RSSVsi vnosi z oznako: "muslimanska bratovščina"

Arabska Jutri

DAVID B. OTTAWAY

Oktober 6, 1981, je bil v Egiptu mišljen kot dan praznovanja. Obeležili so obletnico največjega trenutka zmage Egipta v treh arabsko-izraelskih konfliktih, ko je podcenjena državna vojska v prvih dneh vdrla čez Sueški prekop 1973 Jomkipurska vojna in poslala izraelske čete v umik. Na hladnem, jutro brez oblačka, stadion v Kairu je bil nabito poln egipčanskih družin, ki so si prišle ogledat vojsko, kako postavlja svojo opremo. Na stojnici za pregled, Predsednik Anwar el-Sadat,vojni arhitekt, z zadovoljstvom gledal, kako pred njim paradirajo ljudje in stroji. Bil sem v bližini, novoprispeli tuji dopisnik.Nenadoma, eden od vojaških tovornjakov se je ustavil neposredno pred pregledovalno stojnico ravno v trenutku, ko je nad glavami v akrobatski izvedbi zarjovelo šest letal Mirage, slikanje neba z dolgimi sledmi rdeče barve, rumena, vijolična,in zeleni dim. Sadat je vstal, očitno se pripravlja na izmenjavo pozdravov s še enim kontingentom egiptovskih vojakov. Postal je odlična tarča za štiri islamistične atentatorje, ki so skočili s tovornjaka, vdrl na stopničke, in njegovo telo prerešetali s kroglami. Ko so morilci nadaljevali, kar se je zdelo večnost, škropili tribuno s svojim smrtonosnim ognjem, Za trenutek sem premišljeval, ali naj udarim ob tla in tvegam, da me panični gledalci poteptajo do smrti, ali pa ostanem na nogah in tvegam, da me bo zadela zalutala krogla.. Instinkt mi je govoril, naj ostanem na nogah, and my sense of journalistic duty impelled me to go find out whether Sadat was alive or dead.

smearcasting: Kako Islamophobes širijo strah, fanatizma in dezinformacije

POŠTENO

Julie Hollar

Jim Naureckas

Narediti islamofobijo mainstream:
Kako napadalci muslimanov oddajajo svojo nestrpnost
Izjemen je zgodilo na National Book Critics Circle, (NBCC) nominacije v februarju 2007: Običajno Prefinjenega okusa in tolerantni skupina nominirana za najboljšo knjigo na področju kritike knjiga pogosto razumemo kot diskreditirati celotno versko skupino.
Nominacija filma Medtem ko je Evropa spala Brucea Bawerja: Kako radikalni islam uničuje Zahod od znotraj, ni minilo brez polemik. Prejšnji nominiranec Eliot Weinberger je knjigo obsodil na letnem srečanju NBCC, to imenujemo "rasizem kot kritika" (New York Times, 2/8/07). Predsednik uprave NBCC John Freeman je zapisal na blogu skupine (Kritična masa, 2/4/07): ''Nikoli nisem bil
bolj osramočen zaradi izbire, kot sem bil z Bruceom Bawerjem Medtem ko je Evropa spala…. Njegova hiperventilirana retorika prehaja iz dejanske kritike v islamofobijo.''
Čeprav na koncu ni dobil nagrade, Medtem ko je bilo priznanje Europe Slept v najvišjih literarnih krogih simbolično za vključevanje islamofobije, ne samo v ameriškem založništvu, ampak v širših medijih. To poročilo ponuja nov pogled na islamofobijo v današnjih medijih in njene povzročitelje, oris nekaterih zakulisnih povezav, ki jih mediji redko raziskujejo. Poročilo vsebuje tudi štiri posnetke, ali »študije primerov,«, ki opisuje, kako islamofobi še naprej manipulirajo z mediji, da bi muslimane slikali s široko, sovražna krtača. Naš cilj je dokumentirati razvajanje: javna pisanja in nastopi islamofobnih aktivistov in strokovnjakov, ki namerno in redno širijo strah, fanatizma in dezinformacije. Izraz "islamofobija" se nanaša na sovražnost do islama in muslimanov, ki teži k dehumanizaciji celotne vere., ki ga prikazujejo kot bistveno tujega in mu pripisujejo inherentno, bistveni niz negativnih lastnosti, kot je iracionalnost, nestrpnost in nasilje. In ne drugače kot obtožbe v klasičnem dokumentu o antisemitizmu, Protokoli sionskih starešin, nekaj bolj virulentnih izrazov islamofobije–kot Medtem ko je Evropa spala–vključujejo spomine na islamske načrte za prevlado nad Zahodom.
Islamske institucije in muslimani, seveda, bi morali biti predmet enakega nadzora in kritike kot vsi drugi. Na primer, ko norveški islamski svet razpravlja o tem, ali je treba homoseksualce in lezbijke usmrtiti, posameznike ali skupine, ki delijo to mnenje, je mogoče odločno obsoditi, ne da bi vanj potegnili vse evropske muslimane, tako kot objava Bawer's Pyjamas Media (8/7/08),
»Razprava o evropskih muslimanih: Ali je treba homoseksualce usmrtiti?”
podobno, skrajneže, ki svoja nasilna dejanja opravičujejo s sklicevanjem na določeno razlago islama, je mogoče kritizirati, ne da bi vpletali v to izjemno raznoliko populacijo muslimanov po vsem svetu.. Konec koncev, novinarjem je uspelo pokriti bombni napad v Oklahoma Cityju Timothyja McVeigha–pripadnik rasistične sekte krščanske identitete–brez zatekanja k posplošenim izjavam o »krščanskem terorizmu«. Prav tako, mediji so poročali o terorističnih dejanjih fanatikov, ki so Judje–na primer pokol v Hebronu, ki ga je izvedel Baruch Goldstein (Dodatno!, 5/6/94)–brez impliciranja celotnega judovstva.

