Democratic Ideology in Islamist Opposition? The Muslim Brotherhood's ‘Civil State’
2009; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 45; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/00263200802611408
ISSN1743-7881
Autores Tópico(s)Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies
ResumoAbstract Over the last two decades, the political ideology of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood has evolved to proactively advocate a democratic form of government. This evolution has taken place both through protracted internal discussion and through experiments in participatory politics, leading the Brotherhood to further develop Islamic justification for a democratic regime. Despite generational differences within the Brotherhood over the extent of democratic activism, the Brotherhood's emerging political platform asserts the need both for a democratic regime and a 'civil state' which guarantees political and civil liberties within the boundaries specified by Islam. Three guiding principles are central to the Brotherhood's current political vision, including legislative compliance with Islamic law, a wide range of civil and political liberties with an emphasis on equal treatment, and a robust electoral process that institutionalizes guarantees of democratic accountability for elected officials. These principles allow the Muslim Brotherhood to effectively challenge the current Egyptian regime on democratic grounds, but are also in tension with one another, highlighting the boundaries of legislative independence under a political system constrained by Islamic law. Notes 1. R. Mitchell, The Society of the Muslim Brothers (New York: Oxford University Press, 1969), pp.26–7. See also A. Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (New York: Routledge, 2005), p.236. 2. G. Kepel, Muslim Extremism in Egypt: The Prophet and Pharaoh (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984), pp.62, 106. See also S. Abed-Kotob and D. Sullivan, Islam in Contemporary Egypt: Civil Society vs. the State (London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999), p.63. 3. S.E. Ibrahim, Egypt, Islam and Democracy (Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 1996), p.57. 4. N. Ghadbian, Democratization and the Islamist Challenge in the Arab World (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997), p.51. Ghadbian and Abed-Kotob and Sullivan report that the Brotherhood won eight seats in this election; however Ibrahim reports (p.57) that the Brotherhood won seven seats, and he later reports (p.71) that the Brotherhood won 12 seats. For our purposes, the Brotherhood secured 7–12 seats in the 1984 parliamentary elections, depending on how one counts Brotherhood seats. Also note that although there are 454 total seats in the Egyptian Parliament, only 444 are elected by the people, and 10 are appointed by the executive. 5. Ghadbian, Democratization, p.91. 6. Ibrahim, Egypt, Islam and Democracy, pp.57, 71. See also Ghadbian, Democratization, 52, 92. Ibrahim reports (p.57) that the MB won 35, and later reports (p.71) that the MB won 38 seats. Ghadbian reports that the MB won 37 seats. The discrepancy is probably a result of the fact that all Brotherhood candidates had to run as independents, thus they were not officially listed as Brotherhood members on the ballots. For our purposes, in the 1987 elections the Brotherhood won 35–8 seats. 7. Ghadbian, Democratization, p.98. 8. Ibid., p.95. 9. Ibid., p.91. 10. S. Abed-Kotob and D. Sullivan, Islam in Contemporary Egypt: Civil Society vs. The State (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999), p.118. 11. Ibid., p.48. 12. Ghadbian, Democratization, pp.111–12. 13. Abed-Kotob and Dennis Sullivan, Islam in Contemporary Egypt, p.53. See also Ghadbian, Democratization, p.93. 14. Ghadbian, Democratization, p.80. 15. Abed-Kotob and Dennis Sullivan, Islam in Contemporary Egypt, p.53. 16. Ghadbian, Democratization, pp.52, 104 17. 'Elections in Egypt, October 2000', Human Rights Watch Backgrounder (Oct. 2000). Available at http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/egypt-election-bck.htm (accessed Dec. 2008). 18. Ibid. 19. 'Egypt's Parliamentary Elections: An Assessment of the Results', The Estimate, Vol.12, No. 23 (Nov. 2000). Available at http://www.theestimate.com/public/111700.html (accessed Dec. 2008). Note also that only 444 of Egyptian Parliamentary seats are elected by the people, and the remaining ten are appointed by the executive branch. 20. J. Diehl, 'Mubarak Outdoes Himself', Washington Post, 5 Dec. 2005, p.A21. 21. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, 'An Unlikely Alliance: The Muslim Brotherhood and the National Democratic Party', Civil Society and Democratization in the Arab World, Vol.11, No. 132 (November 2005), p.5. 22. 'Egypt Votes on Controversial Constitutional Changes', Unregistered News, 26 March 2007. Available at http://www.unregisterednews.com/content/view/107/53/ (accessed Dec. 2008). 23. S.E. Ibrahim, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. 24. M. Zarea, Director of the Human Rights Center for the Association of Prisoners, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. However, Zarea suggests that the Brotherhood is not fully deserving of 'martyr status' because, as he explains, the Muslim Brotherhood is not persecuted any more than other political groups in Egypt and that a 'false legend' surrounds the victimization of the Brotherhood, which leads people to perceive the group as the 'party of the people'. 25. Ghadbian, Democratization, pp.98–9. 26. C.P. Harris, Nationalism and Revolution in Egypt: The Role of the Muslim Brotherhood (London: Mouton and Co., 1964), p.162. 27. S. Qutb, Social Justice in Islam (Oneonta, NY: Islamic Publications International, 2000), p.117. 28. M.A. Kodos, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. 29. Saad Eddin Ibrahim identifies the 'older generation' as those MB members who developed their political consciousness in the universities prior to the 1970s, whereas the 'younger generation' consists of MB members who developed their political consciousness at the universities from 1970 onward. 30. G. Nasser, 'Dr. Habib Explains the Muslim Brotherhood's Political Program', Ikhwanweb.com, 8 March 2006. Available at http://www.ikhwanweb.com/Home.asp?zPage=Systems&System=Press R&Press=Show&Lang=E&ID=4032 (accessed Dec. 2008). 31. G.M. Munoz, Islam, Modernism and the West (New York: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 1999), p.185. 32. Kodos, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. 33. I. Houdaiby, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. 34. Ibid. 35. M. Cook, Forbidding Wrong in Islam: An Introduction (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p.113. 36. Ibid., p.124. 37. M. Zaki, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. 38. Ibid. 39. R. Gleave, 'Taqiyya', Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World, Vol.2 (New York: Thomson Gale, 2004), p.678. 40. M. Elmenshawy, 'The Muslim Brotherhood Shows Its True Colors', Christian Science Monitor, 12 October 2007. Available at www.csmonitor.com/2007/1012/p09s02-coop.html?page=2 (accessed Dec. 2008). 41. 'Interview with Muslim Brotherhood's Chairman, Mehdi Akef', Ikhwanweb.com, 16 Dec. 2005. Available at http://www.ikhwanweb.com/Home.asp?zPage=Systems&System=PressR&Press=Show&Lang=E&ID=2443 (accessed Dec. 2008). 42. Kodos, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. 43. Houdaiby, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. Also Kodos, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. 44. A.A. Mawdudi, Human Rights in Islam (London: The Islamic Foundation, 1976), p.10. 45. Houdaiby, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. 46. Ibid. 47. I.E. Altman, 'Democracy, Elections and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood', Current Trends in Islamist Ideology, Vol.3 (Hudson Institute, 16 Feb. 2006). Available at http://www.futureofmuslimworld.com/research/pubID.17/pub_detail.asp (accessed Dec. 2008). In this article, the use of ijtihad was stated by 'Abd al-Mun'im Abu al-Futuh, a young Brotherhood leader. 48. A. Hamzawy, 'Regression in the Muslim Brotherhood's Platform?', Arab Reform Bulletin, Vol.5, No.8 (Oct. 2007). See also M. Elmenshawy, 'The Muslim Brotherhood Shows Its True Colors', Christian Science Monitor, 12 October 2007. Available at www.csmonitor.com/2007/1012/p09s02-coop.html?page=2 (accessed Dec. 2008). 49. M. Morsi, Brotherhood Executive Office Member, interview with Mohamed Ismail, 8 Dec. 2007, IkwhanWeb. Available at www.ikhwanweb.com/Article.asp?ID=14806 (accessed Dec. 2008). 50. Kodos, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. 51. Ibrahim, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. 52. Kodos, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. 53. Ibid. 54. The 2005 Electoral Program of the Muslim Brotherhood, 6 Nov. 2005, p.2. 