Islamic law and human rights : the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt

This book explores the development of the Muslim Brotherhoods thinking on Islamic law and human rights, and argues that the Muslim Brotherhood has exacerbated, rather than solved, tensions between the two in Egypt. The organisation and its scholars have drawn on hard-line juristic opinions and reinvented certain concepts from Islamic traditions in ways that limit the scope of various human rights, and advocate for Islamic alternatives to international human rights. The Muslim Brotherhoods practices in opposition and in power have been consistent with its literature. As an opposition party, it embraced human rights language in its struggle against an authoritarian regime, but advocated for broad restrictions on certain rights. However, its recent and short-lived experience in power provides evidence of its inclination to reinforce restrictions on religious freedom, freedom of expression and association, and the rights of religious minorities, and to reverse previous reforms related to womens rights. The book concludes that the peaceful management of political and religious diversity in society cannot be realised under the Muslim Brotherhoods model of a Sharia state. The study advocates for the drastic reformation of traditional Islamic law and state impartiality towards religion, as an alternative to the development of a Sharia state or exclusionary secularism. This transformation is, however, contingent upon significant long-term political and socio-cultural change, and it is clear that successfully expanding human rights protection in Egypt requires not the exclusion of Islamists, but their transformation. Islamists still have a large constituency and they are not the only actors who are ambivalent about human rights. Meanwhile, Islamic law also appears to This book explores the development of the Muslim Brotherhood's thinking on Islamic law and human rights, and argues that the Muslim Brotherhood has exacerbated, rather than solved, tensions between the two in Egypt. The organisation and its scholars have drawn on hard-line juristic opinions and reinvented certain concepts from Islamic traditions in ways that limit the scope of various human rights, and advocate for Islamic alternatives to international human rights. The Muslim Brotherhood's practices in opposition and in power have been consistent with its literature. As an opposition party, it embraced human rights language in its struggle against an authoritarian regime, but advocated for broad restrictions on certain rights. However, its recent and short-lived experience in power provides evidence of its inclination to reinforce restrictions on religious freedom, freedom of expression and association, and the rights of religious minorities, and to reverse previous reforms related to women's rights.The book concludes that the peaceful management of political and religious diversity in society cannot be realised under the Muslim Brotherhood's model of a Shari‘a state. The study advocates for the drastic reformation of traditional Islamic law and state impartiality towards religion, as an alternative to the development of a Shari‘a state or exclusionary secularism. This transformation is, however, contingent upon significant long-term political and socio-cultural change, and it is clear that successfully expanding human rights protection in Egypt requires not the exclusion of Islamists, but their transformation. Islamists still have a large constituency and they are not the only actors who are ambivalent about human rights. Meanwhile, Islamic law also appears to continue to influence Egypt's law. The book explores the prospects for certain constitutional and institutional measures to facilitate an evolutionary interpretation of Islamic law, provide a baseline of human rights and gradually integrate international human rights into Egyptian law. Contents 6 Abstract 8 Note on the Transliteration 9 Acknowledgments 10 Abbreviations 11 Tables of Authorities 12 Foreword 20 Chapter One 24 1. Defining the Research Problem 24 2. The Muslim Brotherhood: A Historical Background 29 3. Methods and Sources 33 4. Book Structure 35 Chapter Two 38 1. The Nature and Evolution of Islamic Law 38 2. Human Rights and Religion 47 3. Islam and Human Rights: Theoretical Perspectives 60 4. Conclusions 64 Chapter Three 66 1. The State-Religion Relationship 66 2. Reactions to International Human Rights 76 3. Shari‘a and Human Rights in the 2012 Constitution 82 4. Conclusions 93 Chapter Four 95 1. The Establishment of Religious Political Parties 95 2. Political Pluralism and the Rule of Shari‘a 99 3. Sowing the Seeds of Hate and Violence 105 4. Freedom of Association and Human Rights NGOs 109 5. Conclusion 119 Chapter Five 121 1. Religion and Freedom of expression 121 2. The Literature of the Muslim Brotherhood 124 3. The Muslim Brotherhood in Opposition 129 4. The Muslim Brotherhood in Power 142 5. Conclusion 155 Chapter Six 157 1. Religious Minorities, Equality and Non-discrimination 158 2. Unrecognised Religious Minorities 188 3. Conclusion 194 Chapter Seven 195 1. The Debate on the Right to Change One’s Religion 196 2. The Debate on Proselytism 204 3. Conversion in Egyptian Courts 208 4. Conclusion 216 Chapter Eight 217 1. The Articulation of Gender Equality 218 2. The Reform of Personal Status Law 237 3. Female Genital Mutilation 255 4. Conclusion 259 Chapter Nine 261 1. Explaining the Conservative Face of the MB 261 2. Prospects for Transformation 264 Bibliography 273 Index 340 This book explores the development of the Muslim Brotherhood's thinking on Islamic law and human rights, and argues that the Muslim Brotherhood has exacerbated, rather than solved, tensions between the two in Egypt. The organisation and its scholars have drawn on hard-line juristic opinions and reinvented certain concepts from Islamic traditions in ways that limit the scope of various human rights, and advocate for Islamic alternatives to international human rights. The book concludes that the peaceful management of political and religious diversity in society cannot be realised under the Muslim Brotherhood's model of a Shari'a state and advocates for the drastic reformation of traditional Islamic law and state impartiality towards religion, as an alternative to the development of a Shari'a state or exclusionary secularism. This transformation is, however, contingent upon significant long-term political and socio-cultural changes, and it is clear that successfully expanding human rights protection in Egypt requires not the exclusion of Islamists, but their transformation. Islamists still have a large constituency and they are not the only actors who are ambivalent about human rights. Meanwhile, Islamic law also appears to continue to influence Egypt's law. The book explores the prospects for certain constitutional and institutional measures to facilitate an evolutionary interpretation of Islamic law, provide a baseline of human rights and gradually integrate international human rights into Egyptian law." -- Book jacket