The Brotherhood

How Will The Muslim Brotherhood Reconcile Their Ideology With Democracy?

Last Modified: 23 Mar 2011 16:12
Courtesy Of "Al-Jazeera"

For many, the Muslim Brotherhood embodies positive Islamic values and gives a voice to the Arab people. It is a movement that has long rooted for change - albeit a change it believes should lead to further Islamisation of Arab states and societies.

But others fear the spread of political Islam and see the movement as a threat to burgeoning democracy.

In Video

History of the Muslim Brotherhood

After decades in the political wilderness, the Muslim Brotherhood became an integral part of the popular upheavals that swept through the Arab world - and while they may not have initiated the recent revolution in Egypt, the overthrow of Mubarak's regime leaves a power vacuum that the Brotherhood are now well-positioned to fill.

So will the Brotherhood's Islamic principles garner them the popular support necessary in a newly-democratic Egypt? Are they united around one strategy? How will the Brotherhood reconcile their ideology with democracy and gain power in other, newly-liberated lands? And what about the younger generation of 'brothers and sisters' clamouring for reform; will they change the very nature of the Brotherhood?

Empire discusses with guests: Professor Gilles Kepel, chair, Middle East Studies, Sciences Po, Paris; Dr Azzam Tamimi, the director of the Institute of Islamic Political Thought in London; Dr Khalil al-Anani, Middle East Institute, Durham University; Dr Katerina Dalacoura, Iternational Relations, London school of Economics.

Our interviewees are: Kamal el-Helbaw, FMR spokesman, Muslim Brotherhood; Professor John Esposito, International Affairs, Georgetown University; Dr Omar Ashour, director, Middle East Studies, Exeter University; Mohammed Mahdi Akef, FMR leader, Muslim Brotherhood.