Totalitarizem Džihadski islamizma in njegov izziv za Evropo in islamom

Basso tibi

Pri branju večino besedil, ki sestavljajo veliko literature, ki je bila s samooklicane poznavalci objavljen na politični islam, je enostaven za miss, da je nastalo novo gibanje. Nadalje, ta literatura ne razloži na zadovoljiv način dejstva, da ideologija, ki jo poganja, temelji na določeni interpretaciji islama, in da gre torej za politizirano versko vero,
not a secular one. The only book in which political Islam is addressed as a form of totalitarianism is the one by Paul Berman, Terror and Liberalism (2003). The author is, vendar, not an expert, cannot read Islamic sources, and therefore relies on the selective use of one or two secondary sources, thus failing to grasp the phenomenon.
One of the reasons for such shortcomings is the fact that most of those who seek to inform us about the ‘jihadist threat’ – and Berman is typical of this scholarship – not only lack the language skills to read the sources produced by the ideologues of political Islam, but also lack knowledge about the cultural dimension of the movement. This new totalitarian movement is in many ways a novelty
v zgodovini politike, saj ima svoje korenine v dveh vzporednih in sorodnih pojavih: prvi, kulturalizacija politike, ki vodi v konceptualizacijo politike kot kulturnega sistema (pogled, ki ga je uvedel Clifford Geertz); in drugič vrnitev svetega, ali "ponovno začaranje" sveta, kot odziv na njeno intenzivno sekularizacijo, ki je posledica globalizacije.
Analiza političnih ideologij, ki temeljijo na religijah, in to lahko kot posledica tega postane privlačno kot politična religija, vključuje družboslovno razumevanje vloge religije v svetovni politiki, zlasti po tem, ko se je bipolarni sistem hladne vojne umaknil večpolarnemu svetu. V projektu, ki se izvaja na Inštitutu Hannah Arendt za uporabo totalitarizma pri preučevanju političnih religij, Predlagal sem razlikovanje med sekularnimi ideologijami, ki delujejo kot nadomestek za religijo, in verske ideologije, ki temeljijo na pristni verski veri, kar je v verskem fundamentalizmu (glej opombo
24). Še en projekt o "politični veri", izvedel na Univerzi v Baslu, je pojasnil, da novi pristopi k politiki postanejo potrebni, ko se verska vera odene v politično obleko. Sklicevanje na verodostojne vire političnega islama, ta članek nakazuje, da je treba veliko različnih organizacij, ki jih navdihuje islamistična ideologija, konceptualizirati kot politične religije in kot politična gibanja. Edinstvena kakovost laži političnega islama je dejstvo, da temelji na transnacionalni veri (glej opombo 26).

