Again… salafists and blackmailing state

I write about this issue for the second time in an attempt to know when, how and where has this one called Yasser Hussain Mahmoud Burhami Hashish managed to blackmail the interior ministry, government, regime or the state?... since all what he says in public entails liability, accountability and punishment… supposing that we live in a state that respects the constitution and applies the law.

I do not believe that the current regime needs a cover that claims to be religious instead of the moral cover; the one based on values of citizenship and Egyptian cultural civilization structures that date back to the dawn of history… through ancient Egypt since the first dynasty… then the Hellenistic period… Christian… Islamic… and then to the modern and contemporary era… since some political regimes need a cover claiming to represent the religious reference because such regimes adopt a negative stance towards values of citizenship and cultural civilization structures in general.

And so I seriously ask: when, how and where has Burhami; vice-chief of the salafist Call, managed to blackmail the ruling regime institutions… to the extent that he recently gives sermons in mosques for a reason I believe is very ridiculous and funny… that is he was able to succeed in an exam set by the ministry of endowments… I do not know if this exam included a question asking: what is your opinion of the one who accuses an Egyptian citizen or group of misconduct, aggression, wrongfulness and infidelity without a judicial verdict stating that?... and does this one who considers himself a preacher to the way of God have the right to give such verdicts on the Christian Egyptian citizens?

All institutions in charge have already known what any Egyptian citizen following what is published and broadcasted on the internet knows… when Burhami was asked about how the Muslim husband should treat his Christian wife and his answer was extremely outrageous and appalling.

Neither Al-Azhar nor the ministry of endowments issued a reply to such answer… nor the public prosecution or the ministry of endowment punished him… only people like me reacted to what he said…and it looked like a words fight with a man who incites to hatred, contempt, loathing, destroying family relations and violating all that is human and decent.

The same thing happens again… not only on the hands of Burhami… but by another one adopting the same salafist ideology called Yahia Refa’ei Sorour who said in public about the martyred Egyptian citizens slaughtered in Libya: “they are sheep… 21 Christian sheep whose blood is cheap… they are not partners to us in this country… and we feel offended as the Christian Egyptians stayed safe in Egypt after the coup”.

As to Yasser Burhami, he described the Egyptian Christian citizens in public – as recorded in audio and video – as: “they are an infidel wrongful aggressive criminal minority that abuses the right of the majority… we call our brother Christians atheists… yes, they are our brothers in the country… but they are atheists if they keep believing in their religion and so they will go to hell…”. Then Burhami describes all who disagree to his opinions as “they are hypocrites and atheists”… meaning that all persons and entities that disagree to Yasser Hussain Mahmoud Burhami Hashish are atheist hypocrites!

After all this, Yasser Burhami and leaders of the salafist Call like Muhammed Ismail al-Mokadem, Muhammed Abdel-Fattah Abu Idris, Abdel-Mone’im esh-Shahat and others remain in the forefront of the religious Dawaa… they also have a political party that takes place in elections… and they may achieve the first, second or third majority in the coming parliament!

Again, I repeat the question: when, how and where have Burhami and his likes managed to blackmail the state institutions?... I wish we can know the answer to this question so that we too stay silent to what they say.

I searched quickly about the roots of the phenomenon of the salafist Call in Alexandria and went through some excerpts from references… I knew they are all influenced by, actually committed to the opinions of Ibn Taymmiya, Ibn el-Qayem, Muhammed Abdel-Wahhab and in particular al-Albani… I have already discussed some of Ibn Taymmiya’s Fatwas about the Christians in particular and the others who do not believe in Islam in general… such Fatwas contained what is really defaming Islam and humanity as well.

I want to know the opinions and Fatwas of al-Albani because all those I met and who adopt Burhami and al-Howeini’s ideology whenever you ask them about something, they immediately say: al-Albani said… as if this al-Albani is the first and last to them. His full name is Muhammed Ibn al-Hajj Nouh Ibn Nagati Ibn Adam al-Ashqouri al-Albani al-Arna’outi or the Arnaut nicknamed as “Abu Abdel-Rahman”. He was born in 1914 in Ashqoudra; the old capital of Albania and died in 1999. His father left Albania while he was one of the biggest scholars of Hanafi Mazhab or doctrine. His father immigrated to Damascus along with his son. The reason behind his immigration was that he disagreed to the King of Albania Ahmed Zogho after the latter prohibited women from wearing Niqab!

Dear reader… you can go through the books of al-Albani and Burhami Hashish… and along with them the chief of the Alexandrian salafist Call; Muhammed Abdel-Fattah Abu Idris… in general, you will find that these books are nothing but annotations explaining the Mutoons[1] of Ibn Hanbal, Ibn Taymmiya and Muhammed Abdel-Wahhab… not a single book of those can be described as a genuine one based on well-established bases and produces something new that helps achieve the nation’s interests.

