On a recent trip to Egypt I met one of my old friends whom I did not meet for years. She wears the hijab (head veil) and worked at the same place where I worked. She came to meet up. The meeting started in a nice way but ended in a disaster, in my opinion. After the first two sentences of our conversation, she talked about the "military coup" in Egypt that occurred in July 2013 and the victimisation of Muslim Brotherhood members at the hands of the current regime. She also mentioned the conspiracy by the Coptic Pope and what she called "secularists" to stop the prevalence of Islam in Egypt.
I tried to explain to her the mistake on the Muslim Brotherhood and how they abused power to their own benefit. There was an urgent need to end the sit-in at Rabaa, though there was excessive use of force in kicking them out. She did not like to listen to my argument or engage in a dialogue.
I was shocked that she shouted at me and using unacceptable words to express her anger at the ouster Mohamed Morsi, the former Egyptian president. She reflected the trend that characterises young Muslim Brotherhood members, and to a certain extent its supporters. The young generation of the Muslim Brotherhood, especially the Rabaa generation, is similar to the followers of Sayed Qutb and the Muslim Brotherhood who were jailed during President Gamal Abdel Nasser's regime in the 1960s. What the two groups experienced were oppression and excessive use of force against them, in their opinion.
It should be mentioned that Nasser’s regime oppressed them and the security forces might use excessive force to end the sit-in at Rabaa. However, there was no justification for their violent reactions and extremism. Their reaction was violence and extremism.
In this context, it should be said that using force as a mean to achieve its goals is a cornerstone of Muslim Brotherhood ideology. I debated this notion of "force" with leaders and members of the Muslim Brotherhood and I was against this notion being part of its ideology because it is against democracy.
After the destruction of the Special Apparatus, the militant wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, the notion of force was not removed from the educational materials of the group, and Sayed Qutb’s books, such as In the Shadow of the Qur’an and Signposts were taught to the members of the group.
The problem now is the violent and resentful tone of the young generation of the Muslim Brotherhood. I call them the new Qutbists because they are angry with everyone. They consider themselves victims of a conspiracy of both "Christians and secularists" combined, to end their rule after only one year in power.
The danger of the 1960s manifested itself in radical groups, such as the Jihad group and Gamaa Al-Islamiya. Those radical groups committed violence and caused strife and fear. The worst moments were the assassination of former President Anwar El-Sadat and the Luxor tourists massacre.
The concern in the current situation in Egypt is radicalisation of more young members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Diaa Rashwan, and other experts in Islamic movements in Egypt, told me that the group should make some revisions and denounce violence, otherwise it would commit political suicide. I argue that the group needs help from outside its rank and file.
If society and the state leave it as is, it might turn into a more violent group and Egypt would go back to the days of violence that unsettled Egypt at certain points.
This young generation is desperate and hopeless. Using some of its former leaders, such as Mohamed Habib, to reach out to the youth might help to ease tensions and weaken the violent mentality of this generation.
What has happened recently in Sinai is a reflection of the critical stage Egypt has been going through and of the urgent need to calm any potential violence by desperate members of the group.
The way forward is to engage in dialogue and intellectual debate with members and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood as the first step towards their being welcomed as active participants in political life and national developments in Egypt.
Whoever committed a crime should be held accountable and tried and brought to justice. But it is unimaginable to criminalise the whole Muslim Brotherhood membership.
It is estimated that the group has five million members and supporters. The security approach is a short-sided approach to tackle them. Egypt should move forward and those angry Brotherhood members could delay progress and democracy. An engaging and democratic discourse is crucial to close the past chapter and move on, especially as there are tremendous challenges facing Egypt that require a stable and strong internal front.
The writer is an expert in Islamic movements and a lecturer in Middle East politics.
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