Veiling Infitah with Muslim Ethic: Egypt's Contemporary Islamic Movement

An examination of the contemporary Islamic Movement in Egypt shows it to represent a creative alternative to institutional Islam. Alternative Islam serves to bind Egyptian youth on university campuses as Muslim brothers and sisters in one community. Its two fundamental features—egalitarianism and sexual segregation—are analyzed in the context of the cultural correlates of Infitah and the social correlates of development. Within this community a new Egyptian woman is emerging—educated, professional, nonelitist, and veiled. The veil is part of an assertive movement with a powerful message symbolizing the beginning of a synthesis between modernity and authenticity.