AP: Muslim Brotherhood Tempers Shariah Law Rhetoric Just Before Seizing Power
- Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:34pm by
Billy Hallowell
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CAIRO (AP) — After decades of dreaming of power, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood finally comes face to face with the question of how to use it, as a new parliament that it dominates opens Monday.
The fundamentalist group has eased off talk of Islamic-style legislation, saying it will focus on fixing Egypt’s ailing economy, and it has even backed off introducing further explicit Islamic references in the new constitution it will have a major hand in writing. But it has other tools to push Egypt toward greater religious conservativism.
The Brotherhood‘s caution in its Islamic rhetoric and parliament agenda reflect its worries of a backlash against it at a time when Egypt’s politics are still in major flux. Egyptians are eager to see quick improvements in an economy that has been battered by turmoil and mismanagement since the fall of Hosni Mubarak nearly a year ago.
They also want signs of long-term change in a system where corruption was rife, nearly half the population fell to the edge of poverty or below, young people searched in vain for jobs and for housing and neighborhoods were left to fall into dilapidation as Mubarak’s regime built clean new suburbs for the few wealthy.
A Nov. 23, 2011 file photo that shows vehicles pass under a banner supporting Muslim brotherhood candidates for the parliamentary elections in Cairo, Egypt. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)
Moreover, how much authority the Brotherhood will have to bring changes remains unsettled. The military, which took over when Mubarak was ousted, holds ultimate power for at least six more months. The Brotherhood and ruling generals are expected to jostle and cajole each other over dividing power, and the Brotherhood is wary of moves that could cause a clash.
“We can’t talk about implementing Islamic Shariah law when the country is experiencing such devastating economic problems,” said Mohammed Gouda, a Brotherhood policymaker and member of the party’s economic committee.
The Brotherhood feels little need to push through legislation enforcing an Islamic vision, he and other members say, especially since Egyptian society is already deeply religious and conservative. More effective, they say, is influencing the culture. Brotherhood members show a confidence that they can show a “correct” example of Islam that will bring the public into their way of life.
Indeed, Gouda said that the Egyptian public is “already convinced” and doesn’t need much persuasion.
He pointed to the dramatic spread of the Muslim headscarf among women in past decades. In the past, few women wore it, but now it is nearly universal among Muslim women in Egypt as society has grown more conservative. He and others shrug off the need for laws on traditionally “Islamic ” issues such as banning alcohol and encouraging or even requiring gender segregation and Islamic dress.
Critics in Egypt worry that the Brotherhood is only biding its time to bring a more Islamic agenda, and their greatest fear is of a long-term understanding between the Brotherhood and military to run the country, even after the generals step aside for a civilian president, due to take place by late June.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report Sunday that the West must recognize that Islamists are “the majority preference” in Egypt and other Arab countries and will naturally grow stronger in a democratic system.
But it said pressure must be maintained to ensure respect for human rights.
The Brotherhood has been “saying the right things” but “we have to see how they govern and how they deal with women, religious minorities. These are the big questions,” said HRW’s executive director Kenneth Roth.
By any measure, it will be an unprecedented moment on Monday with the convening of the first parliament since last year’s dramatic wave of protests led to the Feb. 11 fall of Mubarak after nearly 30 years of authoritarian rule. The protests were led by leftist and secular youth, but the free elections that resulted – Egypt’s first in living memory – were a prize for Islamists, particularly the Brotherhood, which was banned under Mubarak.
In the parliament chamber Monday, 47 percent of the 498 lawmakers will belong to the Brotherhood, including the parliament speaker. Another quarter will be Salafis, a more radical Islamic group who only a year ago shunned democracy as a violation of God’s law but who now see government as the way to bring it about.
Parliament’s biggest upcoming task is the writing of the new constitution. It is to form a 100-member assembly to draft the document, though the military is pressing for a say as well, and the Brotherhood is under pressure to ensure secular and liberal voices have an equal say with Islamists.
The Brotherhood says it does not intend to enshrine further Islamic structures into the new charter, beyond its current Article 2, which says principles of Islamic law are “the main basis” for legislation in Egypt.
The phrasing is broad enough to mean almost whatever those in power want it to mean. Mubarak’s nominally secular regime did little to legislate Shariah beyond family laws, but future decision-makers could cite the clause to insist on expanding Shariah’s scope.
Instead, the Brotherhood’s priority in the constitution is, again, political more than religious. It wants to restructure Egypt’s system where the president had overwhelming power – the legal grounding for Mubarak’s authoritarian rule.
