In the recent Egyptian parliamentary elections, held November 9-December 9, 2005, the Muslim Brotherhood increased its presence in the parliament five-fold, receiving 88 seats, up from 15 in the 2000 elections. [1]

The movement's election slogan "Islam is the Solution" generated criticism both among reformist Egyptian intellectuals and among religious scholars from Al-Azhar. The intellectuals argued that politics and religion should not be mixed, and that the right solution for Egypt is not a religious slogan but practical scientific programs to increase the country's production capacity. They stated that the slogan "Islam is the Solution" is reminiscent of slogans that were used in Iran, Sudan, Algeria and Afghanistan - slogans which led to oppression and poverty, and empowered the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. They further argued that the slogan runs counter to the Egyptian constitution, which stipulates equality between Muslims and Christians and prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion. They said that, since the Muslim Brotherhood believes that disagreeing with it amounts to disagreeing with Allah, whoever opposes their views is necessarily opposing the will of Allah. Therefore, said the intellectuals, the Muslim Brotherhood slogan will both lead to civil war among Muslims and between Muslims and non-Muslims in Egypt.

Religious scholars from Al-Azhar also criticized the slogan, arguing that use of the mosques for political purposes is reprehensible, since it is opposed to the word of Allah.

The following are excerpts from writings by reformist Egyptian intellectuals and Egyptian scholars from Al-Azhar against the Muslim Brotherhood's use of the election slogan "Islam is the Solution":

Egypt Needs Practical Scientific Programs, Not Religious Slogans

The well-known columnist Makram Muhammad Ahmad argued that religion should be mixed into politics, since elections are an essentially political process involving debate and controversy, while religion is black and white: you either believe or you are an infidel. Religion does not allow any give and take...

"Unfortunately," he said, "the slogan 'Islam is the Solution' addresses all Egyptians as though they have abandoned Islam and strayed from the righteous path, and have no [hope of] salvation unless they repent their ridda [apostasy] and re-embrace their faith! However, the people of Egypt understand faith as a [direct] relationship between the believer and his God... They understand that, in faith, there is no place for middlemen [like the members of the Muslim Brotherhood] who claim to be God's [representatives] on earth...

"The right solution for Egypt is not a divine prescription which can be reduced to a slogan that will heal you the minute you utter it. [Egypt needs] a battery of practical scientific programs... which will increase our production capacity [and enable us to realize] our most far-reaching dreams for a better life. [These programs] will generate a significant change in our method of teaching, and produce generations of young people who are better equipped to meet the challenges of a world in which knowledge and science play a pivotal role in production. [They] will address the demographic problem, [bringing] courageous solutions to reduce the birth rate, [which currently stands at] over one million births per year... [But] before all that, [we need] a democratic regime based on multiple parties, in which the people have exclusive authority to choose their leader in free elections, and can hold him [accountable] should he fail to fulfill his promises and commitments...

"History is full of examples of regimes that ruled in the name of religion but spread [only] poverty, ignorance and corruption..."

The Muslim Brotherhood Believes That Disagreeing With it is Tantamount to Disagreeing With Allah

"The crucial problem with those who brandish the slogan 'Islam is the Solution' is that they promise us grace and comfort if we give them control over our affairs and our destiny, [provided that] we not ask them... how they [plan to] rule us - who will have the ultimate authority, and who will have the last word in case of dispute: the parliament, or the spiritual leader [of the Muslim Brotherhood]. [This] religious scholar [would] rule arbitrarily, hiding behind [the authority of] the State. [He would] exert exclusive control over religious [matters] with the claim that he is God's [representative] on earth, and [in practice, he would also] control the [defense], security and intelligence apparatuses!

"[According to the Muslim Brotherhood, all problems stem from the fact that] the shari'a laws are not being implemented... Isn't it our right to question whether shari'a should be the only basis for the law? [Don't] the changes of the [modern] era require us to accept the possibility that there may be other sources for legislation, which [can] deal with modern problems that were unknown in previous Islamic eras?...

"Our real problem [with the Muslim Brotherhood] is that... they believe that to disagree with them is to disagree with Allah, and that whoever opposes their views is opposing the will of Allah, as was explicitly stated by their former [leader] Mustafa Mashhour. [However, even] the most senior leader of the Brotherhood is ultimately only a human being who may be right or wrong... [Moreover,] their history is full of mistakes - the most prominent of which is their [use] of political violence! If they want to rule, they must... accept the principles that are accepted by all other parties. After all, they represent only one approach to Islam which is not distinguished by any particular holiness; they are not Islam itself. Disagreeing with them is legitimate and necessary, since it is not disagreement with Allah, and since the greatest danger which threatens nations is [people] who crave power and think that their will is synonymous with the will of God. This is the opening through which oppression, dictatorship and dictators enter our Islamic world... Look at what happened in Iran, Sudan and Algeria, which all waved these same slogans." [2]

The Slogan Will Instigate Civil War; it Empowered the Taliban and Bin Laden

Abd al-Mun'im Sa'id, director of Egypt's Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, wrote in the government daily Al-Ahram: "The Muslim Brotherhood's re-adoption of the slogan 'Islam is the Solution' [brought about] a great defeat for the [government party] NDP [National Democratic Party]... [since] brandishing this slogan in the political arena is like [waving] the Koran in political demonstrations. Muslim heritage teaches us that the waving of the Koran, and the call to judge on its basis, is what sparked the great civil war between Ali bin Abi Taleb and Mu'awiya bin Abi Sufyan, and [subsequently] among their successors.

