Egypt: ‘authoritarian’ Muslim Brotherhood ambivalent on political violence

Caption: Muslim Brotherhood leader, Mohammed Akef, praised Osama Bin-Laden and defended Al-Qaeda

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has been embarrassed by one of its leading member’s reference to reviving the Brotherhood’s clandestine ’special organization’ associated with the group’s violent past. State Council member Abdul Sattar al Maliji’s statement comes at a time of internal turmoil, notes the Saudi-owned Al-Hayat newspaper, with “the Brotherhood dismissing the members well known for their democratic and transparent tendencies, and …. advocates of confrontation are increasingly gaining ground.”

Relatively moderate elements within the Brotherhood have lost ground lately as more conservative Salafist forces gain strength, particularly within the rank-and-file membership. The International Crisis Group recently argued that the Egyptian state should “formally incorporate the Muslim Brothers or an associated political party into the political realm and open the political arena to a genuine democratic contest.”

The organization’s 2005 electoral gains confirmed its position “as an extremely well-organized and deeply rooted political force,” the ICG notes, while the state’s attempts to deny it political space have “noticeably degraded the quality of parliamentary and political life, entrenching the [ruling National Democratic Party's] virtual monopoly and dealing a severe blow to the legal, non-Islamist opposition.”

Recent events confirm that the Brotherhood is essentially authoritarian, dominated by a hierarchical and centralized leadership according to “primitive undemocratic criteria“, says Khalil Al-Anani, an expert on political Islam and democratization and a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Although it has renounced the “armed struggle”, the history of the Muslim Brotherhood – and statements by its current leaders – indicates some ambivalence towards political violence and terrorism.  In an interview with Elaph, its Supreme Leader, Mohammed Akef, recently praised Osama Bin-Laden and defended Al-Qaeda. 

“Most certainly he is a mujahid,” he said of the world’s most-wanted terrorist. “I do not doubt his sincerity in resisting occupation for the sake of God Almighty.” Akef defended  Al-Qaeda “as an ideology and organization [that] came as a result of injustice and corruption” and stated, “Yes, I support its activities against the occupier, but not against the people.”

Akif also conceded that although the Brotherhood was non-violent within Egypt, it has sent and would continue to “send fighters to resist the occupation, whether in Iraq or in Palestine.”