It was announced by Libyan NTC chairman Mustapha Ajbailin in his liberation address on Sunday that Sharia would be Libya’s principal law, and that any law that violates Shariah would be null and void. This means that banks will not be allowed to charge interest, and that the current marriage laws will change, allowing polygamy. This is certainly a concern to Libyan women who make up half of the country’s population. One 40 year old woman stated “It’s shocking and insulting to state, after thousands of Libyans have paid for freedom with their lives, that the priority of the new leadership is to allow men to marry in secret.”
Likewise, Tunisia, who started the Arab Spring movement back in January held its first free election Sunday. With a 90 percent turnout, results project that the Islamic Ennahda Party will have 115 out of 217 seats, and will therefore have the largest influence in writing the new constitution. Ennahda says it wants sharia to be the source of Tunisia’s legislation, but has vowed to reconcile Islamic principles with Western-style democracy. Only time will tell how this will play out. Many Ennahda supporters are themselves divided on how strictly the party should carry out islamic laws.
Egypt’s elections are set to start on November 28 th . There are 47 parties that have merged into four main coalitions. The liberal Egyptian Bloc, the Islamic alliance, led by the Salafist Nour party, the socialist leaning Revolution Continues, and the Muslim Brotherhood-led Democratic Alliance . The Muslim Brotherhood, who supports sharia law, is using the campaign slogan “Islam is the solution” to rally the faithful. Meanwhile, the Salafists intend to use any seats they win in Parliament to push for the implementation of sharia law.
Are all of these events a signal that the Arab Spring that we were so excited about may turn into a more radicalized Middle East? Can Sharia Law co-exist with democracy? We need to keep a watchful eye on these unfolding events. This may not be the warm spring that we envisioned.