Religious renewal is a political requirement

The call for religious renewal and reform began from the late nineteenth century, and generations followed it, and it followed the approach taken by the major reformers: Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Muhammad Abdo and Rashid Rida; an idea that simulated the path of Christian religious reform in light of fascination with the European renaissance and its effects on souls, as well as the impact The scientific expeditions sent by Muhammad Ali Pasha to take advantage of the "European sciences" and the generations that followed them, whether at the Egyptian University (Cairo University later) or in Al-Azhar.

In other words, what motivated the reformists were Renaissance motives distributed in various fields, and it was seeking to formulate an Islamic renaissance that reconciled religion and civilization that it had experienced in France, without creating a break with its heritage, so that it was based on the European experience and differentiated from it at the same time, because the European experience was cut off With the Christian religious heritage and separated religion from the state.

But the case of religious renewal has turned over the past two decades into a political agenda that is being sought with various purposes, including: evading certain political entitlements, or the need for a political system to make surgical adjustments in religious understanding, which it sees - according to its diagnosis - that it generates inconveniences for its regime and threatens stability His authority.

The beginning took place since the events of September 11, 2001, when the call for "renewing religious discourse" appeared in the words of US President Bush Jr. He declared that the war on terror will not be satisfied with military warfare, but rather what he called "ideological warfare" by tracing the roots of terrorism. . Hence the idea of ​​"incubators of terrorism" which was reflected in the famous saying, "They hate us", in a clear reference to the essence of the problem cultural, not political, and then treatment is to change ideas and curricula of religious education, not through changing policies.

Between 2001-2003, dozens of articles were written in the Arab press and a number of books were published on "Renewing Religious Discourse." In December 2001, then Egyptian President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak made two calls: The first called for an international conference on terrorism, and the second called for To renew religious discourse.

Following the last call, the thirteenth conference of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs was held in June 2001 under the title "Renewal in Islamic thought", where the conference discussed four axes: the necessity of renewal and its controls, renewal in the field of jurisprudence, in the field of advocacy and information, and the renaissance and revival Through the concepts of Islamic enlightenment and development, the revival of heritage, and the need to rid it of alien elements.

Writings and conferences on this subject continued extensively between 2001 and 2003, including: the meeting of the Executive Council of the Conference of Ministers of Endowments and Islamic Affairs in Beirut December 10, 2003 where they discussed "developing religious discourse", and the Egyptian Minister of Endowments at the time Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq had a noticeable activity in this Context.

In April 2003, Zagzouk denied that the renewal of religious discourse was the result of external pressure, and said: There is an internal need for renewal due to the changes that have taken place. Even if dr. Ahmad al-Tayyib - who was the Mufti of the country at the time - said on October 1, 2003 that he had demanded the renewal of Islamic thought before the events of September 11, and that he had participated prior to these events with a paper entitled: "The necessity of renewal in Islamic thought."

Sisi, when he comes and adopts again the call for religious renewal, does not bring new mention, and the renewers of the era of Sisi are ancestor in Mubarak's time as it appears clearly in the archives of Al-Ahram newspaper, which alone published dozens of articles on this subject during that period. And when the renewal turns into a political demand, the discussion must go to the regenerator's agenda and goals, which he aims to achieve from behind the required renewal, whether its renewal stems from it or from its subordinates.

The themes of the last Al-Azhar conference on "Renewing Islamic Thought and Sciences" clarify the goals of renewal, but the debate - which took place between the President of Cairo University d. Muhammad Othman Al-Khasht and Sheikh Al-Azhar d. Ahmad Al-Tayyib- Distracting attention from the conference’s content and themes: “refuting extremist ISIS ideas,” “fighting corruption is a social responsibility”, “human rights”, “citizenship as a basis for the state,” and “antiquities are public property and not idols.” In addition to frequently discussed and discussed topics such as womens rights and wardship, genome, organ transportation, and banking transactions.

There is no coherent structure and no specific idea for the conference. Rather, the topics of the conference not only lack renewal. Rather, they reflect the state of “fish of Tamarind milk” that reflects two religious and political wills. As if its organizers want to say to Al-Sisi: “This is yours and this is ours.” I want it to flirt with the authority, and other issues that the organizers see as a need for it, and this mixture reflects the situation that Egypt's Sisi has reached.

