All you need to know about the recent uprising in Egypt can be found in two words floating innocuously behind the mainstream headlines and pictures of hundreds of thousands of Egyptians in the streets: Muslim Brotherhood.
Here in America, we value freedom, and the idea of different religious factions vying for attention is actually applauded and encouraged, even differing points of view, and the exchange is healthy. But the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is not about freedom from tyrant Hosni Mubarak, it’s about using the momentum of unrest to usher in the bedrock foundation of the Muslim Brotherhood from its inception in 1928: the imposition of strict sharia law for every citizen.
The media would have you believe that Hosni Mubarak, the president of Egypt for three decades, is a maniacal tyrant who crushes dissent and rules the country with an iron fist, and they’d be right on that account. But what the aren’t telling you is that is how it’s done in Middle Eastern, predominantly Muslim countries. The idea of “democracy” as we know it, is totally foreign to them. Democracy is “man’s law” and it totally incompatible with (Islamic) sharia law: “the law of Allah.” In any Islamic country, people with power execute their rule at their will, without regard to individual’s concerns, and they crush dissent, and generate a coalition of disparate groups – through coercion, threats, and violence – that will “go along” with them. And the corrupt government (and they’re ALL corrupt) keeps the country from descending into chaos with this twisted kind of rule. This is the norm in the Middle East. The only “free democracy” in the whole Middle East is Israel.
History is busy repeating itself. In 1979 there was unrest in Iran. The people of Iran, urged on by the Mullah’s, revolted against the tyrannical president Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (the “Shah of Iran”) for being too pro-Western, and for being tyrannical in his treatment of Iranian citizens who disagreed with his policies. Indeed U.S. President Jimmy Carter denounced the Shah for human rights violations, withdrew support, and gave a green light for Islamic radicals to institute a new government. What we have now in Iran is a hard-core Islamic theocracy, dominated by sharia law, religious police (and even worse atrocities than under the Shah, such as this woman killed by Iran’s morality police (caution: graphic)), dictates from the Mullah’s, and defiance to the world by President Ahmadinejad, who speaks to Islamic audiences that Israel is a disgraceful blot that needs to be wiped off the map. He has also publicly proclaimed a right for Iran to be a nuclear nation (for peaceful purposes, of course). More crazy talk from him here, here, here, here, and here. Ahmadinejad, an Islamic “Shiite,” believes fervently in the return of the Mahdi (the Islamic “messiah” who will bring the world fully into submission under Islam), which will only come after a time of great unrest. Ahmadinejad hopes to bring unrest: infidels be damned to their rightful place in hell, and Muslims caught in the crossfire will go to “paradise.” The threat of “mutually assured destruction” (MAD) that kept the cold war in check is not a deterrent to Islamic fundamentalists (and that IS the Muslim Brotherhood). Thanks to the changes the world allowed in 1979, Iran is now the heart of worldwide unrest. And we’re doing it again.
The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is not about freedom, it’s about ousting a leader – Hosni Mubarak – who they feel is “not Islamic enough.” This is their chance. El Baradei is sympathetic to the cause of the Muslim Brotherhood, if not opportunistic to be used by them to achieve his own power goals. There’s plenty of corruption on both sides. Baradei wants to seize power, and the Muslim Brotherhood will help him with that. The Muslim Brotherhood would like to see Egypt become a sharia state, and Baradei will likely go along with that. This will be a disaster for U.S. interests if this happens. In essence, this shift represents the formation of a second Iran. And we know how well that regime has worked out.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s U.S. branch, the Muslim American Society has a noteworthy goal telling its members that,
…all their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and “sabotaging” their miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all religions.
It should be noted here “God’s religion” is that of Allah (Islam). And Islam means “submit.”
The Muslim Brotherhood anywhere is not a human right’s protector, nor is it interested in “freedom” and “democracy.” The Muslim Brotherhood’s has spawned Al Qaeda (worldwide), Hamas in Palestine (who’s charter calls for the destruction of Israel), and their slogan is, “Allah is our objective. The Prophet [Mohammed] is our leader. Qur’an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”
And if all of this is not enough, Iran recently weighed in with it’ support, saying the Egyptian revolt is the start of an Islamic revolution in the Middle East.
What is happening in Egypt is pivitol. Everywhere Islam takes hold, human rights are flushed. Mubarak is bad. Sharia is worse. The Muslim Brotherhood is the purveyor of this change.
Need the basics? Check out “Three Things About Islam.”
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