Islamists Versus the State in Egypt and Algeria
1995; American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Volume: 124; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1548-6192
Autores Tópico(s)Islamic Studies and History
ResumoBoth the Egyptian and the Algerian states are challenged by Islamist political movements whose power has increased greatly in recent years. The ideological family to which these movements claim to belong may be traced to a common source, the Society of Muslim Brothers, created in Egypt in 1928-1929 by Hassan al-Banna. The sociocultural and age groups most often represented in the movements consist of counter elites trained in the applied sciences (medicine, engineering, com puter science, etc.), but also the urban underprivileged. Both states in recent decades have undergone parallel and painful transitions from planned to market economies, from socialist authoritarianism to some sort of political pluralism and freedom of the press. While the Egyptian has managed to maintain itself as a and to control the entirety of its territory, despite sporadic violence in the Upper Valley, the Algerian has been unable to control politi cal violence, to restore public order in many areas of the country, into which neither the armed forces nor the police dare to venture anymore. Within the Islamist movement there are different factions? some favor participation in the political system and try to reach agreements with segments of the ruling elite while others wish to topple the apparatus. Though their methods differ, all Islam ist groups share a common political philosophy: an Islamic state should supersede the present Westernized state. The main char acteristic of this future Islamic state should be the implementa tion of shari'a, a judicial system tracing back to the sacred texts of
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