Alle reacties Tagged With: "Sayyed Qutb"
Islam in het Westen
Jocelyne Cesari
Islam en democratie: Tekst, Traditie, en geschiedenis
Ahrar Ahmad
Het leven van Hasan al Banna & Syed Qutb.
Sayyid Qutb: De Karl Marx van de Islamitische Revolutie
Leslie Evans
De ichwaan in Noord-Amerika: Een korte geschiedenis
Douglas Farah
Ron Sandee
The current federal court case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) in Dallas, Texas,1 offers an unprecedented inside look into the history of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States, as well as its goals and structure. The documents discuss recruitment, organization, ideology and the development of the organization in different phases in the United States. The prosecution in the case has presented many internal Muslim Brotherhood documents from the 1980’s and early 1990’s that give a first-ever, public view of the history and ideology behind the operations of the Muslim Brothers (known as the Ikhwan or The Group) in the U.S. over the past four decades. For researchers, the documents have the added weight of being written by the Ikhwan leaders themselves, rather than interpretations of secondary sources.
ISLAMISME IN ZUIDELIJK EGYPTE
James Toth
For years, religious violence and terrorism in Middle Eastern countries such as Egypthave splashed across the headlines and surged across the screen, announcing yet anotherround of senseless death and destruction. While Arabists and Islamicists attemptto pick their way carefully through the ideological and intellectual minefields to makesense of what is happening, the wider public generally disregards their insights andinstead sticks to what it knows best: deeply ingrained prejudices and biases. Egyptische,Arabisch, Muslim—all are painted in a very unfavorable light. Even in Egypt, manybystanders show the same sorry prejudices. In the end, people simply blame the brutalityon inexplicable backward religious ideas and then move on.Yet comprehending terrorism and violence in places such as Egypt by recourse toan unnuanced religious fundamentalism is generally acknowledged not only to begthe question of why these events actually happen, but also to lead to misunderstandingsand misperceptions, and perhaps even to exacerbating existing tensions.1 Mostscholars agree that such seemingly “irrational” social behavior instead needs to beplaced in its appropriate context to be properly understood, and hence made rational.Analyzing these actions, then, involves situating this violence and destruction in theireconomic, political, and ideological milieu as these have developed historically, forthis so-called Islamic terrorism does not merely arise, ex nihilo, out of a timeless void.What follows, then, is one case study of one portion of the Islamic movement as itemerged principally in southern Egypt and as it was revealed through anthropologicalfieldwork conducted in one of this region’s major cities. This account takes a completelydifferent direction from that of stigmatizing this movement as a sordid collectionof terrorist organizations hell bent on the senseless destruction of Egypt and itsIslamic civilization.2 Because this view is somewhat at odds with the perceptions oflocal spectators, Egyptians in Cairo, and non–Egyptians inside and outside the country,I go to some length not only to discuss the movement itself but also to shed lighton why it might have received such negative publicity.
De Moslim Broederschap: Hasan al-Hudaybi en ideologie
Barbara HE. Zollner
Hasan Ismail al-Hudaybi led the Society of the Muslim Brotherhood during a time of crisis and dissolution. Slagen Hasan al-Banna ", who was the founder and first leader of the organisation, al-Hudaybi was to be its head for more than twenty years. Tijdens zijn leiderschap dat hij geconfronteerd ernstige kritiek van collega-Brothers.
Na de revolutie van juli 1952, he was pitted against the antagonism of Abd al-Nasir, who became increasingly infl uential in the council of leading Free Officers. Abd al-Nasir’s determination to thwart the cause of the Brotherhood and its infl uence on society was part of his path to absolute rule. Considering the signifi cance of al-Hudaybi’s years as leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Het is verrassend dat er weinig wetenschappelijk werk over het onderwerp.
When taking into account that his moderate ideas continue to have a strong infl uence on the policy and attitude of today’s Muslim Brotherhood, g. his conciliatory position towards the state system and his refutation of radical ideas, the fact that so little attention is paid to his writing is even more startling. Zeker, there has been interest in the Muslim Brotherhood.
There are quite extensive studies available on Hasan al-Banna’: the founder and fi rst leader of the Muslim Brotherhood has been described as a model figure of Islamic campaigning; others depict him as the originator of threatening political activism in the name of Islam.
There has been even more interest in the ideas of Sayyid Qutb; some see him as the ideologue of Islamist radicalism, waarvan de concepten opgeleid extremistische groeperingen; others describe him as a victim of state persecution who developed a theology of liberation in reaction to his maltreatment.
