A Revolution Undone Beyond Revolt – H A Hellyer

But there is also the model of Imam Husain (the younger brother of Hasan), which many Syrian ‘ulama switched to as the conflict raged on. This approach sees that, at times, being silent and allowing injustice to fester will actually create far more injustice. This position is an exceptional one, taken by Imam Husain in a very profound manner as history recounts. It is characterised by vocal opposition to power when that power is tyrannical. Beyond these two approaches, there are harsh warnings in classical Islamic texts about the ‘ulama al-sultan’ (scholars of the ruler).

These are ulama who are ingratiated with and reliant upon the circles of political power, even when the powerful do wrong—such ulama are described in those texts as having ‘insincere motives’. The modern expression ‘tujjar al-din’ may not be the contemporary equivalent of ‘ulama al-sultan’, for sincerity may yet be present among those given the former label. However, the instrumentalisation of religion for partisan purposes, regardless of which party it is meant to empower, is fundamental to both expressions.

From 2011 to 2015, few people exemplified the Husaini model of speaking truth to power in the midst of the Egyptian revolution. One prominent example was Emad Effat, a jurist from the Dar al-Ifta (Abode of Verdicts), which is the official state body for issuing advisory religious verdicts (fatawa). Ironically, he served at a time when Ali Gomaa, who later backed the military after the removal of Mursi, was head of that institution. Effat disagreed with Gomaa’s politics—but, according to numerous accounts from his students and peers, he loved and respected him dearly.

As mentioned in Chapter 1, media reports indicate that security forces killed Effat during clashes with protesters in December 2011. Effat was opposed to the return of the Mubarak regime, deeply critical of the military council of the day, and simultaneously had antipathy towards the MB. When he died, he earned two titles: ‘shaheed al-Azhar’ (the martyr of al-Azhar) and ‘shaykh al-thawra’ (the shaykh of the revolution).

Since his passing, no one else has been bestowed with that banner. No one could.

Dr H.A. Hellyer is a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Rafik Hariri Centre for the Middle East at the Atlantic Council in DC and an Associate Fellow in International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute in London. His insights on current events in the Arab World, Europe, and Muslim communities worldwide are regularly sought by the international media networks such as CNN, BBC and Al-Jazeera, with several hundred op-eds for publications including The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, The New York Times, The Guardian, The National (Abu Dhabi), and Daily News Egypt.

Prior to joining the Council, Dr Hellyer was a nonresident Fellow at the Centre for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in DC and Research Associate at the JFK School of Government at Harvard University. He also served as the first Arab world-based Senior Practice Consultant at the Gallup Organisation, where he analysed public opinion data in a variety of countries in the Arab world and the West.

During his tenure at the University of Warwick (UK) as Fellow and then Senior Research Fellow, he was appointed as Deputy Convenor of the UK Government’s Taskforce for the 2005 London bombings, and served as the Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s first Economic and Social Research Council Fellow as part of the ‘Islam’ & ‘Counter-Terrorism’ teams. Alongside his analytical career, Dr Hellyer has held positions at noted institutions including the University of Warwick, the American University in Cairo, and the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies of the University of Oxford, where he authored several books and monographs & has contributed more than twenty-five book chapters and journal articles to various presses.

Recent publications include Muslims of Europe: The ‘Other’ Europeans for Edinburgh University Press and Engagement with the Muslim Community & Counter-Terrorism: British Lessons for the West for Brookings Institution Press. Dr Hellyer’s degree in law was read at the University of Sheffield School of Law, with an advanced degree in international political economy at the University of Sheffield’s Department of Politics. He completed a multidisciplinary PhD at the University of Warwick as an Economic and Social Research Council scholar, and researched Islamic thought with traditionally trained specialists in the UK, Egypt, Malaysia and South Africa.

www.hahellyer.com ‘H.A. Hellyer is eminently qualified to inform, and interpret these punishing years since 2011 which have polarised Egypt and left many searching for certainties. There’s an academic’s rigour, a pollster’s precision, and a journalist’s compelling anecdotes in his chronicle of Egypt’s “unfinished revolution.”

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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