This work addresses the folkloristic topic of identity through a conventional narrative history exploring Egypt’s recent identity crisis in its historical development rather than its static mode in a specific time and space. This work, therefore, suggests a fresh look at the functionality of Islamic tradition in the lives of modern Egyptians through four interrelated, Islamically based, socio-cultural elements that are deeply rooted in Egyptian tradition, which I call "the quadruplus modus" (QM). These four elements, as they have been historically challenged, are: The Islamic law (shari`a)-based courts, the role of religious leaders (`ulama), the moral ethical code of the individual ( akhlaq), and the unity of the Muslim community (umma).

This functionality of the QM is explained by, first, discussing the historical development of the QM as part of the Islamic tradition. Second, presenting the functionality of the four elements of the QM all along Egypt's Islamic and modern history until 1956—despite the great pressure that Islamic tradition faced since 1798. Third, discussing the challenging of the QM by Nasser and Sadat. And, finally, exploring the two effects of challenging the QM, violence and religiosity, showing that violence could not be the solution to create social order, nomos, out of the existing social disorder, anomy, and religiosity could not provide real meaning to the otherwise, personal sense of meaninglessness.