ABSTRACT
Lutfi al-Khuli called the Laws of July 1961 ‘the decrees of the four glorious days’ (qawanin arba'at al-ayyam al-majida) and considered them a social turning point. The laws, he thought, paved the way for the fusion of the national-liberation revolution and the social revolution. Such a development was inevitable under the objective circumstances of Egyptian society. 1 Egypt, he believed, was on the brink of a new era which would witness far-reaching changes both socially and politically. These would affect the executive level, the rate of production (quwa al-intaj), relations between social groups, and cultural development, among other spheres. As he saw it, the Egyptian people were turning towards the development of a socialist society. 2 It was in these terms that he saw the future of Egyptian society: 3
First and foremost we must discuss the objective circumstances and the speed of our development, our staying power in the face of the problems we are facing and the way to solve them which will correspond with the people's will. [This] will breathe life into the application of these laws [the July 1961 laws] in a way which will deeply penetrate our society and our souls so that all will reap the fruits … There is no other way to implement these laws other than the socialist way. Socialism will be the subject on both today's and tomorrow's agenda, [with special reference] to ideological and class aspects.
