The Muslim Brotherhood: A Fundamentalist Group - Literature review Example

? The Muslim Brotherhood: A Fundamentalist Group? There is a considerable amount of literary works that deal with the concept of Muslim Brotherhood in the Islamic world. This ideology has its origin in the country of Egypt. The literature has also assessed whether the Muslim Brotherhood Group can be considered as a Fundamentalist Faction. This paper has attempted to trace the development of the literature on the subject as they had been written by the authors and published in due course of time. Piscatori’s book Islam in the political process (1983) is one of the early literary works on an important political ideal of the Muslim Brotherhood Group. The work describes the importance of the Islam religion in the political process of various Islamic states. The author has described how the Muslim revolution in Iran aroused the curiosity of the world and gave birth to many misconceptions about the religion. The author is convinced of the fact that the ideologies governing Islam politics need to be elucidated to the modern society in order to avoid such misunderstandings about the religion. The work has provided an elaborate account of the Islamic revolution in Iran but just outlines the fundamentalist movements in Egypt and other Muslim states. The author has focused on the broad Islamic ideologies in the modern world rather than explicitly describing the characteristics of the various fundamentalist groups. Nevertheless, the author has provided an informative account of the political aspect of the Islam religion that was one of important ideologies of Sayyid Qutb – one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood Group (Piscatori, 1983). Jabbur’s work “The rumbling volcano: Islamic fundamentalism in Egypt” (1993) represents an important literary source in this subject. The author ahs presented a detailed account of the philosophy of Muslim fundamentalism in Egypt. In the second chapter, the author enumerates the history of development of the Islam religion in the country and traces the early manifestations of the Muslim fundamental ideas. The author has classified the Muslim Brotherhood Group as a modern Islamic fundamental group. Chapter 5 describes the flourishing of the Brotherhood Group under Hasan Al-Banna. The author introduces the background scenario of that period and goes on to give an account of Hasan al-Banna, the man. He then describes the characteristics of the Muslim Brotherhood Group, as it had developed under al-Banna. The later section of the chapter also traces the decline of the Group under him. In chapter 6, the author has described the growth of the Brotherhood Group under Sayyid Qutb. He begins by tracing the existence of the Group after al-Banna and enumerates how Sayyid Qutb had a significant influence on the Group. In the concluding section of the chapter, the author has also debated whether Sayyid Qutb can be considered a master of the Brotherhood ideology of a deviant of the same. If the author had also enumerated the effects of the Egyptian fundamentalist Groups’ impact on the modern global society it would have facilitated a better understanding on the reader’s part. (Jabbur,1993). Jabbur book (1993) indicates that by the beginning of the 1990s decade, authors had already started researching extensively about the intricate details of the Muslim Brotherhood Group. As a result, the following years witnessed a host of literary works being published on the subject and on related issues as well. Author Amr’s book “Islamic fundamentalism in the West Bank and Gaza: Muslim Brotherhood and Gaza” (1994) was one of the numerous works published during that time. The author has also termed the Muslim Brotherhood Group (Hamas) as a fundamentalist association. He has described the origin and development of the Group along with the concept of Islamic Jihad. Amr has interpreted their philosophies, political plans, support groups and their overall influence on the Palestinian life and society. The author has also given an account of the altercations between the fundamentalist groups and the Palestine Liberation Organization to influence the modern identity of the country’s society. Chapter One of the book describes in detail the history of the appearance and development of the Muslim Brotherhood Group. In the second chapter, the author has examined the ideologies of the Group in the context of the social life of Palestine. Amr’s book bears testimony to the fact that in addition to researching about the details of the Brotherhood Group, authors had started to evaluate its influence on the different Islamic societies (Amr, 1994). Gaffney’s work The Prophet's pulpit: Islamic preaching in contemporary Egypt (1994) presents an overall view of the various methods of propagating Islam. Particularly, he has given an account of the preaching of the Islamic religion in Egypt. His work has been based on an elaborate field research conducted in the country and identifies the Islamic preacher and his sermons as the most important means of propagating the message of the religion among the masses. The author has also described some of the sermons, which were delivered to encourage the formation of Islam’s fundamentalist ideologies. Gaffney also provides a description of the Muslim militant movement and compares it with the philosophies of the original Islamic religion. He has highlighted the importance of the Islam preaching in influencing the opinion of the masses, forming fundamental organizations and identifying leaders for the broader scheme of the religion (Gaffney, 1994). Rahnama’s book Pioneers of Islamic revival (1994) which was published during the same time is an account of the contemporary Islam movement in the world. The author has dwelled on the life and achievement of the 19th and 20th century Islamic leaders who believed that their religion could provide a solution to the problems of the modern world. Through their