Monarchies Have No Place Today - Case Study Example

MONARCHIES HAVE NO PLACE IN THE MODERN WORLD Introduction The two leaders I will use to discuss the topic will be Nelson Mandela and Sayyid Qutb. Nelson Mandela was an anti-apartheid revolutionist from South Africa who served as the country’s president for one term. Mandela was the first black man to head South Africa. It was also the first democratic election held in South Africa. Sayyid Qutb was an Egyptian writer and the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood before he met his death. Sayyid got a conviction in 1966 of plotting an assassination of then Egyptian president and sentenced to death by hanging. He led the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and 1960s. Sayyid Qutb had beliefs about social and political roles that Muslims should play in society. Mandela’s reign had its focus on tackling poverty, apartheid and inequality of the people of South Africa. Sayyid Qutb had an inner circle of politicians and intellectuals. Discussion Nelson Mandela was in prison for twenty-seven years fighting for equality in South Africa. His primary concern was to drive out the White man dominance in South Africa and their constant rule. Mandela was seeking to end white supremacy in South Africa. The modern world is a world of democracy and justice for its people. Mandela was worried while in prison about the economy of his people and ways the banking and mining industries were not doing as well as they should do. Sayyid Qutb brought the concept of ‘modern jahiliyyah’ to the Egyptians. Sayyid says the society is in a state of ignorance. He seeks to end the rule of his country as the society has on the domination of one person’s thoughts instead of God. Sayyid believes people only focus on what they are told to do with one man who dominates them instead of the supreme God. He greatly objected the popular sovereignty instead of God’s sovereignty. 1He suffered incarceration, torture and unpleasant experiences in the US jails for speaking against the suffering of the Arabs. Nelson Mandela on the other hand brought Sovereignty in South Africa through the National Party, which had Afrikaner people as dominants. His Africa National Congress had persons of sub-Saharan descent as dominant. Mandela had a slogan “it always seems impossible until it is done” that kept him going in seeking equality for his people. Nelson Mandela had a lifetime of his personal sacrifice for his people. He wanted to end apartheid and in the process was viewed as being politically incorrect. Apartheid, the white supremacy uses racism to oppress and enslave the black people. The worst part of the South Africa apartheid is that people were being oppressed in their country. Mandela felt enough was enough and decided to act on the oppression. 2The results of him voicing his opinion and that of others led him to prison. When Sayyid Qutb went to study the American education system, he witnessed the support the Americans were giving Israel. The discovery along with denigration of the Arabs such as the founder of Muslim Brotherhood assassination made Sayyid bitter. He was not able to shed his bitterness against the unfair treatment of the Muslims and Arabs. Sayyid came to hate everything America and everything about the country. He describes the American people as having no spirituality in them. He describes churches in America as entertainment centers and playgrounds for sex. He rejected their system of education and was shocked that women had the freedom. He says the Islamic way of life is difficult and viable in this modern world. His return to Egypt led him to join the Muslim Brotherhood immediately. The aim of the organization was to seek Muslim dominance in Egypt and the Egyptians lifestyle. Sayyid was one of the supporters of the Egyptian Revolution in 1952. He had collaboration with the Free Officers and tried to influence the decisions they had for the country. The then South Africa government of accused Mandela of incitement, sabotage and attempt to start the guerrilla war in the country. Mandela denied all the charges against him, and his sentence was life imprisonment. Mandela was taken to serve his time in Robben Island prison where he was for more than eighteen years. He was in a concrete damp cell that had the measurements of 8 feet by 7 feet. He studied in the cells for his LLB Degree and smuggled in newspapers that were not allowed in the prison. Mandela’s eyesight got bad when he was working at the lime quarry and denied access to sunglasses. Mandela while in jail led many demonstrations and hunger strikes seeking to improve prison conditions3. He cited the adverse conditions in the jail as the result of the Apartheid rule. He was demonstrating against the government, thus the anti-apartheid leader. Qutb insisted that Egypt as an Islamic state should have laws on the Quran principles when consulting and Sharia law. He believed the Sharia law is complete and should guide legal and moral systems. According to him, no further legislation is possible in governing a country. Qutb says one group of people cannot legislate for other people as this is inequality and disrespect to the dignity of the believers.4 Many scholars, e.g. Mawlana Abdul Ala Mawdudi disagrees with Qutb and says Islam constitutes its form of democracy. The writer agrees with Qutb on the sovereignty of God rather than the popular sovereignty. The African National Congress prisoners elected Nelson Mandela as the High Organ alongside three other inmates. He was a representative of all the political prisoners and presented their complaints that led him to be confined to solitude many