Beware the Ikhwan

John R. Houk

© February 2011

There are many comparisons to the occurrences in Egypt to the President Carter support of the Iranian Revolution in the name of Democratic self-determination and anti-despotism. The now deceased Shah of Iran (Reza Pahlavi) was a despot; however from a Western perspective his only actual intolerance was toward those who were against his rule and the Westernization of Iran. Unfortunately the Shah’s intolerance was particularly brutal and it did include a secret police organization known as Savak. Undoubtedly Savak carried out numerous suspensions of civil and human rights in the name of keeping the Shah in power. The mere existence of a Savak police State did not make Iranians happy with their ruler. So when rioting began against the Shah probably with a little President Carter subterfuge, an Ayatollah in exile for being against the Shah would immediately become a symbol of Islamic faith and deliverance from the Shah’s intense repressive desire to remain the Monarch of Iran. The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini return from exile triggered the reminiscence of Shia Twelver theopolitical ideology that perhaps the return of the Hidden Imam was imminent due to the chaos in Iran. Little did the Iranian people know is that Khomeini would signify a despotic repression making the Shah’s repression look like a picnic.

Egypt has the Sunni version of purist Islam which many call Radical or Salafist and also looks back to the days of Mohammed as the measurement of living and governing society. The Salafists may not be looking for a Hidden Imam like Shia Twelvers; however they believe the reestablishment of a Caliphate would begin again the quest to bring Islam (the Sunni kind) to the whole world. The largest Salafists in Egypt is the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) also known by its more Islamic name as Ikhwan. The MB considers themselves part of the Sunnis (90% of Islam) although some Sunnis do not consider Salafism as Sunni. Anyway, the MB End Times scenario is Sunni in which the Mahdi will become the Caliph (Khalifah) and begin the final push to Islamize the world. Check this out from a pro-Sunni website:

- The Mahdi (Mehdi) is not the "Messiah" of Muslims.

- Muslims recognize Jesus Christ as Messiah and this is very clearly mentioned in the Quran.

- Sunni Muslims are expecting 3 main individuals to appear in the End Times: (1) at least one caliph (ruler) whose is referred to as Mahdi (good man), (2) Anti-Christ (evil man), and (3) Jesus Christ (good man).

- Sunni Muslims are expecting Jesus to return to Earth, by descending from Heaven.

- For Sunni Muslims, the Mahdi (Mehdi) is a unique Muslim leader who will appear in the End Times and act as a Caliph, ruling the Muslim World. He is not a prophet. According to our numerical analysis of the Quran, it seems that the Mahdi will be fulfilling a divine mission and will act as a Warner and Carrier of Good News.

- Most probably, shortly after Jesus descends from Heaven, the Mahdi will die and Jesus will become the Caliph of Muslims.

- For Sunni Muslims, Jesus will play a very important role. Jesus will kill the Anti-Christ and rule the World after the Mahdi dies and Jesus' reign will be longer.

- For the Shia, the Mahdi's role is far more important than Jesus' role. The Shia believe that the Mahdi (not Jesus) will be the one who will kill the Anti-Christ. Shia even claim that the Mahdi will kill Satan. (Sunni Muslims' Al-Mahdi (Mehdi))

The Muslim Brotherhood tweaks this by adding the concept that the Ummah (Muslim Community) can rise to the occasion to reestablish the Caliphate.

Prophet Mohammad … has accurately prophesied the governing methods that came to be followed after him and has prophesied that the proper Caliphate system will be applied again around the end of time. The Mahdi (Mehdi) is expected to rule as a proper Caliph. (Ibid. Section 2)

Big Peace participated in a series investigating the affect of Sharia Law in America in which an article entitled, “The Genesis of the Muslim Brotherhood,” posts an English translation of the MB statement for its reason to exist:

The Muslim Brotherhood’s bylaws make clear the organization’s objectives and how it intends to achieve them:

“The Muslim Brotherhood is an International Muslim body which seeks to establish Allah’s law in the land by achieving the spiritual goals of Islam and the true religion which are namely the following: . . . (F) the need to work on establishing the Islamic State; [and] (G) The sincere support for a global cooperation in accordance with the provisions of the Islamic Sharia.”

Chapter II, Article 3 of the MB’s bylaws states:

“The Muslim Brotherhood in achieving these objectives depends on the following means: . . . (D) Make every effort for the establishment of educational, social, economic, and scientific institutions and the establishment of mosques, schools, clinics, shelters, clubs, as well as the formation of committees to regulate zakat affairs and alms; (E) The Islamic nation must be fully prepared to fight the tyrants and the enemies of Allah as a prelude to establishing the Islamic state.”

