The Arab Republic of Egypt Government’s Policy during Gamal Abdul Naseer Reign (1952-1962)

The focus of this research is concern about Egypt’s policy during the reign of Gamal Abdul Naseer (1952-1962 BC). this research aims to explain 1) Explaining Gamal Abdul Naseer policy in Egpyt. 2) Describing the impact of Gamal Abdul Naseer policy on the development of Egypt. The research choose qualitative method by using descriptive analysis on sociological politic approach as a subject which concentrates on power, government, and authority toward its citizens. The result demonstrated Nasser’s urge in order to improve the politic and economic sector in Egypt during his regime. Nasser initiated a system which supported the growth of political development and fiscal cooperation for improving Egypt as a nation. Nasser started the guided democracy system in Egypt. While in economic sector, Nasser’s goal was to develop industrialization as a solution of Egypt economic problems.

the existence of the Nile river, there are fertile parts alongside its delta. Since the cradle of civilization, the fertile valleys of the Nile have attracted human attention.
Egyptians have developed agricultural livelihoods so they have been completely dependent on the watering of the Nile. Although it is impossible for humans to live alone in nature and agricultural society. They need each other and cooperation is very necessary. Perhaps because of that, Egypt has long since formed community organizations such as villages. Each village is led by a village head whose job is to collect taxes from farmers and usually in the form of crops. (Kutojo, Soetijoso, & Soetjipto, 1976, pp. 15-16).
By examining the literature and history from a western perspective, the desire for political independence arises in the greater part of the educated youth, and sooner or later this impulse has gradually formed into organized movements seeking for independence in many Muslim countries. The leadership of these movements fell into the hands of those who tasted education according to the formal education system.
The new leaders of the community were not at all devout followers of Islam, however, almost all of them had used religious sentiments and narration that were easy for common Muslims to follow that could guarantee their participation and support aim to defend their religion. (Abul A'la Maududi, 1980, p. 37).
The history of Egypt over the centuries has similarities with the history of Turkey although in some aspects are different. Egypt is a country that is developing into a secular state, just like Turkey. The transformation into a secular state has began with government reforms which had previously been disrupted by the British occupation in 1882 AD (Lapidus, 1999, p. 101 Conference of Asian and African nations as an attempt for world peace. Nasser was renowned as He is known as a strict and persistent person in behave against Israel state formation. One of his most notorious idea was "socialism of Arab". The purpose of his idea was unifying countries in the Arab peninsula in a social economic order.
According to his idea, those social economic order must be based on Islamic law/very which promote the members to applying Islamic spirit and teaching as a foundation for economic affairs (Islamic teachings has presumed as a reason for improvement of social welfare and a solution for escaping from colonialism. Moreover, Nasser was also known from his idea of Arabic Nationalism. Gamal Abdul Naseer had been acknowledged as an accomplished soldier yet a notable statesman. He is also the figure behind the emergence of the Arab charismatic leader who strongly opposed the establishment of Israel which then attracted the sympathy of egyptian people. Gamal Abdul Naseer was seen as a prospective leader who will be able to unite Arab countries with the idea of Arab Nationalism in expelling colonialism and advancing the Arab nation (Ali Hasan Nadwy, 1983).
Naseer was appointed without having a solid ideology or plan while he had tried several times to provide a basis for the legitimacy of his government. He adopted socialism as the best solution and tried to form a forum within the Arab Socialist Association to implement his ideas. Naseer believed that socialism would promote development and provide a stable political framework for Egypt (Esposito, 2002, p. 160).

Government Conditions
The sentiment of being willing to sacrifice everything for the glory and prosperity of a country must be marginalized by the emergence of an idea for changing a country into a better country in the field of social, political, economic and religious. Mustafa Kamil gave an idea about the unity of a nation, the spirit of self-sacrifice to save the motherland from colonial groups who wanted to dominate and change a constitutional form of government. The attitude of self-sacrifice for the country from Western colonialism is a spirit of jihad that must be inflamed to free the country from the grip of the Western colonials as well as giving recognition to the rights of the people in the formation of society.
The continuity of a national movement can be implemented through da'wah and literacy activities and can also be initiated in a political movement such as the formation of a national organization and party as led by Mustafa Kamil in 1890.
Among these parties, there were several ones that showed their true identity. residents. This was what triggered the conflict and hostility between Egypt and Britain (Esposito, 2002, pp. 113-114).
Problems haunted newly developed Egypt government were getting intense due to the division of power in Egypt between the king, political parties and the British government is getting stronger. The British government's politics who tried to implement divide et impera to bring the king of Egypt and political parties into conflict. Therefore, the probability to unite Egypt and fight for freedom from British colonialism remained weak. This condition was caused by the opportunity of Britain who took advantage of the feud between the king and political parties by offering assistance to the king to win the competition against political parties. cement, and several other products. For example, the government established the Bank of Egypt which aims to control the Egyptian economy as a whole from the clutches of foreigners. (Esposito, 2002, pp. 115-117).