respective movements, these leaders had sought to restore the former glory of the countries belonging to the Middle Eastern society. In chapter 6, David Commins has presented an account of the life of Hasan-al-Banna (1906-1949), who was one of the influential persons of the Muslim Brotherhood Group. Commins has analyzed Banna’s ideologies and analyzed his achievements in the light of the historical background of those times. He has highlighted Banna’s role as an Organizer and an Activist of the Brotherhood Group. Similarly, in chapter 7, author Charles Tripp has described the achievements of Sayyid Qutb, under whom the Muslim Brotherhood Group again flourished after al-Banna. Tripp has specially concentrated on Qutb’s life, career and literary writings which had s significant impact on the ideologies of the Brotherhood Group (Rahnama, 1994). The works of Gaffney and Rahnama show that apart from detailing the Muslim Brotherhood Group, the contemporary authors were trying to assess the general trends of the Islamic religion prevalent in Egypt. Their works have therefore, presented some general features of the contemporary Muslim religion. Marty and Appleby (1994) had selected an even broader subject as the central theme in their book Fundamentalisms observed. The authors have described religious reactionary movement of the twentieth century originating in different religious cultures of the world. The authors have researched on the genesis of these movements in the context of the “social, political, cultural and religious” scenarios of the countries of their respective origins. Martin and Appleby have also delved into the philosophical thoughts and ideological beliefs governing these fundamentalist movements. The members of these Groups along with their leaders have to adapt themselves to the challenges of the modern world. The authors have based their writings on the account of many “sociologists, cultural anthropologists and historians who had been keen observers of these fundamentalist groups. The book provides an interesting account of the modern religious movements originating countries of North America and those of the Middle East which represent the global resurgence movement in religions. In chapter 6, author John O. Voll has described the fundamentalist movement in the Sunni countries of the Arab world: primarily Egypt and Sudan (Martin & Appleby, 1994). The subsequent literary works find the authors trying to explore different facets of the Islamic religion. Dekmejian (1995) in his book Islam in revolution has presented a detailed analysis of how the Islamic religion reacted to the interference of the Western powers in the former’s philosophical as well as material spheres. The work has focused mainly on the political angle of the reaction of the Muslim world. In the second part of the book, while studying the resurgence of the Islamic religion in the Arabic world, the author has termed the country of Egypt as the “Cradle of Islamism” in chapter 6. Under part three, author Dekmejian has explored the new ideas that have taken form in the religion. In chapter 8, he has provided a fair account of the new philosophies of the Islamic movement that have been prevalent in Egypt in the recent times The book primarily focuses on the Islamic philosophies as they developed in Egypt and provides limited information about the Muslim Brotherhood Group. Inspite of this, it is an important work that describes an important angle of the Muslim religion. (Dekmejian,1985) Sagiv (1995) in his book Fundamentalism and intellectuals in Egypt, 1973-1993 has explored another facet of the religion. He enumerates the outlook of Egypt’s intellectual class of people towards the flourishing of the Islamic fundamentalist groups in the modern Egyptian society. Thought the intellectuals recognized that the very basis of Egypt’s social structure rested on the ideals of Islam, they believed that converting the country into an Islamic state would herald a return to the society of the Middle Ages. They further believed that Egypt would not be able to solve its problems and progress into the 21st century without taking the help of the scientific and technical innovations of the Western world. In part one of the book, the author has given an account of the fundamentalist groups under the resurgence of Islam. Chapter one describes the genesis of the fundamentalist thought from the times of Ibn Taymiyya and how this gave rise to the Muslim Brotherhood Group. In the second chapter, the author describes the operations of the Brotherhood Group under Sayyid Qutb. Finally, chapter three enumerates how the Egyptian fundamentalist movement progressed from Sayyid Qutb to form the militant Islamic organizations. The main focus of Sagiv’s work has been to assess the attitude of the Egyptian intellectual people to the Islamic fundamentalist movement, rather than just concentrating on the movement (Sagiv, 1995). Sullivan and Abeb-Kotob (1995) in their book Islam in contemporary Egypt:civil society vs. the state have concentrated on the characteristics of the Islamic religion in the contemporary Egyptian society. The authors have highlighted the area of religious conflicts between the State and the member of the civilian society. Under chapter 3 of the book, the authors have provided a detailed account of the Muslim Brotherhood Group. As a critique of the work, it can be said that the book doea not provide adequate information regarding the fundamentalist activities of the Group. (Sullivan and Abeb-Kotob,1995). Huband (1998) in his work Warriors of the Prophet: the struggle for Islam has focused on the Muslim Fundamentalist Groups and has presented an elaborate description of their increasing political and cultural significance in the modern society. He has based his book on the first-hand account of many eye-witnesses and their interviews. The author has declared that the Western powers have played a significant part in the formation of the Muslim