Arab unrest: perspectives - XXIII

"The first and most obvious reason for his [Osama bin Laden's] popularity is his eloquence, a skill much admired and appreciated in the Arab world since ancient times. Many tales are told of the great orators of the past. But in the modern Arab world there is little sign of eloquence, and indeed little need for it, since most rulers rely on repression rather than persuasion to secure the obedience of their subjects.
Bin Laden is not a ruler, and therefore not tainted with tyranny and corruption. Most of the rulers are guilty of both, and not one of them has dared to submit either his accession to power or his retention of power to genuinely free vote of his people." Noted Middle East scholar Bernard Lewis says in his article Deconstructing Osama and His Evil Appeal that he wrote one year after the 9/11 brought the Arab world under a renewed focus in the West.
According to Lewis, "... Even more striking is the contrast demonstrated in his personal life, between himself [Osama] and the present-day rulers of the most Arab land. The usual pattern, more so in republics than in monarchies-is rags to riches, a process by which people of humble, usually impoverished, origin contrive, through the exercise of military and hence of political power, to attain often great wealth, which they pass on to their children and extend to their kinsfolk. Osama bin Laden presents the inspiring spectacle of one who, by his own free choice, has forsaken a life of riches and comfort for one of hardship and danger".
Little did, perhaps, Professor Lewis know that the life of Osama bin Laden would come to an end amid circumstances not allowing him to make speeches, however less frequent, to bring his eloquence all over the world again. Nor did this professor of history have any inkling of the state of the region that the wave of uprisings sweeping across the entire Arab world would shape up a few years later, leading to the ouster of despots in Tunisia and Egypt while making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for other despots in the region to continue to cling to power.
Nor did Osama bin Laden know that some profound historic changes in the shape of Arab Awakening would be ultimately forcing him re-think and re-articulate his strategy in relation to the Arab world in general and the Muslim Brotherhood in the case of Egypt, Syria and Jordan in particular.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which announced the formation of a political party to take part in Egypt's September elections a couple of days ago, had been a consistent target of vitriolic attacks by several Jehadi outfits, including Islamic Jehad of Ayman al Zuwahiri and Islamic Group, since the late 1980s in Egypt. Osama had also expressed his opposition to the Brotherhood and accused it of betraying the ideals of its own leader Syed Qutb.
Islamic Group, for example, circulated a manifesto criticising the Muslim Brothers for saying that sovereignty resides in and stems from the people whose representatives even could not legislate. The manifesto accused the Brotherhood of committing a sin, which is tantamount to being blasphemous, says another noted Middle East scholar, Professor Fawaz A Gerges while quoting certain statements published by newspaper Asharq al-Awsat in 2002.
In his The Far Enemy-Why Jihad Went Global, Professor Gerges also points out that "in his memoirs, Zuwahiri goes further in his attacks on the Muslim Brotherhood and asserts that by accepting the rules of the political game and by being passive in the face of disasters befalling the ummah, it `sheds its heritage and turns into a new creature divorced from its origin and so indulged in the present moment that it loses its vision for the future'."
It is, however, interesting to note that some leading Brotherhood members have in recent days called for Egypt to come under Islamic law similar to that in Saudi Arabia. According to Islamization Watch, the appeal came during interviews as well as rallies by the Brotherhood just months after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in February. Brotherhood spokespeople, however, have disputed the latest statements and said the movement continued to oppose the imposition of Islamic law in Egypt.
"During this period, we would like to lead the society to achieve its Islamic identity in preparation for the Islamic rule," Saad Al Husseini, a member of the Brotherhood's Guidance Bureau, has been quoted as saying. Former US intelligence analyst Michael Scheuer, who in recent weeks has been found to be promoting his new book Osama bin Laden, does not see the Arab Spring as indicative of an increasing drive toward democracy and a repudiation of religious extremism. According to him, al Qaeda and other radical Islamist groups plan to fill the vacuums of power left behind.
"Do you think 80 million Egyptians, mostly Muslim, in a time of violence, turmoil and chaos, are going to reach for an alien ideology like secular democracy?" asks Scheuer in an interview carried by The National in March. According to IKhwanweb, the Muslim Brotherhood's official website, Bin Laden's killing will stem terrorism and eliminate one of the causes of violence in the world. Although, the death of the top al Qaeda leader has been hailed by the Brotherhood, it has to be seen whether this profound development contributes towards further brightening the political prospects of world's most influential Islamist party founded by Hassan al Banna in 1928.