What is the Muslim Brotherhood and why is it so popular in Egypt - Essay Example

?What Is The Muslim Brotherhood And Why Is It So Popular In Egypt? Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Discussion 4 The Muslim Brotherhood 4 Popularity of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt 6 Arguments in Support of the Muslim Brotherhood and its Presence in the Egyptian Society 8 Arguments against the Muslim Brotherhood and its Presence in the Egyptian Society 10 Conclusion 12 References 13 Introduction The group or the society of Islam brothers is often translated as the Muslim Brotherhood. It is also regarded as a religious organisation that has vital importance in many Arab countries’ political and social stance. It is worth mentioning in this context that the notion of Muslim Brotherhood has its roots in Egypt where it was founded as a pan Islamic religious and social movement by a group of activist Islamic scholars and teachers in the 20th century. Historical evidences reveal that the movement had been quite popular not only in Egypt but all around the world integrating more than two million Islamic members from various Islamic countries. To be noted, the movement was founded by an imam and a school teacher named Hassan al-Banna. According to the founder of the movement, i.e. Imam Hassan al-Banna, the main idea behind the initiation of the movement was to encourage the Islamic nature to dominate, rather than to get dominated by others. Although many experts all over the world believe that the organisation does not appreciate violence, it has many a times found cruised to have its linkage with Islamic terrorism (Tadros, 2012, pp. 1-15). It is in this context that the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood attempts to advise its loyal followers to rescue Jerusalem from the dominance of Palestine which indicates a strong influence of historic event on the religious as well as social customers of the Muslim community in Egypt. This particular aspect however have been criticised to ignite the sense of terrorism among the followers of the organisation. It is further viewed that the organisation seeks to spread its teachings and ideologies all across the globe so that they can gain maximum number of followers which will in turn strengthen their power and influence over the world politics which has further been criticised as an aggressive political move covered with religious and social intentions. Apparently, the organisation works in every section of the society which includes schools, universities and professional offices among others. This aspect concedes with the aim of the organisation which searches for commendable position in all aspects of life of the Islamic people with special emphasis on the Arabic countries (Tadros, 2012; Leiken & Brooke, 2007, pp. 107-121). Correspondingly, the aim of this paper is to discuss about the Muslim Brotherhood in detail with respect to its popularity in Egypt. Discussion The Muslim Brotherhood From a generalised perspective, Muslim Brotherhood is regarded as a social and religious organisation that has its presence in various Islamic and non-Islamic nations of the world. It seeks to operate and show its influence in various aspects of the day to day life of people belonging to the Islam community, integrating all the Muslim like-minded people from around the world to regain the historical identity and a respectful position of Muslim society in the modern world (Aldridge, 2013, pp. 1-75). However, the concept of Muslim Brotherhood has a broader dimension. In order to have an in depth understanding of the same a detailed study is required. Hasan al-Banna was the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt in the year 1928. He not only acted as a leader of the religious as well as political movement but also worked as a guide to the Muslim community motivating his followers to regain the dominance and social respect in the world. The organisation can further be observed to have been built on the notion that by integrating the Muslim community people, referred as Muslim brothers, the organisation could effectively work towards strengthening the presence of Muslim all over the globe. It has been noted that the organisation and its followers acted on the belief that ‘Allah’ is their prime objective, the ‘Quran’ is their sole law and the ‘Prophet’ is their only leader. They further see Jihad as the way they can use their life for the lord (i.e. Allah). This beliefs or ideals of the Muslim Brotherhood can be further illustrated as the key aspects that attracted Islamic people to the organisation. From the ideologies of the Muslim Brotherhood it can be depicted that the organisation has been keen to unite all the Muslim countries and Islamic population of the world to work towards liberating themselves from the foreign powers. Many critics all around the world argue on the fact that this approach of the organisation evokes a sense of terrorism and aggression towards other religious groups among the followers which has often been replicated as a significant threat for the various parties engaged with world politics. Furthermore, the organisation also believes in political reform and democracy. The operation or the presence of the organisation is quite vast which include Bahrain, Iran, Iraq and Egypt among the prime regions (Zollner, 2008, pp. 9-25). It is worth mentioning in this context that although the organisation does not apparently advocate the use of violence against non-Islamic civilians, the motives shown by the organisation with its approach is always being questioned. To be precise, the notion followed by the organisation of integrating Muslim brothers to gain dominance on other global religious groups have been questioned and criticised as a symbolism of aggressive and violent motive. This particular notion considered by the organisation has often been argued in the worldwide context to support violence in order to fulfil its political objectives. Apart from this, the involvement of many of the members of this organisation in igniting terrorism sense