Islam in novo politično ozadje

Back, Michael Keith, Azra Khan,
Kalbir Shukra in John Solomos

PO napadu na Svetovni trgovinski center na 11 september 2001, ter bombni napad v Madridu in Londonu 2004 in 2005, literatura, ki obravnava oblike in modalitete verskega izražanja – zlasti islamskega verskega izražanja – je cvetela v polsenčnih regijah, ki povezujejo mainstream družboslovje z oblikovanjem socialne politike, think tanki in novinarstvo. Veliko dela je poskušalo opredeliti stališča ali predispozicije muslimanskega prebivalstva na določenem območju napetosti, kot sta London ali Združeno kraljestvo. (Barnes, 2006; Etno svetovanje, 2005; GFK, 2006; GLA, 2006; Populus, 2006), ali kritiziral posamezne oblike posredovanja socialne politike (Svetlo, 2006a; Mirza idr., 2007). Študije islamizma in džihadizma so ustvarile poseben poudarek na sinkretičnih in kompleksnih povezavah med islamsko versko vero ter oblikami družbenih gibanj in politične mobilizacije. (Husain, 2007; Kepel, 2004, 2006; McRoy, 2006; Neville-Jones et al., 2006, 2007; Phillips, 2006; Roy, 2004, 2006). Konvencionalno, analitični fokus je osvetlil kulturo islama, sistemi verovanja vernikov, ter zgodovinske in geografske poti muslimanskega prebivalstva po vsem svetu na splošno in še posebej na "Zahodu". (Abas, 2005; Ansari, 2002; Eade in Garbin, 2002; Husein, 2006; Načini, 2005; Ramadan, 1999, 2005). V tem članku je poudarek drugačen. Trdimo, da je treba študije islamske politične udeležbe skrbno kontekstualizirati brez zatekanja k velikim splošnostim o kulturi in veri. To je zato, ker sta tako kultura kot vera strukturirani in posledično strukturirani kulturi, institucionalne in deliberativne krajine, skozi katere so artikulirane. Na primeru britanskih izkušenj, skrite sledi krščanstva v nastajanju socialne države v prejšnjem stoletju, hitro spreminjajoča se kartografija prostorov političnega in vloga "verskih organizacij" pri prestrukturiranju zagotavljanja blaginje ustvarja materialni družbeni kontekst, ki določa priložnosti in obrise novih oblik politične participacije..

ISLAM, DEMOCRACY & THE USA:

Cordoba Foundation

Abdullah Faliq

Intro ,


In spite of it being both a perennial and a complex debate, Arches Quarterly reexamines from theological and practical grounds, the important debate about the relationship and compatibility between Islam and Democracy, as echoed in Barack Obama’s agenda of hope and change. Whilst many celebrate Obama’s ascendancy to the Oval Office as a national catharsis for the US, others remain less optimistic of a shift in ideology and approach in the international arena. While much of the tension and distrust between the Muslim world and the USA can be attributed to the approach of promoting democracy, typically favoring dictatorships and puppet regimes that pay lip-service to democratic values and human rights, the aftershock of 9/11 has truly cemented the misgivings further through America’s position on political Islam. It has created a wall of negativity as found by worldpublicopinion.org, according to which 67% of Egyptians believe that globally America is playing a “mainly negative” role.
America’s response has thus been apt. By electing Obama, many around the world are pinning their hopes for developing a less belligerent, but fairer foreign policy towards the Muslim world. Th e test for Obama, as we discuss, is how America and her allies promote democracy. Will it be facilitating or imposing?
Še več, can it importantly be an honest broker in prolonged zones of confl icts? Enlisting the expertise and insight of prolifi
c scholars, academics, seasoned journalists and politicians, Arches Quarterly brings to light the relationship between Islam and Democracy and the role of America – as well as the changes brought about by Obama, in seeking the common ground. Anas Altikriti, the CEO of Th e Cordoba Foundation provides the opening gambit to this discussion, where he refl ects on the hopes and challenges that rests on Obama’s path. Following Altikriti, the former advisor to President Nixon, Dr Robert Crane off ers a thorough analysis of the Islamic principle of the right to freedom. Anwar Ibrahim, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, enriches the discussion with the practical realities of implementing democracy in Muslim dominant societies, namreč, in Indonesia and Malaysia.
We also have Dr Shireen Hunter, of Georgetown University, ZDA, who explores Muslim countries lagging in democratisation and modernisation. Th is is complemented by terrorism writer, Dr Nafeez Ahmed’s explanation of the crisis of post-modernity and the
demise of democracy. Dr Daud Abdullah (Director of Middle East Media Monitor), Alan Hart (former ITN and BBC Panorama correspondent; author of Zionism: Th e Real Enemy of the Jews) and Asem Sondos (Editor of Egypt’s Sawt Al Omma weekly) concentrate on Obama and his role vis-à-vis democracy-promotion in the Muslim world, as well as US relations with Israel and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Minister of Foreign Aff airs, Maldives, Ahmed Shaheed speculates on the future of Islam and Democracy; Cllr. Gerry Maclochlainn
a Sinn Féin member who endured four years in prison for Irish Republican activities and a campaigner for the Guildford 4 and Birmingham 6, refl ects on his recent trip to Gaza where he witnessed the impact of the brutality and injustice meted out against Palestinians; Dr Marie Breen-Smyth, Director of the Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Contemporary Political Violence discusses the challenges of critically researching political terror; Dr Khalid al-Mubarak, writer and playwright, discusses prospects of peace in Darfur; and fi nally journalist and human rights activist Ashur Shamis looks critically at the democratisation and politicisation of Muslims today.
We hope all this makes for a comprehensive reading and a source for refl ection on issues that aff ect us all in a new dawn of hope.
Thank you

