The Muslim Brotherhood
Egypt has been a hot topic in world news for the past couple of years, especially on the uprisings that led to the removal of two of its presidents and the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood. Considered as the country’s most powerful political force, the Muslim Brotherhood had been reported to have exercised its significant influence to advocate its ideology and shift Egypt as it is seen today. From the time of its inception, its ideology and present status, it was visible that the Brotherhood was not just a political movement, but an encompassing social movement set on changing the perception of the people. However, in its quest to switch Egyptian society to its ideology, the Brotherhood had met intense criticism and opposition because of its dominance within the country overall framework. Its continuous grip over Egypt’s entire system and the possibility of a Muslim Brotherhood reign may threaten not just Egypt’s development, but also the country’s society for its pure and restrictive Islamist ideology.
The Muslim Brotherhood has a long history dating back since the end of the First World War when the Turkish leadership under Mustapha Kemal sought to abolish all Islamic influence in the country. Lavender (2012) cited that Kemal wanted to abolish the Islamic Caliphate, which had dominated in Turkey since 1453 as he found the system conservative and restrictive to the country’s development. He banned usual Islamic traditions such as the growing of beards for men, the use of the hijab or scarves by women, regular prayers from the Muezzins, and the use of Arabic in favor of Latin. The once secular rule of the Islamic Caliphate in the secular state had also been transferred to the military. The global Muslim community (Ummah) had viewed the removal of the Islamic Caliphate in 1923 as an offense to the community as it was restricting the growth of religion and its ideology. One of the children of an Imam named Hassan al Banna had responded on his own regarding the removal of the Caliphate, creating his own organization he called “The Society of Muslim Brothers” or the “al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun” in Egypt in 1928. Banna stated that with the Islamic community currently in a “critical crossroads”, they should establish a community that would sustain Muslim self-sufficiency and the teachings of the Shari’a and the Qu’ran.
Upon its establishment, the Brotherhood aimed to reform both individual and social morality, which would aid in moving away from secularism and establish a political and civil society based in the Sharia law and the Qur’an. By early 1930s, the Brotherhood utilized several mediums, including social outreach, as a means to showcase its commitment to alleviate poverty, reduce inequality, and create awareness on social responsibility that aided their political and social mobilization. With the West slowly mobilizing in nearby regions, the Brotherhood slowly created branches in other countries to stop Western influence and gotten two million members in its first two decades as an organization. The most popular sect of the Brotherhood is located in Egypt wherein they advocated both the creation of an Islamic society and the removal of the British forces in Egypt. With the instability presented by the post-Second World War in Egypt, it had allowed the Brotherhood to revise the status quo and used violence throughout the 1940s to gain control in the country. The group organized a military wing called the Society of the Muslim Brothers and by 1947,,,, volunteer fighters were sent to Palestine to turn the state into an Islamic state. However, after the assassination of Egyptian Prime Minister Mahmud Fahmi al-Nuqrashi, several Egyptian and British forces and their families, the Egyptian government had dissolved the Brotherhood in December 1948 and ordered for the capture of the group’s members. The government managed to kill Hassan al Banna in February 1949, leading the group to elect Hassan al Hodaybi and Sayyid Qutb as one of the group’s major leaders and inspired the dogma of the group to inspire people through their writings.
In July 1952, the country’s second president, Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew the monarchy and worked alongside the Brotherhood. However, Nasser did not want to share the power he had gained with the brotherhood, leading to an attempt in his life in 1954 that gotten the group outlawed once more. Despite losing many members, the Brotherhood remained influential throughout the Middle East and even in the West from the 1950s to the 60s as some of them fled to Europe, North America and in their Middle Eastern sects. When Nasser died in 1970, his successor Anwar al Sadat released Brotherhood members and permitted their activities provided that they would no longer use violence. In this end, the group adapted a base-building and recruitment system that would be acceptable to the current government. While some did not like this subdued organization, the Brotherhood remained close to its ideological movement that aimed to create not just a close relationship within the Brotherhood’s family (ursa) and entered into politics to influence the government.
