This is my attempt to understand what is wrong with the Muslim brotherhood now in Egypt. You can read the first of the series here. Warning : This is not an objective analysis , this is what I think now regarding the Muslim brotherhood.
The Muslim brotherhood got a goal it wants to reach , it wants to revive the Islamic Caliphate. It is not a secret or something hidden as their own hierarchy of power inside the brotherhood. It is in their literature and books.It is in their speeches and talk. Here was Safwat Hegazy speaking about it in 2012 on TV.
He spoke about over and over causing controversy when he screamed in one of Morsi’s rallies saying that the Islamic Caliphate will return on the hands of Morsi and its capital will be Jerusalem.
Aside from the capital , the dream of Caliphate is in the teachings of Hassan El Banna who believed that the New Caliphate should be centered in Egypt and not in Turkey or Saudi Arabia.
It is not a secret thing again nor it is something wrong to have a certain political goal but of course how you are going to reach this goal and how. Politics is a dirty game and since the Umayyad Caliphate “Check how it came to rule”, the Muslim Rulers did give damn for what Islam said truly about rule . We are speaking about human universal nature when it comes to politics and deception as well regional and international alliance.
Now the Muslim brotherhood is in power in Egypt , I believe somehow they are torn between their own goal and what the reality they are facing from regional perspective aside from all the local jazz. I believe that their own Caliphate dream will clash other Caliphate dreamers in the region, ironically their own allies now : Qatar and Turkey.
You got in one side Qatar and its prince who wants to become the patron of democracy in the Arab world except in his own country in direct rivalry with Saudi Arabia. That rivalry is not a new thing but rather an old one starting with the fact that Saudi Arabia hosted for while his father Sheikh Khalifa Bin Hamad after his palace coup. Sheikh Hamad got plans for political expansion and already just like Saudi Arabia he got the economy that would help him to do so. It is not bad to have plans to become one of the main regional and international powers.
The rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Qatar is seen clearly in the media war between the two countries. It is seen crystal clear between Al Jazeera Network and Al Arabiya Network for years. After all it is widely believed that Saudi Arabia supported Al Arabiya to hit back at Al Jazeera Network. Al Jazeera of course expanded internationally and is getting powerful but regionally there is a competition between them when it comes clear bias. Ironically this media war reminds me with the old media war between Nasser and King Hussein of Jordan backed by Saudi Arabia in 1960s in what was known as radios fight.
Mubarak and the kings of Saudi Arabia form an alliance against the so-called resistance alliance led by non other Qatar, Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Saudi Arabia likes old rulers then Qatar supports the wave change in the Arab world directly and please do not look to Egypt only as you got Libya and Tunisia as well.
Saudi Arabia and Mubarak hate the MB and considers them from its old enemies and so Qatar is in alliance with the Muslim brotherhood. Of course sometimes the interests of both countries meet like in Syria and in Libya for quite some time. By the way the US approves the rivalry between them as both regimes give it what it wants in the end of the day.
I see that the Muslim brotherhood is being used by the Qatari regime as its strong arm among its several arms from Islamists in the region to hit back at Saudi Arabia in that race of power not only in the Gulf but the Arab region.
The alliance between the MB and Qatar is not because the prince of Qatar is a secret MB member in closet ,on the contrary it is just a political interest issue. Qatar needs a strong ally and what will be a better ally than the old kingdom’s sister in the region Egypt. Qatar is still regard small Gulf state unlike Egypt with its old and past leadership role.
The Muslim brotherhood members believe that Qatar will save Egypt economically and this is why they have this alliance now. Yes Hamad gave them huge support but they need his support economically more than ever in Egypt but of course Egypt will pay for this a country , as a great nation.
Now the question Does the Muslim brotherhood understand that they are currently a pawn in that regional gulf game of power !? Yes because they need financial support. Another question will the prince of Qatar with his dreams of control clash one day with the Muslim brotherhood !?? After all I am sure that prince Hamed wants the Caliphate for himself in his own way and not in Hassan El Banna’s way.
Another important historical fact : messing around with the Islamists in the Arab world is like messing around with fire , you will get burned. The Saudis tried before and Anwar El Sadat tried before. When the allies turn enemies , I do not know it is not any time soon.
Now moving to Turkey and the Neo-Ottomans. Turkey and Erdogan are trying to restore an old glory in more realistic way that we are doing in Egypt. “Whether Islamists or Non Islamists , we are restoring that leading role of 1950s and 1960s”
The Turks want to restore their control in the region through economy as well politics but let’s say at Turks things can not be easy for them due to the old not so good history of the Turks in the region as it will hunt them down whether you like or not. Just like Qatar , the Turks need a powerful alley or rather a follower in the region to be the face and voice of Turkish policies in the region. Egypt is not only attractive for Turkey because of its Arabic leading role but also it is the gate to Africa.
