Brotherhood of Bloggers

Jesse Walker | November 20, 2007

The Muslim Brotherhood has discovered blogging. Writing in MERIP, Marc Lynch observes that there were about 150 Egyptian bloggers in the Islamist organization as of this past spring—"an impressive number given that less than a year before there had been virtually none." These diarists, Lynch argues, "have more in common with other young Egyptian activists, whether leftist or nationalist, than they do with their less wired peers":

Muhammad Hamza, a Muslim Brother and a blogger, identifies his as a "generation of the 2004 movement," shaped by the information revolution—satellite TV, cellular phones and the Internet—and the appearance of human rights organizations. Armed with handheld technology, this "2004 generation" obtains and analyzes information, and communicates with fellow Brothers and activists with other leanings, with rapidity and ease....Hamza acknowledges that the blogger-activists face significant internal criticism: They are too influenced by liberal ideas, other Brothers say, they want for clear political thought and defined goals, and they pay insufficient attention to the Brothers' imperative to proselytize (da'wa). Empowered by the new technology, fed up with the status quo and—for now—encouraged by at least some of Brotherhood leaders, the bloggers and activists have thus far shown little inclination to stand down....

Not all Brothers' blogs are part of a coordinated campaign, however. Over the last year, a growing number of youth have started the sort of individual online journals that would be familiar to youth anywhere. These Muslim Brothers often simply live online—whiling away the hours not just reading blogs, but participating in forums and posting to YouTube and the ubiquitous Facebook. While they engage in their share of political activism, many of their blogs are intensely personal. Like the youth of any country, they spend as much time writing about family and friends as about world affairs—as well as, of course, their religious faith. Like most Egyptians in their age group, they are viscerally concerned with the persistent unemployment, under-employment, inflation and affordable housing shortage that have made it exceedingly difficult for the last two generations of young Egyptians to marry and settle down according to social expectations. Lastly, these bloggers clearly do not share the salafi aversion to popular culture: Their blogs are full of disquisitions on their favorite songs and books and movies.

Comments

Big Nanny|11.20.07 @ 5:11PM|#

They sound dangerous, but I expect we will have them locked up soon enough.

|11.20.07 @ 5:23PM|#

Let's see if this thread can launch as much vitriol on the Muslim faith as the posters normally reserve for Christianity.
And I speak as an atheist, so I'll begin:
"Islam is a stupid fucking monkey philosphy whose practitioners are deluded, and Allah can lick my ass."
Now ...

Mad Max|11.20.07 @ 5:25PM|#

Of course, the *women* of the Muslim Brotherhood have Livejournal pages:

Music: None - music is an invention of Shaitan
Mood: Zealously seeking Martyrdom

omg did you see Osama's latest video? hes so dreamy. went to the mall to blow myself up but something was wrong with the fuse. but the day wasn't fully wasted because they were having a wonderful sale at the shoe store. plus I picked up this cute form-fitting niqab at Nieman al-Markus. i think Abdul thinks I'm cute, i'd ask him out, but daddy would just behead me.

|11.20.07 @ 5:26PM|#

Mad Max:
Sweet! You've got it!

|11.20.07 @ 5:31PM|#

Three words, Libertarian militia bloggers."
That or "Hot Teen blonds".
First choice will put them on the run.
Second choice will keep them at there keyboads, typing, cleaning, typing, cleaning, etc.

|11.20.07 @ 5:35PM|#

Abdul's match.com ad:
Eyes: Brown
Best feature: Manly beard
Body type: Still intact, but soon to be in many pieces
Relationship status: Single
Interests: Watching infidels bleed, wall-toppling, explosives
Ideal date: Long walk on the beach with a camel, falafel, Jew-kicking, glass of goat milk by the cave fireplace
Last book read: "Piloting Commercial Jets for Dummies"

VM|11.20.07 @ 5:44PM|#

"vitriol on the Muslim faith as the posters normally reserve for Christianity."

get down from the cross. We need the wood for the still.

(originally expressed by Dhex, but suffices)

plus, you forgot "female circumcision", "going to the stoning" and "being perpetually insulted on the world stage" for the match.com ad!

DannyK|11.20.07 @ 5:57PM|#

Muslim netroots! I wonder how you say "Very Serious People" in Arabic.

|11.20.07 @ 6:47PM|#

Let's see if this thread can launch as much vitriol on the Muslim faith as the posters normally reserve for Christianity.

I said on a previous thread I thought it would be really ballsy and kind of cool if Electronic Arts or some other video game developer made Muhammad Super RPG. Don't know if thats enough vitriol for you, but I'm sure it could start some riots!

highnumber|11.20.07 @ 6:49PM|#

Seems like a good place to point out that there is a new blog out there:
Islamolibertarianism

|11.20.07 @ 6:56PM|#

With regard to the "vitriol against Christianity" thing, I can't speak for others but I generally don't give off that much vitriol against evangelical Christians. The vast majority of them are good and decent people, even if they hold completely wacked-out beliefs.