US Hamas policy blocks Middle East peace

Henry Siegman


Failed bilateral talks over these past 16 years have shown that a Middle East peace accord can never be reached by the parties themselves. Israeli governments believe they can defy international condemnation of their illegal colonial project in the West Bank because they can count on the US to oppose international sanctions. Bilateral talks that are not framed by US-formulated parameters (based on Security Council resolutions, the Oslo accords, the Arab Peace Initiative, the “road map” and other previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements) cannot succeed. Israel’s government believes that the US Congress will not permit an American president to issue such parameters and demand their acceptance. What hope there is for the bilateral talks that resume in Washington DC on September 2 depends entirely on President Obama proving that belief to be wrong, and on whether the “bridging proposals” he has promised, should the talks reach an impasse, are a euphemism for the submission of American parameters. Such a US initiative must offer Israel iron-clad assurances for its security within its pre-1967 borders, but at the same time must make it clear these assurances are not available if Israel insists on denying Palestinians a viable and sovereign state in the West Bank and Gaza. This paper focuses on the other major obstacle to a permanent status agreement: the absence of an effective Palestinian interlocutor. Addressing Hamas’ legitimate grievances – and as noted in a recent CENTCOM report, Hamas has legitimate grievances – could lead to its return to a Palestinian coalition government that would provide Israel with a credible peace partner. If that outreach fails because of Hamas’ rejectionism, the organization’s ability to prevent a reasonable accord negotiated by other Palestinian political parties will have been significantly impeded. If the Obama administration will not lead an international initiative to define the parameters of an Israeli-Palestinian agreement and actively promote Palestinian political reconciliation, Europe must do so, and hope America will follow. Na žalost, there is no silver bullet that can guarantee the goal of “two states living side by side in peace and security.”
But President Obama’s present course absolutely precludes it.

Islamism revisited

MAHA AZZAM

There is a political and security crisis surrounding what is referred to as Islamism, a crisis whose antecedents long precede 9/11. Over the past 25 leta, there have been different emphases on how to explain and combat Islamism. Analysts and policymakers
in the 1980s and 1990s spoke of the root causes of Islamic militancy as being economic malaise and marginalization. More recently there has been a focus on political reform as a means of undermining the appeal of radicalism. Increasingly today, the ideological and religious aspects of Islamism need to be addressed because they have become features of a wider political and security debate. Whether in connection with Al-Qaeda terrorism, political reform in the Muslim world, the nuclear issue in Iran or areas of crisis such as Palestine or Lebanon, it has become commonplace to fi nd that ideology and religion are used by opposing parties as sources of legitimization, inspiration and enmity.
The situation is further complicated today by the growing antagonism towards and fear of Islam in the West because of terrorist attacks which in turn impinge on attitudes towards immigration, religion and culture. The boundaries of the umma or community of the faithful have stretched beyond Muslim states to European cities. The umma potentially exists wherever there are Muslim communities. The shared sense of belonging to a common faith increases in an environment where the sense of integration into the surrounding community is unclear and where discrimination may be apparent. The greater the rejection of the values of society,
whether in the West or even in a Muslim state, the greater the consolidation of the moral force of Islam as a cultural identity and value-system.
Following the bombings in London on 7 julij 2005 it became more apparent that some young people were asserting religious commitment as a way of expressing ethnicity. The links between Muslims across the globe and their perception that Muslims are vulnerable have led many in very diff erent parts of the world to merge their own local predicaments into the wider Muslim one, having identifi ed culturally, either primarily or partially, with a broadly defi ned Islam.