One cannot have discussions based on logic and comprehensive aware Fiqhi and scientific evidence with such people… a wise man cannot waste his time arguing with those who have no human feelings in dealing with people and guiding them with wise and kind words.

The only possible thing to do is that state institutions, ruled by the constitution and law, shall react to such outrageous behaviour… especially that we are in a very critical situation as we are fighting on five fronts; east, west, north, south and in depth… the state institutions shall stop these people and punish them as per the law for what they do against the nation and citizens.

Here I ask the minister of endowments and I know he is a man who knows his role and can do anything to keep Egypt’s mosques away from fanaticism and ignorance… how could Burhami and his likes who adopt such declared opinion of describing the Christians as atheists and considering them an infidel wrongful aggressive criminal minority who should go to hell… how could they manage to deliver sermons in mosques?

Not only this… moreover, they consider all who disagree to the salafists’ opinion about Christians an atheist wrongful… meaning all of us starting from the president to the least citizen like me… for God sake, how don’t the lawyers and public prosecution do something to stop such crime and prosecute those people in public?

How can we stay silent and stand still before those who provide the complete theoretical referencing for what Daesh and its likes do… since the completion of what Burhami and his likes say is the question asking: “now what should we do with those who are atheist, aggressive, criminal and wrongful… and also those hypocrite atheists who disagree to us?”

Won’t the answer be what Daesh does in reality of burning people alive and slaughtering humans?

For the tenth time I ask: when, how and where have Burhami and the salafists managed to blackmail the state institutions in Egypt?

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Almasry alyoum newspaper on March 29, 2017.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2017/03/blog-post_28.html

#almasry_alyoum #ahmed_elgammal #yasser_burhami #salafists

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[1] Mutoon: (Arabic: متون) the Arabic plural word for muton (متن) which is the text containing the main idea.

Not McCarthyism

Peace is an established lie

Justice is the philosophy of losers

There is no justice unless all powers are equal

Terrorism has no deterrent but force

Those were the words of the poet Aboul-Qasem esh-Shabbi… they jump to my mind whenever I see Jewish Zionists abusing the Palestinians… and whenever muslim Zionists of muslim brotherhood and their likes keep destroying our country, assassinating its identity and killing its sons..

Both sides are Zionists… because both are racist… both claim to have religious reference… both depend on violence and terrorism as a discipline and means to exist… and both aim at destroying our Arab nation and undermine all that is loving, just and peaceful.

One has no longer nerves to bear or accept any means to deal with those Zionist muslim brotherhood and all their likes but with severe punishment on all levels; economic, social and cultural… and that’s why – before the assassination of the honored judge counselor Hesham Barakat – I have been into fierce debates with those who came up with the idea of postponing executing court verdicts against terrorists… I also stood against those who believe that dialogue and accepting the other include living with racist Zionist muslim brotherhood and their likes… atop of them, those who undermine citizenship in Egypt and describe the Egyptian Christian citizens of being atheists who will dwell in hell!

It’s normal that one may think, in the most intense moments of anger, of widening confrontation domain by forming public groups of resistance that can have licensed arms to protect electricity towers, stations, bridges, railways and state institutions… also headquarters of ruling regime and top officials… it’s what all societies do in war.

In this regard, I remember a funny story that reveals to what extent the feeling of resistance and protecting the nation can help stand against anything that may threaten its safety… it’s a true story that took place after the defeat of 1967 when my friend, the elite media man Mr. Abdel-Wahhab Qattaya received an assignment from Sawt El-Arab radio station to follow and record the positive reactions of the public after the defeat.

And so he went to al-Hussain square with the recording device… those devices were not common among people at that time… and once he started talking to ask people about their opinions, the public saw the strange device they never saw before… and someone shouted: “a spy”… then all who were in the square gathered around the man and started attacking him while he was yelling and shouting declaring his identity as a radio announcer and his assignment to record their opinions… but it was in vain… until he shouted: “here is my ID card…my name is Abdel-Wahhab Qattaya… have you ever heard of a Jewish man called Qattaya?”

What I want to say here is that the more we are aware of the danger surrounding us, the more likely the ordinary citizen can become a brick in a line of those who build bulwarks… such security, cultural and civilization bulwarks that stand against those who want to erase our identity.

Now, they will say… “this is hate and incitation speech… it’s a call for an Egyptian McCarthyism like that of America”… to the end of that already-known speech… and I say… Yes… I hate violence… I hate killing… I hate destruction and erasing our country’s cultural and civilized identity… and… Yes, I incite and stand against all who practice violence and killing and target our national unity to destroy.