55. G. Ishaak, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. Abdel Kodos does acknowledge that the slogan serves a political purpose because when the group initially ran under the slogan, they had intended to attract every Egyptian who shared their belief that Islam must play a role in every aspect of a Muslim's life, including politics. Moreover, Brotherhood leaders do insist that all of the group's proposed reform initiatives find their basis in Islamic concepts. Although the 2005 election programme of the Brotherhood did not explain the Islamic basis for most of the group's proposed reforms, the General Guide, Mehdi Akef, notes that Mahmud Ghuzlan of the Brotherhood composed a 32-page booklet elucidating the meaning of 'Islam is the Solution'. 56. Program of the Party of the Muslim Brotherhood, 1st draft, 25 Aug. 2007 (in Arabic). 57. Morsi, interview with Mohamed Ismail, 8 Dec. 2007. 58. 2005 Electoral Program, p.5. 59. Note: Qutb called for equal rights for non-Muslim citizens as long as they paid the jiziyah. 60. Zaki, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. 61. Nasser, 'Dr. Habib Explains'. 62. Morsi, interview with Mohamed Ismail, 8 Dec. 2007. 63. M. Abdelhadi, 'Egypt May Allow First Islamist Party', BBC News, 6 Oct. 2005. Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4316258.stm (accessed Dec. 2008). 64. Kodos, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. 65. 'MB Leaders Condemn Cowardly Attacks on Churches in Alexandria', Ikhwanweb.com, 15 April 2006. Available at http://www.ikhwanweb.com/Home.asp?zPage=Systems&System=PressR&Press=Show&Lang=E&ID=4309 (accessed Dec. 2008). 66. In personal interviews in Jan. 2006, Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Moheb Zaki, and George Ishaak all stated that women have reason to be concerned if the Brotherhood came to power. Reason for the concern stems from a number of Qur'anic verses that radical Islamists often interpret as justification to restrict women's behaviour, such as Q.4:3 and Q.4:11–2. 67. Kodos, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. 68. 2005 Electoral Program, pp.6–7. 69. 'Dr. Makarem El Deiri, The Muslim Brotherhood's Only Woman Candidate for the Parliamentary Elections', Ikhwanweb.com, 12 Dec. 2005. Available at http://www.ikhwanweb.com/Home.asp?zPage=Systems&System=PressR&Press=Show&Lang=E&ID=2413 (accessed Dec. 2008). 70. I.E. Altman, 'Contemporary Ideological Developments within the Muslim Brotherhood', remarks at the Hudson Institute's Conference on the Muslim Brotherhood, 27 Dec. 2007. Remarks can be found at http://www.ikhwanweb.com/Article.asp?ID=15007&LevelID=1&SectionID=83 (accessed Dec. 2008). 71. A debate persists about the meaning of the Qur'anic verse 24:31: 'And Say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons …' Some Muslims, including the current General Guide Mehdi Akef, interpret the verse as meaning that Muslim women should wear a veil that covers their heads. 72. Kodos, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. Abdel Kodos was referring to a personal conversation he had with Akef, when Akef expressed this view. 73. Nasser, 'Dr. Habib Explains'. 74. Ibid. Also, M. Eltahawy, 'The Politics of the Muslim Brotherhood', Muslim Wakeup!, 16 Aug. 2005. Available at http://www.muslimwakeup.com/main/archives/2005/08/the_politics_of.php (accessed Dec. 2008). The comment about censoring music videos was made by Habib. Also Morsi, interview with Mohamed Ismail, on the prohibition of parties that would spread vice. 75. Eltahawy, 'The Politics of the Muslim Brotherhood'. 76. Nasser, 'Dr. Habib Explains'. 77. Mitchell, The Society of the Muslim Brothers, p.219. See also Harris, Nationalism and Revolution in Egypt, p.162. 78. Houdaiby, personal interview (Harnisch), Jan. 2006. 79. 'Interview with Akef', 16 Dec. 2005. 80. Houdaiby and Abdel Kodos presented these views in personal interviews, and Dr. Habib presented the same views in his interview with Nasser, which can be found at: http://www.ikhwanweb.com/Home.asp?zPage=Systems&System=PressR&Press=Show&Lang=E&ID=4032 (accessed Dec. 2008). 81. The group does not propose to rewrite the entire Egyptian Constitution since article 2 of the constitution already states that shari'a must be the main source of legislation. Rather the Brotherhood simply wants to revise some laws in order to ensure the state's adherence to article 2 of the constitution (Houdaiby, personal interview, Jan. 2006). Additionally, by repealing the Emergency Law and making several amendments to the current constitution, the Brotherhood believes that its idea of an Islamic civil state would materialize (Kodos, Houdaiby, personal interviews, Jan. 2006).
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