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[zaina_al-mohtaseb@mail.utexas.edu]

The Muslim Brotherhood:
The Cause of Social and Political Reform in Jordan

	Political Islamic movements are continually characterized and described 
as anti-government, opposition movements.  The mere mention of the term 
conjures up images of barbaric, angry Arab males sporting large beards, toting 
around big guns, and steadfast in their implementations of the guerilla tactics 
they have composed.  Though this portrait to varying degrees may exist, the 
reality of the matter is one that encases an amiable coexistence within various 
nations that results in social and political reform. One such coexistence 
between government and political Islamic movements becomes quite evident upon 
the digestion of the relationship between the Jordanian government and the 
Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood in the Hashemite dynasty of Jordan 
called for revolution, transformation, and unification of Muslims under an 
Islamic credo—return to Islam as revealed and set down by the Prophet, the 
purification of Islam and the return to its original state, the identification 
of Muslims as an Ummah, and the integration of those premises into the societal 
ways of life.  These goals and the efforts undertaken by the Muslim Brotherhood 
to implement them came as a result of political associations and affiliations 
established by the Muslim Brotherhood with the Jordanian government—
affiliations and associations that resulted in effects on the political regime 
and some of its policies, and on an grander scale lead to an immense 
integration of these ideals into society.  
	The movement in Jordan underwent inauguration in 1935 after effortless 
attempts at instigation at the hands of Shaykh Abd al-Latif Abu Qura.  With the 
inauguration came the merging of two separate groups—the Transjordanians and 
the West Bank Palestinians.  Throughout the course of the following years, 
under the leadership of Abu Qura among others, they garnered up support mainly 
from the middle class makeup of society—the traditional social class consisted 
of merchants, retail traders, artisans, and landowners who benefited from the 
state’s policies, and therefore, remained loyal to them. As a result support 
for the Muslim Brotherhood stemmed mainly from the new middle class. 
Demographic growth, economic development, and educational expansion produced 
this new class of professionals who supported the Islamic movements.  
	The political association established between the Muslim Brotherhood 
and the Jordanian government is one that was set in motion and solidified in 
the 1940’s when Jordan was still under the rule of King Abdullah.  During King 
Abdullah’s rule, the “Jordanian elite was neither committed to secularism nor 
did it exclude religious activists from participating in the state’s 
bureaucrac.”  King Abdullah himself was considered religious and his 
conceptions and ideals were deeply rooted in religion as well.  He believed 
that “it was the religion of Islam that functioned as a unifying force bonding 
disparate Arab tribes into a single powerful nation.”  It was King Abdullah’s 
religiosity that led to the alignment of the Jordanian government and the 
Muslim Brothers. In 1945, protection was rendered to the Muslim Brothers when 
their secretary, Abdul Hakim Abdeen, was given a ministerial position within 
the government. This led to a creation of rapport with one another that only 
strengthened throughout the 1950s and 1960s. 
The religious, social, and political goals of the Muslim Brotherhood were 
outlined in the May 1948 constitution.  Among the tenets described in the 
constitution are:
1.To preach the doctrines in the Qur’an
2.To bring Muslim individuals and groups together by familiarizing them   with 
the principles of the Qur’an
3.To develop, protect and liberate the national wealth and raise the standard 
of living
4.To realize social justice, combat poverty, disease, vice, and ignorance.
5.To restore Palestine and to liberate the Nile Valley, the Arab countries      
and the Muslim countries from any foreign power, assist Muslim minorities, 
support the unity of Muslims, and work for Islamic federation.
6.To work for the creation of a righteous state, which will implement Islamic 
doctrines and teachings internally and propagate them abroad.
7.To support international cooperation and to participate in the consolidation 
of peace and human civilization.  (Bar 17) 
To these general principles, the Brotherhood added a set of principles, which 
referred directly to the Jordanian character of the movement.  These stated 
that “Jordan is an inseparable part of the Islamic world; the Muslim 
Brotherhood rejects any regime which is not based on Islam; the Muslim 
Brotherhood will not support any government unless it implements Allah’s law 
(Shari’a); and the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan is part of the Islamic movement 
in the Islamic world.”  The Muslim Brotherhood engaged in acts and activities 
that set in motion the fulfillment of their tenets.  
	Although there are political movements that can be rightly labeled as 
anti-government, opposition movements, there are those in which that label 
would be rendered as inappropriate. Amiable coexistences between government and 
political Islamic movements do exist. The Muslim Brotherhood and its 
relationship with the Jordanian government serves as a prime example of two 
separate forces coming together and existing. The Muslim Brotherhood as an 
organization was able to have as profound effects on society as it did due in 
large part to its political associations and affiliations with the Jordanian 
government. These affiliations and associations resulted in effects on the 
political regime and some of its policies as well as on society and societal 
ways of life.