Muslim Brotherhood and the Upheavals in the Middle East

 by Prof. Gabriel Sawma

 The most important figure of Muslim Brotherhood since its establishment in 1928 is the writings of a long dead Egyptian Muslim scholar called Sayyid Qutb (1906-66). Outside the Muslim world, he remains virtually unknown, yet he has been cited as the figure that has most influenced al-Qaida leaders namely, Usama Bin Ladin and Dr. Anwar al-Zawahiri.

Sayyid Qutb is considered a prominent figure in the development of Jihadi Salafi ideology; born in a slum area along the Nile Valley, in Egypt, and enjoyed both Western and Islamic education, a typical background for a modern-day jihadist intellectual. His major influential work among the Muslim population is Ma'alim fil Tariq or Milestones on the Road.  Sayyid Qutb was accused of trying to overthrow the government of Nasser and subsequently executed in 1966.

Qutb is regarded as the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood; he argued that Islam is the religion of the whole universe and that Islamic Sharia and the spiritual principles of the Quran, should be the law governing the universe. He labels the West as "jahiliyya" or ignorant of the law of Allah, and argues that a true Muslim would be rejecting his God if he obeys any man-made government and its laws. He argues that the false gods of the Muslims living in the United States would be the President, Congress, Supreme Court, and the Constitution which empowers them. According to Qutb, a Muslim cannot serve Allah alone if he acknowledges the authority of Western institutions (jahili).

Sayyid Qutb refused to recognize the doctrine of separation of religion and state; he claimed that Muslims who abide by man-made laws, such as the U.S. Constitution, will be unable to share Islamic relationships with fellow Muslims because of the doctrine of Separation. He called for the establishment of Islamic Sharia for the Muslim community everywhere they are found, and use their utmost to convert others to Islam. He claimed that secular constitutions restrict the faith of Islam, and inevitably, there will be a conflict between the demands of Western governments and Islam. He said a true Muslim living in the West is not free to serve his God because he has to live by man-made laws and recognize their authority instead of God's law represented by the Islamic sharia. Qutb concludes the West will be destroyed from within because of its lack of spiritual values, and will inevitably be eclipsed by a more superior civilization of Islam.

So what makes Muslim Brotherhood and Sayyid Qutb so popular in the Arab world? To answer this question, one has to look in the state of affair in the Middle East and the history of the Arab peoples after the eclipse of the Ottoman Empire following World War I.

The collapse of the Ottoman Empire was a setback to Sunni Muslims in the Middle East; they constitute more than eighty-five percent of the Muslim population, worldwide. The Ottoman Empire was a symbol of political and theological unity of Islam. The Ottoman Sultan was political as well as Caliph, or religious leader for the Muslims. That position of the Sultan disappeared to be ushered into the era of nation-states in the region, and the independence of the Arab states, each having its own political leader and a mufti for the republic or monarchy.

In 1924, the position of the Caliph was abolished by Turkish leader, Kamal Ataturk. That position was as important to Sunni Muslims as is the pope for the Catholics. Until 1924, the Sultan was the Caliph of all Muslims; he was assisted by one mufti for the Empire.

Additionally, Ataturk, closed the traditional religious schools and abolished Islamic Sharia; veiling of women were officially discouraged, Western clothing for men and women were encouraged and Western calendar was adopted to replace Islamic calendar. New civil, commercial, and penal codes based on European models were adopted. A new civil code ended Islamic polygamy and divorce and introduced a new civil marriage code. New Turkish alphabet modified after Latin, replaced the Arabic alphabet, the language of the Quran. Islamic call for prayer and public reading of the Quran required being in Turkish rather than Arabic. Women were given right to vote and right to hold office, Sunday was adopted as legal weekly holiday instead of Friday and the Westernization process of Turkey began. As a result of all these and many other changes, Turkey became a secular state.

Such changes were seen by the Muslim population in the Middle East and North Africa as being taken under  Western influence and do not comply with Islamic sharia. In 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwan al-Muslimeen Movement) was established. Following the independence of the states in the Middle East and North Africa, every constitution of these states contains provisions stating that Islam is the religion of the state and Islamic sharia is the source law. Among all these states, only Lebanon and Turkey have no such provisions.