That’s what all normal people did in the societies that sought progress and development… that happened in the western democracies against Nazism, Fascism and racial discrimination… it happened in all divine religions as well and was mentioned in the core of its doctrines… like I once said in a previous article when prophet Jesus talked about the wicked snake-like priests who claim to have guardianship over religion… and when Quran mentioned the hypocrites, double-faced and their likes who make fun of God’s verses; killing, violence and destruction in the name of Islam is nothing but making fun of God’s verses in the worst way.

Here I want to confirm that total confrontation with terrorism shall include exerting real practical efforts to take care of the martyrs’ families; meaning the bereaved mothers, widowed wives and orphaned children… not only financially – which is an important side – but also psychologically and morally… since tens of those orphaned children; sons of the martyrs, are at ages that cannot help them deal with that shock… the shock of losing the father and the horrendous act behind this loss… and the effect of that on the mother and the rest of the family… all that requires all institutions working in the psychological and social care to take part in this… they should start by paying home visits to those mothers, grandmothers, grandfathers, the rest of the family and children themselves to provide them with all that can guarantee qualifying, building and strengthening their personalities to continue their lives in a healthy way.

In this regard, I’d like to thank all who communicated with the initiative which I launched here in this space before and those who submitted their financial support… I also thank my friend Mr. Muhammed Abdel-Hadi Allam, the editing chief, and my colleague Mr. Ahmed el-Berri, the editing director and responsible of Al Ahram newspaper’s mail who adopted the initiative and opened an account to receive the contributions.

However, all this is not enough as I said before… and so I call to develop this initiative in two directions… the first is the psychological care which my friend Mr. Muhammed Abdel-A’al Eissa brought my attention to in his comment on Facebook… and the second is providing all the medical care needed… in this regard, I have already started contacting a bunch of the best and most efficient professors in surgery, cardiology, gynecology and pediatrics to treat those terrorism victims in their clinics and hospitals for free… also, Al Ahram newspaper’s mail can provide the family of the martyr with a letter declaring their state to the destined doctor.

Our resistance action bulwark shall have many lines to grow higher and higher and stand solid in the face of those who threatens our civilization, culture, society and security… and so the citizen has to be aware of the danger, its sources and parties to guarantee his participation in the security side…

Like what happened after 1967… we all remember how criminal acts almost disappeared in certain times… those times were when people felt they are part of this nation… they are all in one… and they are all in danger.

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on July 2, 2015.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2015/07/blog-post_2.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #terrorism #terrorist_muslim_brotherhood

Salafists, state and society… again

As expected… the state institutions and regime respond to what some people write in newspapers, including me, as if we say nothing… even if one of those papers is the prestigious Al Ahram newspaper with its history we all know.

As I wrote two weeks ago wondering about the secret behind the silence of state institutions, especially the interior ministry, ministry of endowments and the presidency as well, towards what salafists say and do, atop of those salafists is the member of parliament and member of the “values” committee; Yasser Burahmi… as what he said hits the concepts of citizenship, national unity, the country civilization, cultural and social cohesion in the heart… not to mention that it goes against the state constitution and laws and which may rise to the level of crime.

This Burahmi did not only question the faith of the Christian Egyptian citizens nor say that their destiny will be in hell, but also described anyone who disagrees to what he says or objects to his deeds, which are against the constitution, law and all cultural and civilization values, as mean atheists.

Despite that all what this Burhami and his likes said and published online, especially on Facebook, not a single response from the interior ministry, ministry of endowments or the attorney general was issued… it is known that the ministry of endowments is not involved in this matter because it let him give his speeches in mosques saying that he managed to pass the exam they set for this which I do not know if it includes a question asking about the stance toward citizenship, constitution texts and law articles?... also, does it inquire about the stance toward the Quranic verses saying that we all should leave any inter-faiths dispute for God to be the judge in them in the afterlife?

Such talking about draining terrorism sources until it falls down is nothing but nonsense… also talking about renovating Dawaa discourse known as the religious discourse… since the most dangerous ideological, Fiqhi and also financial sources of terrorism come from those who think of religion as just a short garment, shaved moustache and strictness of empty souls that are against everything that is beautiful; whether feelings, arts or talents.

I saw an episode of the TV-show presented by the respected media figure Mona Salman on one of the satellite channels… I was surprised when they hinted at an open interview they had with a group of people including Nader Bakkar; the known salafist figure… the one who introduces himself and salafists, too, introduce him as one of their most open-minded figures.

The salafists’ website re-broadcasted the interview and then I saw an unbelievable thing… the salafists’ website kept the video going when Bakkar was speaking but when it was Mrs. Mona Salman’s turn to speak, they blurred her face image with this known digital technique used to blur faces of criminals in the cases disputed in courts… as if this respected lady is a convicted criminal!

Of course, we know why they blurred her face like this on their website… because they consider the woman’s face an Awra, meaning it must be covered… why not? One of their known figures, called al-Howaini, had already once said that the woman’s face is like her vulva… just like this!

