Egyptian Salafist scholar calls for the destruction of "Pyramids and Sphinx"
November 14, 2012: Egypt's tourist operators are afraid of Islamism and have attacked
Murgan Salem al-Gohary,a Salafist Jihadist leader who during a TV programme, aired
on privately owned Dream TV2 channel, proposed the destruction of Pyramids of Giza
and the Sphinx because they symbolise idolatry.
The Salafist's statement follows
dozens of threats made by Salafists against Egypt's artistic heritage and holiday
resorts, which represent one of the main sources of employment in the country. Ihab
El-Badry, leader of the Coalition to Support Tourism, said he would sue President
Morsi, the prime minister and the ministers of tourism and monuments for doing nothing
to control the Islamists.
He added that such statements are having a devastating
effect on Egypt's already struggling tourism industry. "International media picked
up these statements up and this will negatively affect tourism and the Egyptian economy
in general," El-Badry said, adding that tourists are now afraid to travel to Egypt.
Known
for his extremist positions, Murgan Salem al-Gohary spent time in jail under the Mubarak
regime for his pro-Islamic terror activities. On TV, El-Gohary recounted proudly how
he participated in the blowing up of the statues of the Buddhas of Bamyan in Afghanistan
in 2001 with the Taliban. He explained that the statues and archaeological heritage
of ancient Egypt could end up the same way.
"All Muslims are charged with applying
the teachings of Islam to remove such idols, as we did in Afghanistan when we destroyed
the Buddha statues," he said. "God ordered Prophet Mohammed to destroy idols," he
added. Al-Gohary's controversial comments came one day after a large Salafist rally
in Tahrir Square in favour of the introduction of Sharia law, causing not only a row
with the country's tourist operators, but also adding flue to the controversy between
pro-democracy advocates and Islamists over the place of Islamic law in the new constitution.
In
the wake of Egypt's revolution, the ultraconservative Salafist al-Nour party has risen
to become the second most influential force in parliament, behind the Muslim Brotherhood.
According to Egyptian author Ahmed Osman, the Salafists sympathise with Al-Gohary's
view, and have demanded that statues be destroyed or covered up to hide the parts
that offend Islam.
However, Al-Gohary's position is not shared by all Islamists.
The vice president of Tunisia's Islamist Ennahda party, Sheikh Abdel Fattah Moro,
said Al-Gohary's interpretation of Islam is wrong. "The Prophet destroyed the idols
because people worshipped them", he said. "But the Sphinx and the Pyramids are not
worshiped;" hence, there is no need to destroy them.
Despite reassurances from
the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties on keeping religion and politics
apart, the former is gradually creeping into the country's institutions. Things once
inconceivable are now more and more justified by the authorities.
In November
2011 for example, the al-Nour Party covered up the mermaids that embellish the fountain
of Zeus in the centre of Alexandria. Another example of the gradual Islamisation of
Egyptian society is the recent decision taken by 250 Egypt Air stewardesses to wear
the veil on board, like those working for the airline companies of Qatar, United Arab
Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Founded in 1932, Egypt's national carrier has never
enforced the Muslim veil. Under Mubarak, it was a sort of taboo.