Again… from Ibn Taymmiya to Hassan el-Banna

I have not read the article of Gihad el-Haddad which he wrote in English days ago and sent to one of the biggest American newspapers affirming that he is muslim brotherhood and that being so does not mean he is a terrorist… but I read tens of comments who asked for replying to such letter… away from how this article was smuggled outside the prison and then sent to Washington, I have already written before about some of the extremism aspects in Hassan el-Banna’s writings, here is part of what I wrote:

To Ibn Taymmiya, the other non-Muslim is an enemy of Islam… and not believing in the proper religion… actually he is considered a disbeliever who deserves to be treated as one… I mentioned in a previous article some details of Ibn Taymmiya’s opinion, who is considered the main source for ideologies of many groups claiming to represent Islam and falsely claim it as a reference in their political and ideological discourses… I excerpted some texts from the man’s Fatwas that were mentioned in the volumes of “Al-Fatawa Al-Kubra” or the most important Fatwas which Sheikh Hassanien Makhlouf; ex-Grand Mufti of Egypt, wrote its introduction.

In such regard, the sources of what can be regarded as extremist opinions and disdaining the other party are revealed… and as I said before in my last article, I believe that tackling the origins and roots of this extremism is better and more convenient… in addition, one can find some writings of el-Banna that are even exceeding the extremist opinions of Ibn Taymmiya… especially in the matter of relations between people inside the society.

The history of Hassan el-Banna and his Dawaa is known and available for everyone to know… also, the phases of development of muslim brotherhood group are known too… but I think that many of those interested in detecting origins of the extremist ideology and discipline – not only towards the other non-Muslim but towards the other Muslim who is not one of them as well – have not read carefully the writings of Hassan el-Banna and the literature related to his stances… in such writings, there are certain contexts and sayings that are almost – in my opinion – a source for every extremism and disdaining for the other party… and maybe more extremist that what Sayed Qutb wrote.

For example, regarding women, in el-Banna’s note directed to Muslim woman, the first written to the sisters’ section in muslim brotherhood group, and which was published as an article in Al-Manar magazine in the 1359 Hijri calendar, he said: “as to the other fields of sciences which women do not need, they are useless… as women do not need them and it is better they spend their time doing something useful… women do not need to excel in different languages or specialized technical studies… as they will know soon that home is their place and nothing else… and that they need not to excel in studying rights or laws… it is only enough for them to know what the common people know in such regard…”

Until he comes to the point when he states his final opinion about women education saying: “we do not want to stop at this limit… we do not want to do like those who keep overloading women with what they do not need of studies… but we say: teach women what they need and which is related to their mission and task that God assigned to them; that is taking care of household and raising children”.

Now we come to another point in el-Banna’s writings as we shall stop long before some points mentioned in his note about Jihad as he mentioned samples from Hadith sayings about Jihad… in no. 15 he said: “Abdel-Khair ibn Thabet ibn Qays ibn Shammas narrated this Hadith after his father who in turn narrated it after his father, Abdel Khair said: a woman called Um Khallad, came to prophet Muhammed – Peace be upon him – She was wearing Niqqab. She asked about a son of hers who was killed during fighting for the sake of Allah… some of prophet Muhammed’s companions or Sahabah said to her: you came asking about your son while you are wearing Niqqab? She said: I lost my son but I will not lose my bashfulness… then prophet Muhammed said to her: your son has the reward of two martyrs. She said: why? He said: because he was killed by the People of the Book.

I have not checked the veracity of this Hadith but Hassan el-Banna has added his own comment to it literally saying: in this Hadith, there is a clue that fighting the People of the Book is a must… and that God doubles the reward for the one who fights them… as fighting is not only for the atheists but for everyone who is not Muslim as well!