ISLAM AND THE RULE OF LAW

Birgit Krawietz
Helmut Reifeld

In our modern Western society, state-organised legal sys-tems normally draw a distinctive line that separates religion and the law. Conversely, there are a number of Islamic re-gional societies where religion and the laws are as closely interlinked and intertwined today as they were before the onset of the modern age. Ob istem času, the proportion in which religious law (shariah in Arabic) and public law (qanun) are blended varies from one country to the next. What is more, the status of Islam and consequently that of Islamic law differs as well. According to information provided by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), there are currently 57 Islamic states worldwide, defined as countries in which Islam is the religion of (1) the state, (2) the majority of the population, or (3) a large minority. All this affects the development and the form of Islamic law.

Islamska politična kultura, demokracija, in človekove pravice

Daniel E. Cena

Trdimo, da islam olajša avtoritarnost, contradicts the values of Western societies, and significantly affects important political outcomes in Muslim nations. Posledično, učenjaki, komentatorji, and government officials frequently point to ‘‘Islamic fundamentalism’’ as the next ideological threat to liberal democracies. Ta pogled, vendar, is based primarily on the analysis of texts, Islamska politična teorija, and ad hoc studies of individual countries, ki ne upoštevajo drugih dejavnikov. It is my contention that the texts and traditions of Islam, kot druge religije, se lahko uporablja za podporo različnih političnih sistemov in politik. Country specific and descriptive studies do not help us to find patterns that will help us explain the varying relationships between Islam and politics across the countries of the Muslim world. Od tod tudi, nov pristop k preučevanju
zahteva se povezava med islamom in politiko.
predlagam, s strogo oceno odnosa med islamom, demokracija, in človekove pravice na mednarodni ravni, that too much emphasis is being placed on the power of Islam as a political force. I first use comparative case studies, which focus on factors relating to the interplay between Islamic groups and regimes, ekonomski vplivi, etnične razcepe, in družbeni razvoj, to explain the variance in the influence of Islam on politics across eight nations. I argue that much of the power
attributed to Islam as the driving force behind policies and political systems in Muslim nations can be better explained by the previously mentioned factors. I also find, contrary to common belief, that the increasing strength of Islamic political groups has often been associated with modest pluralization of political systems.
I have constructed an index of Islamic political culture, based on the extent to which Islamic law is utilized and whether and, if so, how,Western ideas, institucije, and technologies are implemented, to test the nature of the relationship between Islam and democracy and Islam and human rights. This indicator is used in statistical analysis, which includes a sample of twenty-three predominantly Muslim countries and a control group of twenty-three non-Muslim developing nations. In addition to comparing
Islamic nations to non-Islamic developing nations, statistical analysis allows me to control for the influence of other variables that have been found to affect levels of democracy and the protection of individual rights. The result should be a more realistic and accurate picture of the influence of Islam on politics and policies.

PRECISION IN THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR:

