A bit of the History in Egypt

Historians may assent however, Freemasonry in Egypt came out of the closet during the Orabi Revolt of 1882. That Ahmed Orabi Pasha was himself a member of the Order was never proven, we know however that several of his supporters were.
In his book How We Defended Orabi A.M. Broadley declares that Egypt’s most liberal cleric, Sheik Mohammed Abdou, was himself an avowed Mason. “Sheikh Abdu was no dangerous fanatic or religious enthusiast, for he belonged to the broadest school of Moslem thought, held a political creed akin to pure republicanism, and was a zealous Master of a Masonic Lodge.” Later in the same paragraph Broadbent states how many of the Deputies in the Egyptian Chamber had hastened to join the craft.
Broadbent gives us an insight on Freemasonry in Egypt during the 1880s when he differentiates between the principles and practice of Freemasonry in England and on the continent in Europe. While the British system embraced nothing more exciting than charity and good-fellow-ship, “foreign Masonry is almost avowedly an appropriate and convenient arena for political discussion, and both political and religious agitation.” Thus, according to Broadbent, “in Egypt the tenets of continental Masonry, with its Republican watchwords of Fraternité, Liberté, Egalité had evidently overshadowed the strong British elements which once prevailed in our numerous lodges.”