From being outlawed but sporadically tolerated, Islamists have emerged as the great winners of a revolution to which they did not automatically lend their support, writes Amani Maged At the end of the 2005-2010 parliamentary session Ahmed Ezz, member of the NDP's Policies Committee and its organisational secretary, was hoping to wrest away the seats occupied by the Muslim Brothers. In a way his dream did come true, but with a twist. Ezz and other key figures from the NDP did find themselves in seats previously allocated to the Brothers, only they were not in parliament but Tora prison. For six decades, from Gamal Abdel-Nasser through Anwar El-Sadat to Hosni Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood saw its members imprisoned and subject to torture, its funds confiscated, some brothers assassinated. Now their patience has paid off. The Egyptian revolution brought them out of prison and into parliament. They are in a position to form a government, and perhaps later, field a successful presidential candidate. Watchers of political Islam describe the Muslim Brotherhood as the most moderate of the Islamist groups. This may help explain their widespread popularity which is now being translated into political influence. They pitted their full weight behind the 25 January Revolution, joining the front ranks to confront the might of the previous regime during the Battle of the Camel, echoing the chants of the revolutionary youth movements and maintaining unity of rank by holding back on their own slogans until the revolution succeeded. The Muslim Brothers' image abroad has changed radically. Once the regime's bogeyman, used to keep Western pressure off its back, the offices of the Brotherhood's political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, now play host to an endless stream of Western statesmen. The visitors have sensed a new reality in Egypt which requires an equally new approach. But the rapprochement that Western powers are seeking towards the Muslim Brotherhood has less to do with any recognition of its moderation than with the pursuit of Western interests. They had clung to the Mubarak regime as long as it was feasible. When the regime itself proved redundant they began to explore avenues with the group most likely to become the new ruler of Egypt. The experiences of Sheikh Youssef El-Qaradawi, whom the Muslim Brothers regard as their spiritual mentor, best illustrate the reversal in the fortunes of the movement. Once banned from preaching in any mosque in Egypt, 62 years after the death of the Imam Hassan El-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, El-Qaradawi delivered the Friday sermon in Tahrir Square. The Salafis fared no better than the Muslim Brothers. They too had their share of persecution under the old regime. The Salafist Calling first appeared in 1972. Initially they were part of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya but broke away in 1977. Soon they were using mosques to propagate their views, and quickly established a campus presence at Egypt's universities. Many were arrested towards the end of Sadat's presidency alongside the leaders of other Islamist movements. Following their release from prison after the assassination of Sadat they resumed working from mosques and by 1982 had returned to university campuses. In 1986 the Salafist Calling began training its own proselytisers. It created an administrative structure, with an executive council based in Alexandria. Never officially recognised, it was nonetheless tolerated by the authorities. The Salafist Calling began issuing Nashrat Al-Sabil (Bulletin of the Path) in the 1980s. When security forces clashed with Egyptian Jihad and Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya in 1994 the Salafist Calling also faced a clampdown. Members of the executive council and its branch offices were arrested on trumped up charges. Among those prosecuted were Sheikh Mohamed Abdel-Fattah, Sheikh Said Abdel-Azim and Yasser Burhami. The organisation's social work committee was forced to halt its activities and suspend publications. Its training programme was closed down and several of its headquarters confiscated and turned over to the Ministry of Awqaf. Many Salafis were rounded up and imprisoned, joining other Islamists who packed state security jails and torture chambers between 1994 and 1998. According to Sheikh Burhami, between 280 and 300 detainees a year died from torture and other mistreatment in the Wadi Al-Gadid (New Valley) prison alone. Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya and Jihad members were the main victims of torture, but the Salafis were not immune. Although the Salafist Calling had to halt its activities during this period it continued to work through mosques and to conduct secret visits to affiliates in the provinces. It also continued to operate on campuses despite surveillance and periodic crackdowns. In 2002 several Salafi sheikhs were arrested on charges of conspiring to overthrow the regime. Though all Islamist groups faced risks and hardship the Muslim Brotherhood proved the most steadfast. When demonstrations erupted last year Islamist leaders did not believe that the situation would escalate into a people's revolution. And even if it did, many thought it wisest not to participate and court violence. When it became clear that demonstrations were gaining momentum the Salafis began to warn that a popular revolution would develop if the government failed to institute serious reforms. Deaf to the warning the regime persisted in its dictatorial ways and unleashed the attack of 28 January 2011 that became known as the Battle