Geen twijfel, it is important to examine the work of these thinkers in order to understand currents of Islamist ideology and Islamist movements. Ongeacht het oordeel over al-Banna en Qutb, it is a fact that certain ideas of the two thinkers have been incorporated into the modern-day Muslim Brotherhood.
Evenwel, this focus has led to an incorrect perception that the Islamic movement is necessarily radical in its thinking and/or militant in its deeds, een aanname die, in de afgelopen jaren, been questioned by a number of scholars, onder hen John L. Edwards, Fred Halliday, Francois Burgat, and Gudrun Krämer.
The following study of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood under the leadership of Hasan al-Hudaybi will form an addition to these theses, addressing and reassessing the viewpoint that political Islam is a monolithic block, all in all disposed towards violent means.
There are reasons why al-Hudaybi is hardly mentioned in the literature on the Muslim Brotherhood. The fi rst that comes to mind is the observation that Islamist movements are, door defi nitie, gezien als fundamenteel radicale, anti-democratic and anti-Western.
This reasoning questions any distinction between moderate Islamism and its radical counterpart. The argument goes that both have the objective of establishing an Islamic state system, that they both aim to replace existing secular governance and that they therefore differ only in the degree of their methods, maar in beginsel niet.
Dit boek, echter, clearly joins the scholarly circle on political Islam, which identifi es arguments such as these as neo-Orientalist. As Esposito shows, this approach to political Islam is based on what he terms ‘secular fundamentalism’.
De externe weergave van de politieke islam is primair gericht op radicaal denken, en dit kan te wijten zijn aan de oprichting, aan de zijde van machtspolitiek, of a fear of Islam as a religion, die anders is dan, vreemde en schijnbaar in tegenstelling tot
Het westerse denken. Alternatief, it may be because radical or even militant groups are constantly appearing in the media by reason of their actions. In feite, militant Islamists actually seek such publicity.
While radical thought and militant action make it necessary to study extremist groups, the focus on terrorism in the name of Islam marginalises moderate Islamists.
It also makes it difficult to explain the differences between radical and moderate Islamism. In feite, the scholarly focus on radical or militant groups reinforces the generally negative public perception of Islam in the West.
A further reason why al-Hudaybi in particular has not been studied by Western scholars has to do with the internal affairs of the Brotherhood. It is astonishing that his name is not mentioned much by the writers of the Muslim Brotherhood itself. Er is geen eenvoudige verklaring voor deze.
One reason may be that members particularly stress their sympathies for al-Banna’, depicting him as an ideal leader who died for his activist convictions. Evenwel, as many Brothers endured imprisonment, hard labour and even torture insideAbd al-Nasir’s prisons and camps, their personal histories have resulted in a dearth of discourse on Hasan al-Hudaybi.
Zo, there is a tendency to remember al-Hudaybi’s period of leadership as a time of near defeat and destruction. Nog steeds, the experiences of the persecuted are caught in the ambiguous relationship between forgetting and reappraisal.
Many personal accounts of the time have been published since the mid 1970s, 2 vertellen verhalen van marteling en benadrukt standvastigheid van het geloof. Only a few of the books written by Muslim Brothers take a broader approach, which includes discussion of a crisis within the organisation and of al-Hudaybi’s part therein. Those authors who do tackle this issue not only reveal the society’s weak position vis-à-vis Abd al-Nasir, maar ook bloot tekenen van desintegratie binnen de
Moslim Broederschap. 3 Dit heeft geleid tot uiteenlopende houdingen ten opzichte van al-Hudaybi, with most portraying him as an incompetent leader lacking the charismatic personality of his predecessor, Al-Banna ". In het bijzonder, he was accused of not commanding the authority to bring together the different wings of the Muslim Brotherhood or to adopt a strong position in relation to the authoritarian state system.
In the latter view lies an ambiguity, for it would appear to show al-Hudaybi not just as a failure, maar ook als een slachtoffer van de politieke situatie. Tot slot, these accounts reveal an ideological gap which opened at the beginning of the period of persecution in 1954.
Tot op zekere hoogte, Sayyid Qutb fi gelogen deze kloof. During his imprisonment he developed a radical approach, rejecting the then state system as illegitimate and ‘un-Islamic’. In developing a revolutionary concept and explaining thereby the reasons underlying the persecution, he turned the condition of victimisation into one of pride.
