Egypt's Salafist Party to fight to keep Sharia provision in new constitution

Jihad Watch - Political Islam is not dead, contrary to the overconfident predictions of those who not too long ago were denying its very existence and claiming that the Muslim Brotherhood was, in James Clapper's words, "largely secular," or at least "moderate." "Egyptian Salafist Nour Party to 'protect Islamic identity' in new constitution," from Albawaba, August 26:

Egypt’s Salafist Nour Party has decided to participate in the 50-member committee tasked with proposing amendments to the country's temporarily suspended 2012 constitution, state news agency MENA reported.

The decision follows previous statements by Nour spokesmen stating that the party will not take part in the constitutional committee following the removal of article 219 by a technical committee, which amended the constitution before passing it on to the ‘50 committee’.

Article 219 defined Sharia (Islamic law), which is mentioned in Article 2 as the main source of legislation in Egypt. The article was added by the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly in 2012 under the former President Mohamed Morsi. It states that, "the principles of Islamic Sharia include its commonly-accepted interpretations, its fundamental and jurisprudent rules and its widely considered sources, as stated by the schools of Sunna and Gamaa."    More  PTG