Leading Brotherhood members have called for Egypt to come under Islamic
law similar to that in Saudi Arabia. The appeal came during interviews as
well as rallies by the Brotherhood just months after the ouster of President Hosni
Mubarak in February.
"The implementation of the Islamic Sharia punishments comes after taking
over the territory," Brotherhood deputy general guide Mahmoud Izzat said.
"The punishments have to be implemented after Islam enters the lives,
ethics, and dealings of the people."
As practiced in Saudi Arabia, Sharia mandates such punishment as cutting
off arms for stealing as well as beheading for a range of non-violent
offenses.
Brotherhood spokespeople have disputed the latest statements and said the
movement continued to oppose the imposition of Islamic law in Egypt.
"During this period, we would like to lead the society to achieve its
Islamic identity in preparation for the Islamic rule," Saad Al Husseini, a
member of the Brotherhood's Guidance Bureau, said.
The pro-Sharia statements by the Brotherhood leaders have alarmed other
members of the opposition that helped topple the Mubarak regime. In
response, Izzat has denied that he supports Sharia in Egypt, Middle East Newsline reported.
"The implementation of the punishments is considered the crowning and
the completion of fundamental issues, the most important of which is the
fulfillment of the needs and requirements of
the people," Izzat said. "These issues require work, effort and a long time,
and cannot be that simple."
But Izzat's clarifications have not assuaged non-Islamist elements of
the opposition movement. Organizers said the statements highlight the
Brotherhood departure from the pro-democracy agenda of the rest of the
opposition.
"Every time we try to reassure the public opinion about the desire of
the Muslim Brotherhood to join a civil movement, we are shocked by
statements from this one or that one," George Ishaq, a leading member of the
opposition National Society for Change, said.
The pro-Sharia statements were said to have divided the Brotherhood
leadership itself. Members of the Brotherhood's young guard said they were
concerned over the statements, stressing that this did not reflect any
formal consultation.
"We stress that such statements have come at an inappropriate time,"
Mohammed Qassas, representative of the Brotherhood's youth wing, said. "We
ought to read the statements carefully, and ensure their truth, and the
leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood Group ought to be more careful at this
critical stage."
Comments
Saudi Arabia is certainly not a country to inspire others.
Such good Muslims. Some Saudi Arabian men go to Bahrain or other countries to drink and enjoy the prostitutes.
Muriel
9:37 a.m. / Saturday, April 23, 2011
Muslim Brotherhood's zeal for Islamic Law based on the Saudi model is more likely than not to fizzle out no sooner than it is put in place. Sharia's thrust is on maximum promotion of virtue. The Saudi model is more rhetoric than substance. Egypt's top priority lies in embracing modern "rule-based democracy." Try it. This would weed out all corrupt elements. I will come back to you on how to proceed with Sharia in order to invoke divine blessings.
Sher Mohammad
1:38 a.m. / Saturday, April 23, 2011
There must be a separation of the Islamic Religion from the State in Egypt...or this whole uprising will have been in vain. Only in this way can Individual Freedom become a reality within the Islamic World.
Herodotus
1:36 a.m. / Saturday, April 23, 2011
It's always interesting that these Islamist parties and religious parties in general run based fear and punishment. Why can't they just say god loves everyone and we are going to treat everyone equally whether, Muslim, Christian, Hew, Hindu, etc. But it's always they want restrictions on people (especially women and other religions). They need to wake up and become apart of society and live together!!!!
Shaun
7:25 p.m. / Friday, April 22, 2011
Not a surprise. The Muslim Brotherhood has advocated these things (in Arabic) for years. But, the Obama Administration said such nice things (in English) about the Brotherhood. Was the Obama Administration... naive? ignorant? delusioned? Or, did they understand the Arabic and know exactly what was coming, but tell us something else in English? And if so, why?
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