Asil Asfour Essays (571 words) - Islam, Religion, Islamism

Asil Asfour Introduction to the Qur'an Professor Spevack 17 November 2017 The Ideologies of the Muslim Brotherhood Islamism, or Islamic fundamentalism, is the use of social and political activism advocating that public and political life should be guided by Islamic principles. Islamism's foundation is the full implementation of Shar'ia (Islamic) law into every aspect of a society. The Muslim Brotherhood is a transnational Islamic organization that invented and embodied the concept of Islamism since 1928. The Brotherhood was founded in Egypt by an Islamic Scholar named Hassan al-Banna, and has rapidly spread through Sudan, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, and various places in North Africa. The Brotherhood's long and complex history sparks a controversial debate regarding if the organization is promoting the formation of Islamic terrorist groups. The stated goal of the Brotherhood has been to instill the Qur'an and Hadith as the "sole reference point for . . . ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community . . . and state" and do this with peaceful reform. However, in the 1940s an armed w ing was formed within the Brotherhood that engaged in political violence. During this era, Sayyid Qutb, a key articulator of the ideas of radical Islamism, was an influential member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Qutb called for the use of violence to bring about fundamentalist Islamic states and was a major influence in the formation of al-Qaeda, a militant Islamist organization (Kull, 2011). This violence was displayed in the early 1950s when the Brotherhood was implicated in an assassination attempt on Egyptian President Nasser, leading to the imprisonment of its leadership and to a ban on the organization in Egypt. Though the Brotherhood dissociated itself from Qutb and sought to establish itself as a more moderate political force committed to the democratic process. The organization is suspected to having a covert radical agenda by many nations that refuse to have contacts with the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood's place in society continues to be scrutinized by the rest of the world, who question if the organization's true objectives are peaceful or malicious. Islam is derived from the word Salam, which translates to peace and is one of the most beautiful names of Allah (God) (59:23). Islam is a religion of peace, mercy, and forgiveness, and the Qur'an is the mortal representation of the religion. The Qur'an is the sacred scriptures of Allah and is a central role in not only "Islamic metaphysics and theology, but also in the practical and ritual aspects of Islamic religious and spiritual life" (Nasr, 2015). The Muslim Brotherhood dedicates their organization to a religion based on peace and tranquility, and uses the Quran and Sunnah to guide their actions. This poses the question: why would the world consider them to be hostile or dangerous? To truly understand the intentions of the Muslim Brotherhood, the organization's structures of social and political systems must be understood and interpreted through the primary resources that guide their doctrine: the Qur'an and Hadith, or Prophetic pronouncements. The Muslim Brotherhood did not establish their name on the basis of the new order they strive to implement. The Brotherhood, in contrast, carries the name of an already existing society: the society of the Muslim Brothers. The Brotherhood considers their organization's ultimate goal is not an ordinary social movement, but what their organization represents is sacred, divine law - that is, Islam (Shatla 2013). -belief of brotherhood -committed to brothers -goes through a rites of passage -incorporate psychology