Dr. Ali Bakr, a researcher specializing in Islamic movements at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said the Muslim Brotherhood is now trying to “Brotherhood” the public sphere in Egypt by spreading Islamic culture to achieve the great Islamic project of establishing a major Islamic state or caliphate.
In his interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, Bakr said the Islamic project goes well in some perceptions with the American project for the region, but each one of them has its own interests and vision.
In his interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, Bakr said the Islamic project goes well in some perceptions with the American project for the region, but each one of them has its own interests and vision.
According to Bakr, America is preparing a project for a New Middle East, which aims to fragment the region and re-dividing it on ethnic and religious bases, a project the Islamists believe will lead to the unity of a greater caliphate.
Bakr believes the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has started walking the path of failure, but expectation of their fall is still far-fetched. The Brotherhood’s end is expected when others are able to lead the political scene, excluding all currents of political Islam, he added.
“The most dangerous thing about Islamic movements is their engagement in political action,” Bakr explained. “For the first time in decades, the Islamists find themselves facing the street, which is a serious indicator, because it inverts the equation. Instead of taking power from the street, and after it was in the face of the regime backed by the street, the group has become the heart of the regime and faced by the street.”
“This will reduce the popularity of the political Islam movement significantly and could lead to its withdrawal from the political scene to the religious arena again.”
Bakr pointed out that the continuation of the situation with the same level of degradation will force people to call in the army to stop further deterioration of security and the economy.
He noted time has proven the Egyptian army is one of the most patriotic institutions who maintain the interests of the nation, regardless of its lack of experience in political and administrative action, which led to some mistakes during the last transitional period.
Bakr noted the Brotherhood has used other Islamic currents brilliantly to achieve its own interests through creating a fake opposition front which is intellectually and politically different from the real opposition consisting of liberal and civilian currents.
Through this opposition, Bakr continued, the Brotherhood has established a weak front of opposition. “Over time these groups will become a burden on the Muslim Brotherhood, and it will have to get rid of them, either by distorting them intellectually or perhaps by using the state as an arm to suppress them,” Bakr noted.
In Bakr’s view, counting on Al-Azhar to direct and control Islamic currents is a losing bet because Al-Azhar has become a guiding institution for the currents that surface on the scene, and its abilities are limited.
Bakr believes the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has started walking the path of failure, but expectation of their fall is still far-fetched. The Brotherhood’s end is expected when others are able to lead the political scene, excluding all currents of political Islam, he added.
“The most dangerous thing about Islamic movements is their engagement in political action,” Bakr explained. “For the first time in decades, the Islamists find themselves facing the street, which is a serious indicator, because it inverts the equation. Instead of taking power from the street, and after it was in the face of the regime backed by the street, the group has become the heart of the regime and faced by the street.”
“This will reduce the popularity of the political Islam movement significantly and could lead to its withdrawal from the political scene to the religious arena again.”
Bakr pointed out that the continuation of the situation with the same level of degradation will force people to call in the army to stop further deterioration of security and the economy.
He noted time has proven the Egyptian army is one of the most patriotic institutions who maintain the interests of the nation, regardless of its lack of experience in political and administrative action, which led to some mistakes during the last transitional period.
Bakr noted the Brotherhood has used other Islamic currents brilliantly to achieve its own interests through creating a fake opposition front which is intellectually and politically different from the real opposition consisting of liberal and civilian currents.
Through this opposition, Bakr continued, the Brotherhood has established a weak front of opposition. “Over time these groups will become a burden on the Muslim Brotherhood, and it will have to get rid of them, either by distorting them intellectually or perhaps by using the state as an arm to suppress them,” Bakr noted.
In Bakr’s view, counting on Al-Azhar to direct and control Islamic currents is a losing bet because Al-Azhar has become a guiding institution for the currents that surface on the scene, and its abilities are limited.
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