Political Islamist Movements: The Case of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt

Topics
Experts
Programs
- Transnational Threats
- Regional Security
- Effective Institutions

Spotlight /
Political Islamist Movements: The Case of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt

Spotlight

February 08, 2011

Don't leave your brothers alone in the square (photo)

Diaa Rashwan, an expert at the al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies examines the sociopolitical movement of the Muslim Brotherhood in his 2009 chapter in Islam and Politics: Renewal and Resistance in the Muslim World.

Political Islamist Movements: The Case of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt

In the last few years, it has become clear that there is widespread interest in the relationship among political Islamist movements, politics, and governance in countries of the Islamic world in general, and the Arab world in particular. Interest has been spurred by developments in several Muslim countries over the last six years: a number of Islamist parties have contested general elections at the parliamentary and local levels, and some have scored significant electoral victories. These events have generated interest in trying to understand Islamists' positions on issues related to politics and governance, particularly since some Islamist parties have formed governments: the Justice and Development Party in Turkey and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Palestine.

Politics and governance can be used as the criteria to define and categorize Islamist movements in general. Traditional measures for classifying these movements, such as "moderate," "fundamentalist," "extremist," or "peaceful," should be set aside. A better measure is the place politics and governance occupy in the Islamists' own world view. The term "Islamist movement" refers generally to groups that defer to some aspect or interpretation of Islam as their authoritative framework, whether in defining their existence or their goals. Such groups may employ differing means when implementing their vision of Islam in their communities, countries, or other areas of influence. The theoretical underpinnings of these movements (in addition to other related factors) play a pivotal role in distinguishing one group from another. Although certain criteria differentiate the movements-such as social background, political orientation, and approach to activism-the theoretical basis remains the most reliable classification.

Islamist movements can be divided into two major groupings, connected only by their affiliation to Islam. Otherwise they differ profoundly in how they affiliate themselves with Islam and interpret their religion. The first category includes sociopolitical groups that espouse a program of Islamization, while the second includes puritanical religious groups. The political grouping refers to those groups that maintain that their societies are already fully Muslim and that the only thing missing is a reorganization of their politics with a program based on Islamic law. In contrast, the religious Islamist groups-both jihadist and non-jihadist-are primarily concerned with dogma. They maintain that their communities are not properly Islamic and must be persuaded to "re-Islamize," either by preaching or by the sword. For them, politics and governance are merely means to an end but not goals in themselves...read more (pdf) >>