Hala Mustafa and the Liberal Arab Predicament Part I

 

by David Govrin

 

1^st part of 3

 

Liberalism is not and has never been widespread in the Middle East. There have been moments when it seemed set to open new vistas to countries whose citizens wanted to break free from the chains of traditionalism, dictatorship, and religious obscurantism. There have been many setbacks, but in the early 1990s a group of intellectuals, known in contemporary Arabic literature as the New Arab Liberals, Al-Liberaliyun al-'Arab al-Judad,[1] was informally established in the Arab Middle East. The group was formed in the wake of major global and regional events—the collapse of the Soviet Union and its ancillary communist regimes in eastern Europe (1989-91), the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq (1990), the repeal of the apartheid laws in South Africa (1991), and the official end of the Cold War (1992)—all of which suggested the advent of a new order internationally. This loosening of political tension was accompanied by the growth of globalization and a revolution in communications with the creation of the mobile phone and the Internet, both of which opened up new possibilities for international collaboration and free speech.

 These events had a great impact on intellectuals in the Middle East and encouraged Arab liberals to initiate a wide-scale public debate on the urgent need for change in their region. The debate that ensued, and which still continues, has focused on the issue of political and liberal reform in the Arab world and clearly reflects the predicament that faces modern liberal Arab thinkers. These liberals are deeply aware of massive changes taking place around them but are stymied in their own efforts by the undemocratic or antidemocratic regimes under which they live.

Egyptian liberals occupy a central position among the members of this group in terms of their relative numbers and the resonance of their activity. Egypt's political, historical, and cultural stance along with its relatively liberal legacy, gave Egyptian liberals a prominent role in this Arab discourse despite ongoing pressure from an illiberal regime on the one hand and growing threats from Islamists of different varieties.

 

Arab Liberalism in Context

The New Arab Liberals view themselves as the heirs and successors of the liberal Muslims and Arabs who were active between the late nineteenth century and the 1950s. Two things distinguish them from those early liberals. The first is their concentration on political matters, especially on internal reforms and the need for a democratic regime; the second is their strategic and rational view of political and global realities.[2]

The New Arab Liberals can be divided into three main categories: government liberals, part-government liberals, and independents. A government liberal is a paid employee of a governmental institution. This dependence may narrow an individual's ability to maneuver while carrying out his public activities and may dull criticism of the regime. The head of the Center for Strategic Research at the leading state newspaper, Al-Ahram in Cairo, 'Abd al-Monem Said, is an example of a government liberal identified with the regime.

Most New Arab Liberals, however, are either partly governmental or independents. The part-governmental liberals, although paid employees of government institutions, actively criticize the regime and act publicly against official regime policies. Taking such a stand obviously jeopardizes their official standing and their careers. Noteworthy part-government liberals include the Egyptian feminist Hala Mustafa (whose activities will follow in detail later), Osama al-Ghazali Harb (Egypt), editor of the periodical As-Siyasa ad-Dawliya, Ahmad al-Baghdadi, Khalid ad-Dakhil and 'Abd al-Hamid al-Ansari (the last three from Persian Gulf States).

Some independent Arab liberals live in their home countries, for example, the Cairo-based Egyptians Sa'ad al-Din Ibrahim and Amin al-Mahdi, but many others live outside the Arab world, thereby freeing themselves from the restrictions on freedom of speech in their countries of origin. These include George Trabishi and Burhan Ghalyun, both originally from Syria and now living in Paris, and Shaker al-Nabulsi, originally from Jordan, who lives in the United States.

The movement's world-view is characterized by the centrality of the individual, civil rights, basic freedoms, equality, pluralism, progress, democracy, and science. Secularism, an essential ingredient for democratic developments elsewhere, is deliberately ignored on the grounds that it would alienate most Middle Eastern Muslims. But most Muslims consider democracy the only way to protect freedom and human dignity, so this demand provides a common denominator.[3]

For all that, the New Arab Liberals differ in their religion (a disproportionate number are Christian), their center of activity (in the Middle East, Europe, or North America), the extent of their independence from political institutions, and their ideological relation to Arabism, Islam, and the West. They differ in their views on practical matters, such as how far they will tolerate Islamists in the political system; how far they are prepared to accept normalization with Israel; how far they are willing to allow governmental financial involvement; and how far they approve of U.S. policy in the Middle East.