Sherifa Zuhur

Seven years after the September 11, 2001 (9/11) attacks, many experts believe al-Qa’ida has regained strength and that its copycats or affiliates are more lethal than before. The National Intelligence Estimate of 2007 asserted that al-Qa’ida is more dangerous now than before 9/11.1 Al-Qa’ida’s emulators continue to threaten Western, Middle Eastern, and European nations, as in the plot foiled in September 2007 in Germany. Bruce Riedel states: Thanks largely to Washington’s eagerness to go into Iraq rather than hunting down al Qaeda’s leaders, the organization now has a solid base of operations in the badlands of Pakistan and an effective franchise in western Iraq. Its reach has spread throughout the Muslim world and in Europe . . . Osama bin Laden has mounted a successful propaganda campaign. . . . His ideas now attract more followers than ever.
It is true that various salafi-jihadist organizations are still emerging throughout the Islamic world. Why have heavily resourced responses to the Islamist terrorism that we are calling global jihad not proven extremely effective?
Moving to the tools of “soft power,” what about the efficacy of Western efforts to bolster Muslims in the Global War on Terror (kvota)? Why has the United States won so few “hearts and minds” in the broader Islamic world? Why do American strategic messages on this issue play so badly in the region? Why, despite broad Muslim disapproval of extremism as shown in surveys and official utterances by key Muslim leaders, has support for bin Ladin actually increased in Jordan and in Pakistan?
This monograph will not revisit the origins of Islamist violence. It is instead concerned with a type of conceptual failure that wrongly constructs the GWOT and which discourages Muslims from supporting it. They are unable to identify with the proposed transformative countermeasures because they discern some of their core beliefs and institutions as targets in
this endeavor.
Several deeply problematic trends confound the American conceptualizations of the GWOT and the strategic messages crafted to fight that War. These evolve from (1) post-colonial political approaches to Muslims and Muslim majority nations that vary greatly and therefore produce conflicting and confusing impressions and effects; in (2) residual generalized ignorance of and prejudice toward Islam and subregional cultures. Add to this American anger, fear, and anxiety about the deadly events of 9/11, and certain elements that, despite the urgings of cooler heads, hold Muslims and their religion accountable for the misdeeds of their coreligionists, or who find it useful to do so for political reasons.

demokracija, Volitve in egipčanska Muslimanska bratovščina

Izrael Elad-Altman

Kampanja za reforme in demokratizacijo Bližnjega vzhoda, ki so jo vodili ZDA v zadnjih dveh letih, je pomagala oblikovati novo politično realnost v Egiptu. Odprle so se možnosti za nestrinjanje. Z ZDA. in evropsko podporo, lokalne opozicijske skupine so lahko prevzele pobudo, pospešujejo svoje cilje in izvabljajo koncesije od države. Egiptovsko gibanje Muslimanska bratovščina (MB), ki je uradno prepovedana kot politična organizacija, je zdaj med skupinami, ki se soočajo z obema novima priložnostma
in nova tveganja.
zahodne vlade, vključno z vlado Združenih držav, obravnavajo MB in druge »zmerne islamistične« skupine kot potencialne partnerje pri pomoči pri napredovanju demokracije v svojih državah, in morda tudi pri izkoreninjenju islamističnega terorizma. Ali bi lahko egiptovski MB izpolnil to vlogo? Ali bi lahko sledil turški stranki za pravičnost in razvoj (AKP) in indonezijska uspešna stranka pravičnosti (PKS), dve islamistični stranki, ki, po mnenju nekaterih analitikov, se uspešno prilagajajo pravilom liberalne demokracije in vodijo svoje države k večji integraciji z, oz, Evropa in »poganska« Azija?
Ta članek preučuje, kako se je MB odzval na novo realnost, kako se je spoprijela z ideološkimi in praktičnimi izzivi in ​​dilemami, ki so se pojavile v zadnjih dveh letih. V kolikšni meri se je gibanje prilagodilo svojim pogledom na nove okoliščine? Kakšni so njeni cilji in njena vizija politične ureditve? Kako se je odzval na U.S. reforme in kampanje za demokratizacijo?
Kako je na eni strani vodil svoje odnose z egiptovskim režimom, in druge opozicijske sile na drugi, ko se je država bližala dvema dramatičnim jesenskim volitvam 2005? V kolikšni meri lahko MB velja za silo, ki bi lahko vodila Egipt?
proti liberalni demokraciji?

EGYPT’S MUSLIM BROTHERS: CONFRONTATION OR INTEGRATION?