Does the Muslim brotherhood understand that the Turks are not their allies but actually a competitor when it comes to the revival of Caliphate in a modern way !? May be year and May be No.
By the way when I think about Erdogan and the experience of his party with secularism and the army , I believe that the Muslim brotherhood did not get the memo that the Turks find a common goal based on the Turkish Nationalism that combine secularism and Ottoman empire. The MB actually refuses any other ideology except theirs in Egypt and this is why Egypt will not restore its former glory or build a new one.
I believe in the unity of the Arab states and Muslim states as well the third countries states yet as a Muslim who lives in the 21st century and read our history well I believe that any political unity now or in the future should not be in the terms of Caliphate but rather a similar union like the European union. God only knows that since the founding of the Arab league in 1945 Arab countries were discussing the old dream of the Arab common market but what you know that Arabs agree on disagreement !!
Again these are random thoughts , they may be right and may be wrong. I do not claim to be a “strategic analyst or expert” but I am just using my mind.
Excellent analysis, thank you
ReplyDeleteThe Muslim Brotherhood is run by MI6 and the CIA. It was used by MI6 and the CIA to topple the Shah. It was the UK which built us the Wahhabi cult in order to weaken the Moslem world.
ReplyDelete- Aangirfan
Radical Islam,if you would like to assume the delusioned ones brainwashed activities,as the reason beyond what is happening in egypt,then read this.i personally as stated before ,what is happening is all about power ( and more binging and hoarding of earthly pleasures.the poor delusioned ones,will have to lead the war in god's name.i think both the delusioners and the delusioned need A NEW CONTRACT WITH GOD.
ReplyDelete"By some accounts, Radical Islam really began with the Wahabbism movement started in 1740 by Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab. This strict interpretation of Islam has spread throughout Saudi Arabia and, by way of the enormous largess of the oil profits of the 1970s and 1980s, has spread throughout much of the world and is considered by most Muslims to be the true interpretation of Islam. It rejects modern interpretations of the Quran and strictly adheres to the basic premises outlined in the Quran.
Al-Qaeda and most militant extremist groups splinter off of Wahabbism, creating their own interpretations to drive their followers to commit the evil acts they do upon others. It should be noted the core of Al-Qaeda was actually trained by the CIA to fight Russia during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. In a way, the United States has had a hand in creating its own worst enemies; Saddam Hussein used to be a U.S. ally as well.
Where the Jesuit and Nazi atrocities were confined to a few nations, Islamic terrorists have been incredibly busy around the world in nearly every nation on Earth. Since September 11, 2001, there have been over 18,000 verified Islamic terrorist attacks. That is just the number of verified attacks in countries with relatively decent news infrastructures. Just in the past two months, there have been 349 Islamic terrorist attacks worldwide resulting in 1,319 dead and 2,192 injured. This doesn’t take into account the other horrible atrocities committed in the name of Sharia law including forcing rape and abuse victims to marry their attackers.
As the terrorist acts continue to erupt across the globe, the death toll continues to rise every day. The sanctioned rape, torture, maiming and execution of their own people continue in the Islamist nations.
What drives these people to do evil? It is evil – there’s no other way to explain the acts of violence perpetrated against men, women and children in the name of God or Allah. In many of these situations, you have a populace responding to and listening to the direction of their leaders. In some instances, the ”faithful” are acting out on their own interpretation and are typically forgiven or even praised for their murderous actions by their neighbors and comrades; the religious authorities typically do nothing or even praise the aggressors.
The Jesuits, Nazis and Islamic terrorists committed rape, torture, physical and sexual abuse and murder all in the name of God or Allah, believing they could never be prosecuted for their crimes. In many cases, they are correct. Society has been very permissive in violence of human against human. It’s easier to turn a blind eye to what’s going on than to speak up and object to it."
To start with Anonymous1/04/2013 09:30:00 PM: We never experienced any Islamic terrorism until Israel came into the picture. Radical Islam is just the answer to Israeli occupation of Arab land and the reckless support of such oppression by the West, namely the USA. Any kind of acts of so-called terrorism is somewhat justified by Israeli atrocities and its nefarious support by the West.
ReplyDeleteAs for the MB one should not regards them as a homogenous group in the first place. They have Salafists and Facebookies within their ranks, liberal Muslims, delusional fanatics and just ordinary citizens. Those groups are now fighting for dominance and for survival.
