Egypt's Identity Crisis

From Raymond Ibrahim's site:

.... The revolution significantly Arabized Egypt. That Egypt's official name became the Arab Republic of Egypt—as opposed to simply the Republic of Egypt—speaks for itself. Whereas before 1952, one could have spoken of a distinctly "Egyptian" character and identity, after it, this identity gave way to an Arab identity. From there, it was a short push to an Islamic identity. Or, as Egyptologist Wassim al-Sissy recently put it, the revolution "erased the Egyptian character, which had been known for its tolerance, love, freedom, and so on. The revolution created a nation of slaves."

My Egyptian-born parents, who personally lived through the 1952 revolution before immigrating to America, often reminisced on this change. Growing up I used to hear how pre-revolution Egypt was absolutely nothing like it is now. According to them, because it was under British rule, it was freer and more secular; hardly any women wore the hijab; Alexandria was something of a "mini-Europe." Indeed, if you look at pictures taken in 1940s Egypt and compare them to pictures from today, you might think the former were taken in Europe, the latter in Arabia.

In short, Egyptians saw themselves first and foremost as Egyptians. Certainly no Egyptians would have referred to themselves as "Arabs"—a word back then that connoted "lowly bedouins" to Egyptian ears. (After all, for Egyptians to think of themselves as "Arabs," because their first language is Arabic, is as logical as American blacks thinking of themselves as "English," because their first language in English.) In the decades preceding the revolution, there was even a strong Pharaonist Movement, led by influential thinkers like Taha Hussein, which sought to define and promote a distinctly Egyptian character.

Today, as Egypt rocks with revolution, it is poised to assume an even more alien identity. Enter the Muslim Brotherhood: if the 1952 revolution Arabized Egypt, a Brotherhood takeover will thoroughly Islamicize it, thereby taking it even further away from its roots. Whereas the Arab nationalists of Egypt maintained remnants of the Egyptian character—their Islam was notoriously lax—the salafist brand of Islam promoted by Egypt's Brotherhood since its founding in 1928 is thoroughly alien to Egypt....

Read it all here.