A secular mood?

At last, after a weekend full of disruption, I can organize my thoughts...better late than never, I'm hoping!

Edward Said began his professorial career in the 1960s and his most famous writings were in the 1970s. Assuming that he made that statement before 1975, it would have been a logical observation to make. Religion was mostly kept in the private sphere throughout the Middle East, including Iran, Lebanon had not yet erupted into (partly religiously motivated) civil war, the First Intifada of the Palestinians (which began in 1987 and which quickly led to the formation of the militant Islamic group Hamas) had not yet begun, the Muslim Brotherhood had not yet gained popularity as an unofficial political party (as they would begin to in the 1980s), and Algeria's Islamic parties were far from rising to national politics (as they did in the 1990s).

The Owen chapter mentions the historical dynamics of post-colonial land reform across many parts of the Middle East, such as in Egypt. The power and land was taken away from the rural landowners. Additionally, labor unions - which were such a powerful force during the era of independence, nationalism, and state-building - also began to lose much of their power as the state began to grow suspicious of them, desiring to keep their power in check. I would argue (and I think I've seen somewhere in previous readings something to this effect) that the loss of these two sources of power might have shifted some of that power to mosques, clergy, and religious groups. Because the majority of the population has associated with Islam, the government could not fight it and chose to also associate itself with Islam whenever convenient, both to stay in control and also to convince the population of its legitimacy.

Certain dynamics also lead to a less secular population: sustained persecution and/or alienation of a population - either externally or internally - leads to mobilization of more and more of the population, and that includes religious groups that previously remained in the local and/or private sphere; the fatigue and frustration over the "old guard" and corruption, especially in Tunisia and Egypt; the growing number of educated middle/lower-middle class youth who were seduced by the alternative ideologies of Islamic groups that seemed to address their concerns and needs; and perhaps the 1990s and the sudden growth of Western NGOs - in general, and specifically in the Middle East. I wonder if this NGO dynamic could have helped provide a framework for the religious groups? Or possibly could have added to the backlash against all things "Western"?

As for Tunisia and Egypt, their "semi-open" political systems allowed for mass mobilization and politicization of various groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The Brotherhood in Egypt, in particular, built itself so organically and steadily in such an organized manner that gained the respect of first those on the "periphery", then certain youth, then various professional organizations (sometimes through the same previous youth) and finally gained some political power. So it may seem that the general and political mood became less secular. However, as Rosefsky Wickham points out, people overwhelmingly believed that the Muslim Brotherhood was simply an honest and trustworthy organization that could reform corrupt, unresponsive, and entrenched elites and political leaders - rather than focusing on the group's goals of implementing some form of Islamic law.

I believe that the success of Islamic groups in Tunisia's and Egypt's post-2011 elections have been indications of free and fair elections. Suppressing these groups would only lead to backlash and possible radicalization, a further sense of alienation from all things "Western" and the troublesome assumption that democratization is intrinsically anti-Islamic. On the other hand, many have expressed concern over the risk of losing the same democratic freedoms that have allowed Islamic groups the chance for political success in the first place.

In sum, Edward Said might not have been completely proven wrong, but there is no simple answer to this considering that the mood in each country is different, each society is divided into secular elites and many other groups, and the dynamics continue to shift throughout the years and regimes.