One should as well see that Egypt has always been ruled by elites (army is one of them). It was always about securing profit for such elites while giving just so much to the people to keep them quiet.
Right now one sees how such elites are trying to forge and force a kind of alliance with the MB by showing them that they still have sufficient clout and influence to run the economy into the ground. The MB has to compromise with them, appease the fanatics and fight the take-over attempts from the Gulf States.
One wonders what happened to the revolution? Even the new (!) development plan presented by the new (!) government is actually the plan which was drafted by the Mubarak government. Not a single reform has been done since MB is in power. Now they plan as most important Law to limit the right to protest and to go on strike: workers may strike from 5 - 7 PM but without being noisy or interrupting production and transport.
After 7 PM we all go home, switch off the lights to save energy and we go to bed early to be ready for the morning prayer and a long day of dedicated working for the sake of the nation.
Beneficiaries will be the old and new elites who will skim off the wealth of the country as usual. This is not about religion - it is about the economy, stupid!
To Anonymous 1/05/2013 12:31:00 AM,
DeleteYou state that "We never experienced any Islamic terrorism until Israel came into the picture".
This is ridiculous, actually, the term "Assassins" came from a group of Muslim terrorists from the 11th century.
Here is an excerpt rom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_terrorism:
Some scholars, such as Mark Burgess of the Center for Defense Information, trace the roots of Islamic terrorism back to the 11th-century Assassins, an order of Isma'ili Shi'ism that targeted political and religious opponents who stood in the way of the Assassins' sectarian ideology. In positing a continuity between Islamic terrorism's medieval and modern manifestations, Burgess identifies both a common underlying motive, namely loyalty to a divine imperative, and similar tactics, such as actively seeking out martyrdom.
The emergence of modern Islamic terrorism has its roots in the 19th century.[2] The Wahhabi movement, an Arabian fundamentalist movement that formed in the 18th century, began to establish a broad following during the 1800s and gradually inspired other fundamentalist movements during the 20th century. Waves of politically motivated terrorist movements in Europe during the 1800s (e.g. the Narodnaya Volya, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation) and early 1900s (e.g. the IRA, the Irgun) served as inspirations and models which would inspire the Islamists over the course of the 20th century and beyond.[3] During the Cold War, the United States and the United Kingdom supported the rise of fundamentalist groups in the Middle East and South Asia as a hedge against Soviet expansion and as a means to weaken anti-Western nationalist movements in some countries.[4]
According to Burgess, the escalation of terrorism during the later 20th century has its roots in three pivotal events circa 1979: the Iranian Revolution, the post-Cold War global religious revival, and the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. These events, Burgess goes on to argue, were factors that fueled a recourse to religious terrorism.[5][6] American historian Walter Laqueur described the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan as the "global trigger" of Islamic terrorism.[7]
The Assassins were the answer to another invasion by the West: the infamous Crusades.
DeleteAs for Burgess, IMHO he is just trying to desperately find another cause for terrorism rather than the fight for freedom of Palestine from Zionist occupation. The so-called terrorist attacks started surely before 1979. And do not forget that David Ben Gurion was wanted as terrorist by the British for establishing Israel by terrorist means.
Dear Anonymous 1/06/2013 12:25:00 AM
DeleteSo, you agree that Islam terror started in the 11th century with the Assasins.
Also, what about the current terror in Iraq and Syria, its also the Zionists fault?
@Aangirfan "The Muslim Brotherhood is run by MI6 and the CIA."
ReplyDeleteHaha.
Tell us more. Surely the Mossad is involved somehow?
;)
You are not exaggerating Jason, Hamas is the MB template in palestine and is the creation of Israel to divide palestinians , same way MB was created by MI6 and used by CIA to shake Egypt with its 90 millions populations into volcanic chaos and immerse it into arrested development. The Saudi and UAE are also being used in the same way to pull Egypt into multi-directions. If you are puzzled for a sec. check how the Mossad arranged fires and explosions in American and British properties in Egypt in 1954 and gave credit to MB- It is called "the Lavon affair"!!! Egypt is big troubles and the MBs are doing their jobs.
DeleteI am speechless.
Delete@jason: Perhaps you might familiarize yourself with the history of the MB. It has in the past taken money and advice from British intelligence, and came into being with the help of same.
Delete@Dave: Oh FFS, another Seattle communist. A bus driver who knows all about everything. Look up Seattle garbageman Demeur. Then you'll need just one more for a full-fledged circle jerk. Screw your COLA by he way. You guys are hogs at the public trough. Parasites.
