Egypt Men of Faith | MadaMasr
▻https://www.madamasr.com/en/2017/09/15/feature/politics/men-of-faith
sur l’Egypte, les Frères musulmans, et les communistes
“Let the angels mark your ballot papers, they said!” Sobhy Saleh shouted to the crowd below him, which was motionless, like leaves before a hurricane. “And the angels did!”
The crowd roared. There were hundreds in the square of the busy Alexandrian neighborhood, most of whom were from low-income areas where faith was as prevalent as high cholesterol. They believed that angels really had cooperated with the Muslim Brotherhood in the winter days of 2011, putting Saleh in the new Parliament. “In the 2005 elections, the policemen laughed saying the Brothers would need divine intervention to win. If only they knew back then what they do today,” said Saleh.
He had been arrested before, but, during the 2011 revolution, he did not bother to pack. He knew it would be different this time. He was released, and former President Hosni Mubarak was sent to jail.
“We told them not to play with fire! He who plays with fire burns! So the earth shattered beneath them and now they are in jail!” Saleh was dauntless on the stage under florescent lights and camera flashes.
Holy wars throughout history were founded on moments like this, and, after 80 years underground, the Brotherhood had won theirs. In the winter of 2011, their Freedom and Justice Party emerged as the most organized grassroots group in the political playground, outside of the formerly ruling National Democratic Party, swiping 42 percent of seats in the lower house of Parliament.