More than 10,000 ultraconservative Muslims have demonstrated in central Cairo to demand that Egypt’s new constitution be based on the rulings of Islamic law, in the latest tussle over the role of religion in the country’s future.

The rally was called for by a number of minority Salafi groups, but neither the Muslim Brotherhood nor the main Salafist Al-Nour party backed the protest.

The writing of the constitution has been fraught with controversy since last year’s political uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak and ushered in the rise of formerly repressed Islamists to power.

But Islamists themselves are not in agreement over the interpretation of Islamic law and its place in the document.

Demonstrators in Tahrir Square demanded on Friday that the panel tasked with writing the constitution override liberal and secular objections and include language that could see religious scholars influencing legislation.   »»» Al Jazeera English

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