CAIRO — President Mohammed Morsi's decree on Nov. 22 granting himself nearly unchecked powers and rushing a referendum on a controversial draft constitution has shaken Egypt's political landscape and provoked opposition and protest.

During the ongoing political crisis, Morsi has relied on the support of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic groups while facing increasing pressure from his opponents. Although the liberal opposition is by no means entirely secular, anti-Morsi protesters have chanted against the "government of the Guide," a reference to the influence that the spiritual head of the Brotherhood is perceived to have in Morsi's government.

Morsi may soon face a new challenge from inside the Islamist camp — from an ultraconservative Islamist preacher and his followers, who may choose to break from the Brotherhood-led Islamist coalition to pursue their own political agenda.

Aside from the Brotherhood, the most prominent Islamist force on the scene amid the turmoil of recent weeks is a smaller and more conservative group wielding an outsized influence thanks to its popular leader Hazem Abu Ismail, the namesake of the so-called "Hazemoons" — a rising force within the Salafi movement that has demonstrated its ability in recent weeks to both help and hurt the president and his controversial agenda.