The only evangelical Christians I take issue with are those that use the power of the state to enforce their beliefs, and the crazy-ass Jesus shouters. Most believe in free will and are perfectly happy to let me be as an atheist.

greenish|11.20.07 @ 7:22PM|#

It's also unreasonable to expect the same quantity of vitriol against Muslims because they are proportionally so fewer, and there is much less knowledge about Islam than Christianity in this society.

Brian Sorgatz|11.20.07 @ 7:35PM|#

Seems like a good place to point out that there is a new blog out there:
Islamolibertarianism

Highnumber wins the thread by making fools of the Sam Harris-style militant atheists out there.

|11.20.07 @ 7:44PM|#

"Salafism" is one of those words that sounds like it means something very perverse, in the strictly sexual, but nevertheless legally indictable sense.

highnumber|11.20.07 @ 8:33PM|#

Wow! Almost exactly a year since the Santorum-Salty Ham Tears thread. That was an effort. This, I didn't even try.
Again, I would mostly like to thank the little people.

Woo-hoo!

|11.20.07 @ 9:01PM|#

highnumber,

Thousands of years from now, when our bald, eight-foot tall descendants are reading the Santorum thread, they'll remember your name with honor: He who was last, was first.

highnumber|11.20.07 @ 9:44PM|#

Thanks to stem cells, I plan to be here to accept their accolades.

Immoderate|11.20.07 @ 9:52PM|#

You slay me.

Hey, better yet, I slay you!

Immoderate prime|11.20.07 @ 10:17PM|#

Don't worry, that was just a caricature.

Immoderate prime prime|11.20.07 @ 10:18PM|#

There's no such thing as "just" a caricature.

Kolohe|11.21.07 @ 12:46AM|#

An odd thing about this thread for me is that the ad on the side is currently the "shoot the bad guy" one. (Fortunately, from his rifle style, skin tone and weirdly shaped biceps, he looks more like a McVeigh type than Atta type)

iih|11.21.07 @ 2:55AM|#

Islam is a stupid fucking monkey philosphy whose practitioners are deluded, and Allah can lick my ass.

The most ignorant, uninformed, collectivist statement I have ever heard. You just beat Dondero!

Anyhow, onto something useful, FWIW the MB people are not to be belittled. They are dangerous and mistrusted by most people in Egypt. And they are also very sophisticated. They are mostly very highly educated in engineering, medicine, and computer science. I could see them as very computer savvy. So I am not surprised that they are going to the internet"s" (sort of their "mattresses").

Episiarch|11.21.07 @ 8:43AM|#

The Muslim Brotherhood is an international organization dedicated to spreading Islam (by violence, if necessary), I believe--iih can correct me if I am wrong. As he says, they are not some chumps discovering that computers can let you talk to voices on the intertubes, they are organized and very serious.

|11.21.07 @ 9:08AM|#

It's amazing how people with minds out of the 13th century, full of homicidal sectarianism and laughable bigotries, can take advantage of modern communications technologies to advertise their hate.

But enough about Jamie Kelly. How 'bout them Muslim bloggers?

|11.21.07 @ 9:59AM|#

It's amazing how people with minds out of the 13th century, full of homicidal sectarianism and laughable bigotries, can take advantage of modern communications technologies to advertise their hate.

I know! It's totally sweet!

|11.21.07 @ 10:00AM|#

The most ignorant, uninformed, collectivist statement I have ever heard.

Prove that one thing in my statement is false.

|11.21.07 @ 10:21AM|#

OK.

If Islam is a stupid monkey philosophy followed only by deluded people, then there is no Allah, and he cannot lick your ass.

|11.21.07 @ 10:53AM|#

touche, joe.

Now, if a tongue licks an ass and nobody's around, does it still taste like shit?

iih|11.21.07 @ 11:54AM|#

The Muslim Brotherhood is an international organization dedicated to spreading Islam (by violence, if necessary), I believe--iih can correct me if I am wrong.

Nowhere in their stated goals do they claim that. That is the Egyptian government gives them leeway. They were violent only for a very short period around the Egyptian revolution (1950-1952). Nasser crushed them and put them all in prison (we're talking 100s of thousands). Some of them went underground and were the founders of the violent groups. The government eventually realized that they can not keep up the fight against the terror of offshoot groups. In 1990s the government allowed MB to work openly, though not allowing them to participate in politics as a political party. The idea was to allow the MB constituency some breathing room, or else some elements of them will keep catering to the violent jihadi groups.

iih|11.21.07 @ 11:56AM|#

highnumber

Thanks for the free publicity. It is really a blog on Islam and Liberty. Wanting a title, I decided to go with Islamolibertarianism since that week was Islamofascism Week, and I decided to choose that name just to spike the "Islamofascism Week people".

highnumber|11.21.07 @ 6:13PM|#

iih,

It's a great title. Now go make some heads explode!

iih|11.21.07 @ 9:47PM|#

go make some heads explode!

Pun intended? ;-)

highnumber|11.21.07 @ 11:28PM|#

Ha! Excuse me, in internetese, lol.

No pun intended. That took me a minute to get.

iih|11.21.07 @ 11:39PM|#

highnumber- :-)

To Jamie Kelly: I think it is as irrational not to believe in the existence of a Supreme Being as it is to believe in the existence of one!