Egypt's Islamists and tourism
Issandr El Amrani
Halal tourism: summer fling anyone?
Read the passages below and you'll see a fundamental miscomprehension of what most European tourists (the bulk of those who visit Egypt) like to do on holiday:
"Tourists don't need to drink alcohol when they come to Egypt; they have plenty at home," a veiled Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Azza al-Jarf, told a cheering crowd of supporters on Sunday across the street from the Pyramids.
"They came to see the ancient civilization, not to drink alcohol," she said, her voice booming through a set of loudspeakers at a campaign event dubbed "Let's encourage tourism." The crowd chanted, "Tourism will be at its best under Freedom and Justice," the Brotherhood's party and the most influential political group to emerge from the fall of Hosni Mubarak.
. . .
Also, clerics like Yasser Bourhami, influential among hard-line Salafis, are presenting ideas for restrictions on tourism. Bourhami calls it "halal tourism," using the term for food that is ritually fit under Islamic law.
"A five-star hotel with no alcohol, a beach for women — sisters — separated from men in a bay where the two sides can enjoy a vacation for a week without sins," he said in an interview with private television network Dream TV. "The tourist doesn't have to swim with a bikini and harm our youth."
A leading member of Al-Nour, Tarek Shalaan, stumbled through a recent TV interview when asked about his views on the display of nude pharaonic statues like those depicting fertility gods.
"The antiquities that we have will be put under a different light to focus on historical events," he said, without explaining further.
If they truly feel that their religion really doesn't allow the sale of alcohol or use of beaches in swimsuits, fine — although I'd still like to see the whole religious argument for it, with sources, and particularly when it concerns non-Muslims. But at least be honest about the impact on a major source of revenue for the country. We are now at a point when the comfortable role of opposition no longer holds for Islamists, it's time to be serious about one's positions and their consequences.
A few years ago, for instance, the Muslim Brotherhood MPs in parliament opposed a law that would tighten the ban on Female Genital Mutilation (a practice that has absolutely no basis in Islam, it's largely a Nile Valley thing) and also opposed a law banning child beatings. If they are just traditionalists, let them say that. But if they want to invoke religion, they better make their case with full theological and scriptural backing.
Reader Comments (11)
as long as men "don't behave", there is a severe problem.
the women-only - sister spaces in the rest of the world (sic!) are not there for nothing.
ya salam, too much work to do, deconstructing gender roles + ( ... what ..?) religion
What percentage of the population works in tourism? That should be a vote against any restrictive policies in the future...I don't think you're going to convince traditionalists about bikinis and alcohol but hopefully votes will do the talking.
Do you want to see the religious reasoning for your own edification or because you think this is an intellectual battleground in which the Islamists are vulnerable?
If the former, fine, but if the latter, I think you're going to be disappointed. If you hit the point where you're making law (at least much beyond family law) based on reliability of narrators and chains of transmission and what not you've already lost. (That's the road to Iran and Pakistan). You're never going to beat the Islamists on their own chosen ground. And if you insist, the case for gender segregation and modesty in Islam — while hardly a slam dunk — is still very much non-zero. They've got a few obliquely relevant Koranic verses plus hadith of varying reliability and rulings from this or that school of jurisprudence in their favor. Which, frankly, is all there is for or against many if not most things in Islam once you get past a small number of blatantly obvious things. (And not to single out Islam here — most other religions work in a roughly similar fashion, too).
"We are now at a point when the comfortable role of opposition no longer holds for Islamists, it's time to be serious about one's positions and their consequences."
Very good point. Whether tourists are drinking alchohol or not is one of those issues that Islamists have rabbled roused about while in opposition, but now that they actually have to produce results. And I just dont see that many Egyptians finding this an important enough. Time for Islamists to walk the walk, or suffer the political consequences. Thats what democracy is all about.
Islamic law if fully implemented will more than destroy Egyptian tourism it will destroy the whole economy. This in turn will cause riots and a search for scape goats. If I were an Egyptian socialist, liberal democrat, Christian or woman I would be packing my bags now. Anyone with a higher secular education or whole enjoys having a full stomach had also better find himself/herself a new country.
Bertie — not so sure about that, it depends on the actual topic and the extent to which institutions like al-Azhar will take a moderate stance. For instance on the question of Sufi shrines Azhar has vigorously attacked the Salafis. There is a solid argument to make on the tourism issue based on the greater good. I think there is also room to leverage fear of fitna.
Do Azhar's opinions still carry great weight, or is it considered a compromised institution due to its ties to the former regime?
I'm assuming that once they get into power the difficulties of governing will moderate them on social issues especially if MB wants cooperation with Egyptian Bloc instead of the Salafists. It's easy to talk about adhering to strict ideological principles when you aren't in charge. When you have to govern however things people more complex and the grey area grows.
Jonathan — Azhar will be a major battleground of politics in 2013 if not before, with the MB intent on making it more independent.
I'm not sure about all this. I'm white British and I've been a Muslim for almost three years so I guess I can see both sides of the argument. Honestly speaking when I wasn't a Muslim it was always good to find somewhere that served beer but I don't think it would have been a deal breaker. I went to plenty of countries for the experience of being there, not for recreating a life that I can easily get at home so in my opinion (and it's only my opinion) there are plenty of people like me who are fine going somewhere for the experience, because it's different and if that means not having a drink then fine.
Now on the other hand as a Muslim, having a relaxing break whilst not being around half-naked women is important to me. And it also makes business sense too. There's a massive and growing market out there for "halal holidays". More and more of the 2nd and 3rd generation immigrant Muslims I know in the UK are beginning to explore new destinations and Egypt near the top of the list for many. This is likely to increase and if Egypt positions itself well with that market then I think it could be of huge economic benefit.
How do you figure female circumcision has "absolutely no basis in Islam"?