Raziskave

The Society of Muslim Brothers’ success in the November-December 2005 elections for the People’s Assembly sent shockwaves through Egypt’s political system. In response, the regime cracked down on the movement, harassed other potential rivals and reversed its fledging reform process. This is dangerously short-sighted. There is reason to be concerned about the Muslim Brothers’ political program, and they owe the people genuine clarifications about several of its aspects. But the ruling National Democratic
Party’s (NDP) zavračanje popuščanja njenega primeža tvega zaostrovanje napetosti v času tako politične negotovosti glede predsedniškega nasledstva kot resnih socialno-ekonomskih nemirov. Čeprav bo to verjetno dolgotrajno, postopen proces, režim bi moral sprejeti predhodne korake za normalizacijo sodelovanja Muslimanskih bratov v političnem življenju. Muslimanski bratje, katerih družbene dejavnosti so bile dolgo tolerirane, njihova vloga v formalni politiki pa je strogo omejena, zmagal brez primere 20 odstotkov poslanskih sedežev v 2005 volitve. To jim je uspelo kljub temu, da so se potegovali le za tretjino razpoložljivih mest in ne glede na precejšnje ovire, vključno s policijsko represijo in volilnimi goljufijami. Ta uspeh je potrdil njihov položaj izjemno dobro organizirane in globoko zakoreninjene politične sile. Ob istem času, poudarila je slabosti tako legalne opozicije kot vladajoče stranke. Režim je morda stavil, da bi lahko skromno povečanje parlamentarne zastopanosti Muslimanskih bratov uporabili za podžiganje strahov pred islamističnim prevzemom in s tem služilo kot razlog za zastoj reform. Če je tako, obstaja veliko tveganje, da bo strategija imela povratne rezultate.

Iraq and the Future of Political Islam

James Piscatori

Sixty-five years ago one of the greatest scholars of modern Islam asked the simple question, “whither Islam?”, where was the Islamic world going? It was a time of intense turmoil in both the Western and Muslim worlds – the demise of imperialism and crystallisation of a new state system outside Europe; the creation and testing of the neo- Wilsonian world order in the League of Nations; the emergence of European Fascism. Sir Hamilton Gibb recognised that Muslim societies, unable to avoid such world trends, were also faced with the equally inescapable penetration of nationalism, secularism, and Westernisation. While he prudently warned against making predictions – hazards for all of us interested in Middle Eastern and Islamic politics – he felt sure of two things:
(a) the Islamic world would move between the ideal of solidarity and the realities of division;
(b) the key to the future lay in leadership, or who speaks authoritatively for Islam.
Today Gibb’s prognostications may well have renewed relevance as we face a deepening crisis over Iraq, the unfolding of an expansive and controversial war on terror, and the continuing Palestinian problem. In this lecture I would like to look at the factors that may affect the course of Muslim politics in the present period and near-term future. Although the points I will raise are likely to have broader relevance, I will draw mainly on the case of the Arab world.
Assumptions about Political Islam There is no lack of predictions when it comes to a politicised Islam or Islamism. ‘Islamism’ is best understood as a sense that something has gone wrong with contemporary Muslim societies and that the solution must lie in a range of political action. Often used interchangeably with ‘fundamentalism’, Islamism is better equated with ‘political Islam’. Several commentators have proclaimed its demise and the advent of the post-Islamist era. They argue that the repressive apparatus of the state has proven more durable than the Islamic opposition and that the ideological incoherence of the Islamists has made them unsuitable to modern political competition. The events of September 11th seemed to contradict this prediction, yet, unshaken, they have argued that such spectacular, virtually anarchic acts only prove the bankruptcy of Islamist ideas and suggest that the radicals have abandoned any real hope of seizing power.

Islam and Democracy

ITAC

If one reads the press or listens to commentators on international affairs, it is often said – and even more often implied but not said – that Islam is not compatible with democracy. In the nineties, Samuel Huntington set off an intellectual firestorm when he published The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, in which he presents his forecasts for the world – writ large. In the political realm, he notes that while Turkey and Pakistan might have some small claim to “democratic legitimacy” all other “… Muslim countries were overwhelmingly non-democratic: monarchies, one-party systems, military regimes, personal dictatorships or some combination of these, usually resting on a limited family, clan, or tribal base”. The premise on which his argument is founded is that they are not only ‘not like us’, they are actually opposed to our essential democratic values. He believes, as do others, that while the idea of Western democratization is being resisted in other parts of the world, the confrontation is most notable in those regions where Islam is the dominant faith.
The argument has also been made from the other side as well. An Iranian religious scholar, reflecting on an early twentieth-century constitutional crisis in his country, declared that Islam and democracy are not compatible because people are not equal and a legislative body is unnecessary because of the inclusive nature of Islamic religious law. A similar position was taken more recently by Ali Belhadj, an Algerian high school teacher, preacher and (in this context) leader of the FIS, when he declared “democracy was not an Islamic concept”. Perhaps the most dramatic statement to this effect was that of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of the Sunni insurgents in Iraq who, when faced with the prospect of an election, denounced democracy as “an evil principle”.
But according to some Muslim scholars, democracy remains an important ideal in Islam, with the caveat that it is always subject to the religious law. The emphasis on the paramount place of the shari’a is an element of almost every Islamic comment on governance, moderate or extremist. Only if the ruler, who receives his authority from God, limits his actions to the “supervision of the administration of the shari’a” is he to be obeyed. If he does other than this, he is a non-believer and committed Muslims are to rebel against him. Herein lies the justification for much of the violence that has plagued the Muslim world in such struggles as that prevailing in Algeria during the 90s

