Mohammed Selim El Awa

Known for his moderate and reformist views on Islam as well as his inspirational writings (which the modern Islamic current find particularly influential), 60-year-old Mohammed Selim El Awa announced his intention to run for presidency in June 2011. The prominent Islamic thinker is also known for his close ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, despite disagreeing with them on different issues and unequivocally refusing their doctrine. Although his father was among the students of Hassan El-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, El Awa has always criticized the culture of blind obedience within the group and followed a more moderate school of thought. That said, El Awa, in his capacity as legal consultant, has often defended Brotherhood members imprisoned by the former regime in courts, citing a firm belief in the freedom of political life. He has authored several books, mostly on Islam’s stance on politics and the definition of an Islamic state, in addition to academic papers and newspaper articles. El Awa is also the former secretary general of the International Union for Muslim Scholars based in London. El Awa married Amani Hassan El-Ashmawy, the daughter of prominent lawyer and member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and together they have eight children. El-Ashmawy had fled the country after the repressive crackdown on Islamists by Gamal Abdel Nasser’s regime in the 1950s. Born in Alexandria, El Awa graduated from Alexandria University with a Bachelor’s degree in law in 1965. That same year, Abdel Nasser clamped down on Islamists, and El Awa was arrested for being a member of a “banned group,” an allegation he strongly denied. However, this wasn’t enough to save his job as Deputy Prosecutor General. The dismissal prompted him to travel to London, where in 1972 he earned his PhD from London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) for his comparative study of systems of punishment in Islamic and English legal systems. El Awa also has diplomas in public and Islamic law. The presidential hopeful has an impressive history in the field of legal consultancy, including his tenure as legal consultant for several Arab governments. Between 1977 and 1980, he was a member of a technical committee reforming Sudanese law in accordance with Islamic Shariah, and from 1979 to 1985 he served as a consultant for Saudi’s education office. He returned to Egypt in 1985 after working for several years in the Gulf and was appointed lecturer at Zagazig University in the Nile Delta. At the same time he became the legal representative of the Wasat Party, a centrist spinoff of the Muslim Brotherhood. El Awa repeatedly tried to register Wasat as an official political party, but the group was denied registration four times during Hosni Mubarak’s reign. During the January 25 Revolution, the Islamic thinker stood by the protesters from the very beginning, and he was often seen in Tahrir Square over the course of the 18-day uprising. After the fall of the former regime, El Awa became a staunch supporter of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), a stance for which he has been harshly criticized by activists. He also condemned the mass protests against SCAF, denouncing them as a hindrance to Egypt’s economy. He was even once kicked out of Tahrir after attempting to convince protesters to end the sit-in that followed clashes between Security Forces and protesters in Mohamed Mahmoud Street in November. When it came to the March 2011 constitutional referendum, he called on citizens to vote in favor of the changes, as did most of the Islamist movements, fearing the creation of a secular Egypt. Around 23% of the voters at the referendum voted against the changes, calling for a change of the constitution. In November, El Awa joined the advisory council formed by SCAF to provide policy suggestions to the military council during the transitional period. This led to speculations that El Awa was vying to be SCAF’s consensus presidential candidate, an allegation that he strongly denies. El Awa believes that the next president’s powers should be limited, even as he works on improving the future of the country. On the other hand, he publicly criticized the Brotherhood’s decision to field a candidate, fearing that it would split votes supporting the Islamist current. His March 30, 2012, campaign tour saw him openly demanding that the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party and the Salafist Nour party allow the constituent assembly (appointed to draft the new constitution) to include members from outside Parliament. He slammed the two parties for dominating the assembly, saying it’s an unfair representation of the people. In 2010, El Awa claimed that the Coptic Church had kidnapped a Coptic woman to stop her from converting to Islam, later alleging that the church smuggled in weapons to use them against Muslims. Not surprisingly, El Awa curries little favor with the Coptic community. But El Awa’s rhetoric about Egypt’s Copts changed after he announced his bid for the presidency, an  about-face that earned him a lot of criticism and cost him supporters. After the January 25 Revolution, he denied that he ever made such controversial comments. During the Maspero clashes, which left 26 protesters, mostly Copts, dead in October 2011, El Awa claimed an unnamed third party existed to instigate conflict between the army and Copts. He firmly stood against the accusations that Copts were armed and initiated attacks on army personnel. It’s important to note that in 1994, El Awa was one of the founders of the Arab Muslim-Christian Dialogue group, of which he continues to be a member. He is a strong advocate of a pluralistic understanding of Islam and the importance of democracy, which has gained quite a following from Islamist youth. He also calls for an independent judiciary system and the fair implementation of law.