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Email this citationCIAO DATE: 12/05
The Dangers of Political Exclusion: Egypt's Islamist Problem
Bassama Kodmani
October 2005
Abstract
Much has been written in recent years about Islam and politics, Islam and democracy, and Islam's compatibility with the requirements of modernity. These debates cannot be settled conclusively by referring to the holy texts, because such texts lend themselves to conflicting interpretations. This paper, therefore, takes a different approach. Using Egypt as a case study, it focuses not on the relationship between Islam and politics in the abstract, but on the relationship between religious authority and political authority as it unfolds in practice. It outlines the motivations, interests, strategies, and agendas of the institutions that represent and speak for Islam and those that represent the state and act in its name. The interaction between them is a mix of complicity and rivalry that has profound effects on Egyptian society, the Egyptian state, and its relationship with the outside world.
Egypt is an interesting case study because the government maintains an intricate and dynamic relationship with the religious establishment. At times, the state leans on the Islamic establishment to support its policies, and the religious establishment likewise seeks—and receives—the support of the government to reassert its full control on religious affairs when needed. By studying this interaction, this paper concludes that conservative Islamic authorities that claim to be nonpolitical are more problematic and dangerous for social progress than legally recognized Islamic parties participating in the democratic process would be. The paper advocates a return to overt political activity by political parties rather than covert political activity by the religious establishment, as this would secure responsible behavior from the state, the religious establishment, and the citizenry and would ensure that each fulfills its designated role.
