In a 2012 Al Jazeera article, Abdul al-Sayed - the first Muslim elected to the US Senate - and his co-author, a Harvard scholar, praised the Muslim Brotherhood's electoral success and expressed marked optimism about Egypt's political future following the Islamist movements' parliamentary victory. At the time, the bloc led by the Muslim Brotherhood obtained about 47% of the seats in parliament, while the ultra-conservative Salafi al-Nur bloc won an additional 24%, giving the Islamist parties control of about 71% of the elected parliament. Despite this overwhelming Islamist majority, al-Sayed and his partner described the political change in Egypt as apparently "more promising than ever." They further argued that the Islamist parties' victories reflected local agendas and a "history of social justice" more than popular support for their Islamist ideologies. The distinction is crucial: Al-Sayed did not just celebrate the fall of Hosni Mubarak or the prospect of democratic elections. He publicly expressed optimism about Egypt's political future after the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist parties had already secured commanding parliamentary majorities, framing their electoral success primarily through the lens of social justice rather than political Islam.

In a 2012 Al Jazeera article, Abdul al-Sayed - the first Muslim elected to the US Senate - and his co-author, a Harvard scholar, praised the Muslim Brotherhood's electoral success and expressed marked optimism about Egypt's political future following the Islamist movements' parliamentary victory. At the time, the bloc led by the Muslim Brotherhood obtained about 47% of the seats in parliament, while the ultra-conservative Salafi al-Nur bloc won an additional 24%, giving the Islamist parties control of about 71% of the elected parliament. Despite this overwhelming Islamist majority, al-Sayed and his partner described the political change in Egypt as apparently "more promising than ever." They further argued that the Islamist parties' victories reflected local agendas and a "history of social justice" more than popular support for their Islamist ideologies. The distinction is crucial: Al-Sayed did not just celebrate the fall of Hosni Mubarak or the prospect of democratic elections. He publicly expressed optimism about Egypt's political future after the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist parties had already secured commanding parliamentary majorities, framing their electoral success primarily through the lens of social justice rather than political Islam.