failed to win any seats in the Egyptian Senate, (they won 45 seats in the Senate elections of January 2012). Some of the reasons given for the party's poor performance were the closure of mosques (a common gathering place and "the main sphere of activity for the Salafists") due to Covid, "hostile propaganda" from their cousin Islamists, the Muslim Brotherhood, angry over Salafist cooperation with Sisi, and very low voter turnout in the first election (14%) and runoff (10.25%). Political scientist Akram Badreddine of Cairo University notes also a general decline in voter support for "political parties with religious backgrounds". Political orientation Al‑Nour Party is an ultra-conservative Islamist party maintaining a strict version of Islam, known as the Salafi methodology. Salafis believe in practising Islam as it was practiced by Prophet Muhammad, his companions, and the later generations. Their main source of governance is strictly based on the Quran and the Sunnah. Religion The religious foundation and structure of al-Nour party is based almost entirely on the Salafi interpretation of Islam. Al-Nour believes the principles of Islamic Sharia should be the main source of legislation. However, the party promises that it will allow Christians to have their own separate laws for their internal matters. Israeli–Palestinian conflict The party has stated it is committed to the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty as a binding international agreement and would be willing to hold negotiations with Israel. At the same time, al‑Nour said it seeks amendments to the agreement and opposes normalization with Israel. Specifically, an al‑Nour spokesman stated, "We call for full Sinai rights for Egypt and for our brothers in Palestine and occupied lands, and we see this as directly related to the agreement." Regarding normalization, an al‑Nour statement read, "The party strongly objects normalization and dialogue attempts and establishing relations with an entity [Israel] which wants to wipe off our identity, occupies our lands, imposes a siege on our brothers and strongly supports our hangers." Perspective on loans Al‑Nour Party had stated in September 2012 that it would not oppose a loan from the International Monetary Fund to the Egyptian government, although Islamic law bans the paying of interest. The party argued that the loan is vital to Egypt's economy in the current period and that there is no other alternative, citing the Islamic saying "Necessities permit what is banned". However, the party had changed opinion in February 2013, saying the