MASTER THESIS Titel der Master Thesis / Title of the Master‘s Thesis „The role of the Muslim Brotherhood in democracy- building processes in Egypt after the Arab Spring” verfasst von / submitted by Mag.phil. Bernhard Krisch angestrebter akademischer Grad / in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (MA) Wien, 2016 / Vienna 2016 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt / A 992 884 Postgraduate programme code as it appears on the student record sheet: Universitätslehrgang lt. Studienblatt / Universitätslehrgang Master of Arts in Human Rights Postgraduate programme as it appears on the student record sheet: Betreut von / Supervisor: Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Rüdiger Lohlker 2 Index 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Research-object and –questions ....................................................................................... 6 1.2 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Structure ........................................................................................................................... 8 2. Theoretical foundation and important terms .................................................................. 10 2.1 Freedom of speech as an integral part of democracy ..................................................... 10 2.2 The limits of freedom of expression .............................................................................. 11 2.1.2 Islam and freedom of expression ............................................................................ 14 2.2 Political Islam ................................................................................................................. 15 3. Egypt .................................................................................................................................... 20 3.1 Geography ...................................................................................................................... 20 3.2 People and society .......................................................................................................... 22 3.3 Economy ......................................................................................................................... 23 3.4 Religion .......................................................................................................................... 24 3.5 The History of Egypt: from independence to the Arab Spring ...................................... 27 3.5.1 The liberal era: 1922-1952 ...................................................................................... 27 3.5.2 Egypt under Nasser ................................................................................................. 30 3.5.2.1 Nasser and the Muslim Brotherhood ................................................................ 32 3.5.2.2 Nasser, democracy and freedom of expression ................................................ 34 3.5.3 Egypt under Sadat ................................................................................................... 37 3.5.3.2 Sadat and the Muslim Brotherhood .................................................................. 39 3.5.3.3 Sadat, democracy and freedom of expression .................................................. 41 3.5.4 Egypt under Mubarak .............................................................................................. 44 4.5.4.1 Mubarak and the Muslim Brotherhood ............................................................ 47 3.5.4.2 Mubarak, democracy and freedom of expression ............................................ 49 4. The Arab Spring ................................................................................................................. 54 4.1 Causes and broader context ............................................................................................ 54 4.2 Involved actors and social movements ........................................................................... 57 4.2.1 The Arab Spring and the Muslim Brotherhood ....................................................... 59 4.3 Course of events ............................................................................................................. 60 4.4 Aftermath ....................................................................................................................... 64 3 5. The Muslim Brotherhood .................................................................................................. 66 5.1 Historical background and evolution ............................................................................. 66 5.2 The Muslim Brotherhood, the state, democracy and freedom of expression ................. 71 5.2.1 The Muslim Brotherhood and the state ................................................................... 71 5.2.2 The Muslim Brotherhood, democracy and freedom of expression ......................... 73 5.3 The Freedom and Justice Party ...................................................................................... 76 5.4 The parliamentary election ............................................................................................. 77 5.5 The presidential election ................................................................................................ 78 5.6 Egypt under Mursi .......................................................................................................... 79 5.7 Mursi, democracy and freedom of expression ............................................................... 82 6. Epilogue ............................................................................................................................... 86 7. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 90 8. Appendix ............................................................................................................................. 96 8.1 Sources ........................................................................................................................... 96 8.1.1 Used literature ......................................................................................................... 96 8.1.2 Internet sources ....................................................................................................... 98 8.1.3 Illustration directory .............................................................................................. 103 8.3 Abstract ........................................................................................................................ 104 4 1. Introduction In the midst of an unprecedented stream of refugees coming from Islamic countries, Political Islam is one of the most contested terms in the political discussion in Europe. Yet, there seems to be a lot of vagueness to it. The populist far right parties are using it as a bogey to gain political capital, Political Islam and democracy are not supposed to mingle and Islam as a whole is not a genuinely European institution. On the other side, Islamic scientists such as Farid Hafez claim that there is a common ground between Political Islam and democracy and that growing Islamophobia in Europe is unjustified and the product of a discourse which is more and more racist. 1 For a few years now, my interest in the topic grew stronger and I decided that I want to have a more in-depth look at it. To follow the discussion in Europe is one thing but the percentage of Muslims in the continent is, in 2016, in the one-figure territory. My goal for this work is to find out in how far wide-spread narratives about Political Islam and Islamism in regards to democracy hold up if they are under examination. Although the Muslim population in the continent is rising, Islam is still a religion of the minority, Europe is therefore not really suited as a field of research. In 2016 there are many countries in the world that are predominantly Islamic. Some of these countries are indeed governed by Islamist administrations. Still, only very few are really suited to find out more about the topic mainly because there very often seems to be no real contact point between Political Islam and genuine democratic politics in these countries. I chose Egypt for a number of reasons. For one, it is the biggest Arabic country with a predominantly Sunni Muslim population. Furthermore, and more importantly, it was one of the main countries of the Arab Spring. Although there are a variety of reasons for one of the most important political events in the 21st century, it also was an outcry for more democracy in countries that are often governed by authoritarian regimes. 1 see Hafez, Farid: Demokratie und Islam – schon am Ende? In: derstandard.at; Available at: http://derstandard.at/1371172114314/Demokratie-und-Islam---schon-am-Ende (accessed at 09 May 2016) 5 After the protests, Mohammed Mursi became president of Egypt in 2012. Although he was the first democratically elected president of the country, many observers there and elsewhere were concerned because he was a member of one of the most prominent Islamist organisations in the world, the Muslim Brotherhood. How could an organisation which denies the separation of state and religion lead the country into a brighter future and continue the path that began at the Tahrir square in 2011? Although his tenure