Majnun Layla’s (Qays b. Mulawwih) Lesson in Patriotism for Egypt

Mar 14

Qays b. Mulawwih was an early Islamic Arab poet who gained fame for his absolute, unqualified, and all-consuming love for Layla.  So complete was his obsession with her that people assumed he was mad, thus earning him the sobriquet in the poetic literature of Majnun (the madman) of Layla (Majnun Layla).

Two of Majnun’s more famous lines about his love for Layla go like this:

أمر على الديــــــار ديار ليـلى … أقبل ذا الـــــــجدار وذا الجـدارا
وما حب الديار شـــــغفن قلبي … ولكن حب من ســـــــكن الديارا

“I pass through the lands of Laila, kissing this wall and that one;
it is not the love of the land that has filled my heart, but love for the one who dwelt there.”

Many people in Egypt today speak of patriotism, but it is a false patriotism, a patriotism not devoted to the love of the people of Egypt, with all their virtues, and vices, but for an abstract idea of Egypt that is little more than a reflection of their own fantasies, nightmares, or both. The great president Sisi, for example, recently accused the Muslim Brotherhood of wanting to empty Egypt of its Pharaonic heritage by destroying the pyramids and destroying ancient temples. Aside from the sheer absurdity of the statement, this is from the spokesman of a regime that has, from a practical perspective, been a complete failure in preserving Egypt’s cultural heritage, even allowing the Great Pyramids, through years of neglect, to turn into an urban slum.

Like Qays b. Mulawwih, we Egyptians should reject the false patriotism which is based on love of an abstract place — perhaps best exemplified in the absurd plans announced yesterday for the construction of a new capital — for the complete, absolute and unconditional love of the people, embracing them completely, even with their faults. That is what democracy is about: letting the people govern themselves, knowing that in the long run, they will get things right. This kind of patriotic love for the people — not the contempt for them which is the only thing that unites Egypt’s elites — might lead us out of this dark tunnel. But, for many reasons, I doubt any one will listen to Qays b. Mulawwih. After all, he was crazy.

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Establishment of the Council of Wise Muslims

Sep 26

One of the interesting fall outs of the Arab Spring has been a renaissance of traditional Sunni quietism and support of authoritarianism as the proper response to political conflict.  As reported by CNN Arabic Service, the UAE (who else?) is now patronizing a group of Sunni scholars under the not so modest name of “The Council of Wise Muslims (Majlis Hukama’ al-Muslimin).” One of its goals, according to this article, is to revive basic doctrines of Sunnism, including, “obedience to the ruler” (ta’at uli’l-amr). The article also states that the wise ones are cautioning Muslims that democracy is not a good desired for itself, but rather, justice and stability are the aims, and these can be achieved, apparently, without democracy.  Indeed, if democracy is pursued in circumstances that are not appropriate, e.g., the Arab world, it will only lead to civil war.  What the wise ones have failed to explain, however, is why oligarchical rulers would be interested in pursuing, among other things, distributive justice.  Just sayin’.

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Sign Amnesty International’s Petition Against Mass Death Sentences in Egypt

May 02

Please take a few minutes and sign this petition (http://bit.ly/Egypt528) expressing your opposition to the mass death sentences recently pronounced in Egypt. This petition is sponsored by, among others, Amnesty International, which is especially eager to garner Arab-American and Muslim-American signatures for the petition to present to the Egyptian government:

Dear friends and family,
Please join me and take a stand against the Egyptian government’s human rights crackdown!
Sign the statement:
http://bit.ly/Egypt528
The Egyptian government is engaging in a massive crackdown on its critics. Thousands of people have been jailed from across the political spectrum. Now, a total of 1,211 people have been sentenced to death or life in prison in two mass trials that were fundamentally unfair.
Please join me in signing this statement opposing the mass sentences: http://bit.ly/Egypt528
During this difficult time, Arab Americans and Muslim Americans must stand in support of human rights in Egypt. These death sentences are the latest horrifying development.
Right now, the U.S. and other governments are debating how to respond. We need to be heard.
Please sign the statement here: http://bit.ly/Egypt528
Thank you.

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Prospects for Democratization in the Arab World in Light of the Exclusion of Political Islam

May 01

The latest issue of al-Ruwaq al-`Arabi, a journal published by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, is dedicated to the question of the future of the Muslim Brotherhood.  The entire issue (in Arabic) can be downloaded as a pdf from here.

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Egypt’s Economy Still Stinks, Despite the Best Efforts of the so-called “Dream Team”

Feb 03

More on Egypt’s economy: despite the massive aid package given by the axis of autocracy in support of the coup, there is still an extreme shortage of dollars, and the economy is no where close to stabilizing, much less achieving sustainable growth or a resumption of meaningful investment. The black market in hard currency, despite the best efforts of the Central Bank, appears to have entrenched itself for the near future as a fixture in the Egyptian economy, with all that implies for the fiscal health — or more accurately — the fiscal distress of the national economy.  

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My Presentation on International Law and the Coup at Georgetown University

Jan 30

At my presentation yesterday at a conference hosted by Georgetown University, I was asked to speak on international law and the coup.  I spoke about the Statute of Rome, its definition of “crimes against humanity,” the standards for individual culpability, the risks that senior Egyptian officials could be indicted for their actions in the wake of the coup, and what that means for the possibility of democratization in the near or medium term in Egypt.  Here are my slides for that presentation.

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