Delete@Jason, I did not know that you guys in Seattle have such a strong socialist labor movement. First Demeur then Dave Fryett wow. This is a warning to all Republicans, stop your greed, relate more to the poor, or you will be a minority soon.
Delete@Hazem, I don't know whether a garbageman and a bus driver constitute a movement, but I do know that greed is here to stay and that it is a good thing. It motivates people to earn. That is why capitalism kicks ass. It harnesses greed. By the way, have you ever noticed that when socialists criticize greed, it's always someone else's greed they have a problem with. Nothing stopping them contributing all their wealth to the poor or to the treasury, but do they do it? No. So STFU about greed, hypocritical socialist scumbags.
DeleteRight portrait Jason describing socialism as being experienced in the Communist lands, in the 20th century. Also describing capitialism as kicking ass maybe correct, but don't mix it with "Democracy" as the USA likes to do. My biggest puzzle is how the Americans following collapse of communism/socialism by the late eighties ignored connecting with those countries abandoning communism, and instead shifted "all" the states manifacturing needs to the still communist China !!!??and causing huge loss of Jobs for the Americans to undemocratic Chinese, What do you make of that?? Also what do you call their maintained horrible relation with their neighbor Cuba because it is undemocratic communist country ???
DeleteAnother question; how do we accept capitalist countries investing in Arms industry, but we go crazy for socialist country doing it?? Maybe that what defines captalism kicking ass as you described it.
@Jason, " I do know that greed is here to stay and that it is a good thing. It motivates people to earn" It also motivates people to cheat, lie, deceive, and kill to get money. Do you think that the great inventors and scientists of this country were motivated by greed you dummy?
Delete"That is why capitalism kicks ass" really! how come a communist country like China is kicking your ass idiot?
One of the main reasons Romney lost the presidential elections was his inability to relate to the disadvantaged and his picture grinning devilishly and surrounded by Bain colleagues, as money bursts forth from their suits, their pockets, their collars, their mouths, and, in Romney’s case, from behind his ears.
So Do you ever get it stupid?
@Hazem,
Delete"It also motivates people to cheat, lie, deceive, and kill to get money." Men have been known to cheat, lie, deceive, and kill in order to feed their starving families. Should men not feed their families?
"Do you think that the great inventors and scientists of this country were motivated by greed you dummy?" There are motivations other than greed, and in celebrating greed one need not denigrate other motivations.
"how come a communist country like China is kicking your ass idiot?" 2011: USA GDP per capita $47,650.94. China GDP per capita $4,379.69.
I've never seen that pic of Romney before and doubt it had anything to do with the outcome of the election. Romney should do whatever pleases him with money he himself earned, whether sticking it behind his ears or up his ass. Of course commie shitbags like Demeur and Dave are classic examples of greed gone awry: They are greedy for the money of other people, namely the working public who pay confiscatory taxes into the treasury, which is then squandered on COLAs and retirement package boondoggles that would be impossible in the private sector. Demeur, Dave, and their circle jerk partners would be in jail in a just world.
@Anonymous,
Capitalist and socialist countries compete in the world marketplace for the sale of their arms. Nobody has a problem with it except you, apparently. Neither capitalists nor socialists are forced to put their arms up for sale; they do it voluntarily. As it turns out, the arms of capitalist countries invariably are of higher quality and fetch higher prices. If you weren't so stupid that would tell you something.
anonymous 1/5 02:9:00
ReplyDeleteyou nailed it on the head.discussion closed.
"Endlösung".
ReplyDeletethis is how it is being done:
'anarchy' is the condition in which a society is stateless. It possesses no state or government, although other means of domination may exist, such as that of male elders. In anarchy there are other forms of social control which Radcliffe-Brown referred to as 'diffuse sanctions'. These include such practices as ostracism, gossip, expulsion from the community by a group, etc. Anarchy is a common feature of many societies.on the other side you have the “Wholehearted commitment to learning, where such learning is carried out freely, consciously refusing to compromise the social and religious identity that has long existed with another authoritarina power like muabarak.by trying to enforce anarchy through the utilization of the principles ingrained in an ultra-ideology,as a delusionary tactic veiling the real target ,and only to delude the masses,into believing this theatrical endeavor,and that this is actually the reason for change,you will put those (would be disposables)against those who believe in the true identity of the country (the majority of them of course of the starving kind,where identity is secondary to famish),in an artificial belligerency with the aim of failing a whole country,and thus the "Endlösung" is well executed. However, Du gehst zu scheitern.