f constitutional writing. The generals are expected to try to sway the selection of the constituent assembly, the procedures the assembly will apply, and the final draft of the constitution to maintain their institutional power. The issue of civil -military relations is not settled. The levels of influence the generals envisage for themselves, however, seem to be larger than what most Egyptians are willing to accept. Arguably, nevertheless, complete civilian control over the armed forces similar to consolidated democracies will have to wait. What is likely to emerge is a constitution that enshrines a high degree of institutional autonomy for the armed forces but maintain some control mainly through the presidency.
Religion and the State
The Egyptian society is a very homogeneous society. Roughly 99.6% belong to the same ethnicity (Arab) and about 90% subscribe to the same religion (Islam). Coptic Christians comprise 9% of the population and other Christians make up the last 1%. Muslims and Christians coexisted peacefully for most of Egypt's history. Religious tensions started to surface in the late 1970s. While national unity proved exemplary during the long struggle against Mubarak with Christians protecting Muslims during Friday prayers and Muslims shielding Christians during mass, many unfortunate instances of religious strife erupted since the fall of Mubarak. These religious tensions highlighted the role religion plays in the society and brought religion to the locus of the debate about citizens' rights and liberties in the new constitution.
Egyptian constitutions prior to 1971 rarely devoted much attention to the role religion plays in the state. The first constitution of Egypt in 1882 was silent about religion altogether. Article 149 of the 1923 Constitution maintained that "Islam is the religion of the state, the Arabic language is its official language." Surprisingly, this principle came under Part 6: General Rules, and seems to be an afterthought rather than an integral component of the constitution. The same was for the ill-fated 1930 constitution where the stipulation about Islam came in Article 138.
The July 1952 Revolution had even less emphasis on religion. The February 1953 Constitutional Proclamation omitted any reference to the religion of the state. The provision was restored in the 1956 Constitution. Article 3 stated: "Islam is the religion of the state, the Arabic language is its official language." However, this mention was omitted in the 1958 Constitution, following unity with Syria, to be restored word for word in the 1964 Constitution. During Nasser's era, Arab nationalism rather than religion ruled the street and captured the imagination of the masses. This changed after the Six Day War dealt a major blow to Nasser's Nationalism and religion came to forefront.
The 1971 Constitution more emphasis on Islam as part Sadat's legitimation strategy.8 Artide 2 stated, "Islam is the religion of the state, the Arabic language is its official language, and the principles of Islamic Sharia are a main source of legislation." This article was amended on May 22, 1980, which reads: "Islam is the religion of the state, the Arabic language is its official language, and the principles of Islamic Sharia are the main source of legislation. " Now the principles of Islamic law became the main source of law, instead of one among a number of other main sources. The March 2011 Constitutional Proclamation copied this proviso verbatim.
The role of Islam in the polity, however, has been subject to intense debate in the past few months. At one end of the spectrum, the minority Christians and secular Egyptians want a religion-neutral constitution that omits any reference to Islam. At the other end are the conservative Muslims who want Sharia to take center-stage in the polity and society. Many Egyptians, however, are somewhere in-between these two positions. They want Sharia to be part of the constitution but not overshadow it. Most likely, Article 2, in its current format or something very similar, will likely remain in Egyp