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 THE WEST IN THE EYES
OF THE EGYPTIAN ISLAMIO
IIOVEMENT

Publisher
UMMAII PRESS SERl71CE

- 24 DIGLA ST., OFF SIlIAB ST., . MOIIANDESSEEI' . FLAT 9.• TEL 708556
- - - - -- -
 A .VORD nw.u THE PUBLISHER

Thill translation of a scholarly study is offered in the framework of the

task we have set to ourselves since we started our publishing house to act
as a bridge between our Arab-Islamic culture and the cultures of the West
and the East in che belief that civilizations should not clash bur should meet
and know each other in tolerance and withournegating each other.

The writer, Ibrahim Ghanem, is a specialist in polictical sciences who

is currently engaged in writing a doctoral dissertation at Cairo University's
Faculty of the Economy and Political Sciences. The topic of his disseration
for the Master of Political Seience Degree in 1990 was "The Political
Thought of Imam Hasan Al Banna ", the founder of the Moslem
Brotherhood movement.

We view this study as a must for any foreign student of the culture and
the politics of Egypt and the Arab world and we recommend it for ics
objectivity which is certainly different from the common biases, destortion
and undue generalization found in many creatments of this topic either in
Egypt or abroad.

January, 1994
 'I1IE WEST IN TOE EYES OF TOE
EGYPTIAN ISLAMIC MOVEMENT
INTRODUCTION

The West, In all its dimensions, represents a major problematic for the
contemporary Islamic movement and for various and divergent reasons mostly of a
dualistic character that makes of the West and of the Islamic Movement two
irreconcileable poles. In fact, as the West is a problematic for the Islamic movement so is
the latter for the West. Each cannot become the other or, as the famous English poet
Rudyard Kipling put it:"East is East and West is West and the twain shall
never meet".
In essence, the problem between the two is not new but a continuation of the tradition
of competitive relations between the Islamic and the Western civilization. This
competition is a law implanted by God in his creation so that life can be renewed and can
go on. We read in a verse of the Cow Sura in the Holy Quran :"And did not God
check one set of people by means of another, the earth would indeed be
full of mischief; but God is full of bounty to all the world."

From the perspective of he relationship of the "ego" to the "Other", the Islamic
movement's relationship to the other in general and to the major other- the West - in
particular is experiencing a great deal of attention focused on its various philosophical,
intellectual, cultural, and political aspects. It can be safely said that this relationship has
become the object of intense research within a comprehensive framework of histrorical
roots, factual data, and future prospects.

However, the prevailing conception of writers and researchers, both here and
ahroad , about the Islamic movement's view of the West and its general perccption of it is
one that tends to be reductionist, partial , and deformed . This comes from the
consolidation of preconceptions and subjective impressions that are being given a
scientific colouring. This prevailing conception is selective and accusatory rather than

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TIlE WEST IN TIlE EYES OF TIm EGYPTIAN ISLA1UIC IUOVEMENT

 investigative and meticulous. It does not observe justice and directness III the
generalization of results or the making of concl usions.

The common belief of those who study the Islamic movement from the angle of its
view of the West is that this view is naive, partial, superficial, and lacking in
understanding. It is obsessed by rejectionism, hostility, and the feverish desire to clash
with the West with the aim of excluding or taking revenge upon it or even destroying it if
it can do so.

We have a different opinion and think that the Islamic movement has a complex and
comprehensive view of the West though this may not be formulated in a complete or
well-integrated theory. It has multi-planer positions vis-a-vis the West and these develop
with the changes of the social, political, and international conditions. We also believe that
the Islamic movement itself has had a share in the emergence of the reductionist
conception about its view of the West by falling short of the task of founding its view of
the surrounding world, including the Western Other. However, the larger share in this
responsibility lies with the writers and researchers who have differences with that
movement of whatever kind.

The main goal of this study is to ascertain the various dimensions of the term "West"
and to analyze the components of that term as conceived by the Egyptian Islamic
movement. It is beyond the scope of the study to deal with the Western view of the
movement though it is difficult to completely separate the two views from each other
because the conception each side has of the other must reflect the view that this side itself
has of the first party. All that can be said here is that the Western view of the Islamic
movement forms a separate research topic that cannot be investigated within the scope of
this study.

The topic of the present paper falls within a fi eld of research that is still unexplored in
Arab and Islamic academic circles; namely, to study the West from a "non'Western"
perspective or to view the "Other" from the independent cultural perspective that takes
recourses to the Islamic reference point refusing to denigrate its predecessors or to
abandon the heritage of its nation irrespective of the other's view of it or what that other

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UMIUAD PRESS SERVICE

-------------------------------------- -----------------
propagates about the whole question.

The Islamic movement- defined in terms of this paper as including three groups in
Egypt: The Muslim Brotherhood, Jihad Group, and the Islamic Group (AI Gama' Al
Islamia) represents the model of the "ego" that identifies with the Islamic cultural heritage
in the widest sense(l) and that engages in a competitive relationship with the West along
with its different cutlural heritage that, in the final analysis, has been the result of the
experience of the society there in its various historical eras.

In our estimate, study of the view of the Islamic movement, in Egypt and in other
places, of the West should lead to deepening the awareness of the "ego" in the face of the
other. For, in its origin, development, and scope of intellectual and practical activities that
movement expresses a critical position of unyielding to the supremacy of the Western
other and refusal to be overwhelmed by any of the political military, or cultural aspects of
its life.

It should be noted that the multiplicity of terms used to refer to "Islamic renaissance"
creates a good deal of confusion and controversy in the acadamic circles studying that
phenomonon(2) .

Consequently in the first part to follow we will define and delineate the concept of the
"Islamic Movement" by placing it in the framework of an integrated system of concepts
and terms used to denote one or another aspect of the contemporary Isalmic renaissance.
We will then briefly deal with the origins of the movement's view of the West to clearly
see why that question has so deeply penetrated the movement's consciousness in the
manner that its political and intellectual discourse betrays. This will be the concern of the
second part. In the third part we deal with the dimensions of the West as that movement
sees it whether with regard to the implications of the concept "the West" or the issues that
this concept raises for them. In the fourth part we will devote discussion to the future of
the West in the movement's view within its view of the future of the world under Islam.
The study concludes with a number of relevant observations.

