• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

(Al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin) An Analysis of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's Strategic Narrative An Honors Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Elon University Honors Program By Kelsey L. Glover April, 2011 Approved by: Dr. Laura Rose le, Thesis Mentor Dr. Brooke Barnett, Communications (Reader) Dr. Tim Wardle, Religious Studies (Reader) AI-Ikhwan al-Muslimin An Analysis of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's Strategic Narrative Kelsey L. Glover (Dr. Laura Roselle) Department of International Studies-Elon University This study presents an in-depth qualitative analysis of the strategic narrative of the al­ Ikhwan al-Muslimin, also known as the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood is a politically active Islamic organization and has been a formidable player on the political scene as one of the only opposition groups for over eighty years. Given the recent revolution in Egypt, they could have a dramatic impact on the future of the country, and it becomes even more important to understand their strategic narrative, how it has changed over time, and how it could change in the future. In order to analyze these narratives in a systematic manner, I developed a coding instrument to analyze the organization's narratives from the beginning of2008 to the end of2010. The coding instrument, Atlas.ti, was used to code for themes and descriptions of grievances and remedies. I analyzed these narratives to look for reactionary changes and trends over time. My research suggests that there has been a discemable shift in their narrative from their more radical beginnings to a moderate Islamist, pro-democracy movement today. This research is timely and relevant - as Egypt builds a new political system. Table of Contents: Chapter 1 1 Introduction 2 Historical Background of 7 Egyptian Politics in ·the Twentieth Century Literature Review 32 Methodology 42 Chapter2 51 Analysis of the historical 52 strategic narrative of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Analysis of Egypt's Muslim So Brotherhood's strategic narrative from 2008-2010 Chapter3 94 Conclusion 95 References Cited 99 Appendices 103 Jo those who always suppo~ted me, both nea~ and fa~. Jo my Jathe~ and family who neve~ doubted f J could, Jo the fiiends who made me smile th~ough it all, And to :JJ~. J!.auM f<oselle whose undying patience and kindness always made me shive to do my best Chapter 1 ~Introduction ~Historical Background of Egyptian Politics in the Twentieth Century ~Literature Review ~Methodology Introduction The need to fully comprehend the history and motivation of the Muslim Brotherhood grows everyday as Egypt embarks on its transition to democracy. The movement is a major player in the Egyptian political sphere, representing approximately twenty to thirty percent of the popular vote, according to news broadcasts during the January 25th revolution, and will play a prominent role in the political future of Egypt. Even though the Brotherhood is a sub-state actor, it wields substantial influence on both the domestic and international stage, which makes it a prime candidate to expand the growing research in academia about strategic narratives. The academic field of strategic narratives is a fairly new arrival on the academic scene and has traditionally been applied to state actors in the realm of power politics. This study will expand the breadth of research pertinent to strategic narratives while simultaneously seeking to clarify the stated goals and motivations of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Therefore, their strategic narrative is the main focus of this study. Examining how their message has responded over time to changes in factors that affect subversive political group‟s narratives, namely the narrator, the social climate, and what type of government is in power, will help to better understand the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood as a whole and help predict how the movement will respond to future events. Misr or, as it‟s known in the West, Egypt, is a multifaceted country shaped by a multitude of influences throughout its history. What makes Egypt distinct, 2 though, is the amount of social and political change it has undergone within the last century. Politically, Egypt has evolved from a monarchy to a despotic republic lasting three different leaders. Most recently and dramatically its citizens peacefully protested to oust the last president in hopes of creating a fair, open democracy in the future Egypt. Culturally, it has one of the most prolific pre- historical pasts known to the world, best known by those buildings in the sand they call pyramids. Beyond that, it has been a cultural hub for traders and merchants from Europe and the Far East for centuries, all of which left behind bits of their culture, with the clearest imprints left by the Ottoman Empire and, in modern times, the British Empire at the height of its colonial power. What some would argue has remained Egypt‟s