American University in Cairo AUC Knowledge Fountain Theses and Dissertations 6-1-2012 Muslim Brothers in Egypt: politics of generational gaps Doha Samir Mostafa Abdelgawad Follow this and additional works at: https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds Recommended Citation APA Citation Abdelgawad, D. (2012).Muslim Brothers in Egypt: politics of generational gaps [Master’s thesis, the American University in Cairo]. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/1077 MLA Citation Abdelgawad, Doha Samir Mostafa. Muslim Brothers in Egypt: politics of generational gaps. 2012. American University in Cairo, Master's thesis. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/1077 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by AUC Knowledge Fountain. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of AUC Knowledge Fountain. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Thesis Submitted to The Department of Political Science In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts By Doha Samir Mostafa Abdelgawad Under the supervision of Dr. Heba Raouf Ezzat May/ 2012 The American University in Cairo Muslim Brothers in Egypt: Politics of Generational Gaps A Thesis Submitted by Doha Samir Mostafa Abdelgawad To the Department of Political Science May/2012 In partial fulfillment of the requirements for The degree of Master of Arts Has been approved by Dr. Heba Raouf Ezzat Thesis Committee Advisor____________________________________________ Affiliation_________________________________________________________ Dr. Ashraf Nabil Al Shrief Thesis Committee Reader____________________________________________ Affiliation_________________________________________________________ Dr. Ahmed Abd Rabou Thesis Committee Reader____________________________________________ Affiliation_________________________________________________________ __________________ __________ __________________ ____________ Dept. Chair Date Dean of HUSS Date ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to Allah who gave me the interest in what I did and the power to keep going till the end. Psychology confidently explains how introvert people get the power and satisfaction from their inner egos, however, humans, both introvert and extrovert, would not go on their way without others’ support and help. Thus, I am immensely thankful to many people to get this study done. I am grateful to my thesis advisor Professor Heba Raouf for her wise advices and insights especially at critical times of thesis writing. I appreciate her trust in my capabilities, skills, and optimism that I would be able to get everything done on time. I am so thankful to my academic readers: Professor Ashraf Al Shrief, and Professor Ahmed Abd Rabou for their critical insights and comments. I am indebted to Abd al Rahman Ayyash for his insights on my drafted proposal and help in reaching most of my key informants. He tireless answered all my inquires and was a true supportive assistant. Graditutes should be delivered for Somaia M.El Sayed for her sincere advices and help during the editing phase. I owe my informants who welcomed all my questions and provided me with all required materials. I also would like to thank Mrs. Dina Hosny for her dedication and sincere help in all paper work associated with my Master’s degree. She was always ready to make my life easy and never get tired of my frequent questions. Of course, I devote special thanks to my parents and lovely sister who believed in me and did their best to make me who I am. Without the love and guidance of some close friends I would not be able to overcome many hard times; I deeply owe you. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Abstract 1. Chapter I: A Background…………………………………………………….....1-28. 1.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………...1. 1.2 Research Problem ………………………………………………………………16. 1.3 Conceptual Framework ………………………………………………………....17. 1.4 Research Methodology …………………………………………………………24. 1.5 Outline of the Study …………………………………………………………....28. 2. Chapter II: 1970s Generational Gap………….………………………………29-66. 2.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………..29. 2.2 Surrounding Context ……………………………………………………………30. 2.3 Description …………………………………………………………………..36-59. A) Ideological Gap ……………………………………………………………….36. B) Al Wasat Party ……………………………………………………………….45. C) The Shura Council and the Guidance Office Elections ………………………49. D) Recent Dismissals and Resignations ………………………………………….54. 2.4 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………...59. 3. Chapter III: Muslim Brotherhood Youth and Concurrent Generational Gap……………………………………………………………………………67-114. 3.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………..67. 3.2 Surrounding Context ……………………………………………………………68. 