The MB’s propaganda machine has convinced the West that its drive for the Caliphate is a peaceful exercise; however the Salafist organization’s own by-laws state peaceful means is only one path. When it comes to the point in which MB views tyranny (i.e. Islamic despots like Mubarak) and the enemies of Allah (i.e. Jews, Israel, Christian America or anyone espousing Western values) are resisting the Caliphate, then it is time to fight. And by “fighting” it is not meant to fight with the might of the pen, rather the fight is the might of the sword.

The MB has become the Sultan of Stealth Jihad. They promise non-violence but praise the actions of Islamic terrorists like Hamas, al Qaeda and homicidal suicide bombers who act for Mohammed, Allah and the good of the Ummah. The Stealth Jihad of the MB is to matriculate into a hated system to gain power and then secure power with violence. It is the example of Mohammed himself who fled from Mecca to Medina and slowly acquired power among the tribal Medina ruling elites. Once the power existed to challenge Mohammed’s rivals they were forced into allegiance or exterminated. The Jewish Medinans which were many experienced extermination and banishment in the cause of Allah.

Banna [al Banna the founder of MB] was a practical revolutionary. On the one hand, he instructed his votaries to prepare for violence. They had to understand that, in the end — when the time was right, when the Brotherhood was finally strong enough that violent attacks would more likely achieve Ikhwan objectives than provoke crippling blowback — violence would surely be necessary to complete the revolution (meaning, to institute sharia, Islam’s legal-political framework). Meanwhile, on the other hand, he taught that the Brothers should take whatever they could get from the regime, the political system, the legal system, and the culture. He shrewdly realized that, if the Brothers did not overplay their hand, if they duped the media, the intelligentsia, and the public into seeing them as fighters for social justice, these institutions would be apt to make substantial concessions. Appeasement, he knew, is often a society’s first response to a threat it does not wish to believe is existential. {Fear the Muslim Brotherhood; Andrew C. McCarthy; 1/31/11)

And read this:

Occasionally, the Brotherhood condemns terrorist attacks, but not because it regards terrorist violence as wrong per se. Instead, attacks are criticized either as situationally condemnable (al-Qaeda’s 1998 embassy bombings, though directed at American interests, killed many Muslims and were not supported by an authoritative fatwa), or as counterproductive (the 9/11 attacks provoked a backlash that resulted in the invasion and occupation of Muslim countries, the killing of many Muslims, and severe setbacks to the cause of spreading Islam). Yet, on other occasions, particularly in the Arab press, the Ikhwan embraces violence — fueling Hamas and endorsing the murder of Americans in Iraq.

In addition, the Brotherhood even continues to lionize Osama bin Laden. In 2008, for example, “Supreme Guide” Muhammad Mahdi Akef lauded al-Qaeda’s emir, saying that bin Laden is not a terrorist at all but a “mujahid,” a term of honor for a jihad warrior. The Supreme Guide had “no doubt” about bin Laden’s “sincerity in resisting the occupation,” a point on which he proclaimed bin Laden “close to Allah on high.” Yes, Akef said, the Brotherhood opposed the killing of “civilians” — and note that, in Brotherhood ideology, one who assists “occupiers” or is deemed to oppose Islam is not a civilian. But Akef affirmed the Brotherhood’s support for al-Qaeda’s “activities against the occupiers.” (Ibid.)

The MB gaining control of Egypt will be like Hitler gaining control of Germany or like Khomeini getting control of Iran. Friends this is not good for Western Liberty, Israel as a haven for Jews who cannot trust Gentile governments and especially not good for Exceptionalist America.

Now check this out: President Barack Hussein Obama made sure there was a MB presence at his blame America speech in Cairo in 2009. Keep in mind BHO is not special even though he is suspicious, because the U.S. government via the State Department and Presidential Administration involvement have cultivated an on-again and off-again relationship with the MB and other Salafist groups for years depending on the National Interests perceived for a short term gain. It seems the long term/big picture outlook has been a failure of American government for years.

The Obama administration has courted Egyptian Islamists from the start. It invited the Muslim Brotherhood to the president’s 2009 Cairo speech, even though the organization is officially banned in Egypt. It has rolled out the red carpet to the Brotherhood’s Islamist infrastructure in the U.S. — CAIR, the Muslim American Society, the Islamic Society of North America, the Ground Zero mosque activists — even though many of them have a documented history of Hamas support. To be sure, the current administration has not been singular in this regard. The courting of Ikhwan-allied Islamists has been a bipartisan project since the early 1990s, and elements of the intelligence community and the State Department have long agitated for a license to cultivate the Brotherhood overtly. They think what Anwar Sadat thought: Hey, we can work with these guys. (Ibid.)

This short sightedness seems to be a particular political weakness of President Barack Hussein Obama who has had relationships with people in America that have close associations with the MB or are big time apologists for MB goals. BHO is either a Chamberlain-like idiot or he is in collusion with MB goals for the self-interest of destroying Western culture to bring about Marxist transformation he called “Change” in his 2008 campaign promises.

JRH 2/7/11 (Hat Tip: Robert Newbill)