from People For Peace
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News
BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2011
The first of Egypt’s three-tiered elections are scheduled to take place in late November, with the increasing likelihood that the Muslim Brotherhood may take charge. Should this happen Egypt will never be the same again, especially for Christians who are currently been persecuted.
Brotherhood symbol: A brown square frames a green circle with a white perimeter. Two swords cross inside the circle beneath a red Koran. The cover of the Koran says: “Truly, it is the Generous Koran.” The Arabic beneath the sword handles translates as “Be prepared.” The swords reinforce the group’s militancy and, as traditional weapons, symbolize historic Islam. They also reinforce the group’s commitment to jihad. The Koran denotes the group’s spiritual foundation. The motto, “Be prepared,” is a reference to a Koranic verse that talks of preparing to fight the enemies of God.
Even though under Hosni Mubarak, there was a measure of protection for Christians because of the respect that they’ve earned in the country, the fact that the Muslim group may be coming into power at a time when they are trying to enforce Shari’ah law, the future, not only of Christians but non Muslims are threatened.
Unlike Muslims, Christians use peaceful mass action-this is because they believe “Jesus taught them to be tolerant,” that is why he humbly accepted to die on the cross for the purpose to save humanity from bondage of sin.
Already the power vacuum left after the overthrow of Mubarak is giving Muslim extremists free rein to torch churches and attack Coptic homes in the worst violence against the community in decades. At least 26 people were killed in Cairo capital, Monday, Oct. 10, 2011. Copts make up about 10 percent of the country’s 85 million people.
Their history dates back 19 centuries and the language used in their liturgy can be traced to the speech of Egypt’s pharaohs. Proud of their history and faith, many Copts are identifiable by tattoos of crosses or Jesus Christ on their right wrists, and Coptic women do not wear the veil as the vast majority of Muslim women in Egypt do.
However, the fact that Muslim Brotherhood point out that Shari’ah which has been the constitutional basis of legislation since 1982, that Islam is the state religion and that all the Brotherhood wants is a stricter adherence to it, there is danger that all women in Egypt will be forced to wear veils.
The Brotherhood is seeking to rebuild Egypt’s government on Islamic lines should they ascend to power. Egypt has over 9000 mosques and just over 500 churches.
Founded by Hasan al-Banna in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood has had the longest continuous existence of any contemporary Islamist group. It was initially established not as a political party but as a da’wa (religious outreach) association that aimed to cultivate pious and committed Muslims through preaching, social services, and spreading religious commitment and integrity by example.
The group saw its understanding of Islam as the only “true” one and condemned partisanship as a source of national weakness. It called on Egyptians to unite to confront the forces of Zionism and imperialism and pursue economic development and social justice. The movement is one of Egypt’s most popular and organized groups, with a broad grassroots network built up partly through social work even in Mubarak’s era.
Under Mubarak the Brotherhood was banned and its members often detained. Mubarak often presented himself as the bulwark preventing Egypt’s slide into Islamist hands. It explains one of the reasons why the group had to overthrow him. The Brotherhood and its party have taken an increasingly prominent role since.
While fresh elections for the lower house are due to start in November, a vote for the upper house is to take place early next year. The Brotherhood is expected to perform well in the vote, although many analysts expect a fairly fragmented parliament with no single unified voice emerging.
According to the Brotherhood’s credo “God is their objective; the Quran is their constitution, the Prophet is their leader; Jihad is their way; and death for the sake of God is the highest of their aspirations.
English language website describes the “principles of the Muslim Brotherhood” as including firstly the introduction of the Islamic Shari’ah as “the basis controlling the affairs of state and society;” and secondly work to unify “Islamic countries and states, mainly among the Arab states, and liberating them from foreign imperialism.
On the issue of women and gender the Muslim Brotherhood interprets Islam conservatively. Its founder called for “a campaign against ostentation in dress and loose behavior”, “segregation of male and female students”, a separate curriculum for girls, and “the prohibition of dancing and other such pastimes.
Yet the Brotherhood remains the largest opposition group in Egypt, advocating Islamic reform, democratic system and maintaining a vast network of support through Islamic charities working among poor Egyptians.
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