Zo, Hij gaf vele gevangen Moslimbroeders, particularly young members, een ideologie die ze konden vasthouden aan.
It has to be said that al-Hudaybi did not react decisively to the situation of internal crisis and dissolution. Inderdaad, to a certain extent his indecisiveness triggered this situation.
Dit was vooral duidelijk tijdens de periode van vervolging (1954–71), when he omitted to provide any guidelines to help in overcoming the feeling hopelessness ushered in by Abd al-Nasir’s mass imprisonments. His reaction to the radical ideas which fl ourished in the prisons and camps among certain, vooral jonge, leden kwam vrij laat.
Zelfs dan, his scholarly and juridical argumentation did not have the same sweeping effect as Sayyid Qutb’s writings. In 1969, al-Hudaybi proposed a moderate concept in his writing Duat la Qudat (Predikers niet rechters).
Dit schrijven, which was secretly distributed among fellow Brothers, is considered the fi rst substantial refutation of Sayyid Qutb’s ideas. 5 Qutb, die werd opgehangen in 1966, was by then considered to be a martyr, zijn gedachten al een aanzienlijke infl nvloeden.
This does not mean that the majority of Muslim Brothers did not pursue a moderate approach, but the lack of guidelines left them voiceless and reinforced the perception of al-Hudaybi as a weak leader.
Niettemin, al-Hudayb’is moderate thought had an impact on his fellow Muslim Brothers. Na de algemene amnestie van 1971, al-Hudaybi played a major part in the re-establishment of the organisation. Hoewel hij stierf in 1973, his moderate and conciliatory ideas continued to be relevant.
The fact that close companions such as Muhammad Hamid Abu Nasr, Umar al-Tilmisani and Muhammad Mashhur, die onlangs overleden, succeeded him as leaders shows the continuance of his thought.
Verder, his son Ma’mun al-Hudaybi has played a major role in his capacity as the Brotherhood’s secretary and spokesman.
Another reason why his thinking became important lies in the changed attitude towards the Muslim Brotherhood since Anwar al-Sadat’s presidency. Al-Sadat, who succeeded Abd al-Nasir, released the imprisoned Brothers and offered the organisation a half-legal though not offi cially recognised status.
Een periode van reorganisatie (1971–77) gevolgd, during which the government lifted the censorship of books written by Muslim Brothers. Veel memoires van vroeger gevangen leden werden gepubliceerd, such as Zaynab al-Ghazali’s account or al-Hudaybi’s book Du<waarmee Qudat (Predikers niet rechters).
Omgaan met het verleden, these books did not merely preserve the memory of the cruelties of Abd al-Nasir’s persecution.
Al-Sadat followed his own agenda when he allowed these publications to fi ll the market; this was a deliberate political stratagem, implying a change of direction and aimed at distancing the new government from the old.
The posthumous publication of al-Hudaybi’s writings was not merely aimed at providing ideological guidance to the Muslim Brothers; they were distributed because of their statements against radical thought, en dus gebruikt om een nieuwe en toenemende probleem aan te pakken, namely the establishment of Islamist groups, which began to fi ght actively against the political system in the early 1970s. In deze termen, Duat la Qudat remains an important critique of radical thought.
hoofddoel Hasan al-Hudaybi was om de maatschappij te veranderen, i. Egyptische samenleving, die, in zijn ogen, was zich niet bewust van het politieke karakter van het Islamitische geloof. Zo, real change could only be brought about through creating awareness and by tackling the issue of Islamic identity (in tegenstelling tot een Westerse perceptie).
Only through developing a sense of Islamic consciousness could the ultimate goal of the establishment of an Islamic society be reached. Aangezien deze aanpak, al-Hudaybi refuted revolutionary overthrow, instead preaching gradual development from within. Een belangrijk punt was dan ook het onderwijs en de maatschappelijke betrokkenheid, as well as participation in the political system, aantrekkelijk door middel van de missie ( dawa ) to the consciousness of the individual believer.
Dit pad van zijn is nu gevolgd door Moslim Broederschap vandaag, which endeavors to be recognised as a political party and which infl uences political decision making by infi ltrating the political participatory structures (Parlement, administratie, niet-gouvernementele organisaties).
This study of the Muslim Brotherhood from the 1950s until the early 1970s, daarom, is not only a piece of research into the modern political history of Egypt and an analysis of a religious ideology, but has also a relationship to current politics.