Its structure had also permitted autonomy, allowing independent operations for its members and reach out to people. They used activism, mass media, and sophisticated government strategy that would get the lower classes and the professionals within society. With this in mind, they can get access to current social networks within mosques, private organizations, and even communities that allowed the Brotherhood to merge itself within the social framework of Egypt. It is estimated that membership for the Egyptian chapter of the Brotherhood has reached 600,000 to 700,000 people despite its lack of clear legal status within the country. With the group having representation in the government, the Brotherhood had managed to stress not just political reform, but also social proposals that would enable its dream of establishing a civil Islamic state to be attained. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had cited in 2009 that the group’s involvement in the social level of Egypt permits it to dominate the Islamic communities and channel their activism through non-violent and extremist activities .
Hamzawy and Brown (2010) added that the group’s social stance had shifted in position in accordance of their proposals to reform Egypt to their pursuit for an Islamist state, and the proposals placed upon their activities. It had blocked several amendments to the constitution regarding the number of members which can seat in the legislative assemblies, influence of religious parties and limitations on presidential rule. Despite such restrictions, they had hoped to ensure political freedoms, public freedoms, rule of law and human rights to the extent it would prevent abuses of power. However, their influence was not successful because of the growing capacity of its rival party, the NDP regarding the proposals set within the government. The group had questioned the parliament regarding poor prison conditions and even the freedom of journalists in the country, which has been restrictive throughout the Mubarak regime especially if they have been accused of minor mistakes in their practice. Judicial independence was also a cornerstone for the Muslim Brotherhood from 2005-2010 to allow independent bodies to have a voice in the government.
As far as the country’s socio-economic capability is concerned, the Brotherhood had actually used its presence to call on to the government against the ruling elites that have control over most of the industries of the country. The Brotherhood inquired as to why the lower-classes did not have equal access to government support and the government’s failure to respond to the country’s overall developmental problems. The Brotherhood claimed the government for the current situation of the country, which would have been solved easily by reform and the removal of the social instability in the country. They had voted against annual budget proposals from 2000 to 2005 because there was a lack of change within the health and education sectors. The lack of transparency and information was also questioned by the Brotherhood, leaving the people unaware as to the current state of the country’s economic partnerships and aid it receives from the rest of the globe. Once it came to the moral and religious programs, however, the Brotherhood had stuck to its traditional doctrines despite the fact it showcases a compatible system for all religion. There was a decrease in support for more open and unrestrictive rights for women and other religions within Egypt from the Brotherhood and argued for the proper application of the Shari’a law, which, in comparison to their previous stance of equality for all Egyptians. They had proposed laws that would imprison critics of Islam and forbid them from entering the country. They forbade almost liberal forms of art, movies and concerts that they deemed immoral and supportive of women’s rights. The Brotherhood had also tried to introduce Islamic principles for political, economic and social programs that they believe would cater to the Egyptian problem .
According to Laub (2014), the removal of Hosni Mubarak in light of the Arab Spring protests of 2011 enabled the Brotherhood to ascend deeper in the country’s political and social system as it remained committed to establishing the Islamic creed of its founders. Most of its members – divided in various parties such as the Freedom and Justice Party – won positions in the government, getting half the seats in the lower house (People’s Assembly) and the remaining 84% of the Shura Council. Their Presidential Bet, Mohammed Morsi, had also won in the votes in May 2012 with a 51.7% victory . Upon his ascension to the presidency, Mohammed Morsi had sat down for an exclusive interview with Stengel, Ghosh and Vick (2012) regarding his stance over the Egyptian recovery and the Muslim Brotherhood. He admits that Egypt needs a new form of government that is not distant, suppressive and dictatorial as it had led to their people being detached to law. His interview cited and re-emphasized that the Muslim Brotherhood is not as what people think about it: a conservative organization wishing for Islamism. It is indeed a democratic organization fighting for democracy, equal chance, responsibility, law and constitution and for an ancient country such as Egypt, it would need to revise its old constitution to stabilize the system. He added:
“We have had big violations. So what the Muslim Brotherhood has all the time trying to have settled is an institutional, constitutional state, so if we have the opportunity, I think It’s for the benefit of the Egyptians, the benefit of everyone in Egypt, Christians and Muslims and the benefit to the Muslim Brotherhood and others is to have an institutional, constitutional state .”