among the followers on the grounds of religious motifs has also been considered as a matter for concern at often instances and thus have led to intense scrutinization of the organisation’s actions in the global context (Kingsleya, 2013; Zollner, 2008). Popularity of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt Muslim Brotherhood is an organisation that has its strong roots Egypt. The organisation was established in Egypt in the year 1928 and since then it has been successful in gradually becoming a vital part of the Islamic lifestyle. Over the years, the organisation has seen successful in various regions of the world; although, its popularity in Egypt remains incomparable. The organisation has maximum number of followers from this part of the world. However, analysts affirm that there are certain other reasons that owe to the popularity of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt (Kingsleya, 2013). The popularity of the institution can also be depicted with reference to the fact that in the parliamentary election Muslim Brotherhood representative had won around 47% votes in the year 2012 which was higher than other political competitors (USA Today, 2013). The below chart depicts the popularity of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in the year 2012. Fig: Survey Result of Election of Egypt (Pew Research, 2012) However, by the year 2013, Mohammed Morsi, the head of the political wing of Muslim Brotherhood, received only 49% approval from general public which depicted a steep decline from 79%, i.e. his approval ratings obtained in the year 2012. Consequently, it was observed that the organisation had to lose control on the country’s political decision making process to a certain extent owing to its diminishing popularity in Egypt (USA Today, 2013). Contextually, it is believed that the organisation is the largest and the oldest Islamic organisation in Egypt. Since its inception, the organisation had deep impacts on the political and social structure of the country. It can be observed that the organisation, at the initial stages only desired to spread Islamic morals and beliefs; but with the course of time, it took active participation in Egypt’s movement to regain freedom from the British colonies and other western powers. It was with the virtues of these patriotic notions being guided by the religious values, which the organisation claimed to be aspiring, that Muslim Brotherhood gained massive popularity in Egypt and became an important facet in the lives of the Islamic people. As a result, owing to the aforesaid aspects, the organisation integrated more than two million followers in Egypt within almost two decades of its establishment. This marked the beginning of new popularity heights for the organisation in the country of Egypt. However, in the late 1940s, the group was banned for its certain conducts and also because the authoritative members of the organisation were found to be the prime accused for the murder of the then prime minister of Egypt (BBC, 2012). Irrespective of its ban, the organisation continued operating in Egypt. In the recent years, it has been learnt that the group has shown massive involvement in the political scene of the country. The group has developed itself as one of the strongest opposition parties of the country in the recent era and have consequently, gained significant popularity not only in Egypt, but also in other Islamic nations (Gerges, 2010). Arguments in Support of the Muslim Brotherhood and its Presence in the Egyptian Society It accordance with the discussion above, it can be noted that Muslim Brotherhood has been successful in causing some deep impacts on the lives of the Islamic people all over the globe, Egypt being its prime location. Today, the organisation has its supporters from all around the world who follow the concepts and messages of Muslim Brotherhood. With respect to this particular aspect, which can also be attributed as a quality feature of Muslim Brotherhood, its negative and positive impacts can be depicted, especially to the people of Egypt. For instance, when referring to the Egyptian socio-economic and political stance in the current decade, it can be observed that Muslim Brotherhood has gained a leadership position in the political scene of the nation allowing the organisation to strongly influence the political decision making and thereby to control the economic prospects of the country. To be illustrated, as the Egypt is largely dependent on its tourism industry, the Islamic group has been observed to be on the move to revive the tourism policies of the country and therefore, to attract maximum number of people from different corners of the world. This aspect can be considered as among the positive contribution of Muslim Brotherhood to the Egyptian society (Zahid, 2012). The group can also be supported or appreciated on behalf of its active participation in the revolution of Egypt against the British rule and thereby, rewarding freedom to the country people. When comparing with the historic contributions made by the organisation towards country benefits, this particular contribution can be admitted as one of the most admirable. Furthermore, the group was also respected for its continuous social services for the poor people of the society in Egypt and thereby supported the socio-economic prospects of the nation by large. After emerging in the political scene of Egypt, the group came out with policies and actions in order to provide a better life to the people which fundamentally included the female populaces of the country. In the recent era, the group has also developed and suggested policies that can be effective in prohibiting harassments in the society on the basis of gender. This aspect or particular approach of the Muslim Brotherhood can be appreciated as it seeks betterment of the entire society. All these impacts of the organisation on the Egyptian society and the political dimension depicts that the Muslim Brotherhood have certain appreciative aspects for its supporters all over the world. These factors can also be