) , foundation = , newspaper = The New Light , headquarters = 601 Horrya Way, Zezenia,

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, ideology =

Salafism The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a Islah, reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three g ...

Islamism Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is ...

Wahhabism Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, an ...

Madkhalism Madkhalism is a strain of Islamist thought within the larger Salafist movement based on the writings of Sheikh Rabee al-Madkhali.ICG Middle East Report N°31Saudi Arabia Backgrounder: Who Are the Islamists?Amman/Riyadh/Brussels: International Cri ...

, position =

Far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

, colours =

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, seats1_title =

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, seats1 = , colorcode = , website = , country = Egypt The al‑Nour Party( ar-at, حزب النور, Ḥizb an-Nūr), or "Party of The Light", is one of the

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

created in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

after the

2011 Egyptian Revolution The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...

. It has an ultra-conservative Islamist ideology, which believes in implementing strict

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

law. It has been described as the political arm of the Salafi Call Society, and "by far the most prominent" of the several new

Salafi The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...

parties in Egypt, which it has surpassed by virtue of its "long organizational and administrative experience" and "charismatic leaders". Its political aim is to establish a

theocratic Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs. Etymology The word theocracy originates fro ...

state on the lines of

like in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. Saudi Arabia was found to be the main financer of the party according to the public German television news service

ARD (broadcaster) ARD is a joint organisation of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters. It was founded in 1950 in West Germany to represent the common interests of the new, decentralised, post-war broadcasting services – in particular the introduction ...

. In the 2011–12 Egypt parliamentary elections, the

Islamist Bloc The Islamist Bloc ( ar, الكتلة الإسلامية), formally the ''Alliance for Egypt'' was an electoral alliance of Egyptian political parties, formed for the 2011–12 Egyptian parliamentary election. It consisted of two Salafist parties, ...

led by al‑Nour party received 7,534,266 votes out of a total 27,065,135 correct votes (27.8%). The

, of which al-Nour was a member, gained 127 of the 498 parliamentary seats contested, second-place after the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party. Al‑Nour Party itself won 111 of the 127 seats. From January 2013 the party gradually distanced itself from President

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012July 2013 coup which overthrew Morsi. A lawsuit against the party was dismissed on 22 September 2014 because the court indicated it had no jurisdiction. A case on the dissolution of the party was adjourned until 17 January 2015 and further postponed until 21 February 2015. Another court case that was brought forth to dissolve the party was dismissed after the Alexandria Urgent Matters Court ruled on 26 November 2014 that it lacked jurisdiction. A lawsuit was rejected by the Parties Court and referred back to a lower court because the only entity qualified to argue for the dissolution of a party is the leader of the political parties commission.

History

Al‑Nour was set up after the

2011 Egyptian revolution The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...

, when the interim military government allowed the formation of new parties, and legally recognized on 13 June. It was established by one of the largest Salafist groups in Egypt, the Salafist Call (''Al-Da'wa Al-Salafiyya''), also known as the Al-Dawaa movement. (The Salafi philosophical movement has been associated with literalist, strict and puritanical approaches to Islam.) The Salafi Call group started began the 1970s and was firmly established in the 1980s in

Alexandria University Alexandria University ( ar, جامعة الإسكندرية) is a public university in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1938 as a satellite of Fouad University (the name of which was later changed to Cairo University), becoming an indepen ...

after students refused to join the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...

, leading to clashes that impelled the Salafis to institutionalize their activities within the city.Al-Nour Party
Jadaliyya. Retrieved 19 December 2013. The Salafis in the past had refused to take part in politics because they believed that the democratic system that existed at the time was un-Islamic, though they were concerned with politics from an Islamic point of view relating to daily Egyptian life. During the revolution, they did not support the uprising because "the Americans would have ordered

Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in t ...

to massacre them all", according to a party spokesman. After the revolution, the Salafis decided to take part in politics in order to protect the Islamic identity of Egypt, based on the fundamentals of Islam, the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

and

Sunnah In Islam, , also spelled ( ar, سنة), are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed ...

. Leading Salafi preacher Yasser Borhamy switched to the political participation side after Mubarak's ouster, saying "Islam must become involved of all aspects of life, even the political, and the Islamic movement must unite". Al‑Nour was recognised as an official party after it had obtained its license in June 2011, led by

Emad Abdel Ghaffour Emad Eddine Abdel-Ghaffour (Arabic: عماد الدين عبد الغفور) is a founder of the newly formed Salafist Islamist Homeland Party in Egypt, the former leader of the Al Nour Party and a surgeon. He was released from detention 2 wee ...

. However, in September 2012, Ghaffour was suspended from the party, and elections for a new party leader were expected soon after. He was reinstated as the head of the party following a 10-hour meeting by the party in early October 2012. Ghaffour resigned as party chairman on 29 December 2012 and in January 2013 formed the rival

Watan Party Watan (Arabic: وطن) or Al-Watan with the definite article al- (Arabic: الوطن), meaning homeland, heimat, country, or nation, may refer to: Politics Al-Watan means 'national' in Arabic and in Persian (وطن), the articles titles on Wikipe ...

Political orientation

Al‑Nour Party is an ultra-conservative Islamist party maintaining a strict version of Islam, known as the

methodology. Salafis believe in practising Islam as it was practiced by

Prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

, his companions, and the later generations. Their main source of governance is strictly based on the Quran and the Sunnah.

