Controversy around Tiran and Sanafir has revealed our flaws

Moataz Bellah Abdel-Fattah
5 Min Read
Moataz Bellah Abdel-Fattah

One could index the Facebook reactions surrounding Egypt’s effective sale of Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabi as follows: Islamists are posting videos of Abdel-Nasser, revoutionaries are posting videos of Mubarak, and Sisi supporters are posting videos of El-Baradei, and everybody is cursing everybody else.

This is when you figure out that the revolutionaries have turned against El-Baradei and are describing him using words that would be expected from Sisi’s supporters.

This only means that we are restricted by reactions and personal vendettas from others rather than objective patriotic standards.

When we invoke an accusatory tone and issue a litany of insults, we can clearly see that we deserve to be where we find ourselves now thanks to our corrupt ethics.

Imam Malik said: “If you see a man defending truth by cursing and with anger, know that his intentions are not pure, because the truth does not need anger to be defended.”

I have said before that I’m scared for Egypt under the threat posed by Israel and any other foreign country, I’m scared for Egypt when some Egyptians prioritise people over morals, individuals over groups, and emotions over logic.

I worry about Egypt when Egyptians think “revenge” rather than “justice”, “past” rather than “future”, and “intolerance” rather “tolerance”.

I worry about Egypt due to those with poor knowledge, skills and accuracy, especially individuals in the media who lack the ability and a sincere desire to know the truth and deliver it to the people. They would avoid it even if the truth were dancing before their eyes.

I worry about Egypt as it is some Egyptian’s logic to not say the truth or to do good because they are not sure what benefits would come from that, implying, with this mindset, that doing good for others is not enough of a reason to do good.

I worry about Egypt when some Egyptians group together and become biased, losing the case they are standing for with this attitude.

Do you remember when Egyptians headed to Saad Zaghloul and rejected Adly even though this was against their own political standing? They chanted “Occupation with Saad is better than independence with Adly.”

This is an obnoxious bias that can ruin people’s thinking. It the same bias that made the followers of Musaylimah Al-Kazzab defend him for being member of the Rabeaa clan, and they did not believe in Prophet Muhammad because he belonged to another clan.

I’m scared for Egypt due to the frequent controversies and the love to prove one is right. People think their opinions are their dignity. They believe that a lie they believe in is better than a truth against their beliefs.

I’m scared for Egypt when people rush to prove that others are faithless and immoral only because they disagree with them in terms of religious opinions, accusing them of being without religion. These people think that everything they know and learned about religion is the whole religion.

I’m scared for Egypt due to who put their interests first. Like those who want to celebrate and use loud speakers as if there are no other humans around. Like those who have children without considering that God will ask them about the number of children they had and whether they were able to raise them well. Like those who support a candidate by distorting the image of other candidates, as if winning is the most important thing.

However, at the end of the day, I still believe in sensible people who will not remain silent if they see wrongdoing. I’m certain they will call upon everybody to think logi

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