times. Mandela initiated the University of Robben Island by forging links with PAC and also with Yu Chi Chan Club. The school had prisoners lectures on areas of expertise. Mandela mainly debated on areas such as homosexuality and politics. He got into a serious argument on matters pertaining to policies. Mandela studied Islam and Afrikaans by attending the prison’s Sunday Church Service. Mandela’s aim was to build mutual respect with the wardens and bring them to support his cause of ending apartheid in South Africa. Mandela was successful in meeting various officials who were to champion his cause outside the prison. Mandela was, however, forbidden to attend the funeral of his mother and his first-born son. The prison conditions improved due to the prisoners demanding their rights led by Mandela. Black prisoners now put on trousers, and several field games came to be in the jail5. The standard of the food of the prisoners also improved. An attempt to break Mandela out of prison failed. He however had a promotion to Class A prisoner and he got more visits and letters from family and friends. The rallies and campaigns towards freeing Mandela became intense in South Africa. Sayyid Qutb was disappointed as Egypt’s President Nasser refused to sign the Sharia Law as the law of the people of Egypt. The president also denied the proposal by Qutb to assign positions to members of the Muslim Brotherhood in the government6. There was an attempt to take the life of the Egypt’s president. It led to members of the Muslim Brotherhood being rounded up by authority and arrested. There was an official ban on the Muslim Brotherhood and any activities regarding the group. Qutb went to prison for ten years, and he used the time in there to come up with some of his most influential works to date. Qutb writings contain much radical social criticism. He writes about the meaning and the end of religion in the modern world and modern times. Qutb was against the Westernization of the Muslim nations and ways it led them away from God’s sovereignty. He insists it is necessary to form Muslim states, as this is part of the Quran. In his book Milestones, Qutb begins by criticizing the western countries and the way of their lifestyle. He later turns his attention to the Islamic Societies. Egypt has been growing distance from the Islamic institutions, values, and practices, and it was a concern to Qutb.7 Qutb was still advocating a revolution in Egypt and making it an Islamic nation from the prison. Nelson Mandela, along with the other senior ANC members was transferred from Robben Island prison to Pollsmoor prison in 1982. During this time, the then President Botha allowed Indians and Whites to vote their parliament. Mandela saw this as a divide in the anti-apartheid reforms. Mandela had an offer on his release on condition that there would no longer be ANC. He refused sighting there was no reason for a prisoner to sign contracts8. Release Mandela campaigns intensified further on his 70th birthday in 1988. Mandela went to another prison, Victor Verster Prison following a tuberculosis infection. He completed his LLB degree course while in Victor Verster. Mandela was then released unconditionally in 1990 and his photos taken for the first time in the country in over 20 years.9 Mandela appeared holding Winnie Mandela’s hand in front of massive supporters. Mandela traveled around the world meeting leaders and advocating the end of apartheid.10Apartheid was successfully abolished in South Africa in 1994, as Mandela became the president of the country under the ANC. Qutb underwent torture and suffering while in prison for heading the Muslim Brotherhood. However, he was let out of prison after serving ten years and rearrested after eight months. Qutb was then accused of trying to overthrow the current government and making a show trial. The testing and evidence against him was mainly from the book he had written earlier. The court decided a death sentence for Qutb and other six members of the Muslim Brotherhood11. The sentencing on Qutb was on the charges of trying to assassinate the president and other officials though he was not in the plot to do these acts.12 Qutb’s execution was in 1966 by hanging. Conclusion Nelson Mandela and Sayyid Qutb were both the extreme revolutionist and held significant history in their countries. Mandela advocated the end of Apartheid and the discrimination of the black people. Nelson Mandela succeeded in his mission, although he went through a lot in the process. Apartheid eventually came to an end and South Africa an apartheid free country. Qutb was advocating the end of traditional sovereignty and instead people should have God sovereignty. Muslim Brotherhood did not succeed in making Egypt an Islamic nation, but Qutb is an important person in their history as an individual that was advocating the changes in the modern world. Bibliography Bergesen, Albert. “Sayyid Qutb, Milestones.” The Sayyid Qutb Reader. 2008. Calvert, John. Sayyid Qutb and the Origins of radical Islamism. Texas: Hurst, 2010. Dion, Forster. "Mandela and the Methodists: Fact, fallacy and faith". Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae (2014): 87–115. Khatab, Sayed. The Political Thought of Sayyid Qutb. London: Routledge, 2006 Khatab, Sayed. The Power of Sovereignty. London: Routledge, 2006 Mandela, Nelson. Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. New York: Little Brown, 2008. Mmatshilo, Motsei. "Madiba, Dalibhunga, Rolihlahla: Nelson Mandelas gifts to the world". City Press. (2013) Rick, Ungar. "When Conservatives Branded Nelson Mandela A Terrorist". Forbes. 2013. 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