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Africa North
Muslim Brotherhood Feels Homeland Pressure
2005-05-15
Very long, very interesting look at the Muslim Brotherhood...and their relationship with the Arab Street.
Prayers were over. A protest began. In an instant, the mosque was transformed: the gentle rhythms of worship replaced by the raw anger of dissent. "We must fight our godless rulers! The only path is the law of the Quran," shouted Magdy Hussein, an Islamic firebrand who has led widening street protests against Egypt's Western-backed government. "This is our jihad. Our time is now!"

The outburst in the 1,000-year-old Al-Azhar mosque took aim at the authoritarian style of Cairo's ruling elite. But such militant cries also strike at the world's largest and most influential Islamic movement: the Muslim Brotherhood. The Egyptian-founded group — which spawned Hamas, gave underpinnings to al-Qaida and now publicly endorses peaceful reforms — is confronting unprecedented challenges to its leadership as the Muslim world is torn asunder. Competing forces of moderates who seek engagement with the West and radicals who choose confrontation are locked in a struggle for the hearts of the 1.2 billion Muslims around the globe — an ideological clash of Cold War proportions.

In this conflict, the 77-year-old Brotherhood is one of the linchpins. The group portrays itself as a pillar of moderate Islam and essential for keeping radicals at bay. But those impatient for change see something else: a geriatric jihad content to work with former opponents and betray its old dreams of Islamic rule at any cost. Whether the Muslim Brotherhood withstands the attack on its leadership, withers or is wrenched apart will be a key test of the power of Islamic militants — including those who are fueling the Iraq insurgency, resisting a Palestinian peace deal with Israel and calling for new terrorist attacks against the West. Pitted against them, in Egypt and around the world, are mainstream Muslims convinced that Islam offers the foundations for pluralistic societies — with greater rights for women and tolerance of other faiths — and who view Western nations as potential partners rather than dire enemies.
Posted by:Fred

#1  Achmed: Come Hussain, let us sit and talk
as good Muslim brothers do.

Hussain: "BLAM!"

Radicals: 1 Moderates: 0 (get the picture?)
Posted by: 98zulu   2005-05-15 07:38  

00:00