I believe the reader can notice that the text of Hadith did not mention the name of the incursion or battle where that martyr was killed… also meticulous people who know about Tafsir and rules of Qiyas or Islamic jurisprudence may get confused when they try to find a text or a clue in that Hadith which says that fighting the People of the Book is a must… and that God doubles the reward for those who fight them… and that fighting should be for all non-Muslims… adding to this that if we extended this interpretation of Hadith of those “non-Muslims”, then fighting will be against Muslims who do not apply to the conditions set by muslim brotherhood group as necessary in order to be a true Muslim.

In a note titled “towards light”, Mr. El-Banna directed his words to the king mentioning main points he admits that “they need detailed extensive in-depth research by specialists”… including some issues that we should pay attention to and then compare the current attitudes of muslim brotherhood in light of those directions:

·      Eliminating parties and directing the nation’s political powers to one side.

·      Reviving the Islamic spirit in the government institutions so that all the employees can feel they are asked to apply the directions of Islam.

·      Watching the personal behavior of the employees and not separating between the personal and practical sides.

·      All the government work shall be evaluated according to the Islamic provisions and teachings.

·      Opposing grooming and flirtatiousness and guiding women to how they should behave and emphasizing this… especially the female teachers, pupils, doctors, students and all their likes.

·      Reconsidering changing the girls’ education curricula and the necessity to distinguish between these curricula and those of the boys in many education phases.

·      Prohibiting mixing between male students and female ones and considering the case when a man is alone with another woman that is not his mother, sister, wife or daughter a crime for which both of them shall be punished.

·      Monitoring theaters, cinemas and movies and scrutinizing in choosing the novels they perform.

·      Choosing the songs according to the Islamic directions and keeping a close eye on this.

·      Considering Hisbah and punishing the one who was proved guilty of violating any of Islam’s teachings like not fasting Ramadan, not holding prayers on purpose, insulting religion or anything like this.

·      Directing the press and encouraging authors and writers to tackle the oriental Islamic issues.

There are many issues el-Banna mentioned that are indisputable… there are others that are not only disputable but represent a source of terror as well… just because the muslim brotherhood group he established sees that all what el-Banna says is unquestionable… to them, his sayings can amount to be revered as the main sources of Islamic jurisprudence.

I do not want to continue as the space allowed here is not enough but I encourage all those concerned about our current political interaction to carefully read and understand the writings of Hassan el-Banna because in them, one can find the origins or many extremist political ideologies.

As to this smuggling thing, I have a lot to say about it next time.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Almasry alyoum newspaper on March 8, 2017.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2017/03/blog-post_8.html

#almasry_alyoum #ahmed_elgammal #ibn_taymmiya #hassan_elbanna #muslim_brotherhood #extremism

British kite letting go chicks

Gone is the time when we used to wonder of a thief snatching and stealing what others have and then pretending to be generous and moral, saying: “since when the kite let go chicks”… it is a common proverb that is said in such case…

As kite for those who do not know it – especially of young generations – is a bird of prey or raptor that hunts his prey alive and eats dead animals as well… it used to fly heavily with the crows in Egypt… and used to snatch baby domesticated birds of chicken, ducks, geese and sometimes even baby animals like rabbits, mice and baby goats… after using pesticides extensively on a wide scale, kite started to disappear… it died due to feeding on such preys poisoned with such pesticides that polluted both the environment and humans in Egypt…

I remembered this proverb when I read the report issued by the foreign affairs’ committee in the British parliament acquitting muslim brotherhood of terrorism… it is a long report; I wish if I could excerpt the whole of it because it is full of what we should discuss and dispute… afterwards, we should exert all efforts through the official Egyptian diplomacy and other non-official entities to clear out all the misconceptions and legal, political, historical and information ignorance this committee of the British parliament has.

We can discuss the matter using two different introductory ways but both have the same result… we may start analyzing the vision and discipline of muslim brotherhood and detect their practices in the last two decades… or we can start analyzing the beginning, course, vision and discipline of muslim brotherhood since they were first established in 1928.

