CHAPTER EIGHT The Rise of Revolutionary Salafism in Post-Mubarak Egypt S t é phane L acroix and A hmed Z aghloul S halata In Egypt, like in the other countries affected by the Arab Spring, Islamists were not in the vanguard of the revolution. It took the Muslim Brotherhood and its disciples only a few days to join the movement, whereas it took considerably longer for most Salafis to throw their sup- port behind the protests. It was only on February 8, 2011 that the Salafi Call in Alexandria ( al-da‘wa al-salafiyya), the largest “mass” Salafi orga- nization, officially authorized members to join the events in Tahrir Square. Once Mubarak was overthrown, on February 11, the Islamists again left the square. Beginning in April 2011, when the demonstra- tions resumed with some strength, the leftist young people and those with no particular ideological affiliation were again at the forefront, this time targeting the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF). As a result, it came as a bit of a surprise when Islamists were increas- ingly seen at anti-SCAF rallies beginning in the latter half of 2011. This was particularly true since they did not belong to either of the major organizations of the Islamist nebula, the Muslim Brotherhood or the Salafi Call, both of which chose to cooperate as compliantly as possible with the transition under military supervision. Although the newly emerging movement was not yet formally organized, its mem- bers already revealed a number of common traits. They openly claimed to be revolutionary and contended that the revolution could not accept