Remembering what happened in Tunisia

Tunisian events do not stop surprising us, and this was recently manifested by the decision of Ennahda movement to declare its full transition from political Islam to democratic Islam.

The announcement resounded loudly, and it is still reverberating inside Tunisia and abroad. The announcement was made on Friday, May 20, when Sheikh Rachid Al-Ghannouchi, Head of the movement, stood at the opening of the conference, in the capital, and made this announcement in front of more than 12 thousand Tunisians.

Those who attended the General Conference of Ennahda were not its supporters or members only, but activists of the Tunisian society were also present. Attendees not only represented different political trends, but also it was noted that the first-row seats were occupied by leaders and members of the Constitutional Party, ministers of the former regimes of Bourguiba and Ben Ali who led the conflict between the Constitutional Party and the Islamic movements for long time. This surprised everyone, to the extent that even someone said that the scene lacked Ben Ali to complete it, even though his ministers were there. Others went as far as to say that the convergence between the Islamists and the Constitutional Party represents another chapter in the process of reconciliation that took place in Paris between Beji Essebsi before taking presidential office and Ghannouchi. The scene came as evidence that the leadership of Ennahda are keen to reconcile not only with the secularists and the various political forces in Tunisian society, but also to achieve reconciliation between the past and the present.

In his speech, Ghannouchi announced that his movement had decided upon a separation between inviting to Islam (dawah) and political activities, opting for commitment to political activity and the transition from the ideological to the state, leaving preaching activities to civil society organizations. Accordingly the primary concern of the party in the next period will be limited to the pursuit of consensus to achieve development, renaissance and building a modern state.

Ghannouchi’s deputy, Sheikh Abdel Fattah Moro summed up this vision by chanting the slogan “Motherland is before the movement”. President Essebsi in his speech pointed out that he was hesitating about attending, in order to keep same distance from all the Tunisian parties (204 parties) but decided to participate in the opening, in recognition of the important role played by Ennahda in achieving consensus and maintaining stability in the transition period that followed the fall of the former regime. Essebsi called upon Ennahda members to emphasize that their movement has become a civilian party with allegiance to Tunisia alone. He added that he has consistently made statements during international forums that the Islamic movement in Tunisia does not represent a threat to democracy.

Once Ghannouchi announced the surprising change, the event imposed itself on the front of newspapers in various Western as well as Arab capitals. Some considered this a coup and political earthquake, and others said that Ghannouchi has joined the secular club. A third group of observers welcomed the announcement, considering it a recognition of the principle of separation between religion and politics. Some analysis also went on to say that it this just a re-distribution of roles and the decision reflects the failure of political Islam. Some columnists read the news using the Egyptian regime’s eye glasses and the way it has treated the Muslim Brotherhood, which they considered to be a hopeless and dubious case.

The day after the opening, Ennahda resumed its conference in the Hammamet resort, 100 km away from the capital. The conference was attended by more than 1200 participants representing the movement inside and outside Tunisia. A report of 156 pages was distributed to everyone. The report included an assessment of movement performances in the past, addressing its experience, and reviewing the pitfalls experienced and errors committed. The report also included its future vision under its trend towards its new career, and political transformation into a political party abandoning preaching, society activities and other cultural activities leaving these for civil society organizations.

In this regard, the report states that the project of Ennahda party is a step in ideological, political and social development. It is a reform and civilization project based upon Islamic references and adhering to the Tunisian Constitution and all other applicable laws.

When I asked Ghannouchi about his opinion on the resonances caused by the announcement he made, his answer was as follows:

“I did not talk about the separation of religion from politics, but the party’s strategy is to make a distinction between the two, because the comprehensiveness of Islam does not mean a holistic nature of operating systems. The areas of these systems are multiple, and this has made specialization in a specific area become necessary at this time. Separation of politics from preaching allows for the preaching efforts to continue without being affected by fluctuations in the political situation in the country, in particular when the party faces difficulties during political scrambles.

Ennahda movement has witnessed an evolution of ideas all the time, and has also developed its name- at the beginning being ‘Jama’ah Islamiyyah’, then carrying the name of ‘Islamic Tendency Movement’, and afterwards ‘Ennahda’ was chosen.