After all this… after all what Burhami, the salafists’ website, al-Howaini and their likes say and do, the salafists stay in their political, Dawaa and media positions as if they do blackmail the state and ruling regime institutions.

Curtailing religion into a short garment, shaved moustache and bushy shaggy beard is a symptom of a more profound illness; that is the strictness and soul emptiness that go against anything beautiful.

Such soul emptiness is well represented in depriving people from taking command of their relation with God… as those cruel harsh salafists do not believe in supplications between man and God in the form this man feels comfortable in… to them, all prayers, supplications and poetry created by human consciences loyal in their belief and faith are nothing but heresies.

Such strictness is also represented in denying any yearning for prophet Muhammed’s family, their love, glorifying them and anyone who took passion as a way to reach the full knowledge without dropping a single pillar of faith.

Such emptiness and strictness we can see in their way in calling for prayers… in their way of discussing and dealing with people; whether Muslims or non-Muslims… as their arrogance and pretending that they alone possess the truth appear… such roughness has to do with their denial to everything beautiful… as music… plastic art… sculpture… opera and acting… art in general… good manners… elegant dressing… to the rest of concepts that lie in the dictionary of beauty… in their opinion, all these are heresies whose creators will go to the deepest bottom of hell.

I noticed the interests of many of them and found that they focus on land and real estate trading and constructing buildings… also, they are professional in infringing regulations… I cannot forget the scene I was watching from the balcony of my house at the seventh floor… as the maximum altitude of violation storeys – again, I repeat… violation – was ten storeys… while the allowed altitude of the building was four and later became two times and a half double the width of the street as I think.

I saw some of those salafists establishing a fence around a piece of land then they used the water of the fireplug to mix the cement into concrete… the building kept going higher and higher until it became seventeen storeys… and whenever the municipal officials come, those salafists hide until they finished… I asked one of them whether it is Halal or Haram to use the water of the fire hydrant in building the foundations and seventeen storeys… and of course, his answer was based upon what al-Albani said!

In addition to their trading in lands and real estate, they also trade in cattle, meat and dairy products… and so, one finds himself standing before corpulent bulky bodies lacking any sentiments or taste… starting from bushy shaggy beards and not ending by denying all that is beautiful.

After all this, the ministry of endowments allows those, who act against the constitution and law and who despise emotions and beauty, to give sermons in mosques claiming that they passed the exam! Also, the interior ministry stays silent towards the public incitement against Christians and against everyone committed to the principle of citizenship… it also seems that the stance of the presidency is vague as I have not heard for once a presidential question for Mr. Makhion inquiring about what Burham and salafists in general say against Christians and against proper teachings of religion.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on March 12, 2015.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2015/03/blog-post_12.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #salafists

Salafists and blackmailing the state

I am trying to know when, how and where this one called Yasser Hussien Mahmoud Burhami Hashish has managed to blackmail the interior ministry, government, regime and state?... as what he says in public requires accountability and punishment if we have a constitution to respect and a law to enforce in this country.

I do not think the currently ruling regime is in need of a cover claiming to be religious that can work instead of the general moral one coming from the values of citizenship and the Egyptian cultural and civilization system that goes back in time to the dawn of history… starting from ancient Egypt since the first dynasty… to the Hellenistic era… Christian era… then Islamic era… and finally to the modern and contemporary era… as some political regimes need a cover claiming to represent the religious reference since they adopt a negative stance towards values of citizenship and cultural civilization systems at large.

And so, I do seriously wonder, when, how and where has this Burahmi; deputy of the salafist Dawaa, managed to blackmail the state institutions to the degree that enabled him recently to give sermons in mosques for a reason I believe is funny… that is he passed the exam set by the ministry of endowments… I do not know if this exam included a question asking: what is your opinion of those who give judgments of criminality, assault, injustice and atheism over an Egyptian citizen or an Egyptian group without a juridical verdict?... does anyone who considers himself a preacher to the way of God have the right to give such judgments on the Christian Egyptian citizens?

All entities in charge have already known what any Egyptian citizen following what is published and broadcasted over the internet knew, when Burhami was asked about how the Muslim husband should treat his Christian wife… his answer was extremely evil and vicious.

Neither Al-Azhar nor the ministry of endowments replied to what he said… not even the public prosecution or the ministry of interior… only people like me reacted and replied to what he said and it looked like a verbal fight with a man inciting on hatred, contempt, loathing, destroying family relations and disagreement to everything that is human and respectful.

The same thing happens again… not from Burhami alone… but from another one belonging to the same salafist specimen named Yahia Refa’i Sorour who said in public about the Egyptian citizens martyred by slaughter in Libya: “they are sheep… 21 Christian sheep whose blood is cheap because we – the pronoun relates to him – do not have a citizenship contract with them… and we feel offended that Copts stayed safe in Egypt after the coup”.

