Fatoumata Ahamed, the head of the National Movement’s Women’s Commission, said “in Egypt, the only people we have to fear are criminals.”

Gulf News, a Gulf News Agency, also reported on Friday that the government was trying to “control the minds of young men and women.”

The state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper accused Salafi youth of a series of political, religious and social misdeeds, such as terrorism, the killing and desecration of tombstones and veneration of Sufi shrines, with their actions contributing to escalating insecurity for young Egyptians.

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The views of the author do not necessarily reflect Al-Monitor’s editorial policy.

Salafi youth in Egypt in 2011: “We want the law, not the president”

Ahmed El Maati, Egypt Correspondent for the Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt, wrote on Friday, October 31, that the main reason for the rise of Salafism, especially in Egypt, is the country’s political upheaval.

As Egypt became more polarized in the 1970s and 80s, Salafis in Cairo rose in popularity, Maati told Al-Monitor, and this trend was only accelerated when the Arab uprisings reached their peak between mid-2011 and summer 2012.

The state had no choice but to adopt a more repressive and conservative approach to combating the Salafi movement, Maati said. This approach, while intended to suppress the opposition, has not worked against the trend of Salafism.

While some Salafi groups call for the return of traditional Egyptian religion, others, like the Muslim Brotherhood or Popular Front, argue the country should retain its Sufi heritage and tradition.

The conflict between the Islamist and the constitutionalists

Maati noted that a large percentage of the youth, between 14 and 25 years of age, belonged to the moderate Islam of the Salafi movement.

The government, he said, has failed to provide a coherent and reliable strategy to deal with the Salafis, particularly in Cairo, where a movement has set up shop and is gaining in popularity.

“The new constitution has yet to be prepared, despite being introduced to the public, and it hasn’t been approved by the Salafis for some months,” Maati said.

Egypt’s most notorious