The Devil We Don't Know by Nonie Darwish Read Free Book Online

are either illiterate or semi-educated. That fact alone will put three-quarters of the population in the pocket of the Islamists, because these masses do not read Islamic scriptures and so rely on and believe what their religious leaders tell them. A recent poll conducted before the revolution found that more than 75 percent of Egyptians wanted to live under Islamic law. It is not a great leap to say that most of these Egyptians fall into the illiterate or semi-educated majority. Being pro-sharia clearly means pro-Islamism, and because they are the larger majority of Egyptians by far, it is hard to imagine how freedom or democracy will arise now or in the near future in Egypt. What makes the situation even grimmer is the fact that the remaining 25 percent includes the oppressed Christian Copts, who are 10 percent of the Egyptian population. As to the other 15 percent—those who would rather see a secular government—they have been overpowered and silenced, and, as I mentioned earlier, they dare not publicly say that sharia must be taken out of the Egyptian constitution. The possibility that Egypt will gradually turn into a theocracy similar to that of Iran is a more likely scenario.
    The truth is that the Muslim Brotherhood exerts influence whether or not it is legal or in power. The Brotherhood represents true Islam in the eyes of the average Egyptian, and that is how it maintains its authority. The Brotherhood wants to enforce sharia, and that is what Islam mandates. Whether we like it or not, an Islamic state (the Ummah) is what Islamic theory aims for, with a final objective of ruling the world under a one-party Islamic Ummah. The Brotherhood's goals, in that sense, are the same as those of al Qaeda. The new interim leader of al Qaeda, Saif Al-'Adl, has credited his organization with exposing the true face of recent Arab and Muslim rulers to the Arab masses and empowering them to rise up against their oppressive regimes. He has also stated that al Qaeda is working to inspire the Ummah, to incite it to wage war, and to act as a vanguard for it in this blessed jihad to weaken the greatest idol (the West). From there on, the Ummah will rise up and liberate itself from the idols that weigh heavily on its soul (that is, the Arab rulers).
    Whether it is al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, Jamaat Islamiyya, the Taliban, or even the radical Salafi sect, these Islamist groups have no problem with using violence, harsh punishment, and terror to achieve their goal, since this is allowed under sharia. Their goal is clearly stated in Muslim scriptures, and these groups take scriptures very seriously. Some are more violent than others, and some go through periods of image rehabilitation, if necessary, but what they never give up on is their divine goal.
    The Muslim Brotherhood has committed violence from its inception and has attempted and succeeded in many assassinations of Egyptian leaders, creating fear and chaos in all aspects of society. It has also inspired and brought to life many other radical and terrorist groups, including al Qaeda itself.
    After the worldwide condemnation of Islamist groups, especially after 9/11, the Muslim Brotherhood has found it convenient to try to rehabilitate its image so that it can rise to political power. Because other groups that the Brotherhood gave birth to, such as al Qaeda, were already doing the dirty work of terror on the Brotherhood's behalf, the Brotherhood started to promote itself as a nonviolent pro-democracy group. Even the U.S. director of national intelligence James Clapper described the group as “largely secular,” disregarding its stated Islamist goal as summarized in its emblem, which has two swords (a symbol of Islamic conquests) and in its center the words Wa Aiddou , which in Arabic means “and prepare.” 2 These are the first two words at the beginning of one of the most violent verses in the Koran, commanding Muslims to commit terror: Koran 8:60,