"[The Muslim Brotherhood claims that] Islam is this nation's heritage, and also that, according to the Egyptian constitution, Islam is the [official] faith in the country and the shari'a is the primary basis for legislation. [However], The [shari'a], as a source of authority cited in the constitution... is not sacred, but is subject to change, replacement, omission and addition, [just] as we intend to do with the current Egyptian constitution...

"The slogan 'Islam is the Solution' [will lead to] civil war among the Muslims, which, [in turn, will lead to] civil war with the [non-Muslim] sectors in our homeland, who also believe in the moral and spiritual authority of the monotheistic religions...

"[Moreover, our past] experience with the Muslim Brotherhood speaks for itself: The slogan 'Islam is the Solution' was [adopted] in Afghanistan by [elements similar to] the Muslim Brotherhood, such as Burhan Al-Din Rabbani and Ahmad Shah Mas'ud, who were the first to rise into power in Kabul after the defeat of the Soviets... This was the worst civil war in Afghanistan... The situation persisted until we [eventually] got the rule of the Taliban, Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden - a particularly radical 'special edition' of the slogan 'Islam is the Solution'... This slogan brought the country to [a state of] civil war inside and outside [its borders], and this lead to its occupation and to NATO sponsorship..." [3]

The Slogan Runs Counter to the Constitution

In another article in Al-Ahram, Abd Al-Mun'im Sa'id argued that the slogan 'Islam is the Solution' runs counter to the Egyptian constitution for two reasons.

Firstly, Egypt has not only Muslim, but also Christian, citizens. While the constitution indeed establishes Islam as the state religion, it also establishes the principle of equal rights for Muslim and Christian citizens, prohibits religious-based discrimination between them, and upholds the principle of unity among all citizens. Consequently, the Muslim Brotherhood's slogan is not in the spirit of the constitution.

Secondly, the Egyptian constitution declares the shari'a to be the primary source for legislation. The use of the word "primary" implies that there are other sources for legislation, which may be secondary, or used on the basis of personal judgment (ijtihad) when there is no Koranic text that contradicts them. In other words, the constitution recognizes the need to preserve Islamic principles, but the legislator also realized that people are the best authority regarding their own interests, and that laws must be formulated to meet their needs. If the shari'a was the only source for legislation, this would mean the establishment of "a religious state which would take Egypt down the path chosen by Afghanistan, Sudan and Iran - [the path of] fanaticism, extremism, isolation [from the international community] and tyranny..." [4]

If a Government Led by the Muslim Brotherhood Failed, Would This Be a Failure of Islam?

Isma'il Muntasser, editor of the government weekly October, envisioned a hypothetical situation in which the Muslim Brotherhood is elected to govern Egypt: "The [hypothetical] Muslim Brotherhood government might try to implement its election platform... What would happen if the Muslim Brotherhood government, claiming to rely on the principles of Islam, were to fail in realizing its platform? Wouldn't this mean that Islam has failed … or that it is fallible?!!...

Muntasser further states that mixing religion and politics is a mistake. "According to [eighth-century philosopher] Ibn Al-Muqaff'a, religion means embracing faith, [5] [whereas political] opinion [means] accepting [the possibility of] disagreement. Whoever turns religion into an opinion makes religion subject to disagreement...

"We are familiar with the Islamic movement that ruled Sudan in the name of religion and under the guise of Islam... and we know how that turned out. [Hassan] Turabi's government gained [control] of Sudan, and... Sudan reached a state of anarchy and instability." [6]

Al-Azhar Scholars Condemn Exploitation of Mosques for Political Purposes

The London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat quoted scholars from the Al-Azhar Academy of Islamic Research who stated that they "oppose the use of religious slogans and the exploitation of religious sentiment in election propaganda... " [7]

Dr. Abd Al-Mu'ti Bayoumi from the Al-Azhar Academy for Islamic Research, a former member of the Committee for Religious Affairs in the Egyptian parliament, said that he had demanded "to refrain from the use of religious slogans in the elections campaign." He also said that "the [crucial] factor in the elections should be the election platform of each candidate... since slogans do not form a suitable [basis for] the contract between a candidate and his voters..." [8]

Dr. Muhammad Kamel Imam, head of the Shari'a Department in the Law Faculty of the University of Alexandria, agreed with Dr. Bayoumi that in elections, the only important consideration should be the political platform of the candidates, and said that it was totally inappropriate to bring religion into the political process... [9]

Former vice president of the Supreme Court of Appeals and member of the Al-Azhar Academy of Islamic Research Dr. Gamal Al-Din Mahmoud wrote in the religious government weekly Al-Liwa Al-Islami: "The voter should not vote for a candidate on the basis of his religious school, orientation or affiliation... Using the mosques in the service of some [candidate's] election campaign is a reprehensible act, and is opposed to the word of Allah: "And the places of worship are only for Allah, so pray not unto anyone along with Allah." [Koran 72:18]." [10]

*A. Shefa is a MEMRI Research Fellow