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TIm WEST IN TIlE EYES OF TIlE EGYPTIAN ISIAJUIC lUOVOmNT

 (I) DEFINING THE ISLAMIC MOVEMENT
Writers, researchers, and media personalities use many terms to denote the" Ismalic
Revival" witnessed by variours Islamic societies, with Egypt leading the way. Among
these terms, for instance, there are" The Islamic Awakening, Islamic Return to the Past,
Islamic Fundamentalism, Religious Protest, Political Islam, Militant Islam, etc.
It is legitimate to inquire about the cause or causes that led to the emergence of that
relatively large number of terms, about the sources that coin them and the content and
denotations of each term. We have also to inquire about the frame of reference of each.
In fact, a detailed answer to these queries would make a separate field of research that
is not the object of this present paper. It is enough to say in this context that there are
some internal causes in the heart of the activities of Islmic revival that have led to the
emergence and the multiplicty of various terms to denote it such as "Looking to the early
practice of Islam", "Awakening", "Renewal", "Reform", etc., all followed by the epithet
"Islamic". There are also external causes alien to the inner logic of the revival and its
action mechanisms that have, in tum, led to the emergence of a set of terms to denote its
various aspects such as "fundamentalism", "extremism", "violence", or "traditionalism",
- also with the epithet "Islamic" attached in most cases.
To be accurate, each term should be investigated in the light of the social and
historical context in which it emerged and in relation to the source which coined it as well
as its belonging to a definite frame of reference. In this way, the purpose of each term
will become clear and its meaning will be consistently shown.
In the light of the above, the multiplicity of terms used to denote Islamic revival does
not become an indication of conceptual chaos or a proof thereof but, as we see it, it is an
expression of the fact of variety and plurality in the revival activities and of the difference
in the angles of considering them.
In this context it is our concern to huild up an integrated structure of these varous
concepts and terms so that it can be more capable of monitoring, analyzing , and
interpreting the various sides and aspects of Islamic revival. These terms will be
coordinated according to the content they have and in a manner that gradually moves from
the general to the particular and from the original to the peripheral- citing instances from
the Egyptian experience. We will end with the classification of the key descriptive terms

UMMAD PRESS SER''ICE

that are often erroneously employed to denote revival as a monolith.
Our system starts with the central term of Islamic Revival which indicates the various
activities, acts, modes of behaviour, and ideas that aim at revitalizing the Islamic values,
principles and criteria -that the Muslims have departed or have heen kept away from-
through the assimilation of their meanings and incorporating them in daily conduct and
practices and in systems of social, economic, and legal life within the conditions of
contemporary reality. The tendency to Islamic revival is tied to the process of
re-discovery by the Muslims of their identity and confirming it in the face of current
challenges topped by the Western challenge. Hence, the revival includes all aspects of
"Renaissance" on an Islamic basis whether in the spheres of knowledge, or
jurisprudence, or culture, or politics, or the patterns of life and daily behaviour both on
the individual and collective levels.
Those who are involved in the revival processes on their various levels represent a
trend that broadens or narrows in accordance with the conditions of each society. It is
here that the term of "the Islamic Trend" emerges which denotes a number of sub-trends
and groups that all make up the social body of the trend of Islamic revival. When the
activities, bodies, and organizations of the Islamic trend become active, each in its
domain, the overall outcome is what is usually described as the "Islamic Awakening",

ISIAMlC REVJVAL

ISIAMlC TREND

ISlAMIC MOVEMFNf

I 1,I.mic 1.1<11"1111 Omcial [go,mm'.lj bodi.~

I I societies , and Islamic
Trtnd
R".I'lioll., R.ronDisl • An Elile of Iodeptoclenl iDStitutioD5j IDd semi· official
Tread Trtad Dies
•lbe Jihad Grru~ - lbe Muslim {AI Azhar, the SufiOld",-lhe Shari',
•The bbmic Grrup. BrlXbe!bood ~.

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TIlE WEST IN TIlE EYES OF TIlE EGYPTIAN ISLAIUIC MOVEMENT

"the Islamic Resurrection ", or "the Islamic Revival" as an umbrella term.
Applied to Egypt, this pattern can be summed up in the following diagram:

It is our view that every group, body, or institution, or party undertakes one task or
more of the tasks of Islamic revival in the various fields and levels mentioned above. The
sociologist would examine the streams and groups of the Islamic trend as representing a
"religious social movement" or a puritanical movement while political experts and security
people would see it as an "extremist movement". Western writers and researchers- as well
as the secularists in Muslim societies- would describe it as "Islamic fundamentalism".
We, on the other hand, would describe it as an Islamic movement active in the sphere of
Islamic revival.

The answer to the question of how the Egyptian Islamic movement describes or
defines itself can be found, as we now tum, in the writings and documents of the three
movements whose view of the West we are examining: The Mulsim Brotherhood, Jihad,
and the Islamic Group.

THE SOCIETY OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

Documents of the group and writings by its leaders and intellectuals stress that it is an
Islamic group that comprises all aspects of reform launching from a comprehensive
understanding of Islam that covers all aspects of life. Its founder, Imam Hasan Al Banna,
defined it by saying:" The Muslim Brotherhood are a Salafi [looking to the early practice
of Islam] call, a Sunni [following the steps of the Prophet], a Sufi fact. a political body, a
sports band, a cultural and scientific association, an economic company, and a social
idea. ,,(3) He also described the Muslim Brotherhood or the Ikhwan as a "new spirit that
sprcads in the hearl of this nation revitalizing it with the Ouran. ,,(4)

The Ikhwan have always been careful to stress that they are "a group of Muslims"
and not "the group of Muslims" as there is a clear and great difference berween the two.
The most recent definition of the group is that made by one of its leaders on the eve of the
People's Assembly elections in 1987. The Deputy General Guide of the Ikhwan, Mostafa

L~DIAD PRESS SERVICE

-
Mashhour, defined the "Islamic Trend" by saying(5):" The Islamic trend we mean is not
confined to the Ikhwan but it takes in every Muslim, male or female, who knows the
meaning of his belonging to Islam and who is aware of the duties Islam lays on him. This
impels him to act and move along with the sincere workers to realize the principles of
Islam regardless of his position."

The Society of the Muslim Brotherhood is the largest group on the Islamic movement
scene in Egypt at present as well as the oldest and the most popular. It has behind it a
long experience in educational work and social and cultural activities as well as political
reform (more than half a century). It has a comprehensive Islamic vision and a project for
renaissance with a scope engulfing the whole world. This is concluded in a method that is
both thorough as well as gradualist and moderate relying on the "golden mean". It must
be mentioned that a basic motive behind the group's emergence has been the reaction to
the Western challenge to Muslim societies, with Egypt at the forefront, particularly after
the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate and the completion of European control over the
Islamic world. Thus, as far as its view of the West is concerned, the group's heritage
goes back to more than six decades which is a relatively long period by the standards of
contemporary Islamic movement. Neither the Jihad nor the Islamic Group have existed
for that long and this time span should be taken into consideration in evaluating the
contribution of each group to our topic as well as to others.

