15 March 2011 By Abdul Rahman
Al-Rashid A column by Lorenzo Vidino, an academic and
security expert, published in the Washington Post
under the title "Five myths about the Muslim
Brotherhood" has stirred controversy at a time
distinct with political change in the Arab world-- a
change that can be positive or negative, but now it is
early to judge. As far as I am concerned, I think the Muslim
Brotherhoods have the right to rule, even in a pivotal
country like Egypt, so long as power is reached within
a legal framework that grants equal opportunity for
all political forces. This is also what Vidino sought
to indicate, but my difference with him is in
describing the Brotherhood movement and presenting it
to the Western society as a victim of a ploy that
attempts to contain them politically by tarnishing
their image. It may be true that political regimes sought to
scare the world away from the Brotherhoods during
political unrests and in the era of terrorism falsely
attributed to all Islamists in the past decade, but
the truth also is that not all what was said about the
Brotherhoods was myth. The Brotherhoods are those who also sought to
enhance their image as a group that believes in human
rights and liberty after the United States said it
would support democracies in the Middle East and they
found in this an open window to reach power in a
democratic way. Of course, they have the right to
reach power just like everyone else, especially in a
country that used to claim that the alternation of
power is everyone's right according to a democratic
system during the rule of Mubarak. The Muslim Brotherhoods in Egypt, like in other
Arab countries, is a political movement with a clear
and explicit goal and that is to rule, and this is its
legitimate right as I previously said. But in its
political platform the movement aims to hold on to
power, not simply to reach it, through inventing
additional ideological means, such as imposing a
religious reference of the state and an assembly of
senior religious clerics on the legislative authority.
Through these two means the anticipated political
system in Egypt appears similar to the one in Iran--A
democracy based on religious laws and a parliament
that refers to religious clerics. This is not a myth
but explicit texts in the platform of Egypt's Muslim
Brotherhood. Of course when reading the platform of their party
one will find cosmetic terms such as "free elections"
and "alternation of power," but in the Iranian
experience elections and the alternation of power are
reserved only for a small group of religious clerics
and their followers. The Iranian religious movement was internationally
accepted when it came to power in 1979 because it was
seen as a preferred alternative to a possible
communist or leftist party at the time. But the world has been in chaos since then when
Khomeini and his comrades took over the rule in Iran,
a country with high geopolitical importance. I would never exclude that the Brotherhoods, like
the Iranian Islamist movement, subscribe to such
values that are based on imposing religion on society
and politics and perceive democracy as a simple means
to reach authority and hold on to it forever. A person may voice criticism as to why I stand
against this Islamist group, but the fact is that I am
not against it reaching power-- this is its right and
its presence in politics is essential. My problem with
the group lies in its exclusionary Fascist thought
that seeks to rule everyone with religion, which it
aims to use as a means in order to reach the
commanding power position and remain there. Without real constitutional guarantees and a body,
like the army, to protect those guarantees, one will
not trust a party that seeks to reach power and use it
to subdue people and destroy their nation in the name
of reviving the system of Islamic Khalifat or the
like. In this age it is unacceptable to trust any fascist
group, be it nationalistic or religious, in its quest
to obtain power because the danger of such groups
transcends national borders. Al Rashed is the general manager of Al -Arabiya
television. He is also the former editor-in-chief of
Asharq Al- Awsat, and the leading Arabic weekly
magazine, Al Majalla. He is also a senior Columnist in
the daily newspapers of Al Madina and Al Bilad. He is
a US post-graduate degree in mass communications. He
has been a guest on many TV current affairs programs.
He is currently based in Dubai. Comments 💬 التعليقات |