The question whether the social movement which has begun in Tunisia and continued in Egypt is a revolution or not has been the concern of everybody currently. Perhaps, nobody tailors the capitalized “Revolution” with its all metaphysical connotations to Muslim or Arab societies. The famous Orientalist cliché that in Muslim societies revolutions do not come about but governors are changed in palaces is recalled and recited. However, perhaps we should begin with the question that Michel Foucault asked even about the revolutions in the West: “What is a revolution?” What are the expectations from a revolution and what did the revolutions in the West changed to what extent?

 

The Revolution waves in the Middle East seem to change as many things as whatever the French Revolution, Industrial Revolution and Soviet Revolution changed in Europe. What they change will not be human nature. It is not also going to realize the utopian expectations in a day. Everybody may attribute different meanings and different expectations. This is inevitable. Revolution is a process subjected to a current which is capable of focusing all different expectations to a certain point. In this context, the fact that there is interestingly no planner of the Revolution coming about in Egypt, and the occurrence of the Revolution as a socio-natural event which cannot be attributed to any party or any actor is an issue that political actors and community engineers will focus on as an exemplary.  

 

Regardless of the rumors circulating, it should be considered that neither the USA and Israel nor the deep state of Egypt and even any other actors (Ikhwan, Baradey and Kifaye movements) who have been in the course of current revolution can control the process solely. Despite of this, the Revolution circulates in its capitalized form and from now on it will continue playing its role on the Middle Eastern people with its full impact. 

 

Of course the subjectless characteristic of the Revolution doesn’t mean that there is no meaning and influence of political standing of political actors. Contrarily this Revolution is a result of an articulation of the attitude and feelings that these movements have fed so far. It is prominent to pay attention to the repeatedly changing attitude of the USA since the beginning of the Revolution. This reflects how unanticipated and indiscernible the waves of the Revolution are. This Revolution will go down in history primarily as an object lesson against the arrogance that human being bears regarding the false feeling that he is capable of controlling everything. We will see the other lessons that it will teach day by day.     

 

 

It may be difficult for those who are accustomed to look for a “button impact” under every occurrence to accept even the events in Tunisia and Egypt to come about per se. Because according to these approaches there are always super planners for social events. The belief in that powerful hand which determines everything in “the last phase” does not disappear regardless of how far and deep the obvious causal explanations can go and even though these invisible hands are not seen in the respective arena.

 

Expression of this belief through an anti-American and anti-imperialist discourse instead of the discourses of those who prostrate to the power of the USA or other certain power focuses constitutes the tragic-comic side of the issue. It is not even noticed that the discourses appealed to express how satanic and how powerful this power is, reversely envisage an almighty power which is invanquishable, unaffordable, undefeatable, unbeatable and inelastic. To word it in an Islamic perspective, such an envisagement of “evil” is the same with polytheism against Allah. This polytheist idea has a direct harmful impact on human being himself. A fatalistic submission against an enemy envisaged as such is perpetrated into human conscious and personality under-handedly.

 

On the other hand, it is required to restate that expressing the lack of a planner and a defined subject of these Revolutions does not mean that there is no meaning and influence of the political standings of the actors who have participated to the process. The waves of the Revolution with its unpredictable and indiscernible aspects prelect human being a profound lesson regarding the fact the he is not able to control everything. This uncontrollable process brings new trials forth for mankind. Therefore, with a Revolution prominent monitions are put onto the stage against the feeling that everything has been landed up to the end of the line or the perception of an ability to make everything right.     

 

In his column yesterday Ali Bulaç who defines this subjectless process as “Cairo, the Daughter of Nile” described the nature of this process with a magnificent analogy. At the end of Hejira when the Prophet entered Madina, upon the offers made to him he determined the place where his camel would stop as a sign to decide where to accommodate. If the camel upraised with the intention of Revolution “stop in front of the house of Eba Eyyub el Ensari who didn’t have anything but for his piousness and loyalty instead of Abdullah Ubeyy bin Selul who was the head of factious, know that Cairo with manifestation of the name of Allah “the Curser” will curse the despots, murderers, stealers and the arrogance on the Earth.”    

 

Many try and will try to stake their claim on this process whose subject is not scientifically clear. The process is extremely fragile. Masses who are up in arms and who cannot be consigned to a single social section, being blindsided by their pseudo-leaders, may possibly content with just changing the name of Mubarek. The insistence and patience of the revolutionists in their demands will determine whether it will be as such or not 

 

 

By the way it should be kept in mind that neither Ikhwan nor Islamists are the ascendants and determinants of the process despite of all circulating. However, the revolutionary process may define new roles and tasks for them from now on. It is up to them whether they will live up to it or not. The Revolution process contains significant lessons for the Ikhwan or Islamists to peruse the demands in society. It is an undeniable fact that they are the best organized structures but there is another reality that all these structures have not been enough to initiate a revolution so far.

 

However, the abstention that Ikhwan showed in claiming stake on the process is a mature and conscious policy that is appreciated by most of the protesters. Apart from their claims and cause, they are well aware of the global perception about themselves and also the fact that this process has begun and continues without them. The perception about them abroad is not the only reason behind their abstention, but also, apart from the idea that claiming stake on the revolution coming from the depths of community bears a dirty opportunism or vexing, the concerns regarding a possible danger which may change the fate and congruence of the movement as a result of this opportunist attitude play a prominent role.

 

As clearly seen Islamist politics is not a movement which tries to impose a package program on people at every turn, as circulates in certain clichés, but instead it realizes itself as the politics of life. Actually the ideas circulating these days regarding Ikhwan and Islamism which they represent in politics are not surprising but to put it mildly they unveil a deep unfamiliarity.

 

It should be taken into consideration that Ikhwan which has representative offices in 18 countries has a wide horizon and great experience of globalization and multiculturalism. It has a special interest and archive records for the social and political experience of each of the 18 countries. Furthermore, they have focused on the idea “to be both a good Muslim and a good citizen” in European countries and on the feasibility for political participation as good citizens for a long time. They have already collected a large literature concerning the issue

 

Due to their respective search, the recent experience of Turkey and AK Party is never a subject of a simple admiration for them but it is a prominent subject of interest as a gradable experience to be possible with a few amendments. This beckons a very different dimension of Islamist politics which has not been evaluated enough and requires a lot to say about.

 [Transl. El-Vânî]