By Irfan Engineer,
In the current upsurge of people’s movement in Egypt to demand democracy, Hosni Mubarak is using the bogey of Muslim Brotherhood in order to tenaciously hold on to power. The protests has demolished the myth that Muslim world did not want democracy. The Arab regimes are terrified of the activists gathered in the Tahrir Square not knowing if their turn will be next. Young people from the Muslim world yearn for freedom and democracy as much as anyone else. It is the US which supported the dictators, authoritarian Military rulers and the Amirs – concerned about the security of Israel and to secure their oil supply. The US deeply feared the popular aspirations of the people of West Asia and therefore preferred to support non-democratic regimes. Prescription of democracy for the communist block and authoritarian regimes for the Muslim world was not questioned. Condoleeza Rice, the then US secretary of state admitted that it was a mistake to support non-democratic regimes in the Muslim world. However, no remedial steps were taken and the US continued to be nervous about democracy in the Muslim world and supported regimes in Saudi Arabia, Military dictators in Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, Shah of Iran, and even Saddam Hussein during the Iran Iraq war. The US was not worried that democracy would bring fundamentalists to power as it backs the Saudi Arabian regimes which is most orthodox and fundamentalist. US was worried that popular mandate and democracy would endanger the balance of power in West Asia.
Muslim brotherhood leader Saad el-Katatni, centre, gestures as other leaders Essam el-Erian, left, and Mohamed Morsi look on during a press conference in Cairo last week [Courtesy: The Hindu]
Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood was formed in 1928 by a Islamic preacher and a school teacher Hasan Al-Banna with 6 workers of Suez Canal Company. By 1948, Muslim Brotherhood had about 1 million members. The core ideology of the Brotherhood was expounded by Hasan Al-Banna and later by Syyid Qutb in his book Milestones. Qutb called for complete and blind submission to all the commands of puritan Islam as Muslims did during the lifetime to prophet. Qutb was opposed to later accretions which came as a response to, or under influence of western culture. Qutb attributes all the modern problems like immorality, poverty and corruption to non-submission to Allah and his commands. The ideology of Brotherhood appealed initially to the powerless and subjugated lower classes. Their ideology, in the garb of religion, seemed to offer definite answers to their plight as every subjugated person needs to know the cause of her plight and a solution and also by practicing puritan Islam, the Brotherhood offered morally superior status and promise of salvation to the otherwise deprived section. As it gained support, the Brotherhood’s ideology displayed intolerance and called upon its followers not to submit to secular authorities as they should submit themselves only to Allah, and even advocated violent actions to establish Sharia Law. To Qutb, anything non-Islamic was evil and corrupt and called upon his followers not to submit to any such authority. Even democracy had become infertile for Qutb and the Brotherhood propounded that Islamic Sharia was a complete system extending to all aspects of life and could be safeguarded only under Islamic Caliph. Gradually, the Brotherhood gained support even in a section of middle class as the middle class experienced lack of freedom and their aspirations being ignored. The Brotherhood’s opposition to corruption and poverty made them popular in a section. Though the Brotherhood was banned by President Gamal Abdel Nasser and his successors – Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak, scores of their leaders have faced jail terms and torture, including Sayyid Qutb who was hanged in the year 1966 by Nasser. The more the repression against the Brotherhood, the more they were viewed with empathy as rebels with a just cause. With repression, their base fluctuated.
A child is carried near a poster depicting Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak as Adolf Hitler, amid opposition supporters in Tahrir Square in Cairo February 8, 2011 [Courtesy: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez]
The new leadership moderated and accepted non-violence as their strategy. They even condemned the 9/11 attack on the twin towers and Al-Qaeda accused the Brotherhood of betraying Jihad. Though they are banned, members of Brotherhood contested elections in 2005 and according to one estimate, they won nearly 20% of the popular votes and got about 88 of their candidates elected as independents to the Egyptian Parliament with 222 seats. However, in 2010, only one independent candidate belonging to Muslim Brotherhood could get elected. However, due to lack of free and fair elections, how much reality it reflects is anybody’s guess.
Today the Brotherhood is demanding morality in politics and promising corruption free governance and tackling poverty and unemployment. These are not the real and long term issues for the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood may not be the most popular organization in Egypt today but it is the most organized party that can benefit from the current unrest. In fact the Brotherhood has not mobilized all its members into the Tahrir Square though their President Mohamed Badie speaks for the protesters. The activists gathered in the Square are not afraid of Brotherhood. The people of Egypt are not afraid of Brotherhood – only the US and Israel are worried. The protestors in the Square are demanding democracy and urging all to accept whatever the outcome of democracy – even Brotherhood forming government – though that is not the likely outcome. Indian democracy tamed the BJP and tested the NDA and its popularity, put the secretive RSS on scrutiny by media and exposed their extremism. Democracy in Egypt will further moderate the Brotherhood if it has to survive.