THE JIHAD GROUP AND THE ISLAMIC GROUP

These emerged during the seventies(6) under historical and social circumstances
differing from those under which the Muslim Brotherhood emerged in the late twenties.
Both these groups have become distinguished from each other more clearly after the
assassination of President Sadat in 1981. In the mid-eighties the differences became even
more accentuated. Such differences are organizational or methodological more than
intellectual or relating to objectives and frame of reference.

Both groups concur in criticizing the Muslim Brotherhood to the extent of dismissing

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TIlE WEST IN TIlE EYES OF TIlE EGYPTIAN ISLUIIC IHOVElUENT

its views and condemning its various positions and policies particularly vis-a-vis the
authorities and the existing regime. In this later case they have a position ranging from
the coup approach - change from above- to the revolutionary course or change through
the radicalization of the masses. The main feature of their activities is secrecy. Society
only knows of either on the occasion of an armed act of violence - like the assassinatin of
a government official, a clash with the security forces, an attack on foreign tourists, arson
of night clubs, etc. The media usually describes them as "extremists".

The Jihad Group describes itself by saying that it was based on the two ideas of
Salafism [imitation of the original Islamic model] and Jihad [holy strugglej<7) . The group
further says that its current organization is based on three fundamentals; the "Idea" which
has been crystallized by Mohamad Abdel Salam Farag in his "The Absent Duty ", the
"Plan" laid down by Aboud AI Zomor, and the "Fatwas" passed by Sheikh Omar Abdel
Rahman and which confer Islamic legality.(8)

The group variously describes the characteristics of their movement as "doctrinal",

"Godly" , "Salafi", "revolutionary", "scientific", and "universal,,(9) . They define the
movement of Islam itself as a "movement which corrects the path of humanity because it
is the extension of the movements of Prophets and Messengers on the face of the earth
from Adam till the Last Prophet [i.e. Mohamad].(lO)

As for the Islamic Group, it introduces itself in these terms: "It is the mature Islamic
trend that has emerged in the early seventies and had a pioneering role in spreading the
correct Islamic concept. It eventually became the largest real opposition to the Sadat
regime and Camp David ,,(11). The group also says that it "understands Islam in its
comprehensiveness" and that this understanding dictates to it to take part in all activities
and fields- political, social, and economic- in the service of the Call provided these do not
contradict Islam.c 12) But there is no felt impact of this participation that the group speaks
about and there are no effects of it in the Egyptian social and economic reality unlike the
acts the group carries out, or that are allributed to it, in the successive events of political
violence.

The group has a book entitled The Charter of Islamic Action in which it set

UMMAD PRESS SER''1CE

down the outlines of its thought and methods along nine axes: "Our Aim , Our
Understanding, Our Objectives; Our Way, Our Thoughts; Our Loyalities. Our Hostility.
Our Association,,(13).

Up till now neither the Jihad Group nor the Islamic Group has succeeded in getting
rid of their clandestine nature and becoming a popular movement that attracts the masses
from various classes of Egyptian society as is the case for the Muslim Brotherhood
Group that actively participates in public life as is evident in its political activities (alliance
with parties, contesting elections, etc.) and actions in the professional syndicates and
student unions and the university staff clubs in addition to different economic. social,
educational, and service activities.

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Tim WEST IN TIm EYES OF Tim EGYPTIAN ISLUIIC IUOVEMENT

 01) 11IE ORIGINS OF 11IE ISLAMIC MOVEMENT'S
VIEW OF TIlE \VEST
The Islamic movement bases its view of the west on a religious foundation in the
framework of its understanding of Islam as a complete way of life from which a
comprehensive vision of the universe, life, man, and the world emanates. Within this
total vision springing from Islam, the West is like all other things, in the light of the
principles, criteria, and tenets drawn from the Islamic conception. The movement takes
the facts of history and the record of relations between the Islamic world and the West as
a source for adducing proofs and evidence to the soundness of its view and position on
the various aspects of the West.

This applies to the three groups- the Brotherhood(14), the Jihad, and the Islamic
Groups- which base their view on the West on doctrinal fundamentals and rely on the
"record of history" in their explanation and exposition of this view. Moreover, the events
and conditions of contemporary reality forces these groups to devote great attention to the
West in its various dimensions and "The Creed", "history", "reality" are never absent
from the mind of the three groups as they form their position on the West thought each
differs from the others in understanding, in drawing conclusions, and in the adoption of
practical positions. In what follows we will deal in some detail with the "doctrical
fundamental as" leaving the record of history and the pressures of facts to be dealt with in
the context of the third part which is devoted to analyzing the dimensions of the West as
the movement views it.

THE DOCTRINAL fUNDAMENTALS

We said that the Islamic movement bases its view of the world, and the West is part
of it, on a doctrinal, religious foundation. There are four basic concepts that playa
determining role in the formulation of this view. These concepts are:

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L'MIUAD PRESS SERVICE

 1- Universality: This is a characteristic of the Islamic message; for Islam is a
religion for all of humanity and for all people. In the Quran God said: " Say, 0
people, I am the Messenger of Allah to all of you." CAl A'raf Sura; from verse 158).
This universality makes it incumbent upon the Muslims to deliver it to every human being
on earth.

2- The Unity of Uumunlty: This unity has two bases; the relationship of
kin that sees all mankind as descending from one father and one mother and the
creatureliness which makes of all of them the creatures of the One, Almighty God.

3- Jlhod: This is a wide concept and stuggle for the way of God is only one of its
meanings. It is the equivalent to spreading the call by argument and proof so that it
reaches all the people. It does not at all include forcing the people to accept or embrace
this call because God said:" Let there is no compulsion in religion. The
reasonable way has become distinguished from misguidedness." CAl Baqara
Sura. From verse 265).

<t- The LeBdersbip of the World Under IslllDlic Peoce: This

means that the Islamic nation is a pioneer and leader of the world. Then the world will be
blessed with Islamic peace under the shade of which all will live in security enjoying
various liberties foremost of which is religious freedom provided they do not spread
corruption in the world or encroach upon the weak.