Religion

The religious foundation and structure of al-Nour party is based almost entirely on the

interpretation of Islam. Al-Nour believes the principles of Islamic Sharia should be the main source of legislation. However, the party promises that it will allow Christians to have their own separate laws for their internal matters.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

The party has stated it is committed to the 1979

Egypt–Israel peace treaty The Egypt–Israel peace treaty ( ar, معاهدة السلام المصرية الإسرائيلية, Mu`āhadat as-Salām al-Misrīyah al-'Isrā'īlīyah; he, הסכם השלום בין ישראל למצרים, ''Heskem HaShalom Bein Yisrael ...

as a binding international agreement and would be willing to hold negotiations with

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. At the same time, al‑Nour said it seeks amendments to the agreement and opposes normalization with Israel. Specifically, an al‑Nour spokesman stated, "We call for full

Sinai Sinai commonly refers to: * Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God Sinai may also refer to: * Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...

rights for Egypt and for our brothers in Palestine and occupied lands, and we see this as directly related to the agreement." Regarding normalization, an al‑Nour statement read, "The party strongly objects normalization and dialogue attempts and establishing relations with an entity sraelwhich wants to wipe off our identity, occupies our lands, imposes a siege on our brothers and strongly supports our hangers."

Perspective on loans

Al‑Nour Party had stated in September 2012 that it would not oppose a loan from the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

to the Egyptian government, although Islamic law bans the paying of interest. The party argued that the loan is vital to Egypt's economy in the current period and that there is no other alternative, citing the Islamic saying "Necessities permit what is banned". However, the party had changed opinion in February 2013, saying the IMF loan agreement requires an approval from a body of senior scholars at

Al-Azhar University , image = جامعة_الأزهر_بالقاهرة.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Al-Azhar University portal , motto = , established = *970/972 first foundat ...

. The party's members suggested other alternatives to foreign borrowing such as reforming subsidy system, dispensing with highly paid advisers and offering

Sukuk Sukuk ( ar, صكوك, ṣukūk; plural of ar, صك, ṣakk, legal instrument, deed, cheque, links=no) is the Arabic name for financial certificates, also commonly referred to as "sharia compliant" bonds. Sukuk are defined by the AAOIFI ( Acco ...

(financial certificates) that Islamic financing experts claim will attract billions of pounds to the country.

Civil unrest

There was violence that killed 10 people in late November 2012; Yousry Hammad, the official spokesman of the party, said he thinks that the violence could affect election plans.

Election results

The Salafi Al‑Nour reportedly did well in the election in part because of loyalty it won from voters with the many Salafi-sponsored charitable activities: help for the sick and the poor; financial assistance to widows, divorcées, and young women in need of marriage trousseaus; and abundant religious instruction.

2012 presidential election

Hazem Salah Abu Ismail Hazem Salah Abu Ismail ( ar, حازم صلاح أبو إسماعيل; ) is an Egyptian lawyer, television preacher, and former presidential candidate. He was a host on ''The Fadfada Show'' which aired on Al-Nas Channel and is the founder of the ...

, who while not officially affiliated with the party was considered to be the candidate of the Salafi movement, was disqualified to run in the 2012 presidential election. Without any clear Salafi candidate, the al-Nour Party settled on moderate Islamist

Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh Dr. Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh Abdel Hady ( ar, عبد المنعم أبو الفتوح عبد الهادي, or ) (born 15 October 1951) is an Egyptian physician, former student activist and a politician. In 2011–2012, he ran for President of E ...

on 28 April 2012. However, the party declared its support for Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mohamed Morsi in the second and final election round between Morsi and Ahmed Shafeek, the last prime minister appointed by Mubarak.

2012–2013 Egyptian protests

Although initially a political ally of the MB's Freedom and Justice Party, the al-Nour Party soon came to join the mainly secular opposition, and were an active force in the 2012–13 Egyptian protests that resulted in the

2013 Egyptian coup d'état The 2013 Egyptian coup d'etat took place on 3 July 2013. Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led a coalition to remove the democratically elected President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, from power and suspended the Egyptian constitut ...

and consequent ouster of President Morsi. Following what al-Nour described as a "massacre" on the dawn of 8 July, when pro-Morsi demonstrators were attacked and at least 54 were left dead, al-Nour in protest withdrew from talks to choose an interim prime minister. Nevertheless, al-Nour has not expressed support for the return of Mohamed Morsi to power. The party has advised the interim government on ministerial candidates. The al-Nour Party has supported the draft constitution that will be voted on in the 2014 constitutional referendum.

Lawsuit against Islamic parties

The al-Nour Party is one of the eleven

Islamic parties Below are lists of political parties espousing Islamic identity or political Islam in various approaches under the system of Islamic democracy. Islamic democracy refers to a political ideology that seeks to apply Islamic principles to public po ...

targeted by a lawsuit in November 2014, when an organization named ''Popular Front for opposing the Brotherhoodization of Egypt'' sought to dissolve all political parties established "on a religious basis." The Alexandria Urgent Matters Court however ruled on 26 November 2014 that it lacked jurisdiction.

References

External links

''BBC'' profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nour Party 2011 establishments in Egypt Conservative parties in Egypt Far-right political parties Islamic political parties in Egypt Organisations of the Egyptian Crisis (2011–2014) Political parties established in 2011 Political parties in Egypt Salafi Islamist groups Social conservative parties Sunni Islamic political parties