500 Members Morsi Supporters Given Death Sentences

Editor’s Note: 529 members of the Muslim Brotherhood received a simultaneous death sentence in Egypt. The Prophet of Life gives us insight into this organization / movement that many in the West find mysterious.      Jacob Sladder

The Society of Muslim Brothers or as it’s known in the West The Muslim Brotherhood, is a Pan Islamic religious, political and social movement  founded in the 1920’s by Hassan al-Banna, a school teacher and Islamic scholar.

From the beginning its goal has been to make the Qur’an (The Bible of Islam) and Sunnah (other related writings by The Prophet Muhammad (PBH) , the focus of Muslim families, communities and governments. They also seek to have all laws in Islamic Nations follow what is in the Qur’an and Sunnah. This goal, is similar to Christian movements in the west who wish to have the New testament of the Holy Bible first for families, communities and in government. The Brotherhood also seeks to unite all of the world’s Islamic States and has set up branches in 20 different nations including most of the Arabic / Islamic nations.

In its early years, the brotherhood was primarily involved in preaching, teaching the illiterate to read and raising money to build hospitals. Later they opposed British rule and at first supported the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 but then were involved in assassination of the president who came to power after it. Egypt has, at various times, suppressed, banned or disbanded the organization for involvement in terrorist types of activity.

Many Westerners focus upon a part of the Brotherhood’s Credo “Jihad is our way”. Many people believe that Jihad means Holy War or Kill all Infidels. Actually Jihad, translated merely means struggle. In Islam, there are two types of Jihad, the inner struggle to find the path that teaches you to better know god and the outer struggle with the enemies of Islam. The outer struggle can include violence but it doesn’t have to. It can also take on the form of verbal and written discourse. Brotherhood members have been involved in violent acts but the movement itself has not publicly condoned violence for over 40 years.
The cause of the current conflict between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Military stems from the fact that the Freedom and Justice political party which had many brotherhood members on its candidate slates won 47% of the legislative seats in Egypt in recent elections making it the largest opposition party. Mohamed Morsi, the party’s Chair became the first freely elected Egyptian President in modern history was a member of this party.

In November 2012 Morsi decreed himself to have the power to invoke laws without judicial oversight or review. Mass protests began. Bowing to the pressure resulting from the protests, Morsi annulled his decree. Things calmed down for a while in Egypt. There were a series of power outages and fuel shortages across Egypt in June of 2013. Mass protests began across Egypt calling for Morsi to resign. In early July 2013 the Egyptian military removed him from power and placed him under house arrest. A council of his political rivals formally decided and declared him removed from office on July 3, 2013. Morsi supporters claim the shortages were engineered by rich Egyptians who prospered under the Mubarak Administration.

Besides removing Morsi, the military suspended the Constitution and dissolved Parliament. Protests engineered by the Muslim Brotherhood began immediately.

There have been reports of the Brotherhood targeting and destroying Egyptian Coptic Christian churches, schools, businesses and homes during the week of August

Since the 1970’s the Brotherhood has worked towards affecting political change by impacting the government through the ballot process. Brotherhood members have set up political parties which although somewhat independent from the Brotherhood, are often staffed by Brotherhood members. They have sought increased political freedoms in nations where they are curtailed and have come to accept democracy as a vehicle to achieve these freedoms.

The question arises, Will the Muslim Brotherhood now advocate violence? Probably not. It has too much to lose. A single act of violence called for on behalf of the Brotherhood would adversely affect its influence and even its survival not only in Egypt but also in the 20 nations where it has branches. There is a strong likelihood that most, if not all of the convictions will be overturned.

In True Faith,

The Prophet of Life

Copyright 2013, Love Force International Publishing. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.