Al-Wasat was granted official recognition on 19 February 2011 after a court in Cairo approved its establishment. The court‘s ruling was handed down in the wake of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, and made al-Wasat the first new party to gain official status after the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.[8] Its newly acquired official status allowed al-Wasat to compete in the next parliamentary election, and made it the first legal party in Egypt with an Islamic background