Eventually millions of people went to the streets to demonstrate for bread, freedom, and social justice. The world was just watching and could hardly believe what they saw. One dictatorship after the other was overthrown. The situation in the Middle East was turned upside down within a few weeks, and it seemed that the whole world was full of hope that finally peace and democracy would lead the way. Indeed, Egypt experienced a free democratic election for the first time in its history.
When the revolution that had started in Tunisia reached Egypt in the beginning of 2011, I was watching the news almost day and night. My heart was dancing inside me when the old regime finally stepped back. I was so happy to witness the end of this corrupted dictator regime that I myself had been suffering under. However, at the same time I had the strange feeling that this revolution, which had been started by the moderate young generation, might be hijacked and the country might be taken into an even deeper and darker kind of dictatorship and abuse of human rights than before. Before the revolution the people suffered corrupt regimes and corrupt politics. But now the people might fall under the dictatorship of the radical Islamic religious ideology, which can violate the basic human rights even more.
M
USLIM
B
ROTHERHOOD
T
AKES
A
DVANTAGE OF A
N
EW
O
PPORTUNITY
A few months later my concerns became reality. The revolution had been stolen from the young generation, who had started the revolution, calling for bread, freedom, and social justice. In Egypt Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists won the parliamentarian election and a new president, who was a member of Muslim Brotherhood, came to power. The new parliament was on its way to implement Islamic law step by step.
While various radical groups come and go, Muslim Brotherhood is the most mature and well-organized powerful Islamic radical movement in our modern history. It was established by the well-educated Egyptian Sheikh Hassan Al-Banna in 1928 as a result of the collapse and the fall of the Islamic Caliphate. The main purpose of the establishment of the Muslim Brotherhood was to restore Islam in the Muslim world in every single area of life—politics, social affairs, economy, education, jurisdiction, and military.
A brief review of their history will help you understand their strategy and position today. In the first years after their establishment during the 1930s and 1940s Muslim Brotherhood was very actively engaged in fighting against the Jews in Palestine. Later their focus turned to Egyptian internal affairs, and so in the 1950s they turned aggressively against all politicians whom they deemed too secular. They assassinated the Egyptian prime minister al-Nuqrashi in 1948 and later attempted to assassinate president Gamal Abdel Nasser. Their very radical behavior triggered, however, a very harsh reaction: President Nasser went after them with resoluteness. He killed many of them
and put many of them in prison for many, many years. Muslim Brotherhood was officially banned for the following decades. Nevertheless, the organization continued their work underground.
When the powerful wind of change started to shake the whole Middle East during the Arab Spring and spread the hope that this revolution would bring true democracy and liberty to the Middle East, many signs very soon showed how well prepared the political ground was for Muslim Brotherhood to take power and how well prepared the organization was to jump in and use this unique opportunity. They had learned from their past and were well prepared for a better future. They changed their strategy and adapted a peaceful approach. Having the long-term goal in mind, they presented themselves as modern, peaceful, and in favor of democracy. This way they were able to gain international support and win the democratic elections. Their strategy was quite successful as previously mentioned. They won both the majority in the parliament as well as the presidential elections.
Their success, however, didn’t last long, and it would soon provide justification for the new level of extremism we see in ISIS, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. After just a few months the democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi was kicked out of his position through a military coup under the leadership of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who shortly later became the new president. Many Egyptians considered this coup as a great liberation and al-Sisi was viewed by many as a messiah. And indeed, under al-Sisi the country recovered economically, and peace in the country was reestablished. However, the
way
this new government radically wiped out all its political opponents soon revealed that with this new president
returned the same kind of dictatorship as before the revolution. Again all political opponents were wiped out with extreme harshness.
Egypt can be considered the heart of the Middle East. Whatever happens there has a great influence on the rest of the Middle East. This is why the development there is crucial and kind of representative for the entire Middle East.
For Muslim Brotherhood and all the other Islamic groups that had been dreaming to get rid of this kind of corrupt and secular regimes, the Egyptian backlash was a real trauma. I strongly believe that the failure of the peaceful approach of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has greatly contributed to the fast spread of the extremely violent group of ISIS.
H
OW
ISIS G
AINED
P
OWER
ISIS can be seen as the grandchild of Muslim Brotherhood. In June 2014 the militant group declared it is establishing a caliphate spanning across Iraq and Syria. The Egyptian military crushing Muslim Brotherhood after the Arab Spring gave ISIS an excuse for their extremism. They could look to Egypt and say that gaining power through politics doesn’t work; peaceful change is not possible. The only way is the extreme way.
Setting up a caliphate ruled by the strict Islamic law has long been a goal of many jihadists, who complain that Islam has been taken out of society and who demand for Islam to rule again—in every area of life. They go to Islamic history and point to Muhammad’s example of war—aggression and terrorism and the use of fear and terror. You will read these stories in detail in this book.