An analysis of these four concepts as they are found in the documents and the
writings of the Egyptian Islamic movement, which is the topic of this study, proves that
the West in the movement's view is the object of action, the field of effort, and the place
of spreading the call as well as Jihad to free the world of corruption so that the word of
God will be uppermost and there prevail justice and faith in God altogether and
everywhere.

The Muslim Brotherhood have been the first to revive these concepts and advocate
them since they were established in the late twenties. Imam Hasan AI Banna says, "The
Holy Quran makes of the Muslims stewards of the unaware humanity and gives them the

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TIlE WFST IN TIlE EYES OF TIm EG"l'PTIAN ISLAltlie lUOVElUENT

•
right of control and sway over the world in the service of this nobles stewardship. Thus ,
this is our affair not that of the West and of the civilization of Islam not of the civilization
of materialism. "CI5) He also says: "As for humanity or universality this is our highest goal
and greatest object and the final link in the chain of reform "CI6).

Both Jihad and the Islamic Group have similar statements to the same effect. Jihad
makes it a prime characteristic of its identity that it is a "doctrinal movement that believes
in God and disbelieves in tyranny seeking to realize this in reality by all Sharia-
legitimated ways including the combatting of all tyrants of the world until they yield to
Islam or are wiped out .It is world-wide movement that calls for the rule of Islam over
mankind."CI7) The Islamic Group says: "As Muslims, we are charged with the bringing
about of the supremacy of the law of God on God's earth and on God's creation. We
should not let any faction anywhere on earth rule people with other than the law of God.
Those who reject this and refuse to yield we will fight. They may say, "this is a patronage
from you over humanity." But we reply that this is the patronage of God's law on his
creatures and earth and that we are commanded to achieve it for the sake of mankind as
"the best people that have been brought forth to humanity" .CI8)

The least that these above cited quotations imply - and there are many things like
them- in the movement's documents is the rejection of the West's leadership of the world
and disputing it until it returns to the Muslm nation. We can safely say that the writings of
the various groups of the Egyptian Islamic movement did not add anything new to what
Hasan AI Banna wrote to the effect that the western civilization will collapse and that the
Islamic civilization will inevitably rise and lead the world. His 'messages' have frequentl y
stressed this idea. In an article written in 1948 he alluded to four proofs to support this
belief:

I· Evidence from the revelation God says : "Allah will perfect His Light even if the
infidels hate this [in spite of them)" (AI Saff Sura, from verse 8); He says, "Allah has
decreed It's I and my apostles who must prevail. For God is one full of strength, able to
enforce His will " (AI Mugadalat Sura, from verse 21); God said : "Allah has promised
those of you who have believed and have made good deeds that he will make them

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UMJUAn PRESS SER''ICE

-------------------------------------- ----
viceroys in the earth as he did those before." (Al Nour Sura, from verse 55). We never
doubt these verses fully believing that they are true.

2· The historical evidence Ail phases of history ever since Islam came prove that it is
at its strongest and most actively resistent when surrounded by dangers.

3· The evidence from cycles The turn is for, not against. us. If the present cycle has
given its reins to the West which tightened the shackles and fastened the chains whipping
the world with ambitious, plots, and biases and using science in death and destruction
enflaming the world by the fires of two harsh world wars, the bankruptcy of this Western
leadership has become clear and there remains only for the driving wheel to slip and be
seized by the viceroys of God of the faithful in this lighted Orient.

4- The universal evidence God's unremitting law is that which he expressed in the
Ouran:" Thus Allah gives an example of right and wrong. The froth
evaporates in emptiness and what is useful to people abides." (AI Ra'd Sura,
from verse 17) . Thanks be to God we have what is useful to people and that is why we are
confident. (19)

After four decades of Ai Sanna's vision, the leader (Emir) of the Islamic Group,
Sheikll Omar Abdel Rahman, said to the university youth in a letter addressed to them:" I
bring you the harbinger of leading the whole nation and being the pioneers of all
humanity. ,,(20)

It is worthy of note here that apart from the writings of Sayyed Ootb in criticism of
the West and its modern civilization and in advocacy that the future in the international
level is for "this religion"- i.e. Islam- the leaders and intellectuals of the Islamic
movement have not given a serious scientific criticism of the West that based on clear
epistemological grounds and on sufficient knowledge of the various aspects of that
advanced civilization as well as of the weaknesses and defects in its scientific, political,
and social edifice. In most cases such critical studies come from members of the new
Islamic elite who have converted from secularism to Islam after spending long years in
studying the West and adopting things from it. An eminent example in this regard is Dr.

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Abdel Wahhab AI MesseiryPl)

Most of the criticism levelled by the Egyptian Islamic movement to the West and its
civilization is in the form of making general judgements condemning this or that aspect of
that civilization without a profound exercise of research, analysis, and methodical
comparison. Hence, we cannot but note the predominance of the enthusiastic spirit-
steeped in a deep feeling of faith- in the critical discourse of the factions of the Islamic
movement dealing with the West. It is not the object here to explain this phenomenon.
But if it is these high spirits of faith that fire the movement generally and particularly
motivate its view of the West. The question to be asked is: What are the various
dimensions of the concept of the West in the view of the Islamic movement? The
following part is an attempt to answer this question.

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 (III) DIMENSIONS OF TIlE WEST IN
TIlE VIEW OF TIlE MOVEMENT
The Islamic movement does not care much for defining the West in geographical
terms although it is quite aware that Europe is the original home of that "West" with
America being an extension of it and that the (former) communist east and capitalist west
are two faces of a single coin. In the final analysis both is "West".

Documents of the three groups- the Ikhwan, the Jihad, and the Islamic Group-
reveal that the West has infiltrated their consciousness as a complex and complicated set
of characteristics, features, and social, cultural, intellectual, economic, military, and
religious dimensions. But the most prominent dimensions of the concept of the West in
the movement's view are those related to the West:

1- as a colonialist power that practiced- and still does- exploitation and repression
against the oppressed peoples particularly the Islamic;

2- as the locus of modern, advanced scientific and technological progress;

3- and as a special pattern of life with its values, habits, social conventions, and
peculiar social structures. In addition, the relationship between the West and the regimes
ruling over the Muslim countries occupy a special importance in the view of the
movement with Jihad and the Islamic Group having much to write about that and
particularly on Egypt's relations to the West and the U.S. as we shall see later.

