 |
 Islamists gained increasing influence in part because the government was
unable to keep its economic promises. In the late 1970s, Muslim activists
engaged in isolated and relatively small-scale assertions of their will:
harassing women whom they felt were inappropriately dressed, smashing
establishments that served alcohol, and evicting official imams from their
mosques. The Islamists escalated their actions in 1982, when they called for the
abrogation of the National Charter and the formation of an Islamic government.
Amidst an increasing number of violent incidents on campuses, Islamists killed
one student. After police arrested 400 Islamists, about 100,000 demonstrators
thronged to Friday prayers at the university mosque. The arrests of hundreds
more activists, including prominent leaders of the movement, Shaykh Abdelatif
Sultani and Shaykh Ahmed Sahnoun, resulted in a lessening of Islamist actions
for several years. Nonetheless, in light of the massive support the Islamists
could muster, the authorities henceforth viewed them as a potentially grave
threat to the state and alternately treated them with harshness and respect.
|