For months, the Brotherhood advocated a strictly parliamentary system. That raised criticism that it seeks to concentrate power in a body that it is likely to dominate for the foreseeable future, so it has shifted to advocating a mixed system sharing powers between president and parliament.
In parliament itself, the focus will be on the economy, said Gouda.
The Brotherhood’s economic platform, as much as it is spelled out, is strongly liberal capitalist, reflecting the business and professional backgrounds of many of its members, so much so that it has come under criticism from the left for neglecting “social justice.”
Gouda said the group’s priority is stability to encourage investment. It wants to tackle corruption by activating a consumer protection law that was introduced under Mubarak but sat idle, and by making regulatory bodies independent so they can do their work without corruption.
“We will set up a system to encourage people to report those who offer bribes, and actually make sure laws that protect consumers be applied,” he said.
For spreading its conservative ideology through the culture, the Brotherhood already boasts a nationwide system of charities and social work. If it gains positions in government as well as parliament, it could have further tools, including greater influence over the powerful state television and other media – which it has always been shut out of. Some Brotherhood figures have spoken of the Education Ministry as a key sector.
The Brotherhood, however, may face a challenge to this gradualist approach from the right.
The Salafis who form the second largest bloc in parliament espouse a far more rigid, literalist and uncompromising stance on Shariah. The two blocs were often rivals in the election campaign over the past months, and pressing for more overtly Islamic laws could help the Salafi parties with their base.
“What we may see is that each side will try to out-Muslim the other,” said Mohammed Abbas, a young former Brotherhood member who left the group after being frustrated with the group for not giving youth a stronger voice.
Nathan J. Brown, a professor at George Washington University and who studies Middle Eastern Islamist parties said the Salafis “are one of the biggest issues on their mind – almost as big as the military.”
The Brothers’ worry is that they would be pushed into a more radical stance. They remember the experiences of Islamic movements in Algeria and Palestine, where Islamic groups that were too aggressive brought a backlash. They also don’t want to lose their focus on showing they can bring good governance.
“They would never say they are de-emphasizing religion, and I think they are being sincere,” Brown said. “For them good governance providing for the needs of people, this is Islam.”
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Comments (67)
tradexpertbuysell
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 3:26am“Hold onto your butts!” Quote from Jurassic Park
Report Post »Chris.underhill
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 2:13amHow did you all miss, the obama regime signature in this ?
its all right here ONE WORLD goverment NEVER forget this is the end gole.
Gouda said the group’s priority is stability to encourage investment. It wants to tackle corruption by activating a CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW that was introduced under Mubarak but sat idle, and by making regulatory bodies independent so they can do their work without corruption.
The hole reson we oust mubarak he would not play nicy nice and then got him self killed. now the bortherhood swoops in and woh and behold OBAMA plays best of friends with them and oh my even lets out prisinors from git mo. WAKe up america smell the coffy **** is about to hit the fam and soon.
GOLD FOOD WATER CLOTHES A PLACE TO GO! get on it now..
Report Post »Mitchina
Posted on January 24, 2012 at 9:24pmAnd JUST Like Obumer, this newly self appointed government of Egypt will shove the bills thru, re-write the constitution and have it done before anyone even hears about it…. poof. And out of the left side of their mouths they will be talking about everything else. Just like our Muslim President here in the Good Ole’ and Forgotten U.S.of A.
Report Post »Robert-CA
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 1:09amThe blood of the youth in Egypt is still hot , the new government can’t mention sharia law for now or else the youth will jump on them .
Report Post »They will let it rest for a couple of years & then start implementing it little by little .
Flex-it
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 6:50amVery possible….the Muslim Brotherhood “cannot be trusted”, they ultimately are wolves in sheep‘s clothing’s.
Report Post »thewatcher93
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 1:59pmIn a gallup poll it stated that over 70% of Egyptions said that the muslim brotherhood coming into power would be bad for Egypt, of the 50 million that can vote in Egypt less than half voted and the muslim brotherhood won by like 10% Their country was on fire and I guess after all the bloodshed they couldn’t do something simple like get of their duffs and vote. I guess the future of their country wasn’t important, let this be a lesson from look, watch, and learn, don’t let it happen here in the US.
Report Post »10th Crusade
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 2:14pmNew government implementing damaging changes little by little? This…sounds familiar.
Report Post »thindime
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 1:04amWhy don’t the GOP presidential candidates call on Obama to clearly and publicly state that the U.S. will IMMEDIATELY defend Israel when it is attacked by an Arab nation?
