Presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei on Monday reminded Egyptians to pray not only for themselves but also for unity of the Egyptian people, as was the case during the early days of the revolution. ElBaradei’s words came as part of a message to the Egyptian people at the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month.
In a videotaped message, which was broadcast on his YouTube page, ElBaradei said that Egypt still had a “long way” to go, but that the Egyptian people were capable of continuing their struggle for development and progress.
“Ramadan is not for eating a lot, but for worship and asking God for forgiveness. We must remember God at Iftar [breakfast] time, ask him to unify the Egyptians and bestow determination and faith on them,” he said.
He went on to say that the face of Egypt will change next year, as he has confidence in the values and ethics of the Egyptian people.
“The values we saw during the first 18 days of the revolution will remain with us and will push us forward,” he said.
“I have no doubt that we’ll move forward and that Egypt will achieve its goal,” said ElBaradei. “However, this progress will only be achieved through the unification of Egyptians and not through division.”
“We must return to the 18 days of the revolution to become inspired by the spirit and values [that were present], to light our way to the future,” he added.
“Egyptians have a million reasons to unite and no reasons to become divided. All of us, Muslims and Christians, want to be free and wish for there not to be any poor or illiterate people.”
ElBaradei said that Egyptian Christians treat Ramadan with respect and appreciation, and called on Muslims to do the same during Christian holidays.
“We all worship God… We worship him in different ways, but we worship him… I am a Muslim, he is a Christian, but in the end we are Egyptians who worship God,” he said.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
