EGYPT: Muslim Brotherhood insider writes tell-all book portraying group as secretive, bent on power

Record ID: 837220

  • Title: EGYPT: Muslim Brotherhood insider writes tell-all book portraying group as secretive, bent on power
  • Date: 21st February 2013
  • Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ONE OF SENIOR MEMBER OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, AND FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, KHAIRAT AL-SHATER GIVING NEWS CONFERENCE CAIRO, EGYPT (FILE) (REUTERS) ANTI-BROTHERHOOD PROTESTERS OUTSIDE OF PRESIDENTIAL PALACE PROTESTERS CHANTING 'DOWN WITH THE RULE OF THE SUPREME GUIDE! [OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD]' SUPPORTERS AND OPPONENTS OF EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT MOHAMED MURSI THROWING STONES AT EACH OTHER AMBULANCE ARRIVING AT SITE OF CLASHES MORE OF CLASHES
  • Embargoed: 8th March 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • City:
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Politics,Religion,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVAA48PVC2V4E4TGQXFIL7TMQ8OL
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Former senior Muslim Brotherhood official Tharwat Al-Kharabawy portrays the Brotherhood as secretive and bent on power in his tell-all book exposing the inner workings of the organisation that now dominates the Egyptian government.
    A tell-all book by a former senior member of Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood that portrays the organisation as secretive and power hungry has become a bestseller and placed the embattled group further on the defensive.
    'Secret of the Temple' by Tharwat al-Kharabawy hit bookshelves last November at the worst possible time for the Brotherhood.
    Egypt's economy is in freefall and a national dialogue intended to bridge deep political divisions is moribund. Many ordinary Egyptians are blaming the Brotherhood, and their perceived desire to dominate Egypt's nascent democratic landscape for the crisis.
    Kharabawy's book has only bolstered this perception. 'Secrets of the Temple', which won Best Political Book at the Cairo Book Fair, is Kharabawy's second memoir of his long years in the Brotherhood since he was expelled in March 2002 for allegedly disobeying then Spiritual Guide Ma'moun al-Hodiby.
    Several former senior Brotherhood figures, such as Mohamed Habib and former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Futouh have also spoken out about what they say is the Brotherhood's turn towards ideological fundamentalism.
    The follow up to 'Qalb al-Ikhwan' [the Heart of the Brotherhood], focuses on alleged secret contacts between the Brotherhood and the state, and what Kharabawy says is the Brotherhood's ruling clique's efforts to use the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak two years ago for their own ends.
    In Kharabawy's telling, the hardline faction of the group, led by Khairat al-Shater and Spiritual Guide Mohamed Al-Badie have won the battle for control of the Brotherhood and their agenda now weighs heavily on President Mohamed Mursi, the candidate they successfully ran for president.
    This clique, says Kharabawy, believe in the work of Sayyed Kutb, the puritanical theologian credited with influencing Jihadist movements worldwide, chapter and verse.
    Kutb's writings from an Egyptian jail in the 1950s and 60s helped spawn the global jihad of al Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.
    "They (Muslim Brotherhood) are not a moderate group, they believe that they can declare others apostates, and they believe that the society is made entirely of unbelievers. They believe that they must re-introduce Islam through their own beliefs and ideologies and that only those who are a member of their group are true Muslims. There were once divisions between us and another segment inside the Brotherhood -- we believed that the Brotherhood is only a means to advocate Allah, but they believed that it wasn't just a means but also an Islamic obligation that there exist a Brotherhood and that people join this Brotherhood," said Kharabawy.
    Current attempts to bridge the political divide between liberal and opposition forces and the brotherhood have failed, polarizing Egyptian society and leading to protests that have erupted in violence in recent months.
    The opposition have refused Mursi's offer of a national dialogue, accusing him of a lack of sincerity.
    The Brotherhood, which won parliamentary and presidential elections and pushed through a new constitution written by its backers, is determined to dominate Egypt's political scene says the opposition.
    Tharwat al-Kharabawy says the current deadlock is the natural result of the group's hegemonic political philosophy, which, he says, they keep hidden from the public in word, though not in deed.
    "(The Muslim Brotherhood) believes that they should defeat other powers and remove them. They do not believe that members in a society with different orientations can cooperate and work together, but that the Brotherhood alone can manage and there cannot exist earthly ideologies to control the Brotherhood," he said.
    The Brotherhood says that its offers of dialogue are sincere, and accuses the opposition, led by the National Salvation Front, of intransigence.
    The opposition, they say, are more interested in toppling a democratically elected president sowing chaos than exercising legitimate dissent.
    The disconnect between what the Brotherhood promises and actually does, is easily explainable says Kharabawy.
    The Brotherhood's promises to run a limited number of parliamentary candidates and not to contest the presidency were both broken because the group believes in the principle of Taqiya.
    They apply this principle, he says, under the philosophy that deception by those protecting the greater good is legitimate.
    "The philosophy of dissimulation is what pushes them to lie. Why does the Muslim Brotherhood lie? Is it because they believe lying to be an Islamic obligation? No. But they believe that the ends justify the means, they believe in the virtue of necessity, they believe that they are the Brotherhood of Islam and as they are the Brotherhood of Islam, they should be in power, using any possible means to get in to power - and not just to reach power but to remain in power," he said.
    President Mursi's inability to guide the ship of state to safe waters has led to widespread criticism in Egypt.
    It has also engendered speculation that he is controlled by Spiritual Guidance office and Brotherhood heavyweight and money-man, Shater, who are promoting the Brotherhood's interests over Egypt's.
    Kharabawy says this account is partially correct and that Mursi is a yes man with no real capacity for original ideas.
    But he also says that Mursi has also tried to create an independent power base to free him from Shater's control, and has sometimes promoted Shater's adversaries.
    "He is a superficial, uneducated man. His personality is one that executes only - meaning that he has spent his whole life being a tool for executing the orders of the Brotherhood leaders. He lacks the skills necessary for leadership and creativity," he says of Egypt's first freely elected president.
    Shater was the Brotherhood's original candidate for president before a decision by the Higher Electoral Commission disqualified him.
    Shater, says Kharabawy, is a man whose philosophy lends itself to violence and a desire to dominate at all costs, an analysis that will further concern those who see Shater as the real power behind the throne.
    The logical outcome of the the Brotherhood's secret agenda is the political and societal divisions and violence that Egypt has experienced since Mursi took over, says Kharabawy.
    Violent clashes between supporters and opponents of the Brotherhood have erupted intermittently since the battle over the Islamist-backed constitution.
    The Brotherhood blames the unrest on a campaign of sabotage by ex-regime supporters bent on stymieing the Islamist project.
    Kharabawy says Egypt's current state of crisis can't be solved with the brotherhood at the helm and there is worse to come.
    The Brotherhood undoubtedly has secret militias, he says, and the chaotic, hostile political atmosphere lends itself to an escalation in violence.
    "Egypt is in distress and the only way to overcome this period is for people to know the true identity of the Muslim Brotherhood and this is why I am eager to show this identity. There are, however, a lot of people who have become aware and the Brotherhood's popularity has decreased greatly. The fear is of their militias and their belief in the legality of doing anything to remain in power, like forgery, just as they forged the referendum. This increases anger in the streets and it will also lead to divisions in society, and it will lead to violence and assassinations during the coming period," he says.
    With Egypt's current political and economic crisis showing no signs of abating, Tharwat al-Kharabawy has found a receptive audience amongst a disillusioned and frightened public.
    And with 'Secret of the Temple' continuing to fly off of the shelves, Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi and his Brotherhood backers now have a formidable and informed critic to add to their woes.
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