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As thousands of Egyptians are preparing for a mass rally on Friday, July 29, to promote national unity, prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi has called on Egyptians to close ranks and avoid rift. \u201cI call on all forces of the revolution to join hands and close ranks\u2026and not to heed rumors that aim to divide them,\u201d Qaradawi, an Egyptian himself, said in a statement obtained by OnIslam.net.
\u201cI urge all political powers to put the national interest first, above any individual, partisan, or factional interests.\u201d
Qaradawi\u2019s call comes as a rift between Egypt\u2019s liberal and Islamic groups is deepening over the mechanism to manage the transitional period.
The new constitution was the earliest bone of contention between the two groups, which were once united against the despotic regime of president Hosni Mubarak.
Under the roadmap set by the ruling military council, which took over from Mubarak in February, and endorsed by more than 77% of voters in a March referendum, parliamentary elections will be held, and then 100 MPs would be elected to form a constitutional assembly.
The assembly will write Egypt’s new constitution within six months. Another referendum will be then held to approve or reject the document.
However, liberal groups have campaigned for drafting supra-constitutional principles to govern the work of the constitutional assembly in order to limit the potential impacts of an electoral victory by Islamic groups.
The military council has said it would adopt a \u201cdeclaration of basic principles\u201d to govern the drafting of the new constitution, sparking outcry from Islamic groups.
Wanting to make their voices heard, the Islamic groups have issued a joint call to their followers to descend on Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday to express rejection of the supra-constitutional principles.
Fearing a violent stand-off in the iconic square, which was the epicenter of the Egyptian revolution, several political powers scrambled to reach a common ground before the Friday protest.
\u201cI call on the revolution\u2019s youths to keep the Tahrir Square\u2019s spirit and ethics, which had astonished the whole world\u2026and not to allow any attempts to tarnish its image,\u201d Qaradawi said.
The prominent scholar also called on the Egyptians to \u201crefrain from accusations of betrayal or exclusion of any national faction.\u201d<\/p>\n