<p>ABSTRACT</p><p>Essay in Political Science, Advanced Continuation Course, 61-80 credits, by Jonas Nilsson</p><p>”The democratic islamist? - a study of three islamist movements and their potential role in a</p><p>democratization process”</p><p>Supervisor: Jonas Linde</p><p>The purpose of this work has been to explain to what extent islamist movements can be said to be</p><p>bearers of democratic values and if they have a role to play in future democratization processes. The</p><p>purpose of this work is also to examine the democratic views of the different islamist movements and</p><p>to compare them with each other in an effort to find a specific islamist definition of democracy.</p><p>The essay is a qualitative analysis of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Front Islamique du Salut in</p><p>Algeria and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The analytical framework is based on the political institutions</p><p>included in Robert A. Dahl polyarchial democracy. The institutions provided by the polyarchial</p><p>model is used to define the islamist movements stand on democracy which is defined by three different</p><p>standpoints. The movements can either accept, decline or modify the various institutions and the</p><p>results from the analysis helps us to evaluate the future role of islamist movements in the</p><p>democratization process. The results also provides the opportunity to define a version of democracy</p><p>specific for the islamist movements. The conclusion I have made is that the islamist movements</p><p>included in the study have a part to play in a future democratization process. They have shown that</p><p>their commitment to the democratic ideals defined by Dahl is quite extensive and that they as</p><p>separate movements have developed a more advanced view of the relationship between islam and</p><p>democracy as a social order. Though democratic at first glance there are signs that the islamists</p><p>standpoint on democracy comes with certain reservations. The most significant of these</p><p>reservarvations is the islamists regard of islam as an overarching ideology and the subordinate role</p><p>of man made political systems such as democracy. However, the islamists have found ways to handle</p><p>this problem and points out the inherent democratic values in islam and thereby tries to circumvent</p><p>the problematic relationship between democracy and religion. The study also concludes that we can</p><p>define the islamist version of democracy as a specific form of democracy, a value-based participatory</p><p>democracy. This conclusion is based on the islamist emphasis on the importance of ethics, decency</p><p>and virtue in a society, at the same time as they also emphasize the need for legitimacy provided by</p><p>the people through free, fair and frequent elections.</p>

This thesis aims to analyze the relationship between two main inspiration sources of the Arab world, both emerged in Egypt: Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Muslim Brotherhood. The focus is defined as the relationship between the Egyptian state of Nasser&rsquo / s era and the Muslim Brotherhood / hence the time period is determined to be between 1952 and 1970. The reason why I have chosen this subject is that for the Middle East in general, and Egypt in particular, both actors have played a significant role in the path of deposing Western colonialism and engaging with modernism. On the other hand as both sides could provide alternative theories and means of governance against each other, the relationship seems more than interesting / especially regarding region&rsquo / s endeavor of providing a strong response and local alternatives to dominant Western values of modernism, it seems more than worthy to focus on these two main players and their interactions with each other.

This thesis analyzes the main ideological transformation that the Muslim Brotherhood has undergone in Egypt. The recurring theme issued throughout this thesis is &lsquo / transformation&rsquo / that stands in an evolutionary interaction with the local, regional and external environment. Within the scope of this leading theme, the study examines the historical overview of the Movement and analyzes the central periods and turning points of this transformation at two basic levels: Domestic and international. The study argues that, the 1980s came as the first pivotal turning-point where the Muslim Brotherhood began to enter the political system with a greater freedom. With the beginning of the change in the 1980s, this thesis argues, the Muslim Brotherhood began to transform itself in a way that opposed the dominant discussion in the literature over Islamists - state relations: &lsquo / Cooperation brings moderation and repression brings radicalization.&rsquo / (Repression - repression, cooperation - cooperation pattern). The study investigates how the Muslim Brotherhood broke this single-track rotation by standing consistently moderate during the periods of repression as well, after the 1980s. In particular after the 1990s, the study extends the domestic-oriented scope of the observation to take into consideration the influence of regional and international variations that have begun to be increasingly influential over the transformation of the Movement. The study argues that, the 2000s came up as the second and the most important landmark that opened a new momentum with the rise of the &lsquo / democracy&rsquo / discourse in the Movement&rsquo / s ideological change. The study provides a wide-ranging analysis over the democracy discourse of the Muslim Brotherhood after the 2000s and brings the challenges of this newfound ideological process into focus. It is argued that, the Muslim Brotherhood&rsquo / s ambiguous stance on &lsquo / democracy&rsquo / reinforces the discussions on the validity of the Movement&rsquo / s moderate political actor role. In conclusion, some conclusive remarks are introduced by making an overall assessment over the Muslim Brotherhood&rsquo / s political participation crisis and the future of the Egyptian political liberalization experiment.

