Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa has said that the secularism of the West is not suitable for Egypt and thus should not be mentioned in the new constitution.
At a meeting with a high-level delegation of the Italian Parliament on Thursday, Gomaa also said that the term “religious state” does not exist in Islamic literature, and that the Islamic Sharia stipulates that any rule should be based on consultation and respect for freedoms.
“The ideal state in the eyes of Islam is a modern one that is governed by the Sharia,” he said, explaining that such a state should have a constitution, institutions, laws, a parliament, a judiciary and an administration, and should allow participation, accountability and the transition of power.
Since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt has been witnessing a debate between secular forces demanding a civil state that separates religion from politics, and Islamic forces that call for the implementation of the Islamic Sharia.
The Islamists control the majority of the seats in the first Parliament elected since the revolution, and the country is forming a constituent assembly to write a new constitution.
