Political and Social Significance of Religion and Denominationalism in Egypt (I)

Political Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood

The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) was founded in 1928 by the then 22-year-old elementary school teacher Hassan Al Banna as a politico-religious, reform-oriented lay movement. It draws its intellectual foundations from both the liberal and the conservative currents of the great reform movement of the 19th century, the Nahda or Renaissance movement (see also the heading History and State). The early Muslim Brotherhood sought the renewal of Egyptian society through the Islamization of politics and social life. The call for a religious lifestyle and commitment to the spread of Islam and implementation of its rules – called da’wa, as well as the solidarity of Muslims and their organization in the brotherhood should be the means to achieve these goals. Hassan Al Banna took rather liberal positions on many social and political issues, was a brilliant organizer and a rousing speaker. The MB managed to mobilize hundreds of thousands of members within a few years and to build branches in many other Arab countries. Its membership base is now vaguely estimated at 50-60,000 members and about half a million sympathizers. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, the so-called secret apparatus of the MB carried out a number of attacks, particularly against the British occupation forces, and also sent fighters to Palestine in support of the Palestinian resistance to the establishment of a Jewish state and the expulsion of the Palestinians. The MB managed to mobilize hundreds of thousands of members within a few years and to build branches in many other Arab countries. Its membership base is now vaguely estimated at 50-60,000 members and about half a million sympathizers. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, the so-called secret apparatus of the MB carried out a number of attacks, particularly against the British occupation forces, and also sent fighters to Palestine in support of the Palestinian resistance to the establishment of a Jewish state and the expulsion of the Palestinians. The MB managed to mobilize hundreds of thousands of members within a few years and to build branches in many other Arab countries. Its membership base is now vaguely estimated at 50-60,000 members and about half a million sympathizers. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, the so-called secret apparatus of the MB carried out a number of attacks, particularly against the British occupation forces, and also sent fighters to Palestine in support of the Palestinian resistance to the establishment of a Jewish state and the expulsion of the Palestinians.

The MB has experienced several setbacks and waves of repression in its more than 80-year history, and many prominent members have spent years in prison. Under the Mubarak regime, the MB were officially banned, but operated through a network of social and welfare institutions and mosques as well as organized groups at universities, professional associations and other civil society organizations in which their candidates won many leading positions in elections. Your financial basis is based on donations and income from various social and economic activities. Since the 1980’s, MB members ran on the electoral lists of other parties or as independents and thus came into parliament. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, they won around 20% of the seats in parliament despite massive election fraud. The political and civil society participation strengthened the liberal tendency within the MB and led to a tendency towards more and more open positions towards women, Copts and the youth. The MB have been legally recognized since the revolution and founded the Freedom and Justice Party in April 2011, consisting of the first Parliamentary elections in December 2011 / January 2012 emerged as the strongest party. According to physicscat, its success came as no surprise since, despite repression under the Mubarak regime, it was the only mass-based organized opposition force.

The MB were characterized by the combination of a coherent, hierarchical organizational structure, an autarkic economic basis based on business enterprises and investment activities managed secretly and on the basis of trust, an impressive number of clever political minds and masters of tactics and political maneuvers, as well as a broad one Membership base tied to the organization through political as well as social and economic relationships. However, the MB are not a homogeneous political and social force. Many of their prominent leaders are entrepreneurs with widespread economic activities. The base, on the other hand, consists primarily of members of the lower middle class. This is also reflected in different ideological currents within the MB.