The Society of the Muslim Brothers

Mitchell's work preceded the sensationalism so characteristic of the field today and, therefore, lacks many of the vices present therein today. In particular, one notices his consciousness that he is studying a *religious* group; therefore, his work doesn't suffer from the rampant reductionism that seeks to explain Islamism merely in terms of market fluctuations and changing birthrates. As Richard Mitchell wrote just before his death, "So deeply ingrained is secularism as to make even the most sympathetic observers floundering for meaning in simplistic explanations such as `Mahdism,' `Messianism,' `religious obscurantism,' `fanaticism,' `nativism,' `cover for power grab,' etc. All of these things exist in the Islamic movement. But it would not be a serious movement worthy of our attention were it not, above all, an idea and a personal commitment honestly felt."

Mitchell's works shows how Islamism began as a relatively conservative movement without any explicit aims for revolution at the governmental level. Rather, they desired a religious revolution that was later protracted into a larger arenas of social reform. Political opposition and activism-of the potentially seditious kind-actually came relatively late and in the atmosphere of despotic monarchy.

The books ends with the imprisonment of the Brotherhood by Nasser-ironically after the Brotherhood provided the major popular support for the Free Officers to enter into power-and thereafter the history of the Brotherhood was chronicled mostly by francophone authors such as Olivier Carré and Gilles Kepel.

Objective, direct, accurate: Excellent
In The Society of the Muslim Brothers, Richard P. Mitchell addresses the ideology of the organization. He takes the reader from the birth of the movement that would eventually challenge the Egyptian government to it's greatest and worst moments. He writes with an amazingly objective style, neither apologizing for the members who committed crimes, nor minimalizing the excellent social welfare contributions of Hassan Al-Banna, the leader. Of particular interest in this discussion of dualities is the point made about the dual legal systems. Al-Banna felt that the Western laws "corrupted and perverted the nation's thought, mind and logic." Mitchell's point on this seems to hold vivid clarity in the idea that manmade laws and shari'a are innately incompatible. The inharmonious combination of this dual legal system "served to shatter the `unity' of the nation." Mitchell's writing really catches the essence of a group of people struggling to come to terms with a rapidly changing society in flux in a rapidly changing world. His book was translated into Arabic and Arab scholars agree that his portrayal of this politically powerful religious movement is academically sound.

A classical work on the Muslim Brotherhood from 1928 to 1954
Mitchell's book is obviously dated by now, published in 1969 and has been republished in 1993. At first, I wonder whether it is still worth a reading given that there are a lot more recent works in the field as a result of the proliferation of literature on the Islamist movements in recent decades. Having read this book, I must admit that Mitchell's book continues to be a significant contribution in our understanding of Islamism.

The book covers periods of Ikhwan foundation in 1928 till its second suppression in 1954. The focus is on Egypt without dealing with various manifestations of the movement outside of the country. The book can be divided into three parts. The first and largest is history of the movement. It sheds interesting light on al-Banna, the founder of the movement, and the roles the movement played in political events including its attitude toward the 1952 revolution. The second part deals with the details of the organizational aspect of the movement while the third part concentrates on its ideology with special reference to its world-view as regards the West, Egypt, capitalism, communism, and Zionism. The final chapter assess the place of the movement in Egyptian social and political life. The most impressive aspect of this study is Mitchell's utilization of the sources. Through his field works in Egypt in 1953-5 Mitchell was able to witness the development first hand and to conduct interviews with many of the Ikhwan members and other Egyptians. Furthermore, Mitchell uses Arabic language sources, including the writings of the prominent figures of the movement such as al-Banna and Muhammad al-Ghazali, and Qutb along with the writings of other Egyptian unconnected with the society as well as Ikhwan's own publications and documents. In addition, the author also utilizes Egyptian newspapers and numerous Western studies on various aspects the subject.

One common (distorted) image of the movement according to the author is associating Ikhwan with violence. Mitchell dismisses the common view attributing the movement as revolutionary, and terrorist. Mitchell argues that the revolutionary image of the movement is misleading because whatever the(revolutionary) view of certain groups or members, the leadership had no wish to seize power either in 1948 or 1954. As a matter of fact, Mitchell adds that Al-Banna always emphasized that the movement primary roles were educational and to influence the policies of those in power in establishing the Islamic pattern of behavior in the society rather than to achieve power for themselves The revolutionary image of the society apparently derived from its semiautonomous "secret apparatus" which advocated violence, but this attitude was confined to this group and not the organization as a whole. In addition, Mitchell argues that tendency toward violence was not confined to some segments of the Brothers, but it was almost a universal tendency in the national politics as a result of disillusionment with parliamentary government which characterized Egyptian politics between 1942-1952.

Mitchell also debunks the common view that the society was dogmatic, static and reactionary organization dedicated to restore the seventh century concept of the Muslim state. He states that despite its aspiration for the implementation of Islamic principles in the society, Ikhwan demonstrated its open-minded attitude toward the interpretation of Shariah as reflected in their readiness to open the door of Ijtihad. Although there is a tendency toward Hanbali strict uncompromising attitude in the movement, the author argues that there was also a strong consciousness among the brothers that they were part of Islamic reformist tradition of Abduh, Afghani, and Ridha and shared the same intent of adaptation of Islam to meet modern challenges. As a matter of fact Banna and Hudaybi are depicted as promoting a reformist role for the society. The society's dynamic commercial and welfare activities and to a lesser degree its effort to form an auxiliary Muslim sister "wing" demonstrate the "modernized" and pragmatic aspect of the society.

The success of the society can be attributed to al-Banna himself, whom Mitchell repeatedly refers to as a charismatic leader. In chapter one, Mitchell provides a brief account of al-Banna's early years regarding his gifted ability to communicate, to inspire and to influence. Furthermore, Mitchell presents considerable amount of evidence throughout the book demonstrating the charisma in Banna and his "brothers" relationship. However, the death of al-Banna and ascendancy of Hudaybi as the General Guide of the movement posed a serious challenge for the movement. Without a charismatic leader and effective leadership, the society failed in dealing with problems associated with leadership- succession, discipline, consensus and even the loss of control over secret apparatus.

My impression from Mitchell's account is that the relative success of the movement under Banna can be attributed to the leadership quality. However, the author's treatment of leadership is inadequate; primarily emphasizing the personality of Banna and leaving out the roles of elite members of the movement such as the Guidance Council and the Secretariat. In light of my own understanding that a good number of Ikhwan prominent figures are not (strictly speaking) the graduates of Islamic studies, It would also be desirable to learn something about the society's elite such as their educational training and class background. In this regard Mitchell's book is less helpful.

Despite the proliferation of literature on the Islamist movement in recent decades, Mitchell's book continues to have a class of its own, especially for those aspiring to learn about the development of the movement in Egypt from its foundation to 1954. One wish that the author could have also covered the influence of the movement outside Egypt, most notably in Palestine, Jordan and Syria.