In the Egyptian Parliamentary elections in December 2005, Islamic Brotherhood Movement increased its presence in Parliament five-fold. The goal of the Movement is to utilize democracy to gain a majority in the elections in order to implement Islamic sharia as the law of the land. Muslim Brotherhood has the potential to take over every single state in the Middle East and North Africa and enforce Islamic sharia as Sayyid Qutb saw it.



Gabriel Sawma is a lawyer with Middle East background. Professor of Middle East Constitutional Law, Islamic sharia, and Islamic economics. Expert consultant on Islamic law. Editor in chief of International Law blog, http://www.gabrielsawma.blogspot.com; Lecturer on Islamic economics, http://www.islamiceconomics101.com; Author of “The Aramaic Language of the Qur’an, http://www.syriacaramaicquran.com; Email: gabrielsawma@yahoo.com; Tel. (609) 915-2237.

Article Source: http://www.articlesphere.com/Article/Muslim-Brotherhood-and-the-Upheavals-in-the-Middle-East/251754

North Korea: Ally of US Enemies in Middle East

by Marianne B. Conway

 North Korean Nuclear, Missile, Arms & Engineering Sales to Iran/Hezbollah/Syria:

North Korea has long sold weapons to Iran, a relationship which has reportedly developed into mutual development of missile and nuclear technology, along with North Korean support to Hezbollah (often spelled "Hizballah" by the U.S. government), the terrorist group and Iranian proxy force, and Hamas, rulers of the Gaza strip and practioneers of terrorism.

North Korea has also sold its expertise in special operations and underground facilities, long used against U.S. and RoK forces in Korea, to these clients, helping Hezbollah achieve unexpected success in its 2006 war with Israel. The North Korean/Iran relationship has also included Syria, and Pyongyang has had substantial dealings with Pakistan and Egypt, among others.

"Evidence appeared in the form of several intercepted shipments of North Korean arms bound for Iran in 2009," the Congressional Research Service (CRS) reported in 2010. "Three vessels were intercepted, which contained North Korean weapons that Western intelligence and Israeli intelligence officials and non-government experts believe were bound for Hezbollah and Hamas, terrorist groups on the official U.S. list of international terrorist organizations. The largest of these shipments was aboard a ship that was searched in Dubai before departing for Iran in July 2009. All three ships contained North Korean components for 122 mm Grad rockets and rocket launchers.

The shipment intercepted in Dubai contained 2,030 detonators for the Grad rockets and related electric circuits and solid fuel propellant for rockets. The 122 mm rockets have a range of about 25 miles. Iran, particularly the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is known to have supplied significant quantities of these rockets and rocket launchers to Hezbollah and Hamas, which have frequently fired them into Israel."

The report went on to note that in late 2009, tons of North Korean weapons including rocker launchers and surface-to-air missile parts were interpreted at a Thai airport, apparently on the way to Iran.

These reports are important to bear in mind as the United States increases pressure on Iran over its nuclear program. The Iranian/North Korean relationship may allow unexpectedly rapid development by one or both of the partners as they share information and best practices. In addition, it is known that both nations have highly sophisticated defenses against likely attack, from the U.S. and South Korea in the case of North Korea, and the U.S. and Israel in the case of Iran.

However, the full extent of these defensive positions may be underestimated, especially by those unfamiliar with the sometimes astonishing capability of North Korea to create underground facilities, including factories and even airfields. The nation was subjected to massive bombing during the 1950-3 Korean War, and its leaders determined that they would do everything possible to reduce the importance of America's air superiority in any future campaign.

Finally, the strength of these nations in special operations and their potential cooperation in this arena as well certainly increases concerns about a competent and perhaps even surprising counter-attack in the event of preemptive action by the West, as well as the potential of even more sophisticated terrorist tactics.

For example, there is evidence North Korea has trained Iranian operators in advanced infiltration techniques honed in decades of operations against U.S. and South Korean forces in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).



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For untold stories of the Korean Demilitarized Zone and  U.S./North Korean incidents there, check out www.dmzwar.com

Article Source: http://www.articlesphere.com/Article/North-Korea--Ally-of-US-Enemies-in-Middle-East/338796