It is important this discussion shall include an analysis for what the British report called the British morals that it referred to more than once affirming that the British foreign diplomacy missed them in two incidents… the first was when it; the British diplomacy, adopted a negative stance toward muslim brotherhood… and the second was when it did not condemn or stand against the military regime in Egypt… in my opinion, the report has hit the heart of the case we are talking about, especially the issue of condemning and standing “the power practiced by the military in Egypt”… as per the report text …

This is the British kite that kept for tens of decades snatching whole countries stretching over a vast area of land where the sun never goes down… whole nations along with their peoples, resources, fortunes, heritage, monuments and wills were snatched by the Great Britain “kite” which confiscated the present and future of these nations using the most powerful weapon it had among its arsenal; the one stronger than any atomic bomb; divide and conquer, that was the basis for the establishment of muslim brotherhood group in 1928 after the Zionist Jewish migration to Palestine grew with the help and consent of Britain… and categorization based on ethnicity started to spread in the region as well…

It was planned for muslim brotherhood to appear as a movement that claims Islamic reference so that religious polarization would flare and the region could prepare for what came later and which we can see its climax in our present time as racist, religious and ethnic polarization turned into civil wars and led to dismantling whole countries.

It seems that Britain had discovered that the region’s nations are insusceptible to dismantling by foreigners… and that it is more viable that some of the sons of these nations would execute such dismantling plans so that people would accept on their hands what they refused before on the hand of the foreigner other… this is what we notice very clearly in the beginning and course of muslim brotherhood movement.

Also, it seems that the British parliament committee depended only on the realization of the importance to keep dismantling and destroying the region so that any possibilities of having an Arab entity or body with liberating independent orientations would come to an end for an unforeseeable limit of time; an Arab entity that refuses the Zionist discrimination… on another side, having a muslim brotherhood ruling regime would attract and polarize all political Islam movements that threaten the European societies; meaning to export violence back to its main home so that those movements would clash with one another…

While talking about the long-in-time British morals in democracy and other aspects, the committee did not pay attention to the literature of muslim brotherhood in Hassan el-Banna’s writings and messages and Sayed Qutb’s books… also, their actual practices on the ground whether when they were out or in power… when political and ethnicity-based alienation was well visible and present and when monopoly of power and wealth was clear…

More important is that when muslim brotherhood were in ruling power of a multi-religion-and-sect society – such society that did not witness a religion-referenced ruling regime in its modern times – waves of extremism and mutual violence among the nation’s own people started… whether this extremism was religious and sectarian or political and cultural… it was also well noticed in the sexual discrimination between men and women.

The British parliamentarian committee speaks of democracy and British morals like the case when “the kite let chicks alone”… meaning that it is impossible that those who have a long history of occupying countries, looting nations’ fortunes and humiliating peoples, and having a present that seeks dismantling and destroying societies that long knew cohesion and centralization and fought long decades for their freedom… it is impossible to appear as a preacher for democracy and morals… such morals that were never reflected for a single moment in the history of the British colonization during the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

There are highly-significant paragraphs in the report of the British parliament committee… for example, this one that says – here I excerpt from the text published on “Almasryoon” newspaper’s website –:

 “the United Kingdom did not recognize muslim brotherhood group as a terrorist organization… and we agree to it in such decision… as muslim brotherhood group declares they do not aspire to fulfill their targets through violence… but we notice that the British government believes the group may be ready to consider adopting violence in case tactics of escalation were of no help… however, all evidences available until now from inside Egypt indicate that if muslim brotherhood group supported or adopted violence, Egypt would have been a much more violent place today”!!

That means, in plain words, that the British parliament agrees to the degree of violence exists now in Egypt because the alternative is more violence if muslim brotherhood group supported or adopted that… as if those who exploded electricity towers and booby-trapped cars to kill all those who martyred were not muslim brotherhood!