Report Post »Prior Obama actions suggest he will drag his feet just enough for Israel to be conquered. He needs to be put on record NOW.
Has our stealth recon machine been returned yet? (No, the Chinese and Russians have dibs on it).
db321
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 1:33amObama will drag his feet just enough for Israel to be conquered.
Says who – last time I read the Bible it said that when the dust settles Israel would still be standing! As for as those that opposed and came against Israel, they are enjoying a nice long swim in the Lake of Fire. God Bless Israel and the Jews!
Report Post »jrmhrpr78
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 8:33amI want all those in this country calling for war to send their kids. Send your brothers and sisters and husbands and wives. Even Netenyahu himself says they do not need our help! Why should we send our own to die for them adding further risk to our own security when they have more than enough nukes to take care of themselves? We need to take care of America. Let them do whatever they want to each other. They have been fighting for thousands of years and we have no interest there. Knock this SH_T OFF.
Report Post »ripvanwinkle
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 12:42amIt bugs me that the basic message regarding Islam is never clearly communicated.
The concern Americans have about Islam has nothing to do with religion or faith. It has everything to do with tyranny and the destruction of your rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Shariah Law conflicts with individual rights and distribution of power as defined in our Constitution. Shariah-based economics ultimately forces Shariah Law on a global scale. That brings us back to tyranny and oppression of the individual. So it’s not about faith. It’s about the idea that everyone is borne equally with the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Islam does not believe that those rights belong to women and nonbelievers. That’s the way Islam has been for centuries – a form of tyranny and a totalitarian government since the beginning. Our Constitution – and this is what makes the American republic exceptional – has tried to find the delicate balance between tyranny and anarchy.
Report Post »cuinsong
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 12:24amGive them time soon as they install enough Shariah law they will be just like the other Muslim co. they do not want to live in harmony it is not what they believe or teach. Their not civil inside and they hate any one that differs. This is their drive not love and peace. here’s a song to help you understand them called “What for”
Report Post »http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_9134679
survivorseed
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 4:52amYou could replace muslim with evangelical and come to the exact same conclusion
Report Post »sawbuck
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 6:49amSurvivorSeed.
Report Post »You are one blinded soul aren’t you..?
A real comparison is more like Barry and his ilk.
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:56pmSo people are being told the ‘Muslim bortherhood feels little need to push a radical agenda’ or such nonsense; that will happen soon enough one way or another. The Egyptian armed forces right now are the only check on the radicals, and when the purges begin, military and civil, the wise ones will already have fled.
As for the Christians in the nation; Obama will do nothing save throw them back to the wolves.
Report Post »Findalis
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:52pmThe have won rule of Egypt. Now they will have to dominate the military (ie Revolutionary Guards). They need to do that to prevent another military coup. Then they will find an excuse to attack Israel. That will result in the deaths of millions of Egyptians, a destroyed Aswan High Dam, and a destruction of Egypt’s tourist industry.
The MB will retain control over Egypt after all that. They will have been terrorizing the people for years.
Report Post »tbarr4
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:32pmHey you idiots Anderson Cooper, Nobama, Stretch Pelosi, Hillary Rotten Clinton – “This is what Democracy looks like”!!
Report Post »db321
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 12:55amThat’s Right and the Blood, of all killed by these so called peaceful demonstrators that now have power to make law, is on the head of all that supported them – staff of the Liberal Media included.
Got to get back to work – training my Rattlesnake not to bite.
Report Post »Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:25pmNow Obama needs to Offer Amnesty to Egyptian Christians and send his Family and Mexicans back home.
Report Post »db321
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 1:27amTourism will be Booming – if your into Beheadings, Pedophilia, Wearing Burkas, Suicide Booming, and Stonning!
Report Post »allrising1
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:01pm…wondering what this will do for tourism to Egypt.
Hmmm….probably the same thing destroying Egyptian artifacts and defacing ancient structures did a few months ago.
Report Post »georgiavietvet
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:58pmanyone who believes that the muslim brotherhood, of murderers and thugs, is not going to go radical is just very niave(sp). they are saying the right things now to gain power, but after they are firmly established, as the power in egypt,the radical sharia will come to the front, as the law in egypt. watch and see…………………………………..
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:57pm.
It’s kinda like the PC White Guilt Morons electing Obama.
Had to elect him, now how ****** are we………
Report Post »phillipwgirard
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:46pmYou’re right about that!!!