Politics in
The most important reform movement of this period was the Muslim Brotherhood The Muslim Brotherhood (ikhwanul muslimin) attempted to take over Egyptian power, but they were hidden by the Free Officers, a force formed from different backgrounds. Among them are youth groups, military officials, and ordinary people.
In 1952 a movement coordinated by Muhammad Naquib, Gamal Abdul Naseer, and Anwar Sadat succeeded in overthrowing the parliamentary government (Nasution, 1989 switched from a Liberalism system to socialism and called for a spirit of anticolonialism that led to nationalism which further led to Pan-Arabism which has the aim of developing Egypt's National development goals (Esposito, 2002, p. 121).
During his 18 years of leadership in Egypt, Naseer left legacy to the government from all fields, including political, economic, and social Egypt. Naseer built Egypt in nationalizing industrial assets. This was done so in order for preparing Egypt government to become the main provider of goods and services for its people. The state also played a role by carrying out land reforms in order to control and distribute state wealth, for instance, expanded agricultural land. In addition, Naseer built the Aswan dam for agricultural purposes as well as the expansion of educational infrastructure which created a substantial middle class for the Egyptian people.

Political Policy
The president is assumed as a leader of a country who must master skills in gaining and mobilizing support from the people. The president is a vital figure in state affairs. The major achievement of the government of Gamal Abdul Naseer in the political field towards Egypt was the establishment of a single party system which aimed to foster a new form of Egyptian political participation and economic cooperation. This system helped avoiding people's feuds against the government in making policies of the rulers and acts as a channel for the aspirations of the people.
This system had played a very important role in Naseer's government in making policies and was able to control the government well. Therefore, peace had been established in his government as well as the unity among warring parties (Esposito, 2002, p. 124).
When Gamal Abdul Naseer succeeded in reaching government, he immediately called for a quest for the Arabs to form Arab Nationalism against Israel establishment.
The implementation of the call could be seen in 1955, when he refused to join one of 9 Journal of Islamic History and Manuscript Volume 01, Number 01, April 2022 the blocs (whether western or eastern bloc) and decide to join the non-aligned movement which made him received very strong pressure from countries from both blocs, both from Russia and America. But Naseer had no trouble when the pressure came from both blocks. He began to move for the Nationalization of the Suez Canal which has been a very strategic and important waterway for travel by sea, so that Britain, France, and Israel Egypt to reclaim the Suez Canal which was already controlled by Egypt. However, these efforts were in vain because they could not seize the Suez Canal because Egypt received assistance from Russia, which was a party against America (Esposito, 2002, p. 123).

Economic Policy
The economic concept of the government of Gamal Abdul Naseer was a socialist economy whose goal was to distribute the economic welfare evenly among Egyptian people and escape from the clutches of foreigners. experiencing an economic downturn.
Naseer's government was considered to be able to change the economy of the  Podeh, 1996).
Naseer had a brilliant idea in restoring the Egyptian economy. He developed industries in Egypt and increased agricultural productivity by providing agricultural subsidies for his people, which aims to increase the income of the Egyptian people's economy. In carrying out his policy, Naseer revised the land law and expanded the maximum limit of land owned by a person is 50 Faddan (previously 200 Faddan), therefore land owners who previously benefited, felt disadvantaged because of the revision of the law carried out by Naseer. However, small farmers felt that they have benefited from Naseer's policy in supporting the economy of the Egyptian people.
Then the land is distributed to the people to be managed properly. However, with the revision of the land law, there were people who still lack land for agricultural land (Zikwan, 1997).
In running its economy, the government cooperated with the private sector by providing a number of lands that can be used to develop industries with the aim of controlling and securing several government goals. The level of agricultural productivity is increased by the existence of policies issued by the government with the aim of increasing agricultural yields by providing subsidies for fertilizers and seeds. Farmers were coordinated and given the opportunity to participate in improving the community's economy. Apart from agriculture, the government also improved public services in areas that have not been reached from the center by improving road access, establishing schools, providing health centers for factories and others (Esposito, 2002, p. 125).
Gamal Abdul Naseer's policy in his government in Egypt was in the agricultural sector which managed to contribute 45-47% of Egypt's exports. In addition, more than 50% of the industry in Egypt was from the agriculture-based sector, such as textiles and food processing. Transport services, trade, and government activities were connected to agriculture in Egypt. Due to the agricultural sector, before Naseer became the Egyptian government, the Egyptian economy was in serious trouble. This was caused by the previous government that did not have the competence as a leader and every policy that was decided was always lame, so that social classes emerged.
Gamal Abdul Naseer's government policies in the industrial sector have developed. This was due to the support of Free Officers in developing private companies. However, this policy was hindered because the government did not want private ownership of land on a large scale. It was considered to be able to cause a tendency towards Egypt in consuming private products, while what the government wants is equal ownership of land so that farmers can develop the agricultural sector in producing basic materials. Naseer was considered a leader who succeeded against imperialist countries. His concept of Arab Nationalists, especially in reforming the agricultural system and nationalization of the Suez Canal, had an influence on Egyptian politics and the economy. Therefore, his period is considered as the golden age of Arab Nationalism.
Egypt's government was dominated by the military. This was because the previous government was overthrown by groups from the military, among them was Gamal Abdul Naseer. The socialization of Arab nationalization in the fields of industry and agriculture had been expected to meet the needs for the advancement of the Egyptian economy by breaking away from foreign dependence by increasing the agricultural and industrial sectors in Egypt and creating quality products so as to increase exports to other countries. In addition, it could provide prosperity for Egypt and eliminate the policies of the previous rulers which tended to be corrupt, so that there was social inequality in Egypt (Esposito, 2002, pp. 126-127). shortens the travel time between Europe and Asia which causes Europe-Asia to be crowded because it is traversed by foreign traders (Muhammad Nurudin, 2015).
Suez's nationalist policy also sought to gain interest in Egypt, which had long been controlled by foreign countries who want to maintain their power in the Suez Canal.
Naseer nationalized the Suez Canal and declared it in the Nationalization Law and had even been socialized by the government, so that the Suez Canal became fully owned by Egypt after being successfully nationalized by Gamal Abdul Naseer without any influence from other countries. This had a positive impact on Egypt in improving the Egyptian economy (World Affairs Institute, 1956, pp. 75-76).
The nationalization of the Suez Canal had an impact on the Egyptian economy, especially the freezing of Egyptian currency assets from Britain, France, and the United States, plus the termination of aid from the United States. In addition, there was an economic embargo from Britain, which is Egypt's trading partner. Moreover, the blocking of the Suez Canal had worsened the Egyptian economy. However, the problem did not last long. Gamal Abdul Naseer started efforts to recover the Egyptian economy that was facing difficulties by negotiating with Britain, France, and America.
There was an agreement between the three countries based on the fears of these countries if Egypt fell into the hands of the Soviet Union (Muhammad Nurudin, 2015).

