the Salafi Nour Party in Alexandria and a member of the constitution-writing assembly, told London-based Asharq Al-Awsat that while the majority of Egyptians want Islamic Sharia implemented, Article 2 of the Constitution states that only the principles of Sharia represent the main source of legislation. He said that the word ‘principles’ may have several interpretations, including one from the Constitutional Court saying principles need conclusive evidence, which could lead to a disregard of some authentic prophetic traditions, jurisprudential rulings and even a part of the Quran.

Zarqa added that he rejected ‘loose descriptions.’

Since the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak, the popularity of Islamists has been rising and they won a majority in Parliament, which was later dissolved. In August, protests were staged to express rejection of the political hegemony of Islamists, and particularly the Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party. Egypt’s newly elected president, Mohamed Morsy, also belonged to the Brotherhood.” Read more.

Flashback: Egypt: Increasing Number Of Egyptians Want To Ditch Peace Treaty With Israel, Model Its Government After Saudi Arabia – “As Egyptians prepare to vote for their first post-Mubarak president next week, the antipathy towards Israel espoused by the frontrunners aligns with the findings of a new survey, in which 61 percent of Egyptian respondents favor abandoning the Egypt-Israel peace treaty, up from 54 percent a year ago.” Read more.

Flashback: Crucifixion and Amputation: Egyptian MP Proposes Sharia Law Punishments – “… The proposed law calls for the application of ‘Heraba,’ an Islamic penalty for criminal actions that include overt robbery, murder, forcible taking of property with a weapon and vandalizing public facilities. The penalties according to Azzazy’s bill are execution in the case of murder, or cutting one arm and one leg from opposite sides of the culprit’s body in the cases of robbery and forcible taking of property. If the taking of possessions is accompanied by murder, the penalty would be death or crucifixion, to be determined by the judge.” Read more.