21-Apr-13: Charismatic, 'folksy' Egyptian politician incites followers to martyrdom

From Abu Ismail's presidential campaign [Image Source: Al Ahram]

Egypt's political landscape is dotted with people and issues that, from a reasonable distance, are  incomprehensible.

Unfortunately, when you share a neighbourhood with some of those people, you can't always afford the luxury of trying to comprehend 'root causes' and socio-demographic dynamics. The dangers are existential, not intellectual, and so you need to first take defensive measures and then try to understand. People who fail to understand this tend - usually - to be those who live far from the threats, or think they do.

The Dubai-based Al Arabiya news site carries a report from Egypt today. It focuses on a televised sermon delivered Friday by Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, a 'holy man' and lawyer who is "the country’s most charismatic Salafist politician" and a front-running candidate in Egypt's 2012 presidential election. He was reckoned to have a serious chance up until his electoral run was forcibly ended by the disclosure, denied by the candidate but subsequently confirmed by the Egyptian authorities, that his mother was a citizen of the United States. It appears he is still laboring to overcome that disgrace.

He favours lowering the legal age of marriage to puberty (for girls, of course); chopping off the hands of thieves, naturally; ending the 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty; supports the veiling of women and their segregation from men in the workplace (according to the LA Times). He calls Iran a successful model of keeping your independence from the United States. And about the 9/11 massacres, he said

'Folksy' Salafist in Tahrir Square 2011 [Image Source]

"I am one of those who believe these events were fabricated from the outset as part of the global groundwork for the distortion of Islam's image. I mean, this is part of a comprehensive global plan that includes a media aspect." [Interview on a 2004 Saudi TV program]

There's an eye-popping selection of other public pronouncements of this person here.

On Friday, according to Al Arabiya, the 'ultra conservative' Abu Ismail preached that

The only way to build a strong Egypt is to have tens of thousands fight and be “martyred” under the name of God, a prominent Salafist politician told worshipers during a televised sermon on Friday. “So what if a hundred or a thousand, or even ten thousands are martyred to build a long-prevailing nation,” Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, a former presidential candidate, said. “There is no other plan but to be martyred.”

A lunatic, right? Yes, and/or a cynical manipulator. But that's not necessarily the impression you would get from the mainstream Western media coverage he has enjoyed during this past year.

A handful of examples from just one source: the LA Times:

• Abu Ismail's is "a robust voice in the fractious political Islam" of post Mubarak Egypt
• He embodies "a new Egypt searching for a religiously resonant yet pragmatic brand of politics that can fix the nation's deep economic and social problems" 
• "He's a favorite on talk shows and Internet videos, a charismatic speaker who can charm a university crowd as easily as he can raise cheers from millworkers in the provinces." 
• "He skims the edge of fundamentalism — he once suggested that he and Osama bin Laden shared the same ends, if not the means, to create an Islamic state — but connects with Egyptians' everyday worries.

The Economist has said he is "committed to replicating the seventh-century ways of the Prophet Mohammed [and] could be the country's next pharaoh". More recently, it has also called him a man with "folksy charm putting the dour Mr Morsi in the shade". He's a politician whose followers are "rowdy enthusiasts".

There is no suggestion that Abu Ismail himself has any intention of embracing martyrdom. It's a near certainty that his inspiration will bring less discerning Egyptians (aka rowdy enthusiasts) to that end. Martyrdom-minded religious fanatics have a bad reputation in this part of the world, so this "folksy" sermon is less than good news.