As to Yasser Burhami, he said in pubic in a video recording that the Egyptian Christian citizens: “they are an atheist unjust assaulting criminal minority that assaults the right of the majority… we call our brother Christians atheist… yes, they are our brothers in the country… but they are atheist if they kept believing in their religion and they shall go to hell..”… then he describes anyone who disagrees to what he says as “they are people of hypocrisy and atheism”… meaning that all people and entities that disagree to Yasser Hussien Mahmoud Burhami Hashish are hypocrite atheists!

This Yasser Burhami and leaders of the salafist Dawaa like Muhammed Ismail al-Mokaddem, Muhammed Abdel-Fattah Abo-Idris, Abdel-Mone’am ash-Shahat and others are the occupying the forefront of the religious Dawaa scene… and they have a political party that seeks representation in the parliament and which may have the first, second or third majority in the coming elected parliament.

I have searched quickly about the root of the phenomenon of the salafist Dawaa in Alexandria… and I have been through some parts of references and knew that they all are influenced and even basically committed to opinions of Ibn Taymmiya, Ibn al-Qayem, Muhammed ibn Abdel-Wahhab and al-Albani.

I have already discussed in this very space of Al Ahram newspaper some Fatwas of Ibn Taymmiya towards Christians in specific and others in general… in such Fatwas, there is a lot of evil and injustice towards Islam and humanity…I also try to know more about the opinions and Fatwas of al-Albani because I have not argued with anyone of those like Burhami and al-Albani unless he says: “al-Albani said…”… as if this al-Albani is their first and last reference… his full name is Muhammed Ibn al-Hajj Nouh Ibn Nagati Ibn Adam al-Ashqoudri al-Albani al-Arna’outi or the Arnaut nicknamed as “Abu Abdel-Rahman”. He was born in 1914 in Ashqoudra; the old capital of Albania and died in 1999. His father left Albania while he was one of the biggest scholars of Hanafi Mazhab or doctrine. His father immigrated to Damascus along with his son. The reason behind his immigration was that he disagreed to the King of Albania Ahmed Zogho after the latter prohibited women from wearing Niqab!

Dear reader… you can go through the books of al-Albani and Burhami Hashish… and along with them the chief of the Alexandrian salafist Dawaa; Muhammed Abdel-Fattah Abu Idris… in general, you will find that these books are nothing but annotations explaining the Mutoons[1] of Ibn Hanbal, Ibn Taymmiya and Muhammed Abdel-Wahhab.

One cannot have discussions based on logic and comprehensive aware Fiqhi and scientific evidence with such people… a wise man cannot waste his time arguing with those who have no human feelings in dealing with people and guiding them with wise and kind words.

The only possible thing to do is that state institutions, governed by the constitution and law, shall react to such outrageous behaviour… especially that we are in a very critical situation as we are fighting on five fronts; east, west, north, south and in the heart of our country… the state institutions shall stop these people and punish them as per the law for what they do against the nation and citizens.

Here I ask the minister of endowments and I know he is a man who knows his role and can do anything to keep Egypt’s mosques away from fanaticism and ignorance… how could Burhami and his likes who adopt such declared opinion of describing the Christians as atheists and considering them as an infidel wrongful aggressive criminal minority who should go to hell… how could they manage to deliver sermons in mosques?

Not only this… moreover, they consider all who disagree to the salafists’ opinion about Christians an atheist wrongful… meaning all of us starting from the president to the very common citizen like me… for God sake, how do the lawyers and public prosecution not do something to stop such crime and prosecute those people in public?

How can we stay silent and stand still before those who provide the complete theoretical referencing for what Daesh and its likes do… since the completion of what Burhami and his likes say is the question asking: “now what should we do with those who are atheist, aggressive, criminal and wrongful… and also those hypocrite atheists who disagree to us?”

Won’t the answer be what Daesh does in reality of burning people alive and slaughtering humans?

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on February 26, 2015.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2015/02/blog-post.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #salafists

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[1] Mutoon: (Arabic: متون) the Arabic plural word for muton (متن) which is the text containing the main idea.

No for eradication or alienation

It was proved that ideas and doctrines cannot be eradicated no matter their sources are or others’ opinion of them… even if those others were the majority and even if this opinion is based on God’s teachings… the evidence over such thing is present since humanity knew something called thought… in context, it is called doctrines…for this reason, those who think that it is possible to eradicate the ideas of so-called political Islamization or erase the possibilities of belonging to such thought, are wrong.

Based on this, the question, which I mentioned at the end of my article two weeks ago, arises: how can we face the danger of muslim brotherhood and their likes?

In that article, I said that the government alone cannot tackle the mission of facing such danger and that the whole society shall take part in such mission… in my opinion, the intended objective is to rehabilitate those who believe in that thought and those doctrines in order for them to realize that there shall be no compulsion in acceptance of the religion… and that they are not guardians over the rest of people in religion or life… also, no party is authorized by God to represent him and exclude others from God’s mercy.

