CAIRO: The banned-but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood (MB) group seeks to promote the Sharia, and the khilafa (Caliphate rule), without imposing financial or legal restrictions on Copts in Egypt, says Brotherhood-affiliated MP Hamdy Hassan. In a phone interview, Hassan told The Daily Star Egypt that the MB stance has always been clear. They have always said they want to abide by sharia, and I do not see how this contradicts with Coptic rights in Egypt, Hassan said. The khilafa has nothing to do with forcing extra taxation on Coptics .... This used to happen during the Islamic empire era which is totally different from the time we are living in now, Hassan said. On Monday, Jan. 15, the terrestrial Channel 2 popular magazine show El Beit Betak, hosted media experts who stated that Mohammed Habib, Deputy Leader of the MB, said in a previous interview that the banned group plans to impose extra taxes on Christians if it ever came to power. The Daily Star Egypt contacted Habib for a response, but he delegated Massoud El Sabahy, Brotherhood chief secretary, to speak for him. El Sabahy denied to The Daily Star Egypt that such as statement had ever been made by either Habib. He said: "No MB member has ever officially expressed such an opinion. What is being said is no more than lies and incorrect allegations. The Brotherhood was the first political bloc to be accused by the media of having an anti-Christian stance, despite the fact that they did not officially declare it on the record. According to Nabil Abdel Fattah, political analyst at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, "this is not new and is related to a long history which dates back to when the group was first established. "The Muslim Brotherhood has a negative attitude towards different racial, religious groups and women that is the result of their classical religious indoctrination, Abdel Fattah said. This position, according to Abdel Fattah, is due to their traditional style of reaching fatwas (religious edicts) which lacks democracy and is dominated old school members. Safwat Al-Baya, Head Priest of the Anglican Church, told The Daily Star Egypt that the Brotherhood principles set Muslims in charge of Christians and the presidency should always be in the hands of Muslims, which imposes a restriction on Christians. "I do not believe in a political party based on religion. that will only lead to sectarian and religious disputes and will destroy the concept of nationalism, Al-Baya added. What most observers and commentators seem to overlook is that it wasn't the MB that started this anti-Christian discourse. Mohamed Emara, an Islamic thinker not affiliated with the group, publicly declared this stance in two new books ( The Controversy Of Atheism and The Atheism Controversy Between Wahabis, Shia and Sufism ) published in monthly installments by the ministry of religious endowments. The writer, who is also not linked with Al Azhar, held extreme opinions regarding non-Muslims, accusing them of being atheists who should be treated financially and socially as such. Sheikh Mohmoud Ashour, former deputy head of Al Azhar and member of the Islamic Research Center, who often voiced his discontent with non-Azhar scholars publicizing their opinions on religious issues, does not however, consider Emara's opinion as a binding fatwa. He did not issue a fatwa, he just relayed the opinions of some Islamic scholars, Ashour told The Daily Star Egypt. He has apologized for any offense he may have caused and that's the end of it, Ashour said.
