I never once imagined that the day would come in Egypt when women would be stopped in the street, chastised and threatened because they are not wearing the veil. It never crossed my mind that the time would come when the lives of Christians would be threatened and the ear of one of them would be cut off because of his faith. It never occurred to me that any Egyptian would dare to destroy the shrines of holy men who blessed millions by calling for righteous conduct.

But this all took place in the past weeks amidst a heated revolution to uproot corruption while a greater vice is occurring on our streets, in our districts, villages, in rural and urban areas. It was not what we imagined at the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood, whether their call for a civic state was genuine or not. Some Islamic groups claimed to have revised their fanatical ideas while they were behind bars. After their release from prison, the leaders of these groups came out as if they had not repented or revised their ideas about killing the president —Sadat —who liberated our land. The arms of the media are wide open to listen to them without questioning their extreme fanaticism and irreverent rage.

As if this wasn’t enough, 3,000 mujahideen dispersed across the world in Chechnya, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq and Iran vowed to return to Egypt. In this manner, the forces of fanaticism have united not to create a democracy or a compassionate society, but to establish in Egypt, and against Egypt, a replica of societies that have suffered the pains of division, fracture and confrontation.

I don’t know if the youth of the revolution are aware of what is taking place or not, or if they may want to stay away from “horrors” that would keep them and their “million man” gatherings from focusing on uprooting the old regime. The real danger now cannot be ignored or disparaged, or put aside on the basis that it will distract from major issues. The terrorising of women and Christians is not a passing statement against moderate Islam. The return of fighters will not be a sojourn of a warrior returning from abroad.

Our country is truly in danger and we may need at least a “million man” gathering to confront it.