We have a very arduous task lying on the shoulders of the official diplomacy, communities and figures qualified to have an effect on the British society and parliament, and then on our written and seen media so the whole picture would become clear… we shall seek to make the British understand that it is for the interest of Britain to deal with the changes that took place in the region since their troops and military bases were evacuated at the beginning of the fifties… they shall understand that history can never go back.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on November 10, 2016.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2016/11/blog-post_10.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #Britain #muslim_brotherhood #terrorism #British_parliament

The difficult dilemma

The Zionist movement tactic has been, still is and will always be, to dress the Arab-Zionist conflict in an Islamic-Jewish religious one. Despite it’s a secular movement, it worked hard to employ the religious myth in serving its targets which have never been separable from colonization in all its eras. The movement itself is an egregious and blatant example of the racist colonial occupation. In that context, it was never a coincidence that the British occupation, in its peak, worked hard to create Islamic movements that tend to call for fundamentalism – which is different form Usul ad-Din[1] and Usul al-Fiqh[2] - in order to appear as a rival for the Zionist Jewish existence in Palestine. And so came first the muslim brotherhood movement, and then the Islamic Hizb ut-Tahrir[3], and later came supplement movements like Hamas[4]; the example I mean.

I find myself in a difficult dilemma along with others who have stood firmly in side of the Palestinian cause and believed, honestly and with full awareness, it’s the national liberation struggle topping all priorities of the Arabs’ and the whole world. Not to mention it’s a matter of national security for Egyptian patriots. That’s why we have to work our minds and exert all efforts in order to find a way out of such serious dilemma. I say this after Egyptian security services have gathered evidence based on confessions obtained from the accused in the case of assassinating late Egyptian General Prosecution head, Chancellor Hesham Barakat. The evidences collected show that Hamas movement had a role in training, arming, and overseeing the assassination in addition to drafting other similar future plans. We wished Hamas officials would delay their denial which they said is outright and declare instead that they were about to examine facts and names and to interrogate who may be involved or acting behind the movement’s top leaders like Haniyeh[5], az-Zahhar[6], Abu Marzooq[7], and others, since it’s common, especially in armed movements, that you may find someone acting individually either in a heated moment of anger or may be out of ignorance, or even in a betrayal attempt to implicate the whole group in what may later destroy it. I wished Hamas would take due time to investigate the whole matter and then declare the results and reveal the mistaken in case they existed.

To give you an example of what I want to lay before you regarding having some elements acting individually in an armed movement, I recall a situation I had in 1983 while I was working as a journalist in the Emirati al-Khaleej[8] newspaper and used to have a daily column. One day, I wrote about what I called “Abu Eyad’s smoke bombs”. Salah Khalaf [9]“Abu Eyad[10]” was a top leader in Fateh[11] movement and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)[12]. The man was responsible for the unified security and was involved in assassination operations in addition to other unlimited activities. I had a close personal relationship with him along with Hayel Abdel-Hamid[13] “Abu el-Haul[14]” and Farouq al-Qaddoumi[15] “Abu al-Lutf[16]”, while I maintained a slightly little relation with Khalil al-Wazir[17] “Abu Jihad[18]”. In that article, I leveled a bit harsh criticism at Salah Khalaf for comments he gave at that time. On morning of the publishing day, I had a phone call started by inquiring about my name to make sure it was me. When confirmed, a shower of abusive words and insults opened at my face ending by a clear threat: “I swear you #$%*!@ I will shoot you down although you are not worthy”. When I asked him about his identity, he said: “I’m your master and master of your whole country Egypt, Rasem el-Ghool[19]”. El-Ghool was one of the closest trusted people to Yasser Arafat and who was a master at killing as well. At that time, I was accused by many UAE-resident Egyptians of working for the Palestinians against my country’s interests because all my writings and stances were unlimitedly in side of the Palestinian cause and Palestinian people regardless of any mistakes committed by some of them toward their co-worker Egyptians. I was also a long-time dissident of then-president Sadat; I used to oppose his policies and those of the one who followed him. I felt deeply sorry for myself and decided to call the Palestinian ambassador in Abu Dhabi who immediately apologized and sent Mr. Rageh at-Tall, my friend, to assuage the situation. Later, el-Ghool called and a really nice conversation ran between us; when killer was justifying his murder for the intended-to-be-killed! Then, members of armed resistance movements may sometimes deviate from their assigned job, not to mention when religion constitutes a major role in forming the ideology of such group; giving it the momentum to continue recruiting members, gaining profits, and justifying all its misdeeds.

