The Waged War on Islam in Egypt Part 3

Using Islām to Justify Crime and Oppression

Egyptians are notorious for their love of Islām and their particular love of the Prophet sala Allāhu ‘alayh wasalam, commonly attaching ‘Mohammad’ to the beginning of a person’s formal name. It is difficult to believe that al-Sisi and his sponsor’s malicious scheme in Egypt, sustained by murder and repression would gain any momentum if not legitimised by some sort of ‘Islām’. How else would hundreds of thousands be convinced by this scheme and be so ardent in defending it? It is therefore the greatest calamity when a nation’s supposed highest religious authority bends and flexes verses and narrations to fit the narrative of the oppressor. It was not long ago when the grand ‘Mufti of Egypt’, Ali Juma stood on the podium addressing al-Sisi, his close counterparts and a crowd of unfortunate followers from the army. The agenda of deceit would inevitably attempt to engineer an Islām that champions al-Sisi. What better than a bearded man who can quote Qur’ān and Hadīth and is indifferent to whether he sells his religion and afterlife to the betterment of Mubarak or even al-Sisi?

“(And remember) when Allāh took a covenant from those who were given the Scripture to make it known and clear to mankind, and not to hide it, but they threw it away behind their backs, and purchased with it some miserable gain! And indeed worst is that which they bought.”[1]           

Praising those who massacred the demonstrators in the two sit-ins, Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda as “courageous warriors,” Ali Juma added[2]: “know that you are upon the truth, do not let anyone obscure your path because you are following the path of Allāh…we must cleanse our city and our Egypt from these bandits.” It was a done deal with this ‘Mufti’ who in return gave al-Sisi a blank cheque of myth and manipulation. From an empty heart, devoid of any evidence in his favour, he claims: “there have been recurrent visions of the Prophet sala Allāhu ‘alayh wasalam, of the friends of Allāh and of the family of the Messenger of Allāh…in your support.” But to even afford him the benefit of the doubt that a grand ‘Mufti’ will fabricate on the account of the Messenger of Allāh sala Allāhu ‘alayh wasalam in his dream, he goes on to justify murder on the account of the Messenger sala Allāhu ‘alayh wasalam. Ali Juma adds: “Hit (them) with all your strength. Do not sacrifice your soldiers for the sake of these khawārij…” before levelling the Prophetic injunction with regard to the deviant khawārij at the protestors (who were killed) in the Rabaa al-Adawiya camp: “blessed be those who kill them and are killed by them.”   

Deifying al-Sisi and Self-Imposed Slavery

Supporters of al-Sisi have almost voluntarily succumbed to his person as slaves. Even from a materialistic perspective, idolism of such a personality does not make sense. Al-Sisi bares neither charisma nor cares to appear before the Egyptians more than a handful of times a month. This, however, demonstrates that such behaviour is either the direct result of limitless naivety or of intentional antagonism to Islām and to its representatives. In the Egyptian al-Akhbaar journalist Akram Sa’adani, in an unprecedented statement of blasphemy in Egypt quotes the following: “You, my master Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, listen while I present to you what a poet said to the Khalīfah al-Hāfith (Abasid): “It is you who wills, not the divine decree, so judge! You are the One, the Irresistible.””[3] Then in contrast to the reprehension that is expected from any reporter of this account, Egyptian media conveys the news while nearly glorifying the writer.4

A similar mouthpiece publishes an article where the writer states: “…al-Sisi neither needs to request or to order, merely a blink will cause us to fulfil his demand…if he desires a (female) right hand possession, by Allāh we are up for that…”[4] These bandits did not even care to exclude the Qur’an from their distortion, in a paragraph that attempts a Qur’anic tone (the end of al-Ahzaab) in manner, it concludes: “Truly, We did offer Al-Amanah to al-Sisi, [and the nation is an Amanah (a trust)] verily he was a bold leader.”[5] It is to no wonder why the heavens and the earth declined to bear the weight of the moral responsibility presented to them, when between them walk the likes of al-Sisi, “…but man bore it. Verily, he was unjust (to himself) and ignorant (of its results).”[6]

Idolising the character of an oppressor is not only manifested in his direct worship and through freely yielding to his sinful opinion. An oppressor implicitly believes that he is a lord when he punishes those at odds with his agenda more severely than those who level attacks against Allāh, particularly when this oppressor publicly attests to belief in Allāh and to religiousness. At the conclusion of a meeting conducted by the ‘Bureau of the General Union of Arab Writers’ in the Supreme Council of Culture in Cairo, Iraqi poet Saadi Youssef was presented the “Naguib Mahfouz” award for a poem he entitled “Aisha, the Daughter of the Basha.” The poem, apart from being totally “worthless in linguistic value, mixing slang with non-artistic personal additions” levels blasphemy in the right of the noble Messenger sala Allāhu ‘alayh wasalam and the mother of the believers, ‘Ā’isha rady Allāhu ‘anhā. Yet in spite of severe criticisms from the the Islamic Organization for Education, Science and Culture (ISESCO) and countless writers,[7] the award hangs on the author’s neck, an insult to every Muslim after injury. On the other side of the scale, professional footballers have experienced legal interrogation, suspension and media-wide slander for merely raising their four fingers in symbolism of the Rabaa massacre[8] [9], while an Egyptian Kung-Fu champion was stripped of his medal for doing the same.9 Hardly an insult to al-Sisi, to him this is more punishable than an insult to Islām.