strongest asset through all of this change would be the Egyptian citizens themselves who continue to play an active role in the betterment of the country and their daily lives. Religion represents another integral facet of Egypt‟s framework. As a part of the Arab world and geographically connected to the founding land of Islam, it is no surprise that the overwhelming majority of the population of Egypt today is a follower of the Prophet Muhammad. Islam is entrenched in most aspects of daily life for the devout Egyptian and serves as the basis for a large number of social organizations and has branched out into political participation via popular elections. One such organization is known as al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin or the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in 1928 by Hasan al-Banna (Mitchell, 1969). He outlines the aims of the organization when he stated, You are not a benevolent society, nor a political party, nor a local organization having limited purposes. Rather, you are a new soul in the 3 heart of the nation to give it life by means of the Quran…When asked what it is you propagate, reply that it is Islam, the message of Muhammad, the religion that contains within it government…If you are told that you are political, answer that Islam admits no such distinction. (as cited in Hopwood, 1991, p. 21) In other words, Islam is considered an all-encompassing religion and sees no separation of church and state, especially because it dictates a moral law for all believers to follow known as „shari‘a.‟ Therefore, along with many Islamic-based political organizations, the Brotherhood aims to end a secular government and replace it with the rules and laws as decreed by Islam (Harnisch & Mecham, 2009). Since their founding, they have slowly evolved to have an ever-more prevalent position in Egypt‟s political arena with significant gains in the Egyptian Parliament over the last fifteen years (Brown & Hamzawy, 2010). While the organization does provide a number of vital social welfare programs for the Egyptian population, it also represents the single largest political opposition group in Egypt, which has not gone unnoticed by past rulers (Brown & Hamzawy, 2010; Baker, 1990; Harnisch & Mecham, 2009). The Brotherhood‟s amazing success in transforming itself from a small social change organization to a massive revivalist movement “can be ascribed to its ability to… [provide] its followers with a total ideology identifying the ills of society and prescribing measures to remedy them…based on fundamentalist Islam… [advocating] total social, economic, and political reform” (Dekmejian, 1971, p. 19). 4 With every regime from the monarchy to Mubarak, there have been at least one or more periods of political strangulation and suffocation for opposition groups, and the Brotherhood has suffered the brunt of these mass arrests, abuse, and imprisonment. Surely an organization that has lasted through these kinds of harrowing times has had to conduct their business in a very careful and strategically planned manner so as to garner public support but not acquire the complete wrath of the governing leadership. Additionally, any organization in existence for over 80 years has inevitably changed over that time in both structure and intent, thus changing their overall message and relationship with their constituents. This study will combine the theoretical and practical importance of strategic narrative study with the political force and power that a non-state actor can have by examining the strategic narrative of the Muslim Brotherhood, which adds the extra dimension of political Islam. Trying to examine all of the communication messages composing the Brotherhood‟s strategic narrative spanning their eighty-plus year history of the organization is too large of a sample size to thoroughly analyze. Consequently, this study will focus first on a historical analysis of the Muslim Brotherhood‟s strategic narrative throughout its history, as understood by Western scholars, and secondly will conduct original research more narrowly focused on the narrative issued from the Brotherhood directly on Ikhwanweb.com, their English language website, from the beginning of 2008 to the end of 2010. 5 In the following pages, the strategic narrative of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood will be broken up into its past, present, and future components which collectively form the overall strategic narrative of the most influential sub- state actor in Egypt. Chapter one will consist of setting the groundwork to understand the Brotherhood‟s strategic narrative. An important component of a strategic narrative is to understand the context in which it exists and develops. Therefore, a summary of the Egyptian political milieu over the past ninety years will contextualize the Brotherhood‟s narrative as it has evolved to the present day. This contextualization is then supplemented by a discussion of relevant scholarship on the theoretical and practical applications of the burgeoning field of strategic narrative study.

Load more

  121

Copy Link