We are in a real dilemma regarding what has happened, is and will continue to happen, to the Egyptian and Arab conscience in the streets in general. When voices calling for normalization with the Zionist enemy and circles of interests connected to the Hebrew state and global capitalism find their golden chance to launch their vicious attack against any Egyptian, Arab, or even international humanitarian commitments toward the Palestinian cause as regarded a unique case of national liberation and a matter of bloody racist colonial occupation set against a whole nation. Hamas officials, along with all those who employ their religious ideologies as a means to serve their own benefits of staying in power and curtailing others’ will to liberate, are directly responsible for inciting some Egyptian and Palestinian young men to act against the Egyptian state including its land, people and political regime. They are responsible as well of digging tunnels aiming at vandalizing our economy and security with the aim of reaching to the heart of Egypt and then hit it, pushing tens and may be hundreds of Sinai and non-Sinai people to connect their livelihoods to those tunnels and what comes out of them.

Away from the legitimate question inquiring about the cost of such cemented reinforced-with-steel tunnels that may amount to hundreds of millions of dollars per tunnel and if it was more useful to allocate such money in solving problems of Gazan people, I find myself in a devastated state facing a very difficult equation to solve; that is some Palestinians are deeply involved in destroying Egypt’s national security either on the economic, security, or moral level, and with unprecedented diligence. Meantime, we find other officials in an organization, supposed to be resisting the Zionist occupation and working for the liberation of Palestine, turning a blind eye on the systematic deviation in their movement’s political and popular establishing ideology while the Palestinian people is suffering hunger, lack of shelter, and unemployment. And finally the fact that Palestine is Egypt’s direct and main gate of its national security; the fact that every Egyptian should be fully aware of and never let go of it.

It’s a real dilemma that is getting more and more difficult when adding to it the other party calling for normal ties with the Zionist state and fiercely standing against Arab nationalism and liberation. I hope we can find a way out of such dilemma. I wish Hamas would look for those who went astray among its members and to reconsider its policy that underestimates Egypt security in favor of the terrorist muslim brotherhood.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram on March 3, 2016.

To see the original Arabic version, go to:

http://www.ahram.org.eg/News/131841/4/484384/%D9%82%D8%B6%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%80%D9%80%D9%80%D8%A3%D8%B2%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%80%D9%80%D9%80%D9%80%D8%A7%D8%AF.aspx

#Al_Ahram#Ahmed_Elgammal#Palestine#Egypt#dilemma#muslim_brotherhood#terrorism#Gaza#PLO#Palestine_Liberation_movement#Hamas#Sinai#Sinai_tunnels#security#zionism#Hesham_Barakat_assassination#British_colonization#zionism_tactic

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[1] Usul ad-Din: (Arabic: أصول الدين) is an Arabic Islamic term that literally translates as 'foundation of the faith', it talks about the five pillars of Islam and faith.

[2] Usul al-Fiqh: (Arabic: أصول الفقه) is an Arabic Islamic term meaning Principles of islamic jurisprudence. It is the study and critical analysis of the origins, sources, and principles upon which Islamic jurisprudence is based. (Source: Wikipedia)

[3] Hizb ut-Tahrir: (Arabic: حزب التحرير‎) or Party of Liberation is a international, pan-Islamic political organization, which describes its "ideology as Islam", and its aim as the re-establishment of "the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate)" or Islamic state. The new caliphate would be ruled by Islamic Shariah law, unify the Muslim community (Ummah), return the caliphate to its "rightful place as the first state in the world", and carry "the Da'wah [spread] of Islam" to the world. The organization was founded in 1953 as a Sunni Muslim organization in Jerusalem. (Source: Wikipedia)

