by Ann Azbill

Created on: December 18, 2011   Last Updated: May 03, 2012

It is beneficial to know the backgrounds of the Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood to answer this question. On the surface, the answer would appear to be no, but the history of each group will shed some light on the subject. The meaning of three terms will also help to clarify understanding of this issue. First, Sharia law pertains to the Muslim law set out by the Quran; secondly, Islam is the religion governed by the Quran that Muslims believe was written by Muhammad; thirdly, jihad means “struggle.” Muslims see jihad as a fight against sin and a fight for Allah or their god. Other religions get in the way of that belief and cause wars.

At present, there are at least 50 different parties in the 2011 Egyptian elections. Among others too many to mention is the Al-masryeen Al-ahrar or the Free Egyptians Party, the Democratic Front Party and Egyptian Social Democratic Party. However, the elections in November 2011 in Egypt showed a distinct preference for The Freedom and Justice Party, the supposedly political faction of the Muslim Brotherhood Party (an Islamic group). As of December 2011, they were winning, much to the discontent of many protestors. Seven were killed by that country’s military, put in place after the former leader, Hosni Mubarak was forced to resign. Many of the protestors now feel they are being persecuted under the military as badly as they were under Mubarak.

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928 and is technically not a legal organization. In the 1950s, it was banned after an attempted assassination on the Egyptian leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser. Also, by Egyptian law, a religious group cannot run as a political party. Never-the-less, the party has gradually won seats in the parliament by putting independent Muslims in place. In 2005, the Muslim Brotherhood had 88 seats in the Parliament. As of 2011, the party had won 60% of the votes.

The Salafists, also Islamists are supposedly more conservative than their Muslim Brotherhood counterparts and were also winning a good portion of the vote. The Salafists’ agenda is to integrate Sharia law and further other Islamic traditions into Egypt’s government. Although the Muslim Brotherhood initially supported Sharia law, it has allegedly changed its agenda in lieu of modern sentiment and in recent campaigns has focused on providing for the poor and improving Egypt’s unemployment problems. Salafists on the other hand, want to reestablish the Islam religion

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