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Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt Faces Dissent from Within

[Los Angeles Times] Jeffrey Fleishman - The Internet revolution is striking at the Muslim Brotherhood's identity in Egypt. In his blog, "Waves in the Sea of Change," Mustafa Naggar, 28, a Cairo dentist, blames the Muslim Brotherhood for a religious rigidity that has weakened the Islamic party as a political force and distanced itself from day-to-day concerns of most Egyptians. He and other young Brotherhood members began blogging to attack the government of secular President Hosni Mubarak, but now they have turned their cyber-debate toward their organization's stands on women's rights, religious freedom and tolerance. "Our biggest concern is changing the group's religious education system. It's obsolete and unable to create minds to contribute to an Islamic renaissance," Naggar said. "Our new generation needs an open society toward moderate Islam and away from extremist Wahhabi values." The bloggers "have gone beyond their role as a media tool" for the Brotherhood and have emerged as "rebels, freed from ideological and organizational constraints," Khalil Anani, an expert on the group, wrote for the magazine Arab Insight. The bloggers say they are trying to make the Brotherhood more palatable to the West, borrowing from the efforts of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, which allows for division between religion and the state.
2008-10-03 01:00:00
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