fundamentalist movement by initially lending their support to the Islamic resistance in Afghanisthan. Huband has held elaborate discussion on the subject with the Muslim Fundamentalist Groups, Islamic academicians as well as the political adversaries to this militant movement. Subsequently he has based his writings on these discussions. As Huband’s work relies heavily on personal accounts, the writing is expected to be influenced by the personal biases of the interviewees. Though persons closely associated with Islamic fundamentalist movement are an authentic source of information, they are bound to have their own independent viewpoints about the subject. The author has also explored the historical origins of the Islamic militant movement and tried to analyze the intellectual rationale behind their formation (Huband, 1998). It is found that the subsequent literary works on the subject have again shifted back their attention on the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt. Rubin’s work (2002) Islamic fundamentalism in Egyptian politics is a proof of this trend. The author has provided a rich source of information about the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt. Chapter 2 traces the modern history of the Fundamental ideology in the country. It enumerates the decline of the Muslim Brotherhood and how the Group was revived by Sadat in the 1970s. In the third chapter, the author has elaborately described the ideologies and plans of the Brotherhood Group. He has enumerated the programs of Al-Tilimsani described the basic strategies and elections politics of the Group and analyzed its outlook towards radicals and violent demonstrations. The author has also given an account of the internal factions within the Group. Under chapter 8, Rubin has debated whether the Muslim Brotherhood Group can be classified as a political party or an election alliance. The chapter also provides details about the critics of the Muslim Brotherhood Program However, the author has wanted to avoid controversy since he has refrained from highlighting the fundamentalist ideals of the Muslim Brotherhood Group (Rubin, 2002). However, Rubin’s book does not indicate that authors were solely concentrating their efforts on the Muslim Brotherhood Group. Through the years, their focus of research had already expanded to include numerous related topics. Marty and Appleby (2004) in one of their later works Accounting for fundamentalisms: the dynamic character of movements have focused on the dynamic characteristics of the Fundamentalist movement in the different countries of the world. In this particular book, a host of authors have presented their account of the various fundamentalist groups belonging to Christianity, Islamism, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. The authors have described the organization of these Groups, their leaders, members and their recruiting policies. The book also provides an overview of the complex process by which these fundamentalist groups adapt their organizational frameworks and ideological strategies to the rapidly altering political and social scenario of the modern world. Part Three of the book deals with the fundamentalist movement in the Islamic religion. In Chapter 15, author Gehad Auda has presented a fairly detailed account of the normalization process of the Muslim Movement in Egypt from the decade of the 1970s to the first half of the 1990s. Author Auda has highlighted the general Islamic fundamentalist movement in Egypt rather than solely concentrating on the Muslim Brotherhood Group. Nevertheless, the author’s writing provides the readers with informative insights regarding the fundamentalist ideals of the Group (Martin & Appleby,1994). By the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, academicians had unearthed a vast source of information about the Muslim Brotherhood Group and the Islamic fundamentalist movement. The Brotherhood Movement had moderate Islamists as well as extreme proponents of the religion. The moderate members wanted to spread the Islamic ideals to the western world by reforming their society and culture, whereas the extremists tried to impose the religion on them through the use of violent means. Author Jonsson (2006) in his book “Islamic Economics and the Final Jihad: The Muslim Brotherhood to the Leftist/Marxist Islamic Alliance” has described the moderate strategy of the Brotherhood Group. Islamic strategy of gaining an authority over the world markets without resorting to the violent means of terrorism. The advocators of this philosophy aimed to achieve this objective by gradually converting the Western population to Islam and by attaining a control over the “currency, oil resources, free trade zones, means of transport, media and financial markets. Under chapter one, the author has explored the origins of the Islamic Fundamentalist movement in various countries. Jonsson has enumerated the process of formation of the Muslim Brotherhood Group and has gone on to describe the role of Sayyid Qutb in influencing the ideals of the Group. The author has underplayed the significance of Qutb’s predecessor Hasan al-Banna in the evolution of the Brotherhood Group. Under a section, the author declares that the objective of true muslims was to substitute the existing ideological system with the new system. In the later sections of the chapter, the author has also provided an account of the Muslim Brotherhood Group’s Operations in the US economy. Jonsson has avoided explicitly categorizing the Group as an Islamic fundamentalist organization. Had he included a section on the fundamentalist ideals of the Group, the readers would have gained insight into this aspect of the movement (Jonsson, 2006). The video: The Powers of the Nightmare, Part 1 presents a comparison of the Islamist Fundamental movement with the Neo-Conservative Movement of the USA. It has depicted Egyptian Sayyid Qutb who was then a civil servant, travelling to the USA to learn