portrayed as the concern of the group for its followers or the Islamic population in Egypt and other parts of the world (Zahid, 2012, pp. 39-66). Arguments against the Muslim Brotherhood and its Presence in the Egyptian Society As was described in the above sections, from a critical point of view, it will be worth mentioning that Muslim Brotherhood also has imposed certain negative impacts on the society of the entire Europe along with other Islamic countries of the world. To be illustrated, the approaches often adopted by the organisation in favour of violence in agreement with religious motifs and teachings have given rise to criticism as against the organisation in the global context. Allegedly, the group has often been reported to decipher maximum support towards violence with the sole motive to have the operations executed as per the planning of the authoritative members of the body. Again, concerning its social motifs, the organisation acclaims Jihad as its primary goal which has been misinterpreted as a synonym for violence which although, in actual meaning, refers to the duty of the Muslims to preach the beliefs of Islam and struggle against any aspect or doing which is not accepted as per the norms of Islam. However, Jihad has been replicated as a Holy War by the Muslim Brotherhood organisation and has often been used to spread terrorism threat in the global society, causing massive damages to life. This particular approach taken by the group can apparently be noted as the most apparent negative impacts led on social prospects of the Islamic people of Egyptian society and other Islamic counties of the world. Reports published in this context have also depicted that as the group has a large numbers of followers in various parts of the world, it is quite likely that the followers will easily get influenced by this approach of the organisation and ignite a sense of terrorism in their behaviour. Moreover in the recent development, the brotherhood has been criticised for conducting particular actions which have hindered the growth and advancement of the post-modern Muslim community all around the world, and especially in Egypt. In response to such actions, various social riots were organised against the organisation which therefore, gave rise to massive social unrests in the Islamic nations (Blomfield, 2011). It can be further noted in this regard that protestors or opposers of Muslim Brotherhood is also gaining increasing popularity within the global plethora which in turn has made the negative impacts caused by the organisation more apparent to the common public and have also resulted in social degradation of many economies (Whitehead, 2012). It is in this context that the most devastating effects of Muslim Brotherhood was observed as the degrading international trade relations of the Islamic world with the non-Islamic countries which in turn have restricted the competitive advancement of many nations in the era of globalisation and technology. Not only in international trade relations, but also on social prospects, the intention of the organisation to remain rooted to its ancient society has restricted the growth and empowerment of particular demographic sections of the Muslim world. For instance, the organisation’s approaches towards empowering women have always been criticised to be negative which has at large caused a certain degree of unrest within the Islamic society where women belonging to other culture are much forward and play a vital role to improve the socio-economic stance of a nation on the whole (Kingsleyb, 2013). Conclusion With reference to the overall discussion in the study, it can be concluded that the Muslim Brotherhood is among the biggest Islamic groups of the world. The main aim of the group, since its initiation has been concentrated towards encouraging Islam to work towards the benefits of Islamic nations whether it be in freedom movements of in intra-national contexts to perform Jihad, i.e. to oppose any action which is against Islamic beliefs. However, with the passing time, this particular notion considered by the organisation started being misused and misinterpreted as an action of terrorism which the group referred as Holy War. Today, the organisation operates in various Islamic and non-Islamic nations of the world. Even though, it is evident from the overall discussion that the organisation has seen immense popularity in Egypt, its followers in other parts of the Muslim world are also observed at large numbers. However, a considerable change can be witnessed in the popularity and support the organisation has been receiving in the initial phase of its establishment and in the current era owing to its impacts on the Islamic society around the globe. For instance, the group had shown concern for the people of the country in the initial phases where the organisational members took active participation in the freedom movement of the country. This particular approach, being in the benefit of the overall Islamic society was supported readily by the common people owing to which, the group gained immense popularity in Egypt and other nations of the world. However, with the passing phase, the group started being accused for conducting immoral conducts which inflicted terrorism and hindrance to the development of the society in Islamic nations. References Aldridge, A., 2013. Religion in the Contemporary World: A Sociological Introduction. Wiley. BBC, 2012. Profile: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12313405 [Accessed 7 June, 2013]. Blomfield, A., 2011. Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Facing Growing Backlash from Protesters. The Telegraph. [Online] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8910863/Egypt-Muslim-Brotherhood-facing-growing-backlash-from-protesters.html [Accessed 7 June, 2013]. Gerges, F., 2010. The Muslim Brotherhood: New Leadership, Old Politics. The Guardian. [Online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/jan/20/muslim-brotherhood-egypt [Accessed 7 June, 2013]. Kingsleya, P., 2013. 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