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The Political Revival of Islam: The Case of Egypt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2009

Nazîh N. M. Ayubi
Nazîh N. M. Ayubi
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science University of California, Los Angeles
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Extract

The Middle East was the cradle of the World's three great monotheistic religions, and to this day they continue to play a very important role it its affairs.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , December 1980 , pp. 481 - 499
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

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References

NOTES

1 See the good analysis in the London Times, 23 11 1979.Google Scholar

2 See also Anthony, J. D., The Middle East: Oil, Politics and Development (Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1975), appendix. It is little wonder therefore that the view is sometimes heard that petroleum was a “reward” from God to his faithful believers. On the other hand, government authorities in countries like Egypt and Syria often claim that “oil money” is behind the violent activities of the Islamic organizations.Google Scholar

3 The classic on this topic is of course John, Campbell, Defense of the Middle East: Problems of American Policy, rev. ed. (New York: Praeger, 1960).Google Scholar

4 The main source on this is still Alexandre, Bennigsen and Lemercier-Quelquejay, C., Islam in the Soviet Union (London: 1967),Google Scholar updated by A. Benningsen's lecture at UCLA on the same topic, “Islam in the Soviet Union,” on i October 1979. See also Wheeler, G., “Islam and the Soviet Union,”, Middle East Studies, 13, 1 (01, 1977), 40–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

5 Muslim countries do not take a unified stand in many conflicts that involve a Muslim against a non-Muslim party. Examples are the India-Pakistan conflict, the Cyprus crisis, and the recent Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.

6 See, for example, The Los Angeles Times, 28 December 1979.

7 Pan-Islamism represents itself in other informal ways. Intellectually, the ideas of most leading modern Islamic thinkers – starting with Jamal al-Afghani – were always circulated in other Muslim societies. Politically, certain Islamic organizations are supranational. For example, the Muslim Brothers, who emerged in Egypt, now have branches in other countries such as Syria, Jordan, and Sudan.

8 The most outspoken critique of this approach is, of course, that of Edward, W. Said, Orientalism (New York: Vintage Books, 1979).Google Scholar

9 The study of Arab politics in general and the role of the military in particular has often been at least partly employed “in obvious support of American or Israeli political interests.” See the two penetrating analyses by Roger, Owen: “Explaining Arab Politics,” Political Studies, 26, 4 (12, 1978), 507–12,Google Scholar and “The Role of the Army in Middle Eastern Politics,” Review of Middle East Studies, 3 (1978), 63–81.Google Scholar

10 For example, a recent cartoon in a Kuwaiti newspaper commented on the apparent American fondness for Islam in Afghanistan in contrast to America's apparent dislike of Islam in Iran. The drawing showed President Carter delivering a speech in which he emphatically declares, “We will fight the Russians to the very last … Muslim!” Al-Ra'iy al-⊂Am (Kuwait), 16 01 1980.Google Scholar

11 Although not without significance, the Sunni Shi⊂i difference should not be exaggerated in political analysis. Historically, Shi⊂ism might have been at least partly motivated by a need for national assertion and social justice on the part of the Persians vis-à-vis the Arabs. In more recent times, distinction from the Arabs (or even claimed superiority over them) has been emphasized from time to time, most recently by the Pahlavis. Shi⊂ism seems also to have witnessed more of a clerical hierarchy, more mysticism, and more “martyrdom” than Sunni Islam did. In addition, the arts seem to have found more expression, especially in their plastic and theatrical forms, in the lands inhabited by Shi'is or more influenced by the Persian culture. Lands where Shi⊂is predominate tended also to witness a number of relatively more radical intellectual and social movements. These historical generalizations seem to have some contemporary validity. In Iraq, where On the largest community of Shi⊂i Arabs lives, as well as among the (substantial) Shi⊂i minority communities in Lebanon and Turkey, leftist tendencies seem to be more proportionately prevalent among Shi⊂is, whereas Sunnis tend to convey the more traditional nationalistic outlook. In Iraq it has been the feeling of the Shi⊂i majority for many years that they are dominated by a Sunni minority. Curiously a reversed situation exists in contemporary Syria where, although the numerical majority as well as traditional influence are with the Sunnis, the Alawite minority (a vague offshoot of Shi⊂ism) are currently more dominant in the government and the army.

