USA: County residents with ties to Egypt optimistic about change

"People were worried at the situation there. ... Every Muslim is taking a sigh of relief. ... There was no freedom there for 30 years." [Naseem Mahdi, national vice president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, USA]

Imam Naseem Mahdi speaking to the media. (File Photo)

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: PhillyBurbs | Burlington County Times
By Peg Quann | February 12, 2011

The resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek amid massive demonstrations Friday was greeted with cautious optimism by Burlington County residents with a special interest in Egyptian and Middle Eastern affairs.

The Rev. John Bishara of St. Anthony Coptic Orthodox Church in Medford said that whenever there is unrest, it's a time of concern but that in the long run Egyptians are "going to see positive change."

Bishara was born in Cairo and came to the United States at age 10. He spoke to his relatives in Egypt earlier in the week. They were guarding their homes like most Egyptians, but didn't have specific concerns as a religious minority in a predominately Muslim country.


"I think we will continue to pray, for Egypt and all its people and for whoever will take charge, that God will give them wisdom and guidance. And we pray that things get back to normal soon," Bishara said of the situation in his native land. "We have faith that God is in control."

Bishara said that the Coptic Orthodox faith was established by St. Mark the Evangelist more than 2,000 years ago, and that God has "always taken care of His people."

Shaheen Ayubi of Burlington City, a lecturer in Middle Eastern politics at Rutgers University in Camden, said she is "very optimistic" now that Mubarek has resigned.

With its ancient history and large population of more than 78 million, "Egypt plays a leadership role in the Middle East," Ayubi said.

Egyptians are "politically active, politically astute and very educated," she said.

Ayubi, who is a native of Pakistan, said she interviewed assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt for work on her doctorate.

"If there are free and fair elections, I think it would be good for the country," she said.

She hopes Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, will be involved in the new government and is not as concerned as some Americans that the conservative Muslim Brotherhood will take control.
Advertisement

Ayubi doesn't think it would be a problem for a few members of that organization to be among those in the new government if they "at least acknowledge the existence of Israel" and uphold political treaties.

Naseem Mahdi, national vice president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the United States, called Mubarek's resignation "the end of tyranny."

"People were worried at the situation there. ... Every Muslim is taking a sigh of relief. ... There was no freedom there for 30 years," said Mahdi, who is based in Silver Spring, Md.

But he said the situation still is not stable.

"We are worried - what is next? If they go from one extreme to another, it would be bad. I hope they will have a democracy in the real sense of the word and not a theocracy," he said.

Mahdi, a native of Pakistan, said his denomination of the Muslim faith has "tens of thousands (of followers) in the U.S. and tens of millions in the world." The community has a mosque in Willingboro.

For Jenny Kehl, an associate professor of political science at Rutgers-Camden and an expert on Eastern Africa and the Nile region, what is going on in Egypt is "exciting. ... (Mubarek's) days were numbered. I think it's remarkable how the military has shown restraint in observing the protest."

Kehl said it would be good for Egyptians to have a constitutional congress and competing political parties.

As an interim government takes shape before general elections, the "U.S. and the rest of the world should be involved in building the foundations of democracy."

"That's crucial," she said.

Peg Quann can be reached at 609-871-8057, pquann@phillyBurbs.com or twitter.com/pequann. 


Read original post here: County residents with ties to Egypt optimistic about change