Religion cannot be restricted.

Events in Egypt have reached a very interesting phase. The Muslim Brotherhood was not part of the initial uprising against Mubarak but joined it when they found that there was a chance of victory. They promised not to contest all the seats in parliament but went ahead anyway. They even put up candidates as independents for seats that were not for parties. The Supreme Court cancelled the election of these candidates thereby annulling the parliament. So they accuse judges of bias because they had been appointed by the old regime. They promised not to contest the presidential election but did and Mohamed Morsi became president. An assembly was constituted to write a new constitution for Egypt but this was packed with Muslim Brotherhood representatives and the hardline Salafists and so was boycotted by people opposed to the Brotherhood and by people of other religions. Last month fighting broke out between Israel and Hamas because of incessant firing of rockets into northern Israel from Gaza. Morsi acted to bring about a ceasefire earning a great deal of praise from other countries. He quickly utilised his new found popularity to announce that he was going to rule by decree, that the courts could not interfere with his decrees and that the assembly drafting the constitution could not be annulled by the judges. There was an immediate and enormous backlash by people enraged by the Brotherhood hijacking the revolution. Thousands of protesters gathered in Tahrir Square and many thousands marched on the presidential palace. Morsi was forced to flee by the backdoor but returned after one day. He has now ordered the army to protect the palace with concrete blocks and barbed wire and given the army powers to arrest protesters. A constitution was hurriedly agreed by the assembly within days. This gave rise to fears that the constitution is based on Sharia enraging opponents even more. They are now demanding the withdrawal of the draft document and greater consultation before a referendum but Morsi is determined to go ahead with a referendum on 15 December. To show that he is reasonable he has withdrawn his decrees and says that he wants to further democracy. His argument is that remnants of the old regime are trying to hold up the transition to democracy so he is enhancing the process by getting a constitution is place so that a parliament with real powers can be elected. The Brotherhood will win the referendum and the constitution will be adopted and a new parliament loaded with Islamists will be elected. That is when the trouble will start. Hardliners will demand more powers, restriction on other religions and restriction on women. They will demand cancellation of plays and music, which are extremely popular in the Arab world, because women work freely. It is easy to use religion to gain power but impossible to restrict it. Ask Pakistan.