Accordingly, rehabilitation in such regard is different to rehabilitation of addicts and criminals when they are placed in reforming institutions where they may be kept for a while to become normal humans once again not addicted to drugs or inclined to crime… actually rehabilitation in our case we talk about is done through a comprehensive national project that aims at draining the sources of such twisted thought… also draining sources of financial funding focusing at employing such thought in violence and destruction… after this, we shall open the space before those who positively responded to such rehabilitation to have dialogue and co-exist in order to find normal life of work, creativity and leadership.

In the same time and in parallel with such course of rehabilitation, we shall strengthen our social, cultural and thought immune system of the coming generations in schools and universities… we shall also integrate media and clubs in such course hoping to reach the phase when proper understanding of the role of religious beliefs in people’s life is perceived… also normal relation or reconciliation between the vertical axis representing man’s relation to God and the horizontal axis representing man’s relation to society and nature shall deepen… at the intersection of those two axes, man shall know how to worship God by being kind to his creatures and by fulfilling his role towards the society and nature in a way that goes with what God says in his books… since God has dignified the human soul itself away from any discrimination based on color, tongue or religion…

In such regard, I admit that I stopped long before that verse 17 of the chapter of Al-Hajj stating: “Indeed, those who have believed and those who were Jews and the Sabeans and the Christians and the Magians and those who associated with Allah - Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed Allah is, over all things, Witness.”… despite I finish reading the holy Quran during the month of Ramadan, I stopped long before this verse as if I am reading it for the first time… as I have not perceived the great magnificent essence of tolerance and coexistence inherent in this verse… not only towards followers of other divine religions, but also towards Magians, polytheists and Sabeans whom it is disputed whether their religion was divine or not… divine here means Abrahamic religions.

One wonders: why haven’t we studied such verse and its likes in our schools during the primary, preparatory and secondary levels… and even in the university?… such verse that advocates tolerance and coexistence with others and among others and states that God alone shall judge between all those people on the day of resurrection… in the same context, I also remember the text of the Sermon on the Mount said by Jesus… in this sermon, a complete picture of tolerance, coexistence and elite morals is depicted.

Draining resources of misunderstanding of divine religions is not done by burning, ripping apart or not publishing the references that establish the basis for such thought… but rather by discussing and refuting the fallacies contained in them or the interpretations that belong to other people who lived in other places and times different to our society and time right now… after this we shall publish and spread the references that set the base for the elite human conceptions…the same thing can be applied in institutions other than those of education… like clubs, public courtyards, public seminars in libraries and civil community organizations… let the general call be “let us be tolerant and coexist”…

The one monitoring closely what we are talking about may think of other issue… that is the possibility that all those efforts made long decades ago; meaning since the late twenties of the twentieth century to date to establish groups like muslim brotherhood, aimed at destroying Islam itself as a religion from inside and preventing it by all means to play an active role in any renaissance project in the societies with the majority of which believes in it.

And so, facing such groups, parties and bodies of that political Islamization is done by thought, culture, science and vigilant organized social effort… also with the necessity of having a united society and the necessity of not excluding any Egyptian citizen no matter his belief is… such facing is for the protection of Islam itself and a guarantee of the credibility of its human validity everywhere and every time… since Islam includes all the elite humane teachings that no one disagree with.

It happened that muslim brotherhood came to power after January revolution regardless of the terrifying details disclosing day after day regarding the foreign role played in this… in the same time, it seems that destiny played a role in saving Islam by uncovering what lies in the phenomenon of political Islamization of misunderstanding of the proper role of religions in societies’ life.

We also witnessed their deviant behaviors that swept their reign away and in the same time awakened and alerted the public conscience to the deep abyss our country was falling into… such experiment also reminded us that getting rid of political Islamization was the beginning to set off once again on the right way… it was also a starting point to stand against the plan of creative chaos aimed at reforming the cohesive old-in-history societies for the sake of benefiting the Hebrew state in the first place.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on December 19, 2013.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2013/12/blog-post.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #musim_brotherhood #salafists

Breaking vicious circle

Now what?!... What after we revealed the ideological and Fiqhi roots of that political current that raises Quran above the spears of social, economic and political conflict taking place in Egypt and the region[1]… also, in a way or another taking place in our modern world?!

What after those masses in millions moved to correct the historical course of change movement in Egypt after muslim brotherhood – backbone of that current – managed to jump to power and we were lucky enough that they made tragic mistakes and sins that were one of the reasons behind that massive public revolt?

What after most people discovered the fake claim of muslim brotherhood and salafists of representing true religion and that their slogan “Islam is the solution for all big and small problems” was immediately proven fraud?

