Islamists In Egypt Demonstrate For Stronger Deference To Shari'a In New Constitution

In Egypt today, more than 10,000 conservative Muslims demonstrated in Cairo's Tahrir Square demanding that Egypt's 100-member constitutional assembly which is drafting the county's new constitution include language in the document that gives more weight to Shari'a law.  According to AP, secularists and liberals want the new document to carry over the language from Art. 2 of the present Constitution: "Principles of Islamic law ( Shari’a) are the principal source of legislation." The Islamic demonstrators, on the other hand, want the new section to provide that "the rulings of Shari'a" will be the basis for legislation. This is seen as giving more power to religious scholars to control the content of Egyptian law.