about the country’s education system. Later Qutb became disillusioned with his experiences and returned to Egypt. He was one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood Group. This video provides information about Sayiid Qutb, who was one of the leaders of the Group, but does not elaborate much on the other pioneers of the movement. The viewers can form an idea about the experiences of Qutb, which encouraged him to become one of the significant leaders of the Brotherhood Group. The video The Powers of the Nightmare, Part 2, has depicted how the Islamic fundamentalist groups under the leadership of Osama-bin-Laden and Dr. Al-Zawahiri joined forces with the US Neo-Conservative Movement (sponsored by the Ronald Reagan led Government) to counter Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. The video also shows that the then Islamists believed that they had the authority to create a complete Islamic state like Egypt and Algeria. This visual source has highlighted the reasons for the formation of Islamic fundamentalist organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood Group. Though, it provides limited insights into the actual activities of the Brotherhood Group, nonetheless it serves as an important source of information regarding the genesis of the Islamic militant movement. This is how the literature on the Muslim Brotherhood Group, the Islamic fundamentalist movement and other related topics have developed over the years. Conclusion In 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood Group was founded by Hasan-al-Banna (1906-1949). During that time, the British colonial power that was present in Egypt was considered to be polluting the Islamic religion and causing its decline. Thus, the Muslim Brotherhood Group was established to stem this deterioration and ensure the religion’s expansion through different methods. The available literary sources provide considerable information on the life of al-Banna and the origin and evolution of the Brotherhood Group under him. The Brotherhood Group has contained moderate Islamists who have tried to spread the religion though ethical and social reform and also extremists who have attempted to enforce Islamic ideals by the use of force. There is a considerable volume of literature describing the extremist members of the Group and their efforts in spreading the Islamic ideology through violent means. In fact, most of the books have highlighted the extremist ideologies and resulting activities of the movement. On the other hand, there is limited information about the moderate members who had adopted a non-violent approach in spreading Islam. Author Jonsson (2006) in his book has described the Islamic strategy of spreading the religion to the western countries by reforming their societies according to the Islamic philosophies. However, it would have been better to have some more literary sources enumerating the moderate philosophy of the Muslim Brotherhood Group. The activities of the Group gradually declined after the killing of Al-Banna in 1949 by the Egyptian secret Police. After this, the Brotherhood Group was again revived by Sayyid Qutb, who proved to be the most important theoretical leader of the Group. Again, considerable amount of information is available on the ideologies of Qutb and the evolution of the Brotherhood Group under his leadership. Sayyid Qutb believed that the society of Islamic nations should be governed by Islamic religious authorities. The governing laws ought to be formulated based on the Quran and not by the discretion of men. In other words, Qutb advocated that there was no separation between religion and politics. Piscatori (1983) in his book has described the significance of the Islam religion in the political process of certain countries like Iran, Sudan, Egypt, etc. However, it is important to have some more literary sources enumerating the role of Islam in the political and governance processes of economies. This was one of the important philosophies of Qutb which needs further elaboration. On the whole, the available literature provides a broad range of information about the Muslim Brotherhood Group, its pioneering leaders and its operations as a fundamentalist movement. However, there are some areas which require to be elaborated by more information and real life examples. References 1. Piscatori (1983) Islam in the political process Royal Institute for International Affairs 2. Jabbur, N (1993) The rumbling volcano: Islamic fundamentalism in Egypt USA, William Carrey Library 3. Amr, Z.A (1994) Islamic fundamentalism in the West Bank and Gaza: Muslim Brotherhood and Gaza USA, Indiana University Press 4. Gaffney, P.D. (1994) The Prophet's pulpit: Islamic preaching in contemporary Egypt USA, University of California Press 5. Rahnama, A. (1994) Pioneers of Islamic revival USA, Palgrave Macmillan 6. Marty, M.E & Appleby, R.S (1994) Fundamentalisms observed USA, University of Chicago Press 7. Dekmejian, H. (1995) Islam in revolution USA, Syracuse University Press 8. Sagiv, D (1995) Fundamentalism and intellectuals in Egypt, 1973-1993 USA, Routledge 9. Sullivan, D.J & Abeb-Kotob, S. (1995) Islam in contemporary Egypt:  civil society vs. the state Lynne Rienner Publishers 10. Huband, M. (1998) Warriors of the Prophet: the struggle for Islam Westview Press 11. Rubin, B.M. (2002) Islamic fundamentalism in Egyptian politics USA: Palgrave Macmillan 12. Marty, M.E & Appleby, R.S (2004) Accounting for fundamentalisms: the dynamic character of movements USA, University of Chicago Press 13. Jonsson, D. (2006) Islamic Economics and the Final Jihad: The Muslim Brotherhood to the Leftist/Marxist Islamic Alliance USA, Xulon Press 14. Video - The Power of Nightmares Part 1-Baby it's Cold Outside from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5lByw7kvS0 15. Video - The Power of Nightmares Part 2 - The Phantom Story from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai6LhnW4Oa8&feature=related Read More