Then what after Egypt have found a strong Arab backing from true brother Arab countries appalled by the tragic destiny our Egypt was about to fall into… realizing that if that happened, they will be next in turn… moreover, indications turned to be stark facts after exposing muslim brotherhood inactive cells in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other countries?

Also, what after there has been a change in both the American and European stances and it seems they started to understand that what happened in Egypt was a real public revolution against the rule of muslim brotherhood and their alliance… and that the Egyptian army along with its leadership responded to the will of the people… and it was not a coup by all means?

Finally, what shall we do after the intermittent period is about to come to an end… and all political powers away from the current of political Islam have now the chance to practice their activities without major obstacles?!

There are many questions we shall take into consideration… but the first thing we should care about is how to make achievements on all national levels… first level of those in my opinion is how to prevent our country from falling into the mire of religious extremism that halts any progress on any level… it is a thing known by other nations through long ages of time in their history.

The government, Egyptian army and police in Egypt will not be able alone to stand against the phenomenon that we witnessed consecutive phases of which through our lives as individuals… as some of us were aware of this phenomenon since the forties of the twentieth century to our present time… and some others – including me – was aware of it since the fifties until now!

We lived this time when this phenomenon was at its peak… when it spread and its followers kept bawling “Quran is our constitution”… “Prophet is our leader”… “Dying in fighting in the way of Allah is the best we wish”… then we lived the days when it dwindled and its publicity waned and people started to go away form it since it turned to be a disgrace everyone tries to get rid of it… then it was destined for us to live its new born when such current made a reconciliation with the ruler and came back to lights…

By time, they looked as if they are everywhere and their followers are too many to count… in the same time, we noticed those who grew their beards and shove their moustaches… some of them were wearing a white turban with a long sheet of it draping over their backs… they had their own mosques and were called by the public as Sunni people… we also heard them questioning the faith and Islam of others, especially those who go to Mawaled, ask for blessings from the shrines of Al Al-Bait or family of prophet Muhammed, give interpretations for the Quran texts and believe in Prophet Muhammed Shafa’a or intercession.

We also lived the rising of what was called the Islamic groups or Gama’at… and lived day by day its expansion in the universities, its conferences and meetings… the first of those meetings was the first Islamic meeting in Ain Shams University held under the auspices of Ahmed Kamal Abol-Magd as a counteract to Nasser thought meeting that was held a year ago in 1971 in commemoration of Gamal Abdel-Nasser… I was one of those who came up with the idea of Nasser meeting and planned for it… we also went on holding it until after the mid-seventies.

We suffered the same thing our nation suffered when those groups or Gama’at adopted the bloody violence that first started during the confrontations in the universities between Nasserite and Marxist students and between students belonging to those Gama’at… entities in the state and certain officials were in charge of funding and arming those Islamic Gama’at… and so they started by iron chains and penknives and ended by assassinating the first man in Egypt; the president of the republic Anwar Sadat who was the first to summon those demons but did not know how to dismiss them.

Then came October, 1981 and what followed until this phenomenon of violent Islamization lessened… but the phenomenon of muslim brotherhood was started to grow until they managed to be in partnership with the ruling regime occupying almost 90 seats in the parliament… we all know what happened next until January 25^th, 2011 and June 30^th, 2013.

How then can we break out of this vicious circle or cut this zigzag line fluctuating between rising ups and falling downs… and both of them; the circle and line, represent the rising and falling or strength or dismantle of the phenomenon of extremist political Islam that proved to be destructive to life itself?

How can we keep our country’s history, heritage, religions, conscience and soul… all these aspects admit that religion is a main component of our composition away from those who exploit religion and claim to be sent by God to be guardians on the nation’s beliefs… to the extent that their leader; Muhammed Bade’ia claimed that attacking their gathering in Raba’a is 70 times graver than flattening Kaaba into pieces?

How can we communicate with our folks in Delta, Upper Egypt and outskirts of the valley eastward and westward… to protect each other against those double-faced hypocrites who proved to be nothing but professional killers with no feelings at all?

How… how… unlimited questions we have to answer and hold responsibility for… not only by the government, army and police… but in the first place by everyone who believes he / she has the capacity to react to such dangerous phenomenon…

We shall continue later…

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on December 5, 2013.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2013/12/blog-post_5.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #muslim_brotherhood #political_islam #25_January_2011 #30_June_2013

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[1] This depiction used by the writer of “raising Quran above the spears” was taken from the incident that took place when Ali Ibn Abi-Taleb; cousin and son-in-law of prophet Muhammed was in war with Mu’awiya over the rule of the Caliphate. Ali was about to achieve victory over Mu’awiya, however, Amr Ibn el-A’as advised Mu’awiya to raise Quran above the spears as a sign of choosing Quran as the final judgment between them. In return, Amr asked for the rule of Egypt if he could help Mu’awiya overcome Ali. Of course, that was a trick by Ibn el-A’as, by which he manipulated Quran in order to make political gains. It is the same concept here as muslim brotherhood claim to take Quran as their guide and reference while they actually seek political and economic gains.

