The Sunni Islamic State terrorist group, in the latest edition of its propaganda magazine Dabiq, criticizes the Muslim Brotherhood organization for its alleged support of Shiite-led nations and the “pagan democratic religion.”
In its 14th edition, Dabiq features a 25-page article denouncing the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been listed a terrorist organization by several countries, as an “apostate” organization.
Both the Brotherhood and the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, are competing for Muslim followers. However, their approach to winning the hearts of other adherents of Islam differs.
ISIS uses violence, the so-called establishment of an Islamic caliphate, and propaganda. The Brotherhood seeks to get pro-Shariah politicians elected through the vote of the people while also employing force and infiltration.
Referring to the Brotherhood, the Islamic State writes in Dabiq: “Over the last few decades, a devastating cancer has emerged, mutated, and spread, attempting to drown the entire Ummah [Muslim community] in apostasy.”
The article notes that the Brotherhood, or MB, was founded in Egypt and has expanded into the West, namely the United States, Europe, and Australia, as well as other countries across the world.
ISIS describes MB’s religion as a combination of “various tenets and rites of democracy, liberalism, pacifism, and socialism borrowed from the pagans of the West and the East.”
“Its ultimate goal was to serve the short-term individual and partisan interests of its leaders and members,” declares Dabiq’s article. It would claim to be working for the implementation of Sharī’ah, the revival of khilāfah [caliphate], and the fulfillment of jihād, while waging war against Islam and the Muslims!”
Photographs of the Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi, the former president of Egypt, are found throughout the article.
In 2013, Morsi was removed from power by the Egyptian army, led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, following protests. Sisi is now president and Morsi is facing a death sentence for his alleged participation in a prison break linked to the revolution against Hosni Mubarak.
The article slams the MB organization for meeting with “tyrants” such as the supreme leader of Shiite powerhouse Iran and the former president of “Zionist” Israel.
ISIS accuses the Brotherhood of maintaining a close relationship with Shiite nations, primarily through Iran’s funding of the terrorist group Hamas.
It also criticizes MB for its alleged support of democracy, which the article describes as “a religion that gives supreme authority to people rather than Allah,” and constitutional government.
“In it, the right to legislate is distributed amongst mankind so that they thereby determine what laws are fit to be ruled by in the lands,” declares Dabiq, alluding to democracy. “If the majority decide sodomy is legal, it is legalized even though it contradicts Allah’s Sharī’ah.”
ISIS also vilifies MB’s alleged support of the “human rights” aspect of the “pagan democratic religion,” noting, “Despite the blatant contradiction these ‘rights’ represent to Islam, the Brotherhood does not rest in promoting them.”
ISIS ideological roots have been linked to the Brotherhood. The jihadist group was “birthed” from MB, declared an Egyptian official.
However, the organization has denied any association with ISIS and emphasizes that it is non-violent.
“Some regional branches of the group have expressed the aim of establishing a state based on Islamic principles and law,” notes Middle East Eye.
MB has been designated a terrorist organization by various nations, including Muslim-majority states like Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Nevertheless, the Obama administration has refused to join those countries. Republicans in Congress have taken steps to designate MB a terrorist group.
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