The Political Survival of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan: From Participation to Boycott Wisam Hazimeh Ph.D. Thesis University of East Anglia School of Political Science and International Studies June, 2015 This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any information derived there from must be in accordance with current UK Copyright Law. In addition, any quotation or extract must include full attribution Abstract This thesis explores the development of relations between the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood and Jordanian regime from 1945 to 2010, in which a distinction is made between the pre- and post-1989 eras that demarked a significant shift from partnership to crisis. Utilising an historical approach, the first era is defined by both parties’ mutual pragmatism, establishing a unified understanding of the Palestinian issue, and what the nature of politics in Jordan would be. However, the post-1989 era is analysed within the context of the regime’s shift in interests from internal to external issues, subsequently changing its pragmatic discourse towards the Brotherhood and Islamic movements. This study suggests that the shift in the regime’s focus, teamed with the implementation of policies such as the ‘one vote system’ and the peace treaty with Israel, left a space for radical voices to rise within the Brotherhood. To understand if the Brotherhood is compatible to Jordan’s parliamentarian system, the research identifies circles of division within the Brotherhood between Hassan al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb’s ideologies in the wake of regional conflict and poor regime-Islamist relations. This bifurcation is exacerbated in Jordan, as seen with the opposing fronts of the Jordanian Brotherhood’s Shoura Council: Hawks of Palestinian origin vs. Doves of Jordanian origin, claiming a new division: the ‘new’ Hawks, or, the ‘Salafist Brotherhood’. Supported by exclusive personal interviews with Brotherhood leaders, this thesis argues that allowing Islamist movements’ limited political participation in Jordan is essential for the country’s stability and religious modernity as since the 2007 boycott, increasing numbers of al-Bannaist Doves have converted into Qutbist Hawks. This has empowered the Hawks to demand fundamental reforms regarding the monarchy’s existence, initiating the Brotherhood’s final 2010 political boycott, and positioning the once-allied movement outside the political process and indefinitely removed from accountability. Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................... i Table of Contents ..................................................................................................... i Images and Tables .............................................................................................................................. i Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. i Introduction ........................................................................................................... iv Literature Review: Political Islam and the Modern State ..................................... xi Incompatibility ............................................................................................................................ xi Compatibility ............................................................................................................................. xiv The Muslim Brotherhood ................................................................................................... xviii Methodology ................................................................................................................... xix Primary Sources ........................................................................................................................ xx Secondary Sources .................................................................................................................. xxv Interviews ................................................................................................................................ xxix Ending the Study in 2010 .............................................................................................. xxxiii Chapter One The Establishment of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan…………………. ................................................................................................ 1 1.0 Transjordan and King ᶜAbdallah I .................................................................................. 2 1.1 Hassan al-Banna .................................................................................................................... 5 1.1.1 From Diplomacy to Arms (1941 - 1949) .................................................................... 13 1.2 Sayyid Qutb and the Division of the Brotherhood (1950-1966) ........................ 16 1.2.1 Emerging Divisions: The Brotherhood after Qutb .................................................. 20 1.3 The Establishment of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan .................................... 22 Chapter Two A Group Not a Party: The Marriage of Convenience .. 27 2.0 Becoming a National Political Actor (1949 – 1954) ............................................. 28 2.0.1 Ḥizb al-Taḥrīr ....................................................................................................................... 35 2.0.2 The Baghdad Pact .............................................................................................................. 37 2.1 Participation in Elections (1956) ................................................................................... 42 2.2 Palestinian Forces and the 1967 War .......................................................................... 52 2.2.1 The Brotherhood and the National Identity Dilemma (Black September) ..... 57 2.3 Sectarianism and the Syrian Brotherhood .................................................................. 64 Chapter Three The Crisis From Within ....................................................... 70 3.0 Habat Nisān [The April Uprising] ............................................................................... 71 3.1 Re-Democratising Jordan Post-1989 ........................................................................... 82 3.2 IAF vs. One Vote System ................................................................................................. 86 3.3 The Brotherhood and IAF’s Structural Differences ................................................ 91 3.4 The Peace Process .............................................................................................................. 96 3.4.1 Wadi Arabah .................................................................................................................... 101 Discussion: The End of Alliance and the Question of Palestine ................................. 106 Chapter Four From Boycott to Participation ....................................... 112 4.0 Preconditions for Division ............................................................................................ 114 4.1 The Brotherhood’s First Boycott: 1993 – 1997 ..................................................... 118 4.2 King ᶜAbdallah II and Hamas ...................................................................................... 125 4.2.1 Jordan in the 9/11 era .................................................................................................... 129 4.2.3 Iraq ........................................................................................................................................ 133 4.3 The 2003 Elections .......................................................................................................... 135 4.3.2 The Social Wing ............................................................................................................... 140 Chapter Five From Participation to Boycott: Radicalisation ......... 145 5.0 The Salafist Movement vs. the Muslim Brotherhood in Zarqa ........................ 147 5.1 The Dilemma of Hamas and the 2006 Success ...................................................... 161 5.2 The 2007 Elections .......................................................................................................... 166 5.3 The 2010 Elections .......................................................................................................... 173 Discussion: Internal Transformations ................................................................................... 179 Personal Differences: The Interviews .................................................................................. 181 Salafist Brotherhood ................................................................................................................... 189 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 192 The Dynamics of the Crisis ...................................................................................................... 198 What if the Muslim Brotherhood came to Power in Jordan? ....................................... 201 What Should the Regime Do? ................................................................................................. 205 What Should the Muslim Brotherhood do? .......................................................................