During the Bourguiba era, where the strong winds of Westernization engulfed Tunisia, the movement was engaged in an ideological battle defending identity, and in Ben Ali’s era the movement resisted his totalitarian and authoritarian regime. After the overthrow of the former regime and the issue of identity had been solved in the constitution that the state’s religion is Islam, this made the movement feel that it is time to turn into a democratic party with Islamic references, and commitment to the requirements of the Tunisian constitution and the spirit of the times. So the recent change was not because of the reality of constraints, but due to a culmination of a course of historical development and the requirements of an interaction with reality to face the challenges.

Tunisia suffers from Islamic and secular extremism. The causes of Islamic extremism are that, during the previous two regimes, and during the past 22 years, the state imposed a kind of religious erosion in Tunisia, and this invited religious incitement. When the regime focused on Ennahda, the door opened wide for the spread of Salafism in its various forms. During the revolution around 3000 prisoners were released, and these influenced the mosques during the first three years of the revolution. Along with these Salafists, the secular extremism has been growing, strongly influenced by French secularism- known for its stand against religion.

From Ennahda’s experience and its overlap between politics and preaching, we realize that politics have hurt the Islamic preaching (Dawah) process, which has been a victim of the struggle against the former regimes.

The idea of a distinction between the political and the religious preaching (Dawah) is not new in the Islamic arena, but has caused strong reactions because it has been launched in Tunisia under inconvenient Arab and international situations. The model of Daesh, and before it Qaeda, has become dominant in the public space, in addition to the conflict between the Egyptian regime and the Muslim Brotherhood. Other factors related to intellectual conflicts and regional factors have contributed to the dissemination of charge in all manifestations of Islamic phenomenon, and raised voices have rejected the distinction between moderates and hardliners. All were described as extremists and terrorists. So the Tunisian event was exceptionally sophisticated and described by some as a defeat for political Islam and a victory for secularism.

Dr. Mohamed Emara mentioned in his book “Islamic state, civil and law” that Dr. Abdul Razzaq Sanhouri, the father of constitutional law in Egypt published, in a study in 1929 in a law magazine, an article in which he talked about the distinction between state and religion in Islamic thought, but opposing the idea of separation between them. Dr. Amara supported the idea of distinction that others adopted in Egypt, the foremost of whom was Tariq Al Bushra.

Another important piece of writing in this regard came from Dr. Saad Eddine Othmani, issued in 2009 in Casablanca under the title “religion and politics do not differentiate season”. Dr. Othmani is a prominent leader of the Justice and Development Party in Morocco. He was Secretary-General of the party until 2008 and appointed Foreign Minister of the Kingdom in 2012.

On a practical level, the Arab Islamic movement has known the separation of politics and preaching (Dawah) in three Arab countries- namely Jordan, Morocco and Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood which formed in Jordan in 1946, founded a political party in 1992 under the name of ‘Islamic Action Front’, and through which it participated in elections. In Morocco, the Islamic movement, which was formed in 1996, with the name of ‘Harakat Al Tawhid wal-Islah’- the movement of unification and reform”, established a political party called, ‘Justice and Development’ in 1997. Although there are similarities between the two parties in Jordan and Morocco, there are differences in some aspects. In Jordan there was an overlap between the movement and the party and it seemed as if they were under one leadership. Despite the party’s participation in the elections, they could not achieve a majority that enabled him to form a government for several reasons. Therefore the party’s participation was limited to representation in the parliament or the government.

In Morocco the situation differed greatly, where the separation of the Justice and Development Party from the movement of ‘Unification and Reform was absolutely clear, and the party has achieved growing success in the legislative elections- to be ranked first in the 2011 elections. Its Secretary General, Abdelilah Benkirane, formed the government in 2012 in alliance with other three parties, and the government continues to the present.

In Egypt, the Brotherhood, which was founded in 1928, formed the Freedom and Justice Party in 2011, but the party remained intertwined with the movement, and collapsed with the collapse of the movement when it was banned in 2013.

Thus I can conclude by saying that the step taken by Ennahda is closer to the Moroccan experience, but the Tunisian situation was a more advanced step and came closer to the Turkish model in limiting the dawah movement’s role in political activity. The Turkish party of justice and development has secular references and not Islamic.

I was asked in Tunisia about this shift, and I answered that it is a bold step for an ambitious leaders, who has defended democracy for a long time.

I also said that we need to see the impact of this step on the cohesion of the movement and the position of the hardliners within the movement. Although I support this step, I am afraid to leave the preaching (dawah) to the Salafists, as then the harm will become greater than the benefit.