12 On the role of the ulama as well as that of the mystics, see Nikki, R. Keddie, ed., Scholars, Saints and Sufis: Muslim Religious Institutions since 1500 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972).Google Scholar

13 Majid, Khadduri, War and Peace in the Law of Islam (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1955), pp. 141–46;Google Scholaral-Ghunaimi, M. T., The Muslim Conception of International Law and the Western Approach (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1968), esp. Part Three, p. 131 ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

14 Good books on the sociopolitical role of Islam in modern times are very few. Methodologically useful as introductions to approaching the subject are the following: on the doctrinal and historical background, Watt, W. Montgomery, Islam and the Integration of Society (London: Routledge, 1961);CrossRefGoogle Scholar on the socioeconomic formations, Rodinson, M., Islam and Captialism, trans., (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1978),Google Scholar and Turner, B. S., Weber and Islam (London and Boston: Routledge, 1974);Google Scholar and on the efforts of the Islamic reformists to reconcile their faith with concepts of Western “rationalism,” Malcolm, H. Kerr, Islamic Reform (University of California Press, 1966).Google Scholar

15 An ironic contradiction seems to exist between the Turkish and the Arab nationalist concepts. The Turkish (Kemalist) concept, for all its declared secularism, finds it difficult to conceive of a non-Muslim Turk and has therefore led, among other things, to the deportation of Turkish-speaking Christians from Turkey and the admission of Greek-speaking Muslims into the country. On the other hand, the Arab nationalist concept, in spite of its emphasis on cultural Islam, not only recognizes Arabic-speaking Christians as Arabs, but has also had some of them among its main proponents.

16 The most important analysis of the intricacies and problems of the secularist trends in modern Arabic thinking is, of course, that of Albert, Hourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age (London: Oxford University Press, 1962).Google Scholar

17 Compare, Bernard Lewis, “The Return of Islam,” Middle East Review, 12, 1 (Fall, 1979), 17–30.Google Scholar

18 For a good comparative article see Humphreys, R. Stephen, “Islam and Political Values in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria,” The Middle East Journal 33, 1 (Winter, 1979), 1–19.Google Scholar

19 An even more dramatic title - “The Explosion of Islam” - was given to a round table discussion on the subject, published in The New York Times, 11 December 1979.

20 Although there are no comprehensive works on Islam and politics in Egypt, there are two books on some sociological and anthropological aspects of Islam in that country. They are Morroe, Berger, Islam in Egypt Today (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970),Google Scholar and Gilsenan, M., Saint and Sufi in Modern Egypt (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973).Google Scholar

21 In addition to the growth in sales of classical religious texts, there is also a glut of popular religious books, some written by journalists – of whom Mustafa Mahmud is by far the most popular – recently attracted to this lucrative field. The bulk of such writing is conservative in orientation, with the unique exception of the competent and liberal-progressive writings of Hasan Hanafi-Hasanain. See for example his Qadaya mu⊂asira [Contemporary Issues], Vol. I, “On Arab Affairs” (Cairo: Dar al-Fikr al-'Arabi, 1976), esp. p. 70ff.;Google Scholar compare also his “Theologie ou anthropologie,” in Abdel-Malek, A. et al. , Renaissance du monde arabe (Paris: Duculot, 1972), pp. 233–64.Google Scholar

22 However, the government-controlled religious establishment is often accused, and not only by militants, of corruption, and the general secretary of the Higher Council for Islamic Affairs was, for example, severely attacked in 1976 on charges of financial misconduct. See also Akhbar al-Yaum, 25 09 1976.Google Scholar

23 See also, for example, the articles on peace in Islam in Minbar al-Islam (11, 1978). This magazine is published by the Ministry of Religious Endowments (Awqaf). Symbolically, following President Sadat's visit to Jerusalem in November 1977, a large banner covered one of the walls of the thousand-year-old Al-Azhar; it read “God is called Peace.”Google Scholar

24 On the role of the Brothers in the political life of modern Egypt see Christina, P. Harris, Na-tionalism and Revolution in Egypt: The Role of the Muslim Brotherhood (The Hague: Mouton, 1964).Google Scholar

