May the 11 February Egyptian Revolution be blessed

It had been clearly visible from the first day that Mubarak could no longer remain in power. Even the US, which had supported him from the beginning, understood within the 2nd or 3rd day, when demonstrators began to fill Tahrir Square, that his dictatorship was no longer sustainable, and by turning the transition process it had recommended in its first statement into "as soon as possible" in its second statement, it declared that the Mubarak era was over for itself.

What the US wanted to do by declaring this meant nothing other than, in more concrete form, a search to keep the Mubarak regime, namely the Camp David order, going. It is not possible to say to what extent it can achieve this from now on, but at least it can be said that it displayed the reflex of minimizing this loss. For that reason, its wanting Mubarak to go did not show from the outset that it stood behind the revolution; on the contrary, it was the result of an intention and a search to come out with less damage from the consequences of a revolution that had become a decree of the Truth.

That Mubarak could understand only at the end of 18 days what everyone, and the US, understood in two days must be attributed to how the lust for power can blind a person. Thirty years of power does not create satiety with power in a dictator; on the contrary, it is far more usual for a person to take himself for a god and lose his mind more with each passing hour. Egypt is a place where its Pharaohs could grow so insolent as to say to their peoples "I am your greatest lord," and where they looked for ways to haunt society not only while alive but even after death with their shadows and monumental tombs.

But Egypt is also a place where it has been seen many times what kind of ignorance all these claims to divinity are the product of, and into what tragicomic situations insolent rulers fall. In each of these examples there are priceless instructive scenes about human nature and the dimensions of the evil humans do to humans. That they managed to rule for decades a wise society thirsting for freedom, being people who could not see beyond the tips of their noses, is truly a lesson for reflection.

In this, of course, there is also an important share of the Hamans and Balaams who cooperated with these dictators and preferred to sell the knowledge and wisdom they possessed for a small price. The Pharaoh is not kept from seeing beyond the tip of his nose merely by his own ignorance; on the tip of his nose, the spectacles placed by both these figures and their external supporters, their Western allies, also block his vision.

Let us underline with emphasis that the concern frequently voiced these days toward Tunisia, Egypt and all the popular movements that may follow, by the Western powers who for years have been grumbling over the heads of Muslims about the failure of democracy to develop in the Islamic world, is the possibility of the Islamists or the Brotherhood coming to power and growing stronger. In fact, the support that has kept these dictatorships standing in the Islamic world for about a century has again come from the Westerners, and the greatest reason for this was the possibility that a democratic process would bring to power Muslims whom they did not want.

For that reason, all discourses that dwell on the opposition between Islam and democracy have had a hypocritical side. Today, particularly in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood have no demand, such as so-called "bringing the Shari'a," beyond what exists. The answer of Brotherhood spokesman Dr. Ashraf Abdel Ghaffar to the question of whether they have religious demands actually gives away the secret. Abdel Ghaffar says: "We will make do with what exists. What is in the old laws is enough for us. Our demands are entirely national. They are national demands; we have no demand related to religion. We want to change the articles that Hosni Mubarak changed recently in order to keep himself in existence. They tamper with this constitution for what they want to do. We do not want to change the constitution entirely; we want its basic articles to remain the same."

Thus, I hope it will be appraised in a sufficiently fitting way that from Tunisia to Egypt, from Algeria to Yemen, the demand of Islamist politics rests on discourses such as not more religion but more democracy, human rights, the rule of law, a just distribution of resources and transparency of government. Against the media or academic perceptions that condemn Islamist politics to clichés such as "cutting off hands" or "the humiliation of women," this aspect of Islamist politics will come much more to the fore.

The revolution in Egypt has taken place.

The people have overthrown the regime that was imposed on them for years, and imposed through a thousand and one kinds of pressure, bribery and fraud. With the perseverance and insistence they displayed during 18 days that lasted as long as 18 years, the people have now become the will that founds the state, and from now on no power will be able to keep them out of the equation of the order to be formed.

The revolution has, above all, been lived in the hearts of the people, equipped with a strong belief that they can change their own destiny. The rest is left to changing the world, which from now on is the easiest job in the world...