Report Post »db321
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 1:42amI don’t think PC had a whole lot to do with it – The People who voted for Obama rather they are Black, Brown, Red, White or Yellow – have one Common Denominator – They have not read the Bible and they are not Christians. I challenge any so called Christian that voted for Obama to prove me wrong.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 6:46am.
Report Post »Hate to tell you DB321, PC White Morons are who put Obama in office. Not enough minorties to put him over the top………..
Speak without Fear
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 7:07amCompletely agree…….100%.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:40pmReminds me of an old Knacks song (My Sharona)
Ooh, my little infidel, infidel
Report Post »When you gonna give me some fatwah, Sharia
Ooh, you make my machine gun run, my machine gun run
Gun it, mowing down the infidels, Sharia
Never gonna stop, give it up
Such an infidel, Always get the brun,t of a Jihad
My, my, myyyyy, Sharia
Stoic one
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:57pmNow that is cute.
Report Post »A Conservatarian
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 4:08amVery funny!
Report Post »barber2
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:34pmSounds like some of that ” 99% ” baloney rhetoric we get over here. Smoke and Mirrors. Big Lies to hide the coming agenda of Sariah Law. Like Erdogan said : ” Democracy is like a bus. You ride it until you come to your stop. Then you get off.“ or ” There is no such thing as moderate Islam. Islam is Islam.“ Anyone who believes all of these nasty loonies who are spouting all of this ” non-transparent” baloney, needs to WAKE UP. We do not need another Pearl Harbor. We do not need another 9/11 .
Report Post »bates8963
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 11:11pmThe Arab Spring was simply a test ground for Obummer’s strategy to transform America….. All that was needed was Google/Facebook/Twitter to incite the 99% across the middle east, and it worked perfectly. Not only did Oblamer create and guarantee the Califate (sp), he is now sure how to bring America to it’s knees. OWS is just the beginning…just wait until this summer for the final wave.
Report Post »There is going to be one hell of a war….. a war to end all war’s….. Only God’s intervention will save humanity. I suggest the war will begin within 6 months of Iran completing nukes. They will set them off in Israel and the US. Washington DC will glow…. The nukes from Turkey and Pakistan will be launched followed by Russia and the Chicom’s….. How do you like that for gloom, but hey….. Muslims are far more civilized than that….right? Obumbler seems civilized, doesn’t he? Although, he does say the most lovely sound is that of the Muslim “call to prayer”…… and loves the feel of putting a “boot to the throat” of us little ignorant minions. The only Social Justice I need is to see the truth revealed. I won’t hold my breath however.
palerider54
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:18pmJust more proof that we should renew the crusades and drive the infidel haters out of our country.
Then follow them to the middle east and finish the crusades.
Report Post »islamhater
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:27pmWatch you will get banned for calling for genocide…You can‘t offend the muslim’s on here trust me i found out the hard way.. Just like you will.. They have rules on here about freedom of speech offending people.. P.C. police on here…
Report Post »Gazelem
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:09pmThey are very sneaky.
Report Post »ares338
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:04pmI really don’t care.
Report Post »ThePostman
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:58pmOops. Beck called this one wrong. He must have spent hours on the air decrying how they would drag the country down into a taliban-style mess.
Egyptians are a modern people, they will not go back. Neither will the Lybians. In fact, the more middle eastern countries we leave alone, the more that become like the way we wish we were, if it weren’t for Obama. And Newt. And Mittens.
Report Post »islamhater
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:04pmReally??
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:36pmya good luck with that hypothesis
Report Post »barber2
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:37pmOh, really ? You can always trust the Muslim Brotherhood. Be sure to google Anwar Sadat . He had a little encounter with these guys. Mubarak was also there. Such a lovely, honest, open, trustworthy bunch of guys that you can put your trust with. WAKE UP.
Report Post »carbonyes
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:48pmTHE POSTMAN, you and the Imposter-in-Chief ought to get together – kinda think alike, but Obamy has ulterior motives. Stand by for a ram!
Report Post »islamhater
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:57pmI think my name say’s it for me….
Report Post »TRILO
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:56pmNation building at it’s finest.
Report Post »Skrewedretiree
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:56pmTypical Moo-slum…make nice, then slice.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 10:14pmYes .. it is not what they say .. it is what they do ..
Report Post »AJAYW
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:48pmObama is proud of how he pulled this off
Report Post »godhatesacoward
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:48pmThat worked well.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on January 22, 2012 at 9:46pmIt is their ACTIONS not words that show their evil intentions. As it is here.
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