The Influence of Gamal Abdul Naseer's Policies
The renewal during the 19th century during the reigns of Muhammad Ali and Khedive Ismail, Egypt followed the secular Western path in terms of political, military, and socio-economic development. While Islam has been recognized as the "source" of Islamic law, Egyptian law starts from the constitution and the Western-  (Hobsawan, 1992).
The essence of Naseerism was a secular movement in its early stages, but in fact, domestic and foreign politics led Naseer to selectively use Islam to legitimize the Arab socialist ideology to seek support. Instead, Islam has gradually increased to become a factor for a domestic policy as well as foreign policy. In 1960, Naseer found rivals from Arab socialist regimes: Syria, Iraq, and Algeria as well as the conservative oil-rich the clause was reversed in the Egyptian constitution. Naseer involved the government in Islamic matters when he carried out the nationalization of al-Azhar University (Esposito, 1990, pp. 177-178). Important administrative positions are held by government officials and curriculum reform is carried out by the government with the Journal of Islamic History and Manuscript Volume 01, Number 01, April 2022 aim of ending reactionary conservatism and training new generations to become involved and capable of contributing to modernization and development. As a result, the University lost much of its freedom in the academic and political fields. Oversight of al-Azhar as well as mosques whose imams are appointed and paid for by the ministry of waqf affairs, enabled Naseer to mobilize religious support for his socialist policies (Esposito, 1990, pp. 178-179).
The use of Islam to legitimize Arab socialism has increased Naseer's foreign policy because the majority of the Arabs he had approached were Muslims. As explained earlier, in the competition between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the position of Islam becomes very important, because Faisal had used the notion of Islam to condemn Arab socialism and defended pan-Islam as a rival to pan-Arabism. While Faisal received a decree from his ulema condemning socialism, Naseer instead received a decree from the Egyptian clerics, especially prominent scholars from al-Azhar. When Faisal declared that pan-Arabism was part of pan-Islam, Naseer announced that Arab socialism was rooted in Islam; "Islam is the first religion that calls for equality." In response to criticism from Arab conservatives, Naseer announced "our enemies say that socialism is kufr. But is it true that socialism is what they mean by that term? What they describe can be matched against the increase in slavery, the accumulation of money, and the extortion of people's wealth (Naseer's condemnation of the Saudi

Arabian regime). This is really kufr and this is what really challenges religion and
Islam. what we mean is the law of justice and the law of God" (Esposito, 1990, p. 180).
The experience was a challenge to the assumptions of modernization and developmental theories. The commitment of modernizing leaders in Egypt is a century old, but reforms imposed from above do not guarantee its acceptance by the majority of the occupation. The orientation of the state, its institutions, laws, and policies has reflected the ideas and goals of the Egyptian rulers which are a reality in Egyptian society (Esposito, 1990, p. 181).