25 Some of the writings of the organizational and ideological pioneer of the lkhwan are now available in English; see Hasan, al-Banna, Five Tracts … a Selection from the Majmu⊂at Rasa'il al-Imam al-Shahid, translated and annotated by Charles, Wendell (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978).Google Scholar

26 See Al-Ahram, 23 01 1976.Google Scholar

27 In particular, Sayyid Qutb, Al⊂Adala al-ijtima⊂diyyafi al-Islam [Social Justice in Islam[, several editions and an English translation available (by Hardie, J. B., Washington, 1955).Google Scholar

28 Muhammad, al-Bahiy, “Islamic Society: A Society for Owners and Workers Together,” [in Arabic], Al-I'tisam, 07, 1976, 14ff.Google Scholar

29 Prior to this, Nasser's leadership had been religious, but it was secular with a modernizing and socialistic orientation. Under him Al-Azhar University was rather abruptly modernized and the ulama persuaded to endorse such things as family planning and birth control. Intellectually there were several attempts during the sixties to emphasize the socialist character of Islam. A book by a Syrian Muslim Brother entitled Ishtrakiyyat al-Islam [The Socialism of Islam] was repeatedly printed and freely distributed by the Arab Socialist Union (ASU), and the Egyptian former Brother ⊂Abd al-⊂Aziz Kamil specialized in writing the “religious page” in the ASU's official organ, Al-Ishtiraki, emphasizing in particular, concepts of social justice in Islam. A number of writers emphasized the egalitarian and revolutionary nature of Islam and showed increased interest in radical Islamic leaders such as Abu-Dhur al-Ghafari and radical Islamic movements such as that of the Qarmatians. Even a book carrying such a provocative title as Madiyyal al-Islam [The Materialism of Islam] was indeed to be published in the sixties. And ⊂Abd al-Rahman al-Sharqawi started to engage in his religiopolitical plays such as Muhammad rasul al-huriyya [Muhammad the Freedom Prophet]. It is also believed that the teaching of religion in schools during the Nasserist period was influenced by the socialist ideals of the society at the time. See Olivier, Carr, Enseignement islamique et idéal socialiste (Beirut: Dar el-Machreq, 1974).Google Scholar

30 The Virgin Mary is highly revered in the Qur'ān and is greatly esteemed by many Muslims, particularly women (who, for example, often wear rings carrying her picture). Other Christian saints that are popular with Muslim as well as Coptic women are Saint George, whose shrine is in Old Cairo, and Saint Theresa, whose church is in the district of Shubra.

31 It is perhaps significant that the most serious intellectual challenge in the Arab world to such “religionistic” ideas and to religious thinking in general came from a non-Egyptian. See Sadiq, Jalal al-⊂Azm, Naqd al-Fikr al-Dini [A Critique of Religious Thinking], (Beirut: Dar al-Tali⊂a, 1969).Google Scholar

32 For some of the discussions that preceded the statement for the first time in an Egyptian constitution that the Sharia was to become a main source of legislation, see Joseph, P. O'Kane, “Islam in the New Egyptian Constitution,” Middle East Journal, 26, 2 (Spring, 1972), 137–48.Google Scholar

33 The controversy over the prohibition of alcoholic drinks took its time and ended in a “typical” law with enough loopholes to make it reasonably applicable. The “public” drinking of alcohol was forbidden, except in touristic places! Days afterward, local bars in popular areas of Cairo such as Shubra and Faggala, were being given hasty facelifts to make them look “touristic.” The only bars to be really hit were those very popular ones serving buza, a crude drink of Sudanese origin made of fermented bread and served in huge pumpkin shells. Local authorities, however, have the right to prohibit the public consumption of alcohol in their areas, and a number of them, notably in the governorates of Suhaj and Asyut, issued by-laws in their own provinces to this effect.

34 On the role of Al-Azhar in Egyptian society see, among others, educationally, Dodge, B., Al-Azhar: A Millenium of Muslim Learning (Washington, D.C.: 1961);Google Scholar historically, Afaf L.S. Marsot, “The Ulama of Cairo in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries” (and her other works on the ulama cited therein), in Keddie, N., ed., Scholars, Saints, pp. 149–65:Google Scholar socially, D. Crecelius, “Nonideological Responses of the Egyptian Ulania to Modernization,” in ibid., pp. 167–209; socio-politically, Crecelius, D., ”Al-Azhar in the Revolution,” Middle East Journal, 20, I (Winter, 1968), 31–49.Google Scholar

35 A1-l⊂tisam, July 1976, 12–13.

36 The liberal left lost two monthly publications (Al-Katib and Al-Tali⊂a), one weekly magazine (Rose al- Yusaf), and a weekly newspaper (Al-A hall). Even their typed material was confiscated. In contrast there are at least two political magazines that represent the Islamic movement (Al-Da⊂wa and Al-I⊂tisam).