[4] Hamas: (Arabic: حماس) is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and, since 2007, has been the governing authority of the Gaza Strip. Hamas was founded in 1987, soon after the First Intifada broke out, as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which in its Gaza branch had been non-confrontational towards Israel, refrained from resistance, and was hostile to the PLO. (Source: Wikipedia)

[5] Ismail Haniyeh: (Arabic: إسماعيل هنية) (29 January 1963 - ) is a senior political leader of Hamas and formerly one of two disputed Prime Ministers of the Palestinian National Authority. Haniyeh became prime minister after Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections of 2006. President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Haniyeh from office on 14 June 2007 at the height of the Fateh–Hamas conflict, but Haniyeh did not acknowledge the decree and continued to exercise prime ministerial authority in the Gaza Strip. (Source: Wikipedia)

[6] Mahmoud az-Zahhar: (Arabic: محمود الزهار‎) (1945 - ) is a Palestinian politician. He is a co-founder of Hamas and a member of the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. Since the formation of the Hamas government in the Palestinian National Authority in March 2006, az-Zahhar has served as foreign minister in the government of prime minister Ismail Haniyeh. (Source: Wikipedia)

[7] Mousa Abu Marzook: (Arabic: موسى أبو مرزوق‎) (9 January 1951 - ) is a Palestinian senior member of Hamas. (Source: Wikipedia)

[8] Al-Khaleej newspaper: (Arabic: جريدة الخليج) is a daily newspaper published in the UAE. The paper was founded in 1970.

[9] Salah Khalaf: (Arabic: صلاح خلف), also known as Abu Eyad (أبو إياد) (1933 – 14 January 1991) was deputy chief and head of intelligence for the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the second most senior official of Fateh after Yasser Arafat. (Source: Wikipedia)

[10] Abu Eyad: (Arabic: أبو إياد) nickname of Salah Khalaf.

[11] Fateḥ: (Arabic: فتح‎, Fatḥ), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a secular Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Fateh is generally considered to have had a strong involvement in revolutionary struggle in the past and has maintained a number of militant groups. Fateh had been closely identified with the leadership of its founder Yasser Arafat, until his death in 2004. Since Arafat's departure, factionalism within the ideologically diverse movement has become more apparent. (Source: Wikipedia)

[12] The Palestine Liberation Organization: (PLO) (Arabic: منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية‎) is an organization founded in 1964 with the purpose of the "liberation of Palestine" through armed struggle. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed observer status at the United Nations since 1974. (Source: Wikipedia)

[13] Hayel Abdel-Hamid: (Arabic: هايل عبد الحميد) (1930 – January, 14 1991) also known as Abu el-Haul (Arabic: أبو الهول) born in Safad, Palestine and was one of Fateh establishing figures in Germany and Austria. He participated in establishing Fateh movement in Cairo in 1964. He held different positions in Fateh until he was assassinated along with his companion Salah Khalaf in Tunisia in 1991. (Source: Wikipedia)

[14] Abu el-Haul: (Arabic: أبو الهول) nickname of Hayel Abdel-Hamid.

[15] Farouq al-Qaddoumi: (Arabic: فاروق القدومي‎; born 1931), also known as Abu al-Lutf (Arabic: أبو اللطف), is Secretary-general of Fateh's central committee and PLO's political department in Tunisia. (Source: Wikipedia)

[16] Abu al-Lutf: (Arabic: أبو اللطف) nickname of Farouq al-Qaddoumi.

[17] Khalil al-Wazir: (Arabic: خليل الوزير) also known as Abu Jihad (Arabic: أبو جهاد) ( October 10, 1935 – April 16, 1988) was a Palestinian leader and co-founder of the secular nationalist party Fateh. As a top aide of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat, al-Wazir had considerable influence in Fateh's military activities, eventually becoming the commander of Fateh's armed wing al-Assifa. (Source: Wikipedia)

[18] Abu Jihad: (Arabic: أبو جهاد) nickname of Khalil al-Wazir.

[19] Rasem el-Ghool: (Arabic: راسم الغول) a top leader in Fateh movement who held several position in the movement including the post of a military attaché in the Palestinian embassy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).