ISIS is operating under the premise that they are living
in the
house of war
and therefore must use all means at their disposal to conquer territory for their cause. The concept of
house of war
and
house of peace
has been discussed for centuries in Islamic law, and an understanding of it is essential to make sense of what is happening in the Islamic world today.
These terms do not come directly from the Quran or hadith, but the early scholars of Islam created these terms in order to describe the environment of a place where a Muslim may be living. For example, Mecca during the time of Muhammad’s weakness and persecution would have been a house of war (
Dar-ul-Harb
). As a result, after he was prepared, Muhammad declared war on Mecca and established Islamic authority there. Medina, when it was governed and ruled by Muslims, would be considered a house of peace (
Dar-ul-Islam
).
Abu Hanifa, one of the founders of the four Muslim legal schools, had a moderate standard for these two terms. He said the most important issue is the security of Muslims. If Muslims are in a secure place, it is
Dar-ul-Islam
; if not, then they are in
Dar-ul-Harb
. By these standards, a nation where Islam could be practiced freely (such as the United States or England) would be considered
Dar-ul-Islam
. However, another group of Muslim scholars reject this definition. They say that
Dar-ul-Harb
is any place not ruled by Islam and not submitting to Islamic law.
1
Sayyid Qutb popularized the strict interpretation in his most influential book,
Milestones Along the Road
. Qutb declared:
1.
Dar-ul-Islam
is that place where the Islamic state is established and
Sharia
is the highest authority and God’s limits are observed and where all the Muslims administer the affairs of the state with mutual consultation.
2. The rest of the world is the home of hostility (
Dar-ul-Harb
). A Muslim can have only two possible relations with
Dar-ul-Harb
: peace with a contractual agreement or war. A country with which there is a treaty will not be considered the home of Islam.
2
A Muslim must only declare loyalty to
Dar-ul-Islam
, not to a particular nationality. Qutb wrote:
A Muslim has no country except that part of the earth where the Sharia of God is established. . . . ; a Muslim has no nationality except his belief . . . ; a Muslim has no relatives except those who share the belief in God.
3
A committed Muslim will have only one defining characteristic—his faith. All other identity not based in his faith is irrelevant, including lineage, race, nationality, and family. These relationships were from the time of ignorance before Islam, says the radical.
T
HE
F
UTURE OF
ISIS
ISIS has written a new powerful chapter in the story of Islamic radicalism. They have recruited twenty thousand fighters from ninety nations, including France, Morocco, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United States, and Canada.
4
They have taken control of portions of Iraq’s Anbar Province and oil-rich areas in Syria and are operating transnationally.
5
The United States and its allies have been carrying out air strikes against ISIS targets, and
officials claim thousands of militants have been killed.
6
Even if ISIS will eventually be defeated, the world must be prepared for others who will take their place. This is because the philosophy that drives groups such as Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS needs to be understood and addressed in the Islamic world.
FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAMIC RADICALISM
D
ESPITE THE DIFFERENCES
between radical groups, certain principles are maintained from group to group, and these principles have the strength to draw in new generations of radicals. These principles did not stay within national borders. They are exported throughout the world through cyberspace, winning more Muslim hearts and minds.
I call these guiding principles the “Five Pillars of Radical Islamic Philosophy.” They are:
1. Obey no law but Islamic law.
2. Infidels are all around.
3. Islam must rule.
4. Jihad is the only way to win.
5. Faith is the reason.
I introduced these principles in my earlier book
Journey into the Mind of an Islamic Terrorist.
If you can grasp these five principles, you will have an excellent understanding of the mind-set of any Islamic radical who is basing his fight on his religion, not politics.
P
ILLAR
1: N
O
L
AW BUT
I
SLAMIC
L
AW
There is one point that separates the radical Muslim from all others: Islamic law. Since the beginning of the revival
of modern Islamic terrorism, the radical leaders have been crying out for their governments to implement Islamic law.
Islamic law is the line that divides the religious terrorist from the secular terrorist. I have listed it as Pillar 1 because without it, the radicals would have no reason to condemn secular governments and declare jihad.
Islamic law is an incredibly powerful concept because it is viewed as a direct command from Allah. Even more so, the radical scholars attached it inseparably to the worship of Allah.
How did Islamic law develop? And who is living by Islamic law today? Islamic law began with Muhammad settling disputes in the new Muslim political state. When issues arose, he would either receive a revelation from Allah or he would make his own judgment. For example, after military conquests, the people asked Muhammad how to divide the spoils of war, and in response, Muhammad declared that he had received a revelation from Allah about the appropriate way to divide the spoils (see Surah 8.1). Once the new revelation had been announced, Muslims were required to accept his judgment.
P
ILLAR
2: I
NFIDELS
A
RE
A
LL
A
ROUND