of the Camel. The Salafis were not at the side of the revolutionaries as they faced the onslaught. They claim, though, to have played an active role in the people's vigilante committees that defended the lives and property of the Egyptian people following the withdrawal of the police and the security breakdown that ensued. Indeed, the Salafis claim that the first such popular committees in the country were set up by the Salafist Calling in Alexandria, Kafr El-Sheikh and other governorates. The Salafis also coordinated with the army to protect public buildings and helped protect Copts and their property. Today Islamists occupy the vast majority of People's Assembly seats, testimony to the extent of popular sympathy gained after their years enduring injustices under the old regime and also a reaction to the regime's own vehement opposition to Islamist models. The election successes of the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, and the Salafis' Nour Party, were also a product of the Islamists' extensive grassroots ties. At a time when the government showed little sympathy for the economic and social concerns of the vast majority of the people the Islamists were on hand, distributing food and providing healthcare and other social services, filling the gap created as public services collapsed and the middle class declined. The essentially religious nature of the vast majority of the Egyptian public is another factor that helps explain rising sympathy for an Islamist model. In spite of the obvious ideological and political differences between the various Islamist trends before the revolution, the fact that they have all entered the public sphere and participated in parliamentary elections is evidence of a significant change in their outlook. One has only to recall that before the revolution the Salafis shunned involvement in the political process, not because of fear of the regime but because of their belief that the faithful must remain obedient to the ruler regardless, to realise the extent of the change. With a new phase ushered in by the revolution, many Islamist trends resolved to return to working above ground. In the course of the functions it organised in Minya and Assiut to celebrate the fall of Mubarak, the formerly militant Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya announced that it would resume its proselytising activities. One era, in which they claim to have suffered from imprisonment and torture more than any other Islamist group, is over, and they plan to open a new page in their history. According to Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya leader Assem Abdel-Maged, his organisation has offered its assistance to the Armed Forces in helping to end strikes and protests in order to protect the economy at this critical stage. The reason it took Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya so long to resume its activities since the ideological retractions it issued between 1997 and 2004, he says, was because of the many security pressures the group faced. That has all changed. "No one will be able to restrict us or anyone else after today," he insists. "There is nothing to prevent us from working." Acting on this resolve, Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya founded the Construction and Development Party, marking their determination to work openly and to place the capacities of their organisation at the service of social and economic development. Following consultations and negotiations with other Islamist parties they entered into an alliance with the Nour Party. Beneath the Nour umbrella, the Construction and Development Party won seats in parliament as well as seats in the parliamentary committees agency that held its first session on 23 January. Another mark of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya's new phase is their recent affirmation that they have renounced violence and will remain committed to peaceful change, the power of which was demonstrated by the Egyptian people in their revolution. Another leading figure from this organisation, Sheikh Safwat Abdel-Ghani, said, "the field is now open to all, including Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya, to act and to preach in order to change realities on the ground." He added that the members of his group had a right to exercise their rights, especially given that their group suffered more than any other Islamist faction from the restrictions and ostracism under the previous regime. "We have a right to return to the mosques," he said. The revolution marked a turning point in the history of the Islamist movement in Egypt. The magnitude of the change is epitomised by the fact that the mother of the Islamist movements, the Muslim Brotherhood, moved from being a outlawed organisation to an electoral victor. The Muslim Brotherhood now controls 47 per cent of the seats of parliament and two Brotherhood members, Mohamed Saad El-Katatni and Hussein Ibrahim, are serving as speaker of parliament and leader of the majority. The Islamist presence has dominated the post- revolutionary parliament. However, in spite of their gains and the new freedom they enjoy, the Islamists now face their most important test ever. They must address numerous and formidable problems at home and abroad. They will be expected to work together harmoniously in order to fulfil their responsibilities as the parliamentary majority and to prove to the Egyptian people that they truly merited their vote and will not prove a disaster. The Islamists may be fortunate for being the winning faction after the revolution, but this is only until further notice.
