EGYPT AND THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

Part 1 of a Series

Mike Scruggs

According to the earliest Christian traditions, the author of the Gospel of Mark brought Christianity to Egypt in the first century, probably between 41 and 44 AD. There the Coptic Christian Church formed and grew despite culturally entrenched polytheism and vicious persecution by Nero and several later Roman emperors. Yet Alexandria, the great center of Egyptian learning, eventually became one of the four great centers of Christianity. In 639, all but a remnant of Christianity was swept away by the Muslim Arab conquest of Egypt.

Today, Egypt’s nearly 80 million people are 94 percent Sunni Muslim, but about 5 percent belong to the Orthodox Coptic Christian Church. Coptic Christians still suffer persecution and sometimes deadly violence in Egypt.

Much of the population of Egypt could be described as secular or cultural Muslims. They are not especially strict adherents to all the teachings of the Koran, Muhammad, or Sharia Law, but they identify with Islamic culture and religion generally, so long as they are compatible with their own personal prosperity and security. A significant minority identify with the mystical but heretical (to mainstream Islam) Sufi teachings emphasizing deeper spirituality. Sufism is generally, but by no means always, associated with a more peaceful practice of Islam. It is probably most common among Muslim intellectuals.

However, Egypt is the birthplace and home of the Muslim Brotherhood, the original Muslim terrorist organization of the last century. Founded in 1928 by Islamic scholar and Sufi schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna, the Muslim Brotherhood had over 500,000 members by 1938. Although it is essentially a Muslim revivalist organization, it has become the most influential Muslim political organization in the world. It is powerfully influential in Egypt. The Brotherhood’s stated goal is to make the Koran and the teachings of Muhammad “the sole reference point” for ordering the Muslim life, family, community, and state. Hence they are strong advocates of Sharia Law and holy war against all who oppose or compromise the dominance of Islam.

In December 1948, fearing the growing strength of the Muslim Brotherhood and believing they were plotting a coup, Egyptian Prime Minister Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha outlawed and disbanded the Brotherhood. He was assassinated less than three weeks later. Shortly thereafter, on February 12, al-Banna and his brother-in-law were gunned down in front of a government office building in Cairo.

Al-Banna’s legacy still lives, and it is, unfortunately, a frightening legacy to Christians and Jews. He once wrote, “In Muslim tradition, there is a clear indication of the obligation to fight the People of the Book [Christians and Jews] and of the fact that Allah doubles the reward of those who fight them. Jihad is not against polytheists alone, but against all who do not embrace Islam.”

Al-Banna’s Islam was not a new version of Islam. It was a revival of the Islam of the Koran and the teachings of Muhammad that would not abide accommodation to colonialism, secularism, Western religion, culture, or democracy.

Al-Banna’s intellectual and spiritual heir was Egyptian educator Sayyid Qutb. Qutb once attended college in the United States and became thoroughly disgusted with its “gaudy secularism.” He opposed both Capitalism and Marxism. Like many Muslim imams, he despised democracy because he believed that the laws of Allah were not a matter of majority vote. He stood clearly for imposing Sharia Law by Jihad. In his view, the Muslim Brotherhood should use… “the method of preaching and persuasion for reforming ideas and beliefs and…physical power and Jihad for abolishing the organizations and authorities…which prevent people from reforming their ideas and beliefs…” according to the teachings of Allah. Qutb also said that if anyone rejects Islam, “then it is the duty of Islam to fight him until either he is killed or until he declares his submission.”

The Egyptian government cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood in 1954 after the attempted assassination of Pan-Arabist nationalist President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Qutb was arrested and imprisoned. He was released at the end of 1964 but arrested again in August 1965. Nasser had him hanged in August 1966 for planning another assassination attempt.

Al-Banna and Qutb are still much revered in the Muslim world. Qutb’s teaching and books were highly influential in the establishment of the Islamic Jihad, al-Qaeda, and Hamas terrorist groups. Sayyid Qutb’s brother, Muhammad, mentored Ayman Zwahiri who became the leader of Islamic Jihad and is now a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda and mentor to Osama bin Laden.

On October 6, 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, was assassinated by six Egyptian soldiers, members of the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoot, Islamic Jihad. The issue was Sadat’s peaceful accommodation of Israel. Sadat was succeeded by Hosni Mubarak, the current president.

The Muslim Brotherhood has been keeping its head down for many years, even claiming a new philosophy of peace. This is because Mubarak’s security forces have kept them under close and sometimes harsh surveillance.

The Muslim Brotherhood is now the largest political opposition force in Egypt. They do not want stability. Political chaos would be a more suitable environment for taking control of the Egyptian government and suppressing any democratic opposition. Their only formidable opposition is the Egyptian Army. If the Muslim Brotherhood gains power in Egypt, it will severely endanger the peace of Israel, the United States, and the world.

To be continued.