3.3 Description …………………………………………………………………75-115. A) Muslim Brotherhood Bloggers ……………………………………………...75. B) January 25 Revolution and Brothers’ Political Performance …………….….82. C) Young Brothers’ Conferences ……………………………………………….88. D) Culture of Obedience and Self Critique ……………………………………..93. E) Muslim Brotherhood and Post Revolutionary Party Politics ………………101. F) Muslim Brotherhood Gender Ideology ……………………………………109. 3.4 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………….115. I 4. Concluding Remarks ……………………………………………………….119-143. 4.1 The Qutbist- Reformist Gap……………………………………………………119. 4.2 Generational Gaps: Over What?.........................................................................127. 4.3 Generational Continuity and Discontinuity……………………………………134. 5. Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………...144. 6. List of Tables 6.1 Table 1. Interviews’ Participants……………………………………………26. 6.2 Table 2. A Comparison between Muslim Brotherhood, Al Wasat, and the Egyptian Current Party……………………………………………………...…138. 7. List of Figures 7.1 Figure 1. Different Generational Units within the Muslim Brotherhood…….3. 7.2 Figure 2. The Muslim Brotherhood Hierarchy……………………………...99. 7.3 Figure 3. The Freedom and Justice Party Hierarchy……………………….104. II ABSTRACT This thesis is an attempt to address the politics of generational gaps within Muslim Brotherhood Movement in Egypt since mid 1980s till 2011. It sheds light on patterns of generational interactions, issues of concern, and their impact on the future trajectory of the Movement. It conceptually employs the Generational Unit Model, drawn largely from the work of Karl Mannheim. In doing so, the study applies focused semi-structured interviews with the movement’s affiliated members from antagonistic generational units. The study addresses the socioeconomic and political context that shape the consciousness of two generational waves within the movement. It descriptively addresses the nature of generational relationship between some of the 1970s generation, young Brothers, and the movement’s leadership. It denotes reasons behind the establishment of new political organizations including The Center party (Al Wasat), The Egyptian Current Party (Al Tayar al Masry), and The Renaissance Party (Al Nahda Party). The study highlights different perceptions and schools of thought shared by Brothers towards social reality, and tools of reforming the movement and the Egyptian political system. III CHAPTER I: A BACKGROUND 1.1 INTRODUCTION “Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it” George Orwell. Generally, the continuity of any movement is assured by enduring the commitment to that movement's ideology and principles, but as the recruitment process moves on, newcomers may share different inspirations and perceptions of social reality, which result in that movement’s change1, renewal or decay and dissolution. The same is applied to the impact of emerging generational waves and schools of thought on the movement’s course and trajectory. This thesis seeks to tackle this phenomenon of movements’ change, from a generational perspective based on the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s experience. Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Al Ikhwan al Muslmin, is one of the powerful Islamic mass movements; it proved a strong capacity to mobilize people and develop popular appeal among Egyptians from all walks of life. Debates and exchange of ideas via media and newspapers for the last decade, throughout a liberal façade assured by Mubarak’s regime and post revolutionary era, put many problematic issues, including Shari’a application, democracy, Copts and women’s rights in front of the movement.2These heated issues, in addition to other internal dynamics, brought MB’s generational gaps to the surface pushing for an academic interest to analyze the phenomenon's roots, reasons, patterns, and influences. 1Nancy Whitter, “ Political Generations, Micro Cohorts, and the Transformation of Social Movements”, American Sociology Review 62, no 5 (1997), http://www.jstore.org/stable/2657359 (accessed September 3, 2011) 2 Mubarak’s regime allowed for certain liberal measures, though strict political control was maintained (a state of competitive authoritarianism); see literature on authoritarianism in the Middle East in Holger Albrecht and Oliver Schlumberger, “Waiting for Godot: Regime Change without Democratization in the Middle East”, International Political Science Review 25 (2004) :4. Stephen King, “Sustaining Authoritarianism in the Middle East and North Africa”, Political Science Quarterly 122 (2007): 3, Ellen Lust, “Competitive Clientelism in the Middle East”, Journal of Democracy 20 (2009): 3. 1 The history of Muslim Brotherhood has been shaped by emerging distinct intellectual trends intertwined