Muslims Standup

Debunking the Myth of Islamist Intransigence

By Mohammed Herzallah, Amr Hamzawy
The Daily Star, November 2, 2007

Nonetheless, the controversy obscures the fact that the Brotherhood's positions are not born out of animosity toward non-Muslims, women, or democracy, but stem from cultural and religious norms that are continuously debated and modified by the Brotherhood's leading members. To be sure, internal disputes over comprehensive equality, like many other disagreements over Shariah law, have yet to be settled, and the Brotherhood's leading members do not pretend otherwise in public. An example that bears special emphasis is the new platform's endorsement of the right of the people, irrespective of their race, gender, religious or ideological affiliations, to form political parties and associations. Given that the founders of the movement were firmly opposed to factionalism and the political party system, the move illustrates the growing capacity of progressives within the Islamists' ranks to shape the movement's intellectual trajectory.