Mustafa Mashhur was in charge only 15 years ago, so this work cannot be written off so easily as an alleged relic of the Ikhwan's "past." Nonetheless, the Brotherhood, which railed against corruption in Mubarak's regime, is already putting its own inclination to lie and defraud on full display. If this work attracts sufficient attention now, will they throw it under the bus?
The title of Mashhur's book, by the way, comes from the Muslim Brotherhood's motto: "Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope." PMW provides the full translation in .pdf format and at the link immediately below. Their summary and significant quotations are reproduced here.
The translation of this work is a tremendous service by PMW. "Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Ideology: PMW translation of "Jihad Is the Way'," by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik for Palestinian Media Watch, December 4:
Central messages:
1- Muslims are "masters of the world"
2- Islamic nation's "rightful position... the teachers of humanity"
3- "There is no other option but Jihad for Allah
4- Fighting Israel is "Jihad against the criminal, thieving gangs of Zion"
5- Has the [Muslim] Brotherhood grown weary of the challenges, thrown down their guns and abandoned Jihad?!! No!"
The Muslim Brotherhood took first place in Egypt's first round of elections last week with 40% of the vote and the Salafist Islamists received 20%. In order to understand the implications, Palestinian Media Watch is redistributing our translation of the book Jihad Is the Way, written by Mustafa Mashhur, who was the official leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt 1996-2002. The book is the fifth volume of his work called The Laws of Da'wa (Islamic missionary activity).
In the book Jihad Is the Way the fundamental concepts of the Muslim Brotherhood ideology are explained, including, the Muslim Brotherhood's goal of establishing an Islamic state, world domination under Islam, the public and personal religious duty of military Jihad, and the necessity of timing the ultimate Jihad properly. The book warns Muslims not to rush to Jihad until Jihad is prepared and timed fully for maximum benefit. The current period is seen by the Muslim Brotherhood as one of obligatory preparation for that coming Jihad.
PMW has selected the following quotes from Jihad is the way to illustrate central ideas of Muslim Brotherhood ideology. PMW's translation of the book follows below.
Muslim Brotherhood goal: Islamic world domination
- "...the Islamic Ummah [nation]... can regain its power and be liberated and assume its rightful position which was intended by Allah, as the most exalted nation among men, as the teachers of humanity..."
- "...know your status, and believe firmly that you are the masters of the world, even if your enemies desire your degradation..."
- "It should be known that Jihad and preparation towards Jihad are not only for the purpose of fending-off assaults and attacks of Allah's enemies from Muslims, but are also for the purpose of realizing the great task of establishing an Islamic state and strengthening the religion and spreading it around the world..."
- "...Jihad for Allah is not limited to the specific region of the Islamic countries, since the Muslim homeland is one and is not divided, and the banner of Jihad has already been raised in some of its parts, and it shall continue to be raised, with the help of Allah, until every inch of the land of Islam will be liberated, the State of Islam will be established..."
Means: Jihad - a mandatory religious duty
-"Then comes the power of arms and weapons,... and this is the role of Jihad."
- "Jihad is a religious public duty... incumbent upon the Islamic nation, and is a personal duty to fend off the infidels' attack on the nation..."
- "And the youth should know that the problems of the Islamic world, such as Palestine, Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea, or the Philippines, are not issues of territories and nations, but of faith and religion. They are problems of Islam and the Muslims, and they can be resolved neither by negotiation nor by recognizing the enemy's right to the Islamic land he stole. Rather, the only option is Jihad for Allah, and this is why Jihad is the way."
- "The symbol of the [Muslim] Brotherhood is the book of Allah [the Quran] between two swords. The swords symbolize Jihad and the force that protects the truth represented in Allah's book."
- "...that is, go out to battle, oh believers, young and old, by foot or with animal, under all circumstances and conditions..."
Timing: Don't rush, prepare carefully for Jihad
- "... despite this, the [Muslim] Brotherhood is not rushed by youth's enthusiasm into immature and unplanned action which will not alter the bad reality and may even harm the Islamic activity, and will benefit the people of falsehood..."
- "... one should know that it is not necessary that the Muslims will repel every attack or damage caused by the enemies of Allah immediately, but [only] when ability and the circumstances are fit to it."
- "Prepare yourself and train in the art of warfare, and embrace the causes of power. You must learn the ways and manners and laws of war. You must learn them and embrace them and adhere to them, so that your Jihad will be the one accepted by Allah."
- "... there exists an unavoidable personal duty for every Muslim to equip himself and prepare and gear-up towards Jihad..."
Personal goal: Aspire to Shahada - Death for Allah
- "Allah is our goal, the Prophet is our leader, the Quran is our constitution, the Jihad is our way, and the death for Allah is our most exalted wish."
- "The Jihad is our way and death for Allah is our most exalted wish, this is the call which we have always called, ... Many of our beloved ones have already achieved this wish, ... We ask Allah to accept all of them,... and may He join us with them ..."
Jihad against Israel:
- "Honorable brothers have achieved Shahada (Martyrdom) on the soil of beloved Palestine, during the years 47' and 48', [while] in their Jihad against the criminal, thieving, gangs of Zion. The Imam and Shahid (Martyr) Hassan Al-Banna is considered as a Shahid (Martyr) of Palestine, even if he was not killed on its soil."...
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Mustafa Mashhur was in charge only 15 years ago, so this work cannot be written off so easily as an alleged relic...
Mustafa don't need to worry. He can lay back on his Jannat-like throne, knowing full well ain't nobody gonna axe that his writings be reconciled to our current policy. Nobody anywhere near the visible center of the news entertainment bandwidth pipe, at least.
The Muslim Brotherhood took first place in Egypt's first round of elections last week with 40% of the vote and the Salafist Islamists received 20%.
When the Mo-Bro-Hood is cast into the role of the moderates, you know trouble is cooking. Big trouble. Bad seed = bad produce. This agrarian ain't optimistic.