In the following we deal with the key dimensions that make up the "concept of the
West" in the view of the Egyptian Islamic movement taken from their various documents
and their writings. It should be noted that it is important to distinguish between how the
movement sees any of these dimensions and the position it adopts towards it. We start by
a review of the main epithets and terms describing the West or that are usually mentioned
with it.

1- DESCRIPTION OF THE WEST:

In the writings of the Islamic movement the word "West" is usually described by a

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large number of adjectives and epithets some which indicate the policies of the western
countries and their positions on and relations with the Muslim world.

The others deal with various aspects of modem western civilization in its wide sense.
We have not noted any difference between the three groups - Ikhwan, Jihad, and Islamic
Group - in this connection.

Each group mostly describes the policies of the western countries as "imperialist",
"destructive", "spiteful", "racist", "viciously crusading" , "Western crusading" ,
"neo-crusading", "conspiratorial", or as policies of a teism and infidetity or the countries
of "plunder', "agression", "injustice", and "arrogance" by the countries of
"Christendom". Sometimes the descriptions deal with the West as a whole as the
"heinous", "etheist", "crusading", "spiteful". West or the "cultural enemy" , if talk is
about the political dimensions, mostly seen as a "crusading-Zionist-imperialist alliance"
and israel as well as Zionism are never absent from the concept the Islamic movement has
of the West.

The Ikhwan have been stressing on the existence of this pact hostile to the Muslim
nation since the forties (22) Sayyed Qotb has elaborated its dimensions, background, and
goals warning of its danger on the present and the future of the Muslim nation and all its
people. This is also what both the Jihad(23) and the Islamic Group(24) have perceived and
warned against.

In the view of the Ikhwan the western civilization is "materialist" and incapable of
leading mankind and making people happy(25) because it lacks the moral and ethical
aspects. Jihad uses another term, not used by the Ikhwan, to describe the civilization of
the West; i.e. that it is " a new Jahilism" [Pre-Islamic polityj(26) . The Jihad sees this
civilization as "encroaching upon nature , and de..<;troying human standards. Men live
under it as distoned beings after lossing their basic features of existence. It is a materialist
civilization that has given birth to atheism and spread permissiveness. ,,(27) The epithets
used by the Islamic Group to describe the West are not different from those of Jihad
though it further adds the description of "infidel" .

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 The upshot is that the West does not get any positive epithet and its modern
civilization is not respected except for the scientific side and even that with reservations as
we shall see shortly.

2· IMPERIALISM:

This is the primary aspect of the West that we meet with in the view of the Islamic
movement which is aware of its long history in the colonization of the Islamic countries,
plundering their wealth, tearing up their unity, and continuously plotting against them.
The movement is also aware of the forms and methods of neo·colonialism most
prominent of which are political and economic subordination, and the multi·national
companies that tie the Muslim countries and societies to the West with its unjust industrial
and capitalist centres.

The imperialists crimes that get most mention and denunciation in the writings and
documents of the movement(28) are that of exploitation and plunder of resources for over
two centuries, the plotting against the Ottoman Caliphate until it was toppled and torn up
after the First World War, the partition of the Islamic World, planting Israel at the heart of
that world and providing it with a life line as well as continuously taking its side and
recruiting the international organizations (remarkably the U.N.) to serve its purpose and
defending it as it usurps lands in aggression, and finally there is the direct military attack
on the Arab and Islamic countries in Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, and Bosnia.

Imperialism, therefore, did not end with the attainment of political independence. The
ambitions and plots of the Zionist-crusading-imperialist alliance, that the movement's
writings profusely deal with and that its leading intellectuals frequently stress, are still
present and the tragic reality supplies much damning evidence in proof of this.

Although the victims of western impcrialism make up half the peop les of tht glob,
including the Muslim peoples, the Islamic movement - in its perception and criticism of
the western imperialism and its ills-concentrates only on the Muslim peoples and societies
hardly going further than in its vision. Hence, in the writings of the movement's leaders
and intellectuals we find no talk about non-Islamic peoples and societies that have, like

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the Muslim peoples, suffered from the hegemony of the West and its imperialist policies
in Africa, South America, and South East Asia. In our view, the principle of the
universality of the Islamic message that the movement professes and advocates makes it
incumbent upon it to champion the cause of the oppressed peoples everywhere regardless
of the sources of that oppression. It should help them to get their freedom and pave the
way to conveying the message of Islam to them with all its mercy, justice, and human
fraternity. The fact is that the movement, with all its factions, is greatly negligent in this
regard.

The United States - as the leader of the West - and its Zionist ally receive the greater
share of the resentment of the Islamic movement against imperialism and its denunciation
of it. The U.S. is considered as the heir of the old colonialism (particularly the British and
French). The Muslim Brotherhood say:" Our great enemy that always lies in wait for us
is racist Zionism with its spite against Islam and the Muslims generally and the Arabs in
particular along with its ally, U.S. , which is the pinnacle of savage imperialism in the
modem age and which prefers the hegemony of the Zionist enemy to all else. ,,(29) The
Jihad group believes that "America and Israel are still dealing with our Isalmic world in
arrogance and pride that are beyond all limits. ,,(30) It continually denounces the "slavish
dependence to the crusading West with the USA at its leadershipPl) For its part, the
Islamic Group sees that" America wishes to subjugate our region supine at the feet of the
one sitting in the White House. ,,(32) The Islamic Movement never for one moment doubts
the West's hypocrisy emanating from its imperialist mentality and seen in its double-faced
positions on the questions of human rights, the right to self-determination, freedom,
international legality, etc. There are many and repeated proofs of this in Palestine, the
Gulf, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Algeria, and others.

In general, the movement stresses that cultural imperialism and intellectual invasion
are the most dangerous aspects of the imperialist relationship that the West implicates us
in . The movement's analyses do not neglect the domestic factor in Islamic societies of the
"ability of being colonialized" as Malek Ben Nebi put it. A brief formulation of the
movement's awareness of that cultural and intellectual side to imperialism in abstract

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conceptional forms can use the concept of the "external" as against that of the" inherited".
The culture, arts, and literature of the West brought to our societies represent that
imported"external" whereas "inherited" is the yield of all the experience of our societies
across the past historical phases. The movement totally and indiscrimately rejects that
"external" and it rejects the total and indiscriminate abandonment of the "inherited".
Instead of these two extreme positions it calls for an intermediate stance that distinguishes
what is good, adopting and developing it whatever its source may be, and bad which is
avoided regardless of its source and resist it.

