In yet another move to consolidate his grip on power, the tyrant Hosni Mubarak has introduced a range of constitutional amendments which aim to stifle opposition and suppress the resurgence of Islam. In the latest assault on the rights of the people of Egypt, Mubarak is attempting to set the stage for his son Gamal to succeed him. Under the guise of political reform, the new powers will allow Mubarak and his cronies to imprison anyone he deems a ‘terrorist’, permit the ban of any political parties based on religion, grant power to the President to unilaterally dissolve parliament and limit the role of judges in monitoring elections, which are often mired in accusations of fraud.

This move is occurring at a time when the governments from across the Muslim world are facing increasing criticism from the Muslim Ummah for their slavish support of America and the backdrop of a growing tide for the return of Islamic governance-the Khilafah. The regimes are now responding by showing less tolerance for criticism and political opposition.
Within Egypt the regime has recently jailed opposition critics, including a Member of Parliament and a former presidential candidate; it delayed local council elections by two years; it sentenced a blogger who had criticized the President to four years in prison and it has had troops fire on would-be voters to keep them away from the polls. America, which provides Egypt with about $1.7 billion a year in aid, has been muted in response to these changes.  The American State Department has given tacit approval to these dictatorial actions labelling them as “an internal matter”.

The hatred of the Egyptian regime for Islam is well known and well documented through decades of imprisoning and torturing men and women whose only crime is simply to call for the return of Allah (swt) laws. Egypt continues to oppress any Islamic political activity, and its rulers will not be happy until every last drop of adherence to Islam is removed.  In November 2006, the Culture Minister Farouk Hosni attacked the honour of Muslim women by saying that, “Our mothers … used to go to universities and work without wearing a headscarf, so why are we going backwards now?” Perhaps Farouk Hosni has spent too much time dancing with Mubarak in front of the Americans to realise that one Muslim woman of Egypt values her honour more than him and the entire regime that he is a part of.

The ease by which these rulers are able to change and manipulate the constitutions of the country-which themselves are vestiges of the colonial era- indicate their worthlessness. They can be easily changed in accordance to the whims and desires of the tyrants that govern the Ummah and their foreign masters. What these new measures in Egypt show is that the Mubarak regime is getting so desperate to stop the re-emergence of Islam that even symbolic signs of tolerance can no longer be allowed to exist.
By attempting to bully and oppress the people physically these rulers continue to distance themselves further than ever away from the people and widen the gulf that exists between the rulers and the ruled. No amount of constitutional amendments, political reform, martial law or military occupation can remove Islam from the hearts of Muslims and their desire for radical and comprehensive political change. Moreover, the increasing signs of oppression and torture by these regimes is not a sign of their strength but rather of their weakness in preventing the inevitable return of the Khilafah to life and society. The day is nearing when the promise of Allah (swt) will be fulfilled Inshallah, and the Khilafah on the method of the Prophethood shall once again be the shield of the Ummah.