The Coupe Government’s Draft Constitution and Dissolution of Islamic Remnants

Despite 63.8% of more than 17 million Egypt voting in favour of the 2012 constitution ratified by an elected assembly under the public’s spotlight, the coup has preferred to lend Egyptians their freedom, ratifying a constitution behind closed doors with an unelected assembly. The new constitution has deleted without regard 33 of the former’s most fundamental articles, the removal of each insinuating a vengeance against Islām in its own right rather than a ‘reform’. Amazingly, it also obliterates the apparent aspirations of the coup’s mobs who hit the streets on the 30th of July in protest against Morsi and against his government’s constitution.

To illustrate, article 219 which aims to explain the fundamentals of Sharī’ah has been omitted and the issue of consulting a body of scholars in matters that concern the Sharī’ah has now become non-compulsory on government officials.^[10] More expectedly, the new constitution removes article 44 that forbids insulting any of the Prophets or Messengers in order to enact the coup’s warped form of freedom of expression. It further cancels the clause that encourages the establishment of charitable or Islamic endowments (clause 44). Additionally, it shamelessly deletes the clause that sets the condition that any parliamentary candidate is a civilian (not from the military) and that a candidate should be qualified with at least one recognised higher certificate (clause 129).[11]

Sounding more and more like a red carpet for al-Sisi to formally assume presidency, the question becomes: why did millions of people care to overthrow Mubarak? In fact, if the new constitution is dissected, the most basic demands of the revolution no longer exist. The clause that limits the presidential term to four years and allows only a single second term (clause 226) has been thrown out of the window. But just in case optimists hope for a Morsi-like president to serve a limitless term, the new constitution has removed clause 232 and will allow any individual who was part of Mubarak’s dissolved parliament to partake in politics or to run for presidency.10 The new constitution gladly guarantees “absolute” freedom of belief,13 but apparently not for the illegality of the coup or for believing that freedom of belief should not be guaranteed! Even censorship of Egyptian Media has been lifted in the new constitution stating that “artists, writers and filmmakers are guaranteed freedom to create.”12 It is to no wonder why Egypt’s long booming entertainment industry, largely responsible for fabricating the coup has therefore released “Asrar Aa’eleya” (Family Secrets) in mid-January, a film that discounts the religiousness and conservatism of Egyptian society in its explicit depiction of homosexuality.[12]

Constitutional ‘amendments’ were but expected, but calls for the dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood and (funnily enough) the pro-coup ‘al-Nour’ party treads into another boundary of hate and assault. This decision follows a forged clause in the new constitution to the effect of dissolving any party “formed on the basis of religion, gender, race or geography.”[13] Let us not discuss why ‘al-Nour’ pressed on with their master plan of voting ‘yes’ to the ratification of this sham constitution in the January 2014 ‘referendum’ and thus to their future dissolution. This is beyond human comprehension. The hypocrisy and malice of al-Sisi and his mob, however, appears yet again. It was a matter of only one month prior to this ‘referendum’ that the President of ‘Egypt’s Secular Party Under Construction’ (as it is called) declared an ‘International Remove the Veil (Hijab) Day’.[14] It is amusing how this imbecile’s party is based on the direct anti-thesis of the religion that the vast majority of Egypt attests to. This party is lent the freedom of existence by the coup government, yet an organisation that governs more than 1000 NGO’s for the needy, as well as the pro-coup, participating[15] al-Nour party remain doomed to dissolution. The war here is thus not on the Muslim Brotherhood, it is a war waged on Islām.

As for the January 2014 referendum, we should not be surprised that 98.1% of voters backed the constitution on the 14-15^th of January[16] since it was boycotted by the MB, the winners of the past five consecutive voting sprees and the representatives of the largest political composition in Egypt.[17] Why would the MB participate in a constitution formed on clauses tailored to the fit the agendas of secularists, Nasserites, the Egyptian entertainment industry and Coptic Christians? Why would they believe that had they hindered its ratification by voting against it, rather than boycotting the vote al-Sisi would listen? If he is willing to overthrow the authority that was elected to draft the country’s constitution, he is by extension willing to overthrow the country’s constitution if its clauses do not spill in his personal, Islamophobic interests. As a matter of fact, illegitimacy cannot override legitimacy and as thus the coup is not recognised as a legal authority that can be recognised. It has assumed this authority on invalid grounds. President Morsi remains the effective leader even if he is trialled behind bars and soundproof glass and even if his microphone is muted[18] by a ‘judge’. He arrived through the west’s electoral democracy, as did his ‘conspirators’ in Gaza. It is a never ending story of western complicity to tyranny in the Arab world and an utter inconsistency in accepting the outcomes of democracy that we are seeing yet again.

Conclusion

The 21^st century Pharaoh, Abdul Fatah al-Sisi and his hopeless entourage (old or new) are insistent in consoling their anxieties for everything they have done to Egypt. Their stroppy faces, littered with their crimes, however, scream that their time is near and the people are not giving in. They know so well that they are traitors and treacherous but can tender a ‘religious sanction’ with those men who are prepared to sell their own afterlives for the lives of others. They first resort to manipulating the words and intended meanings of divine texts in order to legitimise their evil while enticing their advocates to deify the villain so that he is not questioned about anything. The next step manifests by punishing those who attack them whilst leaving or encouraging those who commit blasphemy against Allāh and his Messenger. Finally, the last wave in the assault against Islām in Egypt is to withdraw those constitutional clauses that uphold the sanctity of Islām, developing people’s desensitisation and dare to accept further infringements. This then allows the regime to target the ambassadors of Islām, dissolving first active Islamic organisations, groups and gatherings then extending, before long to the general public. The situation in Egypt is dire and the war on Islām, if not stopped will march on to pick at the household of every individual with a Qur’ān on their shelf. Egypt’s revolutionaries should march on in their struggle to end this coup and every individual in the world should exhaust all means to bolster their ranks, on every possible level.