Despite his promises; however, Morsi had ordered a revision of the government and made sure he had a similar dictatorial rule similar to his predecessor to ensure his retention in power. The people were concerned over the growing role of Islam as the basis of the law through the influence of Morsi (a high profile member of the Brotherhood) and several other members of the Brotherhood and knew that it was not as protective or definitive when it comes to women’s rights, freedoms of speech and worship. Morsi and the judiciary continued to argue in March 2013 when the Supreme Court questioned the legality of Morsi’s executive decree on the election law. On June 2013, mass protests slowly built up to oppose the appointment of the Brotherhood’s members to the government. Led by General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the people ousted Morsi on July 3, 2013, and the people had ousted the Muslim Brotherhood upon the establishment of the new constitution voted in January 14 and 15 of this year. The Muslim Brotherhood had refused to participate with the new government, but it had led to massive arrests and crackdowns due to their self-imposed riots. The Brotherhood’s leaders such as its Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie were arrested and on December 2013, the group was considered a terrorist organization after the car bomb attack in the security services of the country in the Nile Delta. Declarations were done following the overthrowing of Morsi to stop the Brotherhood’s activities and funds as some believe that they would become incontrollable if they are not restrained .
As the country now awaits its next elections, further actions have already been done by the current leaders of the government as several orders have been raised against further involvement of the Brotherhood to Egyptian politics and society especially after the removal of Morsi and the attacks of Brotherhood members. In the report of Al Jazeera (2014), the first court that ordered the election ban for the members of the Brotherhood came from a court in Alexandria. The Brotherhood is now seen as a “terrorist group” and blamed as the reason for the attacks that followed after the public kicked out Mohammed Morsi as president last July 2013. In a statement from the lawyer of the private group that filed the case, “It is illogical to receive such candidacies after the government designated the Brotherhood a terrorist organization”. Authorities had subsequently engaged a crackdown on the members of the Brotherhood since Morsi’s overthrow and almost 15,000 Islamists have been jailed and executed after speedy trials of their case . In his first official interview prior to the elections, Egyptian presidential hopeful Former Military Chief Abdel Fatteh al-Sisi remarked in his interview that the Muslim Brotherhood will never return if he is voted in the presidency. When asked, he remarked:
“Yes, it is not me that finished it [Muslim Brotherhood], the Egyptians have. The problem is not with me; it is with the Egyptian people. They have said no twice in June 30, and they are saying no to the Brotherhood now. No matter how powerful he may be can take steps to the Egyptian people do not agree with.”
Considering the sentiment of the country’s most popular favorite for the presidency as the elections come later in the month, the Egyptian people are likely to support him as some of them commented that the al-Sisi, who led the revolution against Morsi leadership in July, is the Egyptians’ savior from the clutches of the Brotherhood and likely to win in the elections (Euronews, 2014).
References
Al Jazeera. (2014, April 15). Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood faces election ban. Retrieved from Al Jazeera: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/04/egypt-muslim-brotherhood-faces-election-ban-2014415155426994730.html
Euronews (2014). "Egypt: Sisi says the Muslim Brotherhood is 'finished'" [Video file]. Retrieved
Hamzawy, A., & Brown, N. (2010). The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood: Islamist Participation in a Closing Political Environment. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Laub, Z. (2014, January 15). Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Retrieved from Council on Foreign Relations: http://www.cfr.org/egypt/egypts-muslim-brotherhood/p23991
Lavender, L. (2012). The Muslim Brotherhood: An Historical Perspective on Current Events. Brussels: Civil-Military Fusion Centre.
Stengel, R., Ghosh, B., & Vick, K. (2012, November 28). Transcript: TIME's Interview with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. Retrieved from TIME Magazine: http://world.time.com/2012/11/28/transcript-times-interview-with-egyptian-president-mohamed-morsi/
