Islamic scholar: Egypt shouldn’t display mummies because they’re ‘infidels,’ one mummy of a woman had hair showing

In Islamic law, women are to cover their hair so as to remove the occasion of temptation from men. So Wagdi Ghoneim is suggesting that the mummified corpse of a woman can be an object of sexual desire. Aside from that, note his contempt for Egypt’s pre-Islamic civilization. Islamic jihadists want to destroy the artifacts of non-Muslim civilizations because doing so testifies to the truth of Islam, as the Qur’an suggests that the destroyed remnants of ancient non-Muslim civilizations are a sign of Allah’s punishment of those who rejected his truth: “Many were the ways of life that have passed away before you: travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who rejected truth.” (Qur’an 3:137)

This is one of the foundations of the Islamic idea that pre-Islamic civilizations, and non-Islamic civilizations, are all jahiliyya — the society of unbelievers, which is worthless. That includes the Egyptian mummies.

“Turkey-Based Egyptian Islamic Scholar Wagdi Ghoneim Criticizes Cairo’s ‘Golden Parade’ Of Mummified Pharaohs: The Hair Of One Female Mummy Was Showing; Al-Sisi Displays Corpses Of Infidels For Money,” MEMRI, April 5, 2021:

Turkey-based Egyptian Islamic scholar Wagdi Ghoneim criticized the “Golden Parade” of mummified Pharaohs in Cairo. In a video posted on his official YouTube account on April 5, 2021, he said that Allah had intended human bodies to be buried, so that the decaying bodies would be hidden. Ghoneim said that this parade was depraved, so much so that “they transported a mummy of a woman and her hair was showing.” He also said that Egyptian President Al-Sisi is so greedy that he has put “corpses of dead infidels” on display for pay, adding: “To hell with you, Al-Sisi. May Allah destroy your home!” Ghoneim continued to say that Al-Sisi is “of Jewish origin” and he wants to destroy Egypt and impoverish its people. For more about Wagdi Ghoneim, see MEMRI TV clips Nos. 8378 7127, 5983, 5362, 5186, 5024.

Wagdi Ghoneim: “Is it permitted to honor the corpses of infidels after their death? In the past few days, we have seen an unparalleled stupidity in Egypt. They decided to move the corpses and the mummies of the Pharaohs, from the museum in Tahrir Square to another museum. Why? What is this? Is it permitted [by the shari’a]? Allah intended the grave to be a place of grace for human beings – it hides our corpses, our smell, and the worms that eat us.

[…]

“These people are dead and buried. What else do you want from them? In addition to all of that, those buried people were infidels. They renounced Allah, and Allah called them infidels for that. Do you consider this accursed Pharaoh to be an infidel or a Muslim? He is an infidel, of course. Our Lord is the one that declared him an infidel.

[…]

“Just see how depraved they are – they transported the mummy of a woman and her hair was showing. How are you doing this? There is no power but from Allah. The strange thing is that they are saying that they are moving [the mummies] in order to put them in another place where people could come see them and pay admission. Is it permitted to put corpses on display and charge money for that? To hell with you, Al-Sisi. May Allah destroy your home! You are so greedy that you even display corpses of dead infidels for money?

[…]

“[Al-Sisi] is of Jewish origin. He wants to destroy Egypt and impoverish its people.”