Muslim brotherhood, salafists… and intellectuals

It was a notice worth paying attention to that I encountered while I was following the online publishing of what I write in Al Ahram every two weeks; that is the number of those who read online the articles concerning the current of muslim brotherhood and salafists reaches almost sometimes thousand readers and exceeds this some other times… while the number of readers who were interested in reading the last article published fifteen days ago about the intellectuals’ conference reaches almost two hundred readers; meaning nearly one fifth… despite that what was written about the intellectuals’ conference exceeded the matter of culture from the limited prospective to the broader definition that includes all that is related to life affairs.

And so, continue writing about the political movements that raise the holy Quran above spears of mundane economic social political conflict seems more tempting to the writer… and gives a new indication added to other previous ones affirming that people are interested in politics and religion… and maybe sex which I have not tried to write about it… such indications remind us that our society is still categorized as an underdeveloped one.

It is a temptation – as I said – to continue writing over the same theme… as a result, it poses a real problem facing any writer who respects his readers and profession; that is how to tackle such theme… and how serious this tackling is… also how much new information such tackling can add… whether on the level of analyzing what already exists and tacking place or on the level of future vision along with its different aspects politically economically and intellectually… also domestically, regionally and internationally.

Moreover, the issue of being subjective in tackling any phenomenon is totally different to being unbiased because I am one of those who believe that being unbiased is hard to apply and almost impossible even in the scientific laboratories… as it was said before: that the scientist or researcher in chemistry, physics or alike branches of science can tend to approximate the results to what was established in his mind before and during the experiment… you can imagine the case regarding issues related to politics, sociology and similar branches of studies.

As a result, being objective does and will not be interpreted into being unbiased between options… and here I say in advance: I am biased to a certain understanding of the contemporary and modern Egyptian historical context… such understanding is based on the notion that conflict – which is a law governing the course of history – since the end of the eighteenth century to date and until for long time – maybe – to come was between two orientations in the Egyptian public life; a conservative traditional one hallowing old texts and totally agrees to their interpretations and which takes religion – at large, whether Islam or religions other than Islam – as a base and attacking tool… another orientation is the one realizing the importance of mind and dealing with social phenomena as accumulative human acts subjected to development and change… such orientation also regards religion as a main component of the general social conscience and an important source of elite moral values… and that religion is, after all, a relation between man and God no one has the right to interfere in or claim to be guardian over others regarding such relation.

For all this, I agree with those believing in the necessity to separate between the religious sacred issues and positive practices… I believe such positive practicing started since the dawn of Islam and was strongly present in the negotiations between al-Muhajirun and al-Ansar in the first establishing meeting of as-Saqeefa in which al-Muhajirun refused to distribute or rotate positions… as positions’ distribution and rotation was an idea presented by al-Ansar after al-Muhajirun refused to appoint an Emir from al-Ansar after they – al-Ansar – said: you first appoint an Emir then we appoint one… later, they said: you take the rule – equal to presidency position now – and we take the consultancy – equal to ministerial cabinet in our present time – but all these suggestions were rejected until the rule went to the Umayyad who turned it into an hereditary monarchy… and so ruling was established over wars and deceitfulness after that… and caliphate stayed as a tyrant ruling regime until it went old, eaten away by corruption and finally collapsed.

Again, the problem as I said above is what credible material can the writer provide for his readers?... especially if the theme readers like to read about is of an issue without much to say about and most, if not all, who write in the public Egyptian affairs off and on tackle it.

I guess the answer to such question cannot be summed in an article… however, we can hint at some points we can write about… it is what I call going deep in understanding the phenomenon by searching in its microscopic minute details… or what I call bridging the gaps between political practices and scholarly theories, knowing that history is a branch of study with research disciplines and research tools and related to the core of it are rules of historical criticism… also there are many aiding branches of studies connected to it… all this and more is present in the references concerning disciplines of historical research… I have mentioned what connect to history so that no one, either with good or bad intention, may think that diving deep in the history of what is called political Islamization is an escape from the due tackling of the current events.

I cannot deny it is a real challenge and I will try to keep on what I used to do; that is to study and understand before I write… in such context, I remember revising many resources and references when I wrote in Al Ahram about Ibn Tayimmiya and Hassan el-Banna and the origin of the two swords that el-Banna and his muslim brotherhood took as a slogan… the most exhausting thing about it was the thorough reading in Ibn Tayimmiya’s Fatwas and Hassan el-Banna’s messages.

Finally, the article of intellectuals and their conference that did not enjoy a high number of readers is a phenomenon worth more research and understanding.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on October 24, 2013.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2013/10/blog-post.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #intellectuals #muslim_brotherhood #salafists