3 • WESTERN SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS:

Although the Islamic movement is not overwhelmed by admiration of the modern

progress of western science and technology , it admits that is one of the virtues of
contemporary western civilization. It does not deny the importance of this progress and
the need for Muslims to adopt the means to it in order to have the material potential for
progressing themselves. However, the movement advises caution and alertness in dealing
with the achievements of that progress and, on principle, it does not see that all these
achievements are worthy of adoption and imitation.

The Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan) sees that as far as science, knowledge, and the
utilization of the forces of nature are concerned, western societies have reached a high
level. They have given great attention to the marvellous ordering and caring for matters of
living and should be followed in this. The group's founder, Imam Hasan AI Banna says:
"The Muslim Brotherhood recognize that we borrow the good knowledge and useful
forms we find in others' systems. But they are also of the view that this knowledge and
forms should be clothed with an Islamic garb. The spirit of Islamic mentality should
pervade them with regard to God·observance, fraternity, humanity, and eschewing
selfishnessp3) It is clear from this that they realize the danger of some values that are
attached to the achievements of technological progress. Therefore, they stress on the need
for adopting these achievements in a manner that does not conradict the Islamic ethics.
values, and objectives.

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 The Ikhwan invariably level their criticism at the western scientific progress from two
angles. First, is the lack of faith in God and a close and intimate relationship with him
seeking reward from him. Secondly, is the misuse by the West of its progress in the
enslavement of

people and the oppression and the plunder of resources of the other people as well as
the production of weapons of destruction and death that contradict human dignity. In the
view of the Ikhwan, humanity has suffered destruction and misery more than it received
comfort and bless because "this progress has lacks moral control, spiritual values, and
belief in God". (34)

The Jihad Group also advises wariness in dealing with the technological fruits of the
West because these "no longer express dealings with inert matter but consecrate patterns
of life(35) of the West itself. The group also believes that the "West did not succeed in
utilizing the scientific and technological progress it achieved in the interes of humanity. It
gave attention to the arms race to possess enough destructive powers to wipe out earth
dozens of times. It spend large sums of money at a time when hundreds of the hungry
and deprived die daily around the world. ,,(36)

It can be generally said that the Jihad Group's view of scientific and technological
achievements of the West tends to suspect and belittle it more than Ikhwan do to a great
extent. Indeed some Jihad writings exaggerate in the denigration of the West's material
supramacy and its sway over the contemporary world. In the opinion of one Jihad
writer, this is only "the domination of a temptation that will soon go away.,,(37) Such a
way implies a good deal of belittlement of the West's material, scientific, and
technological progress.

The Islamic Group takes another approach to this issue. It does not devote great
energy to the criticism of the West's scientific and technological progress -in contrast to
the Ikhwan and Jihad - neither does it express any admiration for this progress. Rather, it
concentrates on what it sees as the "main problems" from which humanity suffers. This
problem, as the group sees it, does not lie in the shortage of resources, backwardness or
scientific progress, the imbalance in the distribution of wealth, or the absence of
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democracy but rather in the people's reluctance to become real slaves of God or their
unawareness of this central question.(38) This is how the group puts it in its most
important documents.

While the Islamic movement in general has a view concerning western progress as
the key aspect of the West's hegemony and supremacy, its view still falls short in a grave
way in the realization of the significance and importance of the western "social sciences"
whether for the role these play in the life of western societies themselves or for their
connection to the hegemony and control that the West exercises on all countries of the
world with the Islamic people foremost among them. It was these sciences that founded
and consolidated the western control ism and universality which are rejected by the Islamic
movement as neither legitimate nor beneficial to humanity.

The failure of the Islamic movement to realize the significance and importance of the
western social sciences is due to various reasons most important of which are;

(A) The lack of specialists from among the ranks of the movement in the various
branches of the social sciences. This, in fact, is a general phenomenon in most Islamic
groups both inside and outside Egypt. Most of their technical and intellectual caders are
specialists in scientific fields (medicine, engineering, chemistry, mathematics.)

B) There is the grave backwardness in Islamic social sciences which have become
frozen at old and outmoded methods and principles. This led to the predominance of the
western social sciences with their methods and theories so much so that many, including
the Islamists, have come to view them as universal sciences that are valid for all societies
without realizing the pecularities and methodological and epistemological biases of these
sciences. (39)

4- PATTERNS OF' WESTERN SOCIAL LIFE:

What is meant by "patterns" here is the life style of western societies with the values,
habits, behaviour modes, and customs it involves as well as the social relations that
determine people's outlook on life including their relationship with the other . In its view
of the Western pattern of life the Islamic movement concentrates on the criticism of the

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Tim WEST IN Tim EYES OF Tim EGYPTIAN ISLA1UIC lUOVEMENT

 moral, value, and ethical aspects seeing in them the strongest of evidence to the
emptiness and vacuity of western civilization and the most cogent testimony to its failure
in preserving human dignity and shielding it from vices, corruption, evils, and

,f abnormalities.

In the view of the Islamic movement, this social aspect of the West concretizes the
diseases of western civilization and uncovers its ills. What disturbs this movement most
in this connection is that the dangers of these diseases, in the widest sense of the word,
are not confined to western societies. They sweep all other societies including the Muslim
ones through various and many means like "imitation", "dependence", "westernization",
"secularization", "the call for women's liberation", "and cultural and intellectual

I invasion". All these means are furthered by the huge advances in mass communications
which spread information as well as ideas and modes of behaviour through live
transmissions and satellites. In its three basic groups the Egyptian movement tirelessly
denounces imitation of and dependence on the West and all processes of westernization as
well as the institutions that carry out and nurture these processes in our society
(education, the media, art, and literature ... etc.) The movement realizes that the western
life style has a strong and destructive impact on the identity and pattern of life of our
societies. That destructive impact does not only come from abroad but also from the
inside at the hands of the "westernized" In brief, as the Jihad Group sees it, we "are
living inside a closed circle of westerners and the westernized. (40)

The movement's appreciation of western civilization is generally tied to its view of

the patterns of its social life and its attitudes towards them. The Muslim Brotherhood
believe that western social life stands on purely materialist bases that "demolish those
laied down by divinely-revealed religions" and that "atheism, permissiveness, hedonism,
selfishness, egotism, and the exploitation regulated in usurious dealings are all material
aspects that have led to the corruption of souls, the weakening of moral, and slackness in
the fighting of crimes in European society ..... Modem civilization has proved itself
incapable of making human society safe or making mankind happy,,(41). The current
General Guide of the group expressed the same idea by saying "The West is labouring

