Understanding Egypt: Islamic Socialism and the Left

The crisis in Egypt and concern over who could replace the despot Hosni Mubarak has at long last awoken Americans to the global project of the Muslim Brotherhood. Founded in 1928, the Brotherhood is an Islamic political party whose mission is and has always been to put into place Islamic theocratic governments (the Islamic state) with legal systems based in Islamic law (shariah). The Brotherhood is the most prominent face of the global ideology of political Islam. A major part of their project includes the ideology of Islamic socialism.

Many have a hard time understanding where the political left in Europe and the United States have common ground with this theo-political Islamist movement. Socialist ideology promotes an oppression of the individual for the collective needs of society and government. Islamist ideology similarly promotes the oppression of the individual for the 'common good' of the Islamic state. Both snuff out individual responsibility for tribal collective control.

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