FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 18, 2005
CONTACT: Jennifer Linker, 202/939-2372, jlinker@carnegieendowment.org
The Egyptian government has allowed the religious establishment to increase its control on Egyptian politics and society in an attempt to tighten the influence of more radical Islamist organizations. Bassma Kodmani, a French expert on Middle East politics and contributing writer to the Carnegie Endowment’s Middle East Political Reform Initiative (MEPRI), writes a case study on the relationship between religious authority and political authority in Egypt. Click here for the Carnegie Paper, The Dangers of Political Exclusion: Egypt’s Islamist Problem.
Kodmani argues that, “As the Egyptian regime tightens its grip on political power, it provides the Islamic establishment with the venue and audience to advance its own religious agenda.” This paradox has weakened the Egyptian state’s control, particularly as mainstream religious institutions have seized on President Mubarak’s fear of radical Islamists, and exchanged fighting their influence for increased autonomy. This has reinforced the Islamic establishment’s presence in the public sphere and allowed for a conservative interpretation of Islam to permeate Egyptian society to an extent unthinkable twenty years ago.
The paper gives an overview of the different groups that form the religious establishment, including Al Azhar, Dar el Ifta, and the Ministry of Religious Endowments. It examines how their interaction with Egyptian political institutions has ramifications throughout Egyptian society.
Kodmani outlines the motivations, interests, strategies, and agendas of the institutions that represent and speak for Islam and those that represent the state and act in its name. She concludes that, “Conservative Islamic authorities that claim to be nonpolitical are more problematic and dangerous for social progress than legally recognized parties participating in the democratic process would be.” Therefore, in order to secure responsible behavior from the state, the religious establishment, and the citizenry, Kodmani advocates greater space for political parties, including Islamist ones.
Visit www.CarnegieEndowment.org/MiddleEast for more resources.
Direct Link to pdf: http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/CP63.Kodmani.FINAL.pdf
Bassma Kodmani is an expert on Middle East politics and a former visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She is associate professor at the Collège de France and director of the Arab Reform Initiative. She can be contacted at bassma.kodmani@college-de-france.fr.
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