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 under the plight of permissiveness, the rabidness of materialism and the plague of drugs

l that they have failed in combatting".(42)

Through its leaders, Aboud Ai Zomor, the Jihad Group believes that the West "has
only offered humanity the elements of its own destruction on the moral and scientific
level. The West has offered an image darkened with moral dissolution the loss of noble
values, the spreading of AIDS, and drug addiction on a large scale. Thus, western
civilization has deformed man's ethics and stunted his nature. ,,(43)

In a review by the Jihad Group in order to evaluate its method of effecting social
change and confronting the processes of westernization and secularization in Egypt it
reached the conclusion that almost all the methods it adopted to cause change up to the
end of the eighties have revolved on facing the ills related to apparent sins like drinking
alcohol and the night clubs. The group also concluded from this review that the existing
challenge calls for going beyond these evils to what is more general and comprehensive.
This does not mean letting the evils go by but putting them in their right place in the
process of change. What is more worthy of attention and confrontation are "those
subversive western and Zionist activities in all their cultural, touristic, and scientific
forms. All the sources and tributaries of domestic corruption should be likewise
confronted.(44) In this connection Jihad sees that the media and tourism are the two main
sources for the spreading of base values derived from western life to make war on Islam
in its own horne. They cite the material broadcast by television and the attempts to link it
to western television stations through satellites. In their view , tourism is "head of the
spear of western penetration in our society" inlcuding "Israeli penetration that has reached
insufferable dimensions under the pretext of tourism".(45)

The view and appreviation by the Islamic Group of western social life is not different
from that of Jihad although it concentrates in its criticism of this social dimension of the
West on its effects and impact on the life of Muslim societies particularly the Egyptian
society.(46)

In conclusion it can be said that the view of the Is lamic movement concerning the

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 patterns of western life stresses on the corruption of those patterns and exposes the
West's ills and diseases. This view explains that such materialism is contrary to human
nature and the social principles laid down by Islamic- principles that combines the
spiritual and the material, on the bases of moderation, balance, and the golden mean so
that neither side will encroach upon the other.

s- THE WEST'S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE REGIMES IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD:

The West is not only allied with Zionism against the Arabs and Muslims but, and this
is more provoking from the point of view of the Islamic movement, it supports the
existing Arab and Islamic regimes and holds their souls in its hand. The movement
generally sees that the West seeks many goals in this relationship the least of which is to
achieve its economic interest and guarantee control over the resources of Muslims chief
among which is oil. But the higher goal is to obstruct the growth of the Islamic revival
and resist it in all ways eliminating it completely if possible.

In its writings and documents the movement deals extensively with the West from
the angle of its relationship with the regimes in the Muslim world particularly the Arab
world. They deal at length with monitoring and analyzing ties of dependence and the
mechanisms of mutual alliances between the two sides. It is here that a great difference
shows between the view of the Muslim Brotherhood, on the one hand, and that of Jihad
and the Islamic Group, on the other.

The Ikhwan believe that the West has a controlling hand in creating and consolidating
the regimes in most countries of the Muslim world. The West's support of these regimes
is one of the mechanisms of tying these states to it and securing their dependence and
loyalty in the framework of its unending plots and conspiracies against Islam and the
Muslim to ensure their subjugation and the plunder of their resources.

The Ikhwan's views in this connection are well-known and the group's leaders and
I intellectuals usually express them in sweeping formulas that apply to the conditions of all
the regmes in the Islamic world except for a handful few. No one regime is singled out
for its dependence on the West. All are alike. In many of his article we find the current

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 deputy of the general guide. Mostafa Mashhour , saying, after the talk about the past and
unexampled Islamic civilization and the encroachment of the enemeies against. that they -
the western countries - have" plannned to keep our countries away from the essence of
Islam and to spread evils and corruptions in them like wine, gambling, usury , and
fornication. They have toppled the Caliphate and sowed dissention and disputes among
Muslims. Indeed, those enemies have caused wars over petty border squabbles. They set
up dictatorial and totalitarian regimes in most, if not all, our Muslim countries in order to
implement their plots which aim at keeping our countries weak and pickering so that they
can export their raw materials cheaply and return them manufactured and expensive. In
this way our countries will remain dependent and submissive to them because of lack of
self-sufficiency in food and armaments. The rulers will then yield willy-nilly to the
policies dictated to them . In the midst of this weakness and powerless multitudes the
enemies helped to implant this alien Zionist entity at the heart of the Muslim nation as a
cancerous growth to increase its weakness and to expand and wreak havoc". (47)

This is, then, the condition of the regimes and their relations to the West in the light
of the latter's ambitions in our countries and plots against them as the Ikhwan see them.
Nevertheless, they have not lost hope in the possibility of reforming the rulers and
peacefully changing the regimes to bring them gradually in line with Islam.(48) This
appears quite clearly in their repeated appeals to the rulers and heads of governments to
return to Islam and its teachings and to enforce them . This implicitly means liberation
from the patronage of the West and the policies of its governments that are antagonistic to
our independence and renaissance.

As for the Jihad Group it, on principle, recognizes neither the legality of all the rulers
of the Muslim world nor their fitness to govern. It denounces their excessive dependence
on thc Wcs t dcscribing them as "dolls set up by imper ialism to rul e th" Muslim
[
nation ".(49) These dolls are "the slaves of their masters in Washington, Paris, London,
Rome, Bonn, and Moscow. ,,(50) These descriptions symbolize Jihad's non-recognition of
the legitimacy of those rulers who "not only owe their emergence to the West but their
very continuation in power is subject to the direct will of the West. ,,(51 )

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 The group gives a great attention to the relationship between America and the regime
in Egypt. It deals with this relationship through the concept of "dependence" or "loyalty"
and sees that Egypt has passed a lot of stages in its path to political, economic, social, and
cultural depedence. The group thinks that secularism has played a great role in forging
that dependence on various levels(52) . The latest stage of that dependence is the present
one which the group describes as the stage of "humiliating dependence to the crusading
West headed by the USA. ,,(53) The dialectic of the relationship between the regime in
Egypt and the West and America indicates, in the view of Jihad, that both parties have the
joint goal of "eliminating the Islamic movement,,(54). At one time the group views the
West as a basic aspect of the Egyptian regime's policy in fighting Islamic movement and
at other times it sees the reverse: "The strategy of the Egyptian regime in fighting Islam
(sic) is derived from the West's policy in this regard. ,,(55) In one of its important
documents it says:" The Egyptian regime is the spearhead of western 'Jahiliyya'
(pre-Islamic polity) in confronting the Islamic movement. ,,(56) It believes that the
objective is "to liquidate the Islamic tide in Egypt because they think that if they succeeded
in this they will have wiped out other Islamic movements in the region. ,,(57) Some people
say that the Jihad exaggerates in its belief that the Egyptian regime has a strategy to
combat Islam. If such a thing is true this is a stategy to fight off some Islamic groups
including Jihad itself and not Islam by all means. There is a big and clear difference
between the two. But how does the group prove its claim that this strategy is derived
from the West's vision in this regard?