This thesis analyses the Muslim Brotherhood&rsquo / s fluctuated relationship with three of the Egyptian governments for the post-Revolutionary period. It is argued that the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Governments were firstly accommodated each other during the legitimacy processes of the governments. However, after the Muslim Brotherhood began to use the governments&rsquo / concessions to infiltrate the social and political field the Movement began to be seen as a threat by the governments and the relationship between the sides transformed to confrontation. At that point the turning points in the accommodation and confrontation relationship and particularly the political strategies of the both sides to protect their influences were analyzed by taking into account the domestic issues of Egypt, internal issues of the Muslim Brotherhood and international atmosphere.

This thesis analyzes the evolution of the relationship between the Hashemite regime and the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood from 1946 to 2007. Reformist and pragmatic rhetoric of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood distinct from the most of other Muslim Brotherhood branches operating in different countries in the Middle East enabled it to set up relatively harmonious relations with the Hashemite regime without being declared as illegal even in crisis periods. While focusing on this interesting case, this study reveals that the relationship between the Hashemite regime and the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood is mostly affected and shaped by two variables: regime survival concern and the regional context. In this regard, it maintains that the relations between the two parties have evolved around the policies of coexistence, cooperation, control and repression as well as containment with respect to the change in regime&rsquo / s survival concern and regional developments related to the Palestinian issue. This thesis argues that the period from 1946, when the Muslim Brotherhood was legalized as a charitable organization in Jordan, to the end of 1980s is generally marked with a coherent and cooperative relations between the two parties since their interests overlapped. However, since the beginning of 1990s the relationship began to deteriorate due to a shift in the interests of both parties as a result of developments in the regional context, namely Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the rise of political Islam globally.

This study discusses the relationship between the religious and the political in the thought and practice of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas in its struggle with Israel as it views it. It critically investigates the thought and the religious framework of the movement and its mother organization, the Muslim Brotherhood. It explores the overlap between the religious and/or the ideological dimensions of the theory and practice by revealing how Hamas draws inspiration from Islam, a framework it describes as "religious". It analyses the ground on which Hamas' ideological convictions are based, and how they developed. This is being done by attempting to understand the role of religion in the formulation of the convictions (i.e. ideology) of the Muslim Brotherhood – and therefore those of Hamas - in their comprehension of the conflict with Israel. This research has sought to fill a void in the context of studying the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas by trying to explain the mechanisms of religious and political interaction and the role this interaction has played in shaping the ideological convictions of the two movements in the context of their conflict with Israel. Reviewing the religious reference of Hamas helps us to understand that any change in one of Hamas' positions does not imply the abandonment of its religious reference, but rather a shift from one considerable Islamic fiqhi (jurisprudential) opinion to another. Thus, the thesis examines the accuracy of many of the Brotherhood's and Hamas' positions and ideological beliefs, as well as comparing them to the other authentic Islamic view points. The study further highlights in detail the impact of the movement's adaptation to fixed “religious” principles and their implementation within a set of complex situations, as presented by the current state of affairs in Palestine. Moreover, the research examines Hamas' application of the Prophetic and Islamic historical experiments, as they relate to the current conflict with Israel from the movement's point of view.

Since 2011, Egypt has been in a state of chaos and instability. During this time women have suffered disproportionality in comparison to their male counterparts. However, the poor state of affairs for women did not begin after 2011; while women have slowly gained more rights during the last decade, Egypt’s commitment to gender equality has always fallen short. This paper investigates the current state of affairs for women’s rights in Egypt, especially in wake of the 2011 Revolution, and asserts that the poor quality of women’s rights is a result of a battle for power between the military and Islamic politicians, specifically the Muslim Brotherhood. It then analyzes the possibility of a better future for Egypt through an examination of Turkey because it is a secular Islamic state, which has recently reduced military power and increased democratic inclusion in politics. Ultimately, the potential for dramatic improvement in women’s rights in Egypt would necessitate a significant cultural shift, as well as greater inclusion in government—both of which are unlikely given the current state of Egyptian culture and politics.