In a country that lacks the slightest rights to citizenship and corruption is common, especially political, corruption turns into a social responsibility, not a state responsibility, and citizenship becomes a subject of renewal before it sees the light in the first place! But the most interesting is the fourth axis, which talks about a text on "human rights, and arranging them according to the priority of local necessities, and their change by changing cultures and the prevailing civilizations."

Likewise, it is left to people to choose (models) of these rights that are compatible with their cultures and legacies, and to have the right to exclude what is inconsistent with these inheritance. ”This is an issue that has plagued the Sisi regime, which inaugurated its legitimacy with massacres exonerated by Dr. Al-Tayeb himself, and Sisi's achievement was to build more From prisons to accommodate political detainees, especially youth, his media launched a repeated attack on international human rights reports condemning the practices of his regime against Egyptians.

But the renewal required in human rights - according to the vision of the patron of the Sisi conference - is to take these rights out of the cosmic space to the local, and restrict them to the Egyptian or African specifications at the latest. It is an issue that Sisi expressed more than once, including that he emphasized in November 2019 two points: the non-reduction of human rights in political rights, and the need to take into account the cultural specificity of African societies, during his meeting with delegations participating in the National Institutions Network conference For African human rights.

In February 2019, a German journalist asked him about his position on human rights during the first Arab-European summit, and he answered frankly and emotionally: Our priority is to preserve the country and security, and that the priorities and interests in Egypt are different from those in Europe, and he asked the Europeans not to impose on him the abolition of a penalty Execution, saying: “We have our humanity and our values, and you have your humanity and your morals.” Everyone is free to do so, do not interfere with us nor interfere with you!

Thus, the renewal turns into a platform for legitimizing specific political trends, and it becomes a tool in the hands of the authority to give an intellectual character to issues that are not related to the idea at all, but are also immoral! When the renewal turns into a political agenda, it is reduced to a "religious renewal" without any other required renewal.

The developments of time - according to Al-Sisi, as expressed in his previous meeting with the Europeans - differ according to geography. Egypt is different from Europe, and his condition says: "You have your development and we have our development", and these developments apply only to religion alone without politics, economics, information and others. Rather, they are static developments and a continent controlled by power so that it does not lose its way towards Europe as well, so that the development remains a development of our own as a ruling regime that is not asked about what it does, neither citizens nor Europeans!

Perhaps the Sheikh of Al-Azhar wanted to bridge the gap between him and Sisi by organizing this mixture conference, but Sisi apologized for attending the conference shortly before its convening in a sign of his disillusionment with the required renewal from Al-Azhar. Perhaps the President of Cairo University picked up the message and presented himself again as an alternative in the new Sisi era, but the prospect The outcome of the conference deepened the gap between Sisi and Tayyib, as the star of Tayeb ascended as a protector of religion and heritage.

The idea of ​​renewal and reform began as a rising demand before it came to these vulgar political practices, which is a multi-dimensional idea. In 1930, Rashid Rida spoke about types of renewal, and he mentioned among them: "social, political, civil and religious renewal", and he said: Each of them is a need of human groups according to their instincts and the willingness of their kind, by which they rise in the runways of Al-Omran, and he also spoke about two types: renewal related In public interests, and renewal related to matters of living such as agriculture, industry and trade, and matters of habits that do not spoil.

The renewal associated with public interests includes various things, including: setting the rules for science and useful arts, and establishing schools, shelters and hospitals. According to Raza, it is equal in this renewal to individuals, groups and governments, including what is specific to the government, such as the military interests upon which the protection of the country depends and the preservation of the nation from aggression, including diligence in which there is no definitive text from the Qur’an or Sunnah, but with its known conditions in its place.

Then Reza said: "Ijtihad with the presence of the text is forbidden in Sharia and in all positive laws." As for the renewal of living and industries, the street has entrusted it to people's experiences and their jurisprudence.

The conclusion that Reza ends up saying in the renewal is that “legitimate renewal includes all the nation and state’s cherished sciences, arts and industries, financial, administrative, and military systems, land, sea, and air installations. All of this is considered in Islam as a hypothesis of competencies that the whole nation is leaving behind, And Sharia does not restrict it except by avoiding harm, harm and injustice, with the rules of permitting the necessities of prohibitions and their appreciation of their value, and observance of right and justice. "So where is this renewal from the renewal of Sisi and his companions?