Can any sane Muslim claim to be more of a Muslim than the Muslim Brotherhood itself? Those who outbid the Brotherhood in religion are basically saying that they are extremists who cannot be trusted. This is not a defense of the Muslim Brotherhood. I have many reservations against their actions and conduct in office in Egypt. But I am writing against the backdrop of the so-called al-Nasr cell, the terrorist cell in Nasr City in Egypt, and before it the terrorist groups in northern Sinai. Indeed, the terrorists cannot be considered good Muslims, especially when they kill other Muslims. In Egypt, there is no sectarian element to the killing. The victims are all Sunnis, like the terrorists who killed them. I had read about an ambush by al-Qaeda in Iraq which killed 12 Shiites in a convoy of pilgrims. The victims here are also Muslims, and nothing can justify for the religious dispute or difference to descend into murder. The top terrorist Ayman al-Zawahiri lectured President Mohamed Mursi on his duties, and spoke about a battle between the “secularist minority allied with the church, and supported by the West and America, and the Muslim nation in Egypt." He practically called for a civil war in the country, and he is not much distant in his thinking from the Nasr cell alleged to have been plotting to assassinate the Egyptian president. Here, I ask this: What would have the terrorists' position been if the president was a Copt? Terrorism takes many forms. I often read investigative reports by colleague Amina Khairy from Egypt, and I am pleased to see the humor in addressing important issues. But in recent weeks, I found Amina's reports to be painful in the extreme, for example about savages who do not want girls to go to school, and want them to marry instead while in childhood. On the same day my colleague Ghassan Charbel, editor of Al-Hayat, wrote about a hurricane beleaguering the region, just like hurricane Sandy devastated the east coast of the United States. The hurricane is already here, and many innocent Muslims will pay the price. Ever since Eid al-Adha, there has been a news story every day about some act of terrorism by fundamentalist extremists targeting their compatriots. I have gathered the following examples: - There was a massacre on the first day of Eid in Afghanistan, against police leaders inside a mosque. 41 were killed, and more than 70 were wounded, half of them security officers. - On the same day, a car bomb went off in the Daf al-Shawk area south of Damascus, and children were among those injured in the blast. - On the following day, dozens were killed in Iraq, including Iranian tourists, in separate attacks. About 40 people were killed in total. - Official Iraqi figures said that the second half of the year was the most violent in three years, in terms of the number of the attacks and the casualties. - Three were killed in Pakistan and 20 were injured in a bombing in front of the Kaka Sahib Sufi Shrine on October 28, 2012. - Every day, without exception, and up to the time of writing these words, there has been daily killing claiming the lives of scores of Syrians, with airstrikes against areas in the capital Damascus, and crimes by fundamentalist groups against civilians and Kurds. Even the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine in Damascus was not spared, and a blast near it killed 8 people. - At the beginning of this month, official Iraqi sources declared that 400 Iraqis were killed or injured in the violence last month. - Yesterday, violence continued Syria, and included fighting among opposition groups in Aleppo and the Idleb countryside. The terrorists are the infidel agents of Israel. The Holy Quran expressly states that “whosoever kills a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind" (Surat al-Maeida: 32). The Quran also states that “whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is hell to abide therein, the curse and wrath of Allah are upon him, and a great punishment is prepared for him" (Surat al-Nisa: 93). These terrorists' extremism, ignorance and delusion are such that they are conspiring against the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, outbidding them in religiosity and adherence to Sharia. I once wrote here in this column that the Brotherhood is the best suited party to fight this deviant segment of people, and to attempt to rehabilitate them. So perhaps the terrorists in Egypt and elsewhere will motivate the Brotherhood to rise up to the challenge. If successful, this would benefit all Muslims. [email protected]
