“We are ready to lose our lives for the sake of implementing the sharī’ah and we welcome martyrdom in order to attain this objective,” Ahmad Farīd said during a rally for the Salafī al-Nūr Party in al-Dakahlia governorate on December 29.
“We’re really amazed by those who claim belief and Islam and seek recourse other than the sharī’ah. This way of behavior was attributed by Allāh in the Qur’ān to the infidels and hypocrites,” said Farīd.
Nādir Bakkār, the official spokesman for al-Nūr, said during the rally that his party would not attend the Christians’ celebrations of their festivities although an invitation was sent to the party members but they are going to protect the churches because it is a religious duty.
“We are concerned with protecting churches during the Coptic festivities despite rejection by a number of Maspero Youth Union members and some Christian figures, who said they are able to protect themselves. (Deputy Patriarch of the Coptic Catholic Church) Anbā Yūhannā (Qultah Sa‘īd) has told me that ‘we (Christians) live under God’s and your protection’,” said Bakkār.
He noted that liberals and seculars are wronging the Salafists and refuse to cooperation with them. “However, we will wish them well and cooperate with them as far as the state interests are concerned,” he said.
“Try us the next four years and if we did not succeed then the squares are there (for demonstrations). Definitely, we’re not going to be worse then (former President Husnī) Mubārak,” added Bakkār.
For his part, Sharīf Taha, al-Nūr’s assistant secretary in al-Dakahlia, denied reports that the Salafīs are going to shut everyone up. “We seek a state of law. We’re not going to build a theocracy. The party has its mechanisms to activate the halāl tourism and apply the Islamic economy concept with all its controls,” said Taha. [Ghādah 'Abd al-Hāfiz, Al-Misrī al-Yawm, p. 3, Dec. 31] Read original text in Arabic
Meanwhile, Cairo Governor Dr. ‘Abd al-Qawī Khalīfah approved the petitions of many parents of Coptic students to postpone the elementary and intermediate exams on January 1 and 8, 2012 so the students may celebrate the New Year and the Coptic Orthodox Christmas.
The governor gave instructions to Sa’īd ‘Imārah, Director of Education in Cairo, not to hold any exams on January 1 and 8, 2012 and to start them as of January 9 for the elementary stage and January 16, 2012 for the intermediate stage. ['Ādil 'Abd al-Hādī Tammām and Muhammad 'Abd al-Salām, Al-Ahrām, p. 14, Dec. 31] Read original text in Arabic
On the eve of December 31, 2010, a blast targeted the Two Saints Church in Alexandria, killing 24 Egyptians and wounding more than 90 others. In a year’s time, the facade of the church was restored and the remains of bodies were removed off the walls of the Sharq al-Madīnah mosque on the other side but the pain lingers on inside hearts, an opinion article in al-Ahrām read.
Everyone is eager to see the culprits arrested and fair retribution for the souls of the martyrs is in place.
Investigations inside the Sate Security Prosecution are put the back burner waiting for those by the interior ministry and implementation of the requests by the lawyer of the martyrs’ families to summon the former interior minister, Habīb al-‘Ādlī, to question him about information he gave before the former president Mubārak. [Rāmī Yāsīn, Al-Ahrām, p. 20, Dec. 31] Read original text in Arabic