Por meio de dois artigos, um de revisão bibliográfica e outro de pesquisa empírica, este trabalho busca examinar os impactos para o Egito, e as repercussões para o Oriente Médio, da ascensão da Irmandade Muçulmana ao poder após a deposição de Hosni Mubarak, ditador egípcio durante três décadas. O caso do Egito é o objeto da pesquisa pois exemplifica de forma cristalina como as aberturas democráticas nos países árabe-muçulmanos representam um enorme desafio para essas sociedades. A atuação da Irmandade Muçulmana em um ambiente de liberdade era aguardada por observadores dentro e fora do Oriente Médio pois, como principal movimento adepto do chamado islã político, seu sucesso ou fracasso poderiam indicar a possibilidade de êxito na construção das democracias locais, uma vez que parece inevitável o islamismo, como sinônimo de islã político, ser o primordial beneficiário da ruína dos regimes despóticos que grassam na região. Como base para esta análise, o primeiro artigo busca, por meio de uma revisão bibliográfica da história e da ideologia da Irmandade Muçulmana, desde sua fundação, em 1928, as explicações para o comportamento do grupo após a queda de Mubarak. O segundo artigo, por sua vez, estuda a conduta da política externa do Egito e reconstrói a forma como a ditadura de Mubarak desempenhava suas relações exteriores, comparando esta com a política externa do Egito durante o governo de Mohamed Morsi, irmão muçulmano eleito presidente do país em junho de 2012. Por fim, o segundo artigo busca entender os impactos provocados pelo período de governo da Irmandade Muçulmana na política externa do Egito na fase seguinte, após a deposição de Morsi (julho de 2013), em que o país passou a ser liderado pelo marechal Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, cujas ações na seara internacional são manifestamente tomadas em oposição não apenas à Irmandade Muçulmana, mas a qualquer elemento que possa ser identificado com o islã político. / Through two articles, a literature review and an empirical analysis, this paper seeks to examine the impacts to Egypt, and the implications for the Middle East, of the rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian dictator for three decades. The case of Egypt is the object of research because it exemplifies in a crystalline way how the democratic openings in the Arab-Muslim countries represent a huge challenge for these societies. The performance of the Muslim Brotherhood in a freer environment was expected by observers inside and outside the Middle East because, as the main supporter of the movement called political Islam, its success or failure could indicate the possibility of success in the construction of local democracies, since it seems inevitable that Islamism, as synonymous with political Islam, be the primary beneficiary of the ruin of the despotic regimes that are rife in the region. As a basis for this analysis, the first article seeks, through a literature review of the history and ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, since its founding in 1928, the explanations for the behavior of the group after the fall of Mubarak. The second article, in turn, studies the conduct of foreign policy of Egypt and reconstructs how the dictatorship of Mubarak played its foreign relations, comparing this with the foreign policy of Egypt during the reign of Mohamed Morsi, muslim brother elected president of the country in June 2012. Finally, the second article seeks to understand the impacts caused by the period of government of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt\'s foreign policy in the next stage, after the deposition of Morsi (July 2013), in which the country was led by Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, whose actions in the international arena are clearly taken in opposition not only to the Muslim Brotherhood, but the elements which can be identified with political Islam.

No description available.

The relationship between religion and politics is a controversial issue. It is one of the most difficult issues in many regions of the world. The social impact resulting from politicized religious movements is complicated, especially in countries where religion plays a pivotal role in formulating politics, such as in Syria and some other Middle Eastern countries.  One of the issues of great sensitivity in some societies, especially those with active religious movements and parties, is religious and/or political representation. Each religious group claims to have a profound social depth. These claims are supported by large segments of people. Rival groups, however, may have different opinions. Some politico-religious organizations claim that they are the only representatives of certain groups of people and thus, claim legitimacy on the ground of such representation. This applies to the Muslim Brothers in Syria (SMB), who claim representation of certain segments of the Syrian society, mainly the Sunni Muslims.  This thesis attempts to research the issue of the representation of the Muslim Brotherhood with the focus on Syria.