Gama'at Al-Ikhwan: The true identity of the Muslim Brotherhood

In his new book Gama'at Al-Ikhwan, author Dr. Ahmed Mahmoud Karima unveils the Muslim Brotherhood as a purely political organisation with little commitment to Islamic jurisprudence

Gama'at Al-Ikhwan (“The Muslim Brotherhood Group”) written and published by Dr. Ahmed Mahmoud Karima, Cairo, 2014. pp.265.
Among the myriad books published dealing with the Muslim Brotherhood throughout Egyptian history, Dr. Ahmed Mahmoud Karima's Gama'at Al Ikhwan holds a special status by way of the author's profession as a professor of Islamic Sharia law at Al-Azhar University.
The author was keen to insert two appendices which lend credibility to his assertions. The appendices are two reports on books sent to him for review from the Center for Islamic Research in 1997. The books, entitled "From the Islamist Current to the People of Egypt" and "Role models on the Path of the Call" were penned by the late Mustafa Mashhur, once Supreme Guide of the Brotherhood. The appendices not only prove that Karima's views on the Brotherhood are long-established and are unrelated to their recent year in power, but they moreover address the consistency of his opinions on Islamicjurisprudence.
In the first chapter Dr. Karima asserts that Islam did not "come to establish a specific state because the system of government was left to custom without a religious commitment to a specific kind of regime.”
Karima further explains that “this statement is based on Sharia and holy texts, irrespective of jurisprudential independent judgments or opinions,” as “there is a [clear] difference between the Sharia with its holy scriptures and the Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) as a human understanding, which may be right or wrong, in light of the Sharia".
He adds that governing, whether in the Holy Quran or the prophet Mohamed'ssunnah(teachings and sayings), aims at ruling between the people, not judging over them. Moreover, governance is an Islamic judgment which is executed by society through its scientific, judicial and executive institutions "via a ruler who shouldn't necessarily be religious” as the state is but a part of social affairs, not religious ones.
He also affirms that there is no religious text which binds political governance to the caliphate system, as claimed by Brotherhood members and other Islamist groups. Karima asserts that this claim is a method to safeguard the Islamist desire to take care of society's affairs with politics. Thus, the notion of returning to a caliphate system is just a "marketing slogan for political groups and factions.” What is more important is that these groups and factions are well-aware of the social and political impossibility – internally and externally – of establishing such a system for which an initial need does not exist to begin with.
With a level of humbleness that bolsters the legitimacy of his assertions, Dr. Karima posits that his book is a modest contribution toward alerting readers to a better understanding of the relationship between religion and politics. It is also a warning against the role that violent religious groups can play through making it legal to dishonor citizens, spill blood and destroy property actions, actions which tarnish the true message of Islam.
In this context, the author devotes a chapter to the critique of Salafist currents, all of which agree on the concept of condemning those identified as “unbelievers.” In another chapter on the founding the Brotherhood, he speaks to the cases in which it was accused of committing assassinations and carrying out explosions during the decades stretching from the twenties of the last century until present-day. He tackles the Brotherhood's financial misfortunes, countries where the group invested its money, real estate possessions, recent deputy supreme guide Khairat El-Shater's financial holdings, Brotherhood ownership of Al-Taqwa Bank and tens of companies in commerce, investment, maintenance, land reclamation and tourism. All of these characteristics and historical events were meant to address the widespread presence of the Brotherhood and its cancerous growth.
The author also spends time addressing the increased presence of Salafists. Karima says the Salafists began treading the same path through founding "House of Business" as a developmental institution working in the field of "Halal" economy and other commercial enterprises after the 25 January Revolution. Dr. Karima also alludes to the role played by some financial Christian entities or subsidiaries to the Bohra sect which were recently buying real estate buildings in Old Cairo.
Perhaps the third chapter is the most significant in the book as the author deals with the Brotherhood's supposed dedication to Islamic jurisprudence. Karima writes that the group isn't devoted to religious advocacy as its founder claimed, but rather has been preoccupied with politics since its inception. For instance, the group supported King Farouk and defended him when all other political forces opposed him.
Within this context, certain subtopics within chapter three come alive. When he deals with "swearing allegiance,” for example, he refutes the existence of such a thing in Islamic Law, pointing out that the only entity Muslims swear allegiance to is theshahadawhich is the basis of Islam and states that there is no God but God and that Prophet Mohamed is his messenger. Moreover, he tackles the Supreme Guide position and the concentrated power he has within the group, criticising the fact that he is the sole source of commands and prohibitions and that he is regarded as a sacred figure according to the organisational hierarchy of the group.
The Supreme Guide exercised full command over the "special organisation" (i.e. armed branch) within the group which executed political assassinations and a number of explosions during the 40's of the last century and even attempted to assassinate former president Gamal Abdel-Nasser. Karima states that these actions classify the Brotherhood as a terrorist group according to Islamic Law.
Dr. Karima concludes with a chapter on the harms and effects of the group; where he discusses the intellectual violence which Sayyed Qutb injected into the group's literature. Qutb's views on violence were rooted in the belief that society and its rulers were all infidels, and as such, it was obligatory to fight them.
Overall, Gama'at Al-Ikhwan is a work in which Dr. Karima removes a shroud of commitment to Islamic Law that the Brotherhood has always hid behind and unveiled them as a purely political group with little interest in the teachings of Islam.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/112984.aspx