37 They include Hizb al-tahrir al-Islami, Jama⊂at al-Muslimin, Jund Allah, and others.

38 See, among many others, Al-Da⊂wa, June 1976, March 1977, September 1977, April 1978. Al-Da⊂wa is of course the organ of the Muslim Brothers, but it is widely read and appreciated by the neofundamentalists, in addition to their own “internal” literature.

39 A1-Ahram, 15, 17, 18 01 1980.Google Scholar

40 On the Copts and politics in the modern period in general see Samira, Bahr, Al-Aqbat w'alhayah al-siyasiyya [Copts and Political Life in Egypt], (Cairo: The Anglo-Egyptian, 1979).Google Scholar The weekly newspaper Watani publishes a reasonable amount of information on the Copts' ecclesiatical and social affairs. For militant political views as well as reactions to Islamic opinions and actions, see the Coptic diaspora magazine, The Copis: Christians of Egypt (Jersey City, N.J.: The American Coptic Association).Google Scholar

41 See for example Jabir, Rizq, Madhabih al-lkhwan [Massacres of the Brothers], (Cairo: Dar al-I⊂tisam, 1977), p. 8.Google Scholar An interesting distinction has been drawn recently between the Soviets and the Americans; while the Soviets were considered a hopeless case, the Americans are still “people of the Book,” who may one day find it possible “in fact to combine between the special interests of the U.S. and the just treatment of other peoples.” See 'Umar, al-Tilmisani, “America from an Islamic Viewpoint” (in Arabic), Al-Da⊂wa (12, 1979), 4 ff.Google Scholar

42 These data are from the definitive book on the Brothers, Mitchell, R. P., The Society of the Muslim Brothers (London: Oxford University Press, 1969), esp. p. 328 ff.Google Scholar

43 Al-Ahram, 7–15 07 1977.Google Scholar

44 See John, A. Williams, “A Return to the Veil in Egypt,” Middle East Review, 11, 3 (Spring, 1979), 50–52.Google Scholar

45 It is therefore not surprising that I was given a difficult time when, in one of my lectures at Cairo University, I suggested that it might be possible to explain at least the early historical beginnings of the veil in terms of its functional utility in the conditions of the desert.

46 I am grateful to Saad E. Ibrahim for the fruitful conversations I had with him about his experience with some members of the Islamic movements.

47 Muhammad, Ismail Ali, “Religion and Education … (in Arabic), Al-Ahram, 12 07 1979, 7.Google Scholar

48 On the difference in social background between students at Cairo University and students at Al-Azhar, see my book, Siyasat al-ta⊂lim … [The Policy of Education in Egypt: A Political Study], (Cairo: Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, 1978), pp. 71–72 and references quoted therein.Google Scholar

49 Compare Eric Davis, “Islam and Politics: Some Neglected Dimensions,” mimeo, obtained from but not delivered at the Middle East Studies Association Thirteenth Annual Meeting, The University of Utah, Nov. 7–10, 1979.

50 For details on this point see my The Policy of Education, pp. 41–46, 64–67, 74–76.Google Scholar

51 I have argued along similar lines in my article, “Political Parties before the 1952 Revolution” (in Arabic), Al-Ahram, 18 May 1978.Google Scholar

52 On the problems of Cairo as well as other contemporary Egyptian problems, see the interesting work of John, Waterbury, Egypt: Burdens of the Past, Options for the Future (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1978), esp. p. 113 ff.Google Scholar

53 For some detailed aspects of corruption see my book Al-Thalvra al-idariyya wa azma, atislah … [Administrative Revolution and the Crisis of Reform in Egypt], (Cairo: Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, 1977), pp. 29–33;Google Scholar and also my book, Bureaucracy and Politics in Contemporary Egypt (London: Ithaca Press, 1980), pp. 280–301.Google Scholar