While Athenian democracy glorified by the West was in reality the voice of the elite, Egyptian democracy proved to be the real voice of the people.

Vox populi is a Latin phrase that literally means “voice of the people,” generally used by political scientists to define the democratic system. So, if democracy is “the voice of the people,” then, Egypt is the only democracy on earth.

While Athenian democracy glorified by the West was in reality the voice of the elite, Egyptian democracy proved to be the real voice of the people in which the people denied their rights and freedoms made their voice heard without shooting one bullet and without having to elect phony representatives. We are witnessing today the historic birth of an original new democratic model.

The Egyptian army – rather than be the slayer of the people and the destroyer of the country to protect the interests of those in power like what happened in Syria – stood up to protect the right of the people to overthrow a theocratic autocracy. No doubt, one day the Egyptians will look back and say, “I am proud to be an Egyptian!”

As for those who are claiming that this is the beginning of the end of political Islam, they will again be proven wrong. The Muslim Brotherhood never spoke for Islam and it was Muslims who overthrew them. They used Islam to dazzle the masses and used democracy to climb to power and once in power they burnt the democratic ladder in order not to share power with any of the other political entities. The moderate swinging vote that brought them to power used their feet to throw them out. Shame on them. Islam rises victorious.

Mohammed S. Dajani Daoudi, a Jerusalem-born scholar and peace activist, is director of the American Studies Program at Al-Quds University and founder of the Wasatia movement of moderate Islam. Read other articles by Mohammed.