Critics of Egyptian charter warn of rift Supporters and opponents of Egypt's Islamist government made a final frantic push on Friday to rally public opinion as people prepared to vote in a referendum on their first post-revolution constitution. At least a dozen people were injured in Alexandria when clashes erupted after an imam called during Friday prayers for a vote backing the constitution being pushed by the Muslim Brotherhood group of President Mohamed Morsi. Mr Morsi's secular and liberal critics charge that the document pushed by Mr Morsi's Brotherhood and its conservative Islamist allies gives religion too big a role in politics and that it fails to safeguard human rights. "We trust in the ability of the Egyptian people to bring this constitution down," said Hamdeen Sabahi, a leader of the National Salvation Front, the main opposition alliance. If it is approved, it will deepen the splits in the country and [aggravate] its political divisions. Brotherhood officials have been careful to say they are not using religion to promote the charter and that a Yes vote is not "a route to heaven" but one towards stability and democratic institutions. They point out that until a basic law has been adopted the country could not elect a parliament holding up important legislation to rebuild the economy. Nevertheless, on the eve of the referendum many supporters saw it as a plebiscite on Islam to which they had to say Yes, while opponents viewed it as a vote on Brotherhood control of politics which had to be rejected. A council of influential ultraconservative Salafi clerics endorsed the draft constitution, suggesting that while it fell short of their requirements for a truly Islamic document it was a step on the way. They called for a Yes vote and said Mr Morsi was a "Muslim ruler who had the right to be obeyed." Programmes on religious television channels reinforced the message. Outside the Raba al-Adawiya mosque in northeastern Cairo, a few thousand Islamists gathered under grey skies to rally in favour of the constitution. One woman held a sign saying: "I am with Mohamed Morsi. Yes to Islamic law. The crowd periodically broke into chants of "with our blood, with our soul, we will sacrifice for you, Islam." Mamdouh Ismail, an activist affiliated with the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, said the constitution represents Egypt and its values, as opposed to opposition leaders Hamdeen Sabahi, Amr Moussa and Mohamed ElBaradei. "They are criminals," he said. Especially ElBaradei; he's an American agent. But in Tahrir Square where opponents of the charter gathered, the main tenor of the complaints was that the Brotherhood had "hijacked" the nation. "The biggest problem for me is that this constitution was made to serve the purposes of the Brotherhood," said Mostafa Abdel Kerim, a bank employee. For instance it prescribes the particular electoral system which works best for them. Mohamed Gouda, a retired soldier, said he rejected arguments that the constitution furthered the cause of Islam. "Islam does not just belong to the Brotherhood," he said. Has Egypt been without Islamic law all along and now we have to say yes to introduce it? Islam has been here for more than 1,400 years. Rattled by an advertising campaign launched by the opposition, members of the constituent assembly that drafted the constitution took to the airwaves on Friday to make an 11th-hour defence of it, insisting that it was being misrepresented. "There are rumours going around of articles that are not true, so we are asking everyone not to pay attention to the media and read the constitution themselves," Abu Elela Madi, one of those members, told a live TV audience. This is the best constitution in Egyptian history. He and other members took to the podium one after the other, denying allegations that the draft charter curtailed the rights of women, permitted children to be exploited and would freeze the poor out of healthcare until they could prove their income level. The polarisation in Egyptian politics started after last year's revolution but it has been exacerbated in recent weeks by the president's assumption of extraordinary powers - now relinquished - which enabled him to ensure the courts could not disband the panel which drafted the constitution. Mr Morsi's move angered the judiciary and prompted many judges to opt out of presiding over polling stations as required by law. This had forced a decision to hold the ballot over two consecutive Saturdays to ensure there were enough judges to supervise the vote everywhere in the country.