It was a notice
worth paying attention to that I encountered while I was following the online
publishing of what I write in Al Ahram every two weeks; that is the number of
those who read online the articles concerning the current of muslim brotherhood
and salafists reaches almost sometimes thousand readers and exceeds this some
other times… while the number of readers who were interested in reading the
last article published fifteen days ago about the intellectuals’ conference reaches
almost two hundred readers; meaning nearly one fifth… despite that what was
written about the intellectuals’ conference exceeded the matter of culture from
the limited prospective to the broader definition that includes all that is related
to life affairs.
And so,
continue writing about the political movements that raise the holy Quran above
spears of mundane economic social political conflict seems more tempting to the
writer… and gives a new indication added to other previous ones affirming that
people are interested in politics and religion… and maybe sex which I have not
tried to write about it… such indications remind us that our society is still categorized
as an underdeveloped one.
It is a temptation
– as I said – to continue writing over the same theme… as a result, it poses a
real problem facing any writer who respects his readers and profession; that is
how to tackle such theme… and how serious this tackling is… also how much new information
such tackling can add… whether on the level of analyzing what already exists
and tacking place or on the level of future vision along with its different
aspects politically economically and intellectually… also domestically,
regionally and internationally.
Moreover, the issue
of being subjective in tackling any phenomenon is totally different to being
unbiased because I am one of those who believe that being unbiased is hard to
apply and almost impossible even in the scientific laboratories… as it was said
before: that the scientist or researcher in chemistry, physics or alike
branches of science can tend to approximate the results to what was established
in his mind before and during the experiment… you can imagine the case
regarding issues related to politics, sociology and similar branches of
studies.
As a result,
being objective does and will not be interpreted into being unbiased between
options… and here I say in advance: I am biased to a certain understanding of
the contemporary and modern Egyptian historical context… such understanding is
based on the notion that conflict – which is a law governing the course of
history – since the end of the eighteenth century to date and until for long
time – maybe – to come was between two orientations in the Egyptian public
life; a conservative traditional one hallowing old texts and totally agrees to their
interpretations and which takes religion – at large, whether Islam or religions
other than Islam – as a base and attacking tool… another orientation is the one
realizing the importance of mind and dealing with social phenomena as accumulative
human acts subjected to development and change… such orientation also regards
religion as a main component of the general social conscience and an important
source of elite moral values… and that religion is, after all, a relation
between man and God no one has the right to interfere in or claim to be
guardian over others regarding such relation.
For all this, I
agree with those believing in the necessity to separate between the religious
sacred issues and positive practices… I believe such positive practicing
started since the dawn of Islam and was strongly present in the negotiations
between al-Muhajirun and al-Ansar in the first establishing
meeting of as-Saqeefa in which al-Muhajirun refused to distribute
or rotate positions… as positions’ distribution and rotation was an idea
presented by al-Ansar after al-Muhajirun refused to appoint an
Emir from al-Ansar after they – al-Ansar – said: you first
appoint an Emir then we appoint one… later, they said: you take the rule –
equal to presidency position now – and we take the consultancy – equal to ministerial
cabinet in our present time – but all these suggestions were rejected until the
rule went to the Umayyad who turned it into an hereditary monarchy… and so ruling
was established over wars and deceitfulness after that… and caliphate stayed as
a tyrant ruling regime until it went old, eaten away by corruption and finally
collapsed.
Again, the problem
as I said above is what credible material can the writer provide for his
readers?... especially if the theme readers like to read about is of an issue
without much to say about and most, if not all, who write in the public
Egyptian affairs off and on tackle it.
I guess the
answer to such question cannot be summed in an article… however, we can hint at
some points we can write about… it is what I call going deep in understanding
the phenomenon by searching in its microscopic minute details… or what I call
bridging the gaps between political practices and scholarly theories, knowing that
history is a branch of study with research disciplines and research tools and
related to the core of it are rules of historical criticism… also there are
many aiding branches of studies connected to it… all this and more is present
in the references concerning disciplines of historical research… I have
mentioned what connect to history so that no one, either with good or bad
intention, may think that diving deep in the history of what is called
political Islamization is an escape from the due tackling of the current
events.
I cannot deny
it is a real challenge and I will try to keep on what I used to do; that is to
study and understand before I write… in such context, I remember revising many
resources and references when I wrote in Al Ahram about Ibn Tayimmiya and
Hassan el-Banna and the origin of the two swords that el-Banna and his muslim
brotherhood took as a slogan… the most exhausting thing about it was the
thorough reading in Ibn Tayimmiya’s Fatwas and Hassan el-Banna’s
messages.
Finally, the
article of intellectuals and their conference that did not enjoy a high number
of readers is a phenomenon worth more research and understanding.
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This article
was published in Al Ahram newspaper on October 24, 2013.
To see the
original article, go to:
#alahram
#ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #intellectuals #muslim_brotherhood #salafists
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