Organizational Continuity in Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood

Tess Lee Eisenhart

As Egypt’s oldest and most prominent opposition movement, the Society of

Muslim Brothers, al-ikhwan al-muslimeen, has long posed a challenge to successive secular
regimes by offering a comprehensive vision of an Islamic state and extensive social
welfare services. Od svoje ustanovitve l 1928, the Brotherhood (brat) has thrived in a
parallel religious and social services sector, generally avoiding direct confrontation with
ruling regimes.1 More recently over the past two decades, vendar, bratovščina ima
dabbled with partisanship in the formal political realm. This experiment culminated in
the election of the eighty-eight Brothers to the People’s Assembly in 2005—the largest
oppositional bloc in modern Egyptian history—and the subsequent arrests of nearly
1,000 Brothers.2 The electoral advance into mainstream politics provides ample fodder
for scholars to test theories and make predictions about the future of the Egyptian
režim: will it fall to the Islamist opposition or remain a beacon of secularism in the
Arab world?
This thesis shies away from making such broad speculations. Namesto tega, it explores

the extent to which the Muslim Brotherhood has adapted as an organization in the past
decade.

Speech of Dr,MUHAMMAD BADIE

dr,Mohamed Badie

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate Praise be to Allah and Blessing on His messenger, companions and followers
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I greet you with the Islamic greeting; Peace be upon you and God’s mercy and blessings;
It is the will of Allah that I undertake this huge responsibility which Allah has chosen for me and a request from the MB Movement which I respond to with the support of Allah. With the support of my Muslim Brothers I look forward to achieving the great goals, we devoted ourselves to, solely for the sake of Allah.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
At the outset of my speech I would like to address our teacher, older brother, and distinguished leader Mr. Mohamed Mahdy Akef, the seventh leader of the MB group a strong, dedicated and enthusiastic person who led the group’s journey amid storms and surpassed all its obstacles, thus providing this unique and outstanding model to all leaders and senior officials in the government, associations and other parties by fulfilling his promise and handing over the leadership after only one term, words are not enough to express our feelings to this great leader and guide and we can only sayMay Allah reward you all the best”.
We say to our beloved Muslim brothers who are spread around the globe, it is unfortunate for us to have this big event happening while you are not among us for reasons beyond our control, however we feel that your souls are with us sending honest and sincere smiles and vibes.
As for the beloved ones who are behind the bars of tyranny and oppression for no just reason other than reiterating Allah is our God, and for seeking the dignity, pride and development of their country, we sincerely applaud and salute them for their patience, steadfastness and sacrifices which we are sure will not be without gain. We pray that those tyrants and oppressors salvage their conscience and that we see you again in our midst supporting our cause, may Allah bless and protect you all.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
As you are aware, the main goal of the Muslim Brotherhood Movement (MB) is comprehensive modification, which deals with all kinds of corruption through reform and change. “I only desire (your) betterment to the best of my power; and my success (in my task) can only come from Allah.” (Hud-88) and through cooperation with all powers of the nation and those with high spirits who are sincere to their religion and nation.
The MB believes that Allah has placed all the foundations necessary for the development and welfare of nations in the great Islam; torej, Islam is their reference towards reform, which starts from the disciplining and training of the souls of individuals, followed by regulating families and societies by strengthening them, preceded by bringing justice to it and the continuous jihad to liberate the nation from any foreign dominance or intellectual, spiritual, cultural hegemony and economic, political or military colonialism, as well as leading the nation to development, prosperity and assuming its appropriate place in the world.