New Arab Liberals focus their attention on the governmental and social elites, speaking to them directly while making them targets for their criticism. Jordanian liberal Nabulsi explains:

The liberal discourse is unlike a folk song to which the drunkards sway from side to side, neither is it a populist discourse that is meant to quench the inclinations of the crowds … it is rather first and foremost directed at the educated elite since they are the ones who create history and not the loud crowds.[4]

The new liberals aim for profound, long-term political change within their countries, meaning the establishment of democratic states throughout the Arab world and a widespread assimilation of democratic values. The mass communications revolution of the 1990s opened up new audiences beyond the control of specific regimes. Through their criticism of Arab regimes, the New Arab Liberals made a broad impact on their audiences and generated a public debate regarding the urgent need for political reform.

However, these Arab liberals find themselves in a difficult position between government and radical Islam. Given the significance of religion in Arab society and culture, the new liberals work hard to establish their legitimacy while emphasizing an attachment to their liberal Arab and Islamic heritage. They do this to underscore their claim that democratic values are universal and in harmony with the Islamic heritage.

An additional difficulty the liberal group faces is the stigma of Western support, which is interpreted by many as an attempt to preserve a sort of colonialism. This sabotages the Arab liberals' credibility, identifying them as envoys of the West.[5] The absence of charismatic leadership, the ideological disagreements among them, and their inability to unite under a single organizational framework increase internal rifts and hamper the new liberals' efforts to become a significant alternative to government.

 

Hala Mustafa and the New Arab Liberals

One voice increasingly heard among the New Arab Liberals is that of an Egyptian woman, Hala Mustafa, who plays a particularly important role within the group. Her courageous criticism of Egypt's political elite and of Arab society as a whole justifies her prominence as a leading liberal in the Arab world, despite her formal affiliation with the government as a member of the Policy Secretariat of the ruling National Democratic Party. Her prominence is all the more remarkable in that she is an outspoken woman in a patriarchal society. She is also sophisticated and Westernized. As such, she is anathema to the forces of radical Islam and traditionalism. In that sense, she has become a symbol of what liberalism means for Egypt and the wider Arab world.

Mustafa was born in Cairo in 1958. She graduated with a bachelor's degree (1980), then a master's (1986) and finally a doctorate (1994) from the department of economics and political science at the University of Cairo. Between her studies there, she completed a continuing education program at the University of Maryland (1983) and an M.A. at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (1986-87). She also served as a visiting fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy during 2003 and 2006. In addition to her role within the National Democratic Party, since 1994, she has served as director of the political department at the Center for Political and Strategic Research at Al-Ahram. Concurrently, she is chief editor of the Arabic periodical Al-Dimuqratiya, published by the Al-Ahram Center since 2000; it is the only periodical in the Arab world dedicated to the analysis of worldwide democratic developments and Arab liberal thought.

Mustafa's personal outlook on the possibility for reform in Egypt is bullish. In an article coauthored with Augustus Richard Norton of Boston University, she writes that

in Egypt—one of the most important Arab countries of the region—there is a strong tradition of political debate and a vibrant intellectual life. There also are an extensive civil society, a judiciary intent on sustaining its autonomy and integrity, and a durable secular liberal tradition.[6]

It is in defense of this secular liberal tradition that Mustafa has been particularly active. Writing on the French head scarf ban, she defends former President Chirac from his critics, saying

Few addressed the merits of the secularism the French president wants to preserve, not for his own personal glory or that of his government, but to uphold France's long record of struggle for human freedom, fraternity, and equality. Few showed willingness to examine secularism neutrally and objectively.[7]

Later in the same piece, she asserts that

Human rights and freedoms developed in the context of secularism, for the latter paved the way to tolerance, freedom, and political accountability, just as it ended despotism in all its political and religious forms.[8]

Mustafa herself has backed up her support for secularism by arguing that the Arabs have a long secular tradition. If there is any truth in this, it cannot be denied that Arab secularists can and do come into conflict, not just with Islamists, but with government authorities when they uphold discriminatory legislation based on purely religious grounds. In the 1990s, Mustafa nailed her flag to the mast when she published several Arabic books regarding radical Islam, including Political Islam in Egypt[9] and The State and the Oppositional Islamic Movements.[10] In these she made clear her opposition to the politicization of religion.

 

David Govrin

Copyright – Original materials copyright © by the authors.

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