The group bases its claim on its earlier judgement of apostasy on rulers who violate
the teachings of Islam. Replying to the view of Sheikh Naser Al Din AI Albani that the
Muslims should be patient with regard to their rulers who shrug off the teachings of
Islam, the group says that "it makes no difference whether the infidel who has sway over
the Muslim is a foreigner or a native because the reason for struggling against him exists
in both cases namely; his being an infidel. By his apostasy, the native infidel has become
alien to the Muslim in accordance with the Quranic verse "He [God) said, 0 Noah, he
(your drowned son) is not of thy family for his conduct is unrighteous.,,(5S) The group

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believes, in the light of this, that there is no obstacle on the path of cooperation between
the rulers and the enemies of the nation headed by the West. Apostasy has united them
all. Hence, reliance by the regimes on the West represents a "decisive factor in the
confrontation of the Islamic movement "becuase of the contradiction between Islam and
the West, and the massive hostility the West harbours against Islam as the natural result
of their conflict over long periods of history.(59) The group applies this general
conception over Egypt's relation to the West in the confrontation with the Islamic
movement. It believes that the West is one of the basic pillars of the Egyptian regimes
strategy in combatting the Islamic movement. In its tum, the Egyptian regime - and this
also applies to other Arab regimes as the Jihad Group sees it - is one of the basic pillars in
the West's strategy to eliminate the Islamic tide.

As far as the Egyptian regime is concerned, the group believes that its relationship
with the West occupies a prominent place in its conception of how the Islamic
transformaton can be stemmed. This appears in :

1) The regime's excessive care to attach itself to international developments in a

manner that gives it greater ability to get rid of the Islamic movements on its way
to more perfect integration with the West and its global project.

2) the technological aid and grants that help in the development of the security
system.

3) promoting and furthering western tourism that carries a sizeable portion of western
values and customs which largely contribute to the destruction of our societies(60)·

Concerning the West, headed by the USA and the Zionist state, the group believes
that the West regards Egypt as the "cornerstone" of its influence in the region in view of
Egypt's great strategic importance. Thc West bolsters the secular regimes, particularly
Egypt, both economically and politically to achieve two goals; firstly, to end the
phenomenon of Islamic extremism, secondly, to bolster up the regimes that represent the
West's first line of defense against the terrorism coming from the Islamic world .(61)

The view of the Islamic Group hardly differs from that of Jihad in this connection. It

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also uses the concepts of dependence and loyalty to the nations' enemies to describe and
analyze the relationship of the regimes to the West. It also stresses the role played by
secularism in tightening the links of dependence and consolidating the Wests hold as well
as achieving its goals .(62) The Islamic Group concentrates on the West's relations with
the Egyptian regime nearly in the same way as the Jihad does though it adds to this its
interpretation of most Egyptian policies as attempts by the regime to adapt itself to the
West's wishes and to achieve its goals primarily against the Islamic movement. The
group does not rule out that the USA would intervene to prevent the emergence of an
Islamic system of government in Egypt. The group argues for this by saying :"America
views Egypt with its vital position and strategic weight as a center for the protection of its
interests in the region. The emergence of a real Islamic system will doudtless threaten
these interests with its independence. It will surely impel America to intervene in all
violence to stop the establishment of this regime. ,,(63) The Islamic Group supports this
point of view with conclusions it has drawn from a survey of the history of foreign
intervention in Egyptian affairs from Napoleon's expedition up to the present; namely, the
great powers in our world put their eyes on and only allow regimes there that serve their
interests. This what clearly explains the open and persistent war against the Islamic trend
which threatens with its existence the interests of both East and West. This is also what
explains the British stance on the Islamic movement in the forties through successive
partisans governments. It also explains later American. Russian, and then American
position on that movement at the era of the July Revolution.(64) The group also believes
that it is the U.S. that stands behind the recent directives for violent confrontation with the
Islamic movements particularly in Egypt and Palestine in order to achieve four objectives
which, in the group's view, are the following ;

1- Depriving the Islamic movement of some of its members that are being gunned
down.

2- Weakening and deterring the rest of the movement's members.

3- Keeping the movement in a defensive position by engaging it in a continuous

redressing of wounds.

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U1U1UAII PRESS SERl-'CE

 4- Intimidating ordinary Muslims to prevent their joining the Islamic movement.(65)

In conclusion, and within the scope of our objectives in this study, it can be said that
the view of both Jihad and the Islamic Group on the West's hostility and its economic and
political ambitions in our country is not confined to the western governments and the
international institutions they control but it also includes the governments and regimes in
our very societies. In this, the two groups differ from the Muslim Brotherhood which
believes in the possibility of reforming these regimes and governments, hence, in that
they (the regimes) can not be put in the same scale with the West and its governments.
The conception of the Jihad and the Islamic Group in this regard leads to various results
in the strategy of confrontation according to these two groups. But this is beyond the
scope of this study.

FOUR: TIlE FUTURE OF TIlE RELATION 'VITO TIlE

WEST IN TIlE VIEW OF TIlE ISLAMIC MOVEMENT
Any attempt to forecast the future of relations with the West from the point of view of
the Islamic movement must include the basic assumption of the movement's
dissatisfaction with this relationship under the existing conditions and regimes. But
beyond this the agreement in viewpoints between the Ikhwan, on the one hand, and Jihad
and the Islamic Group, on the other, ends and we distinguish differences in the views of
both sides on the general principle that governs this relationship, its projected patterns,
and the tools of managing it to reach an optimum formula and achieve the higher goals of
the Islamic call.

In what follows we will survey, in brief, the views of the Ikhwan and of Jihad and
the Islamic Group together -because there are no essential differences between the two-
on the future of the relationship with the West in the light of the political discourse of
these groups and their theoretical statements in the West and modern civilization as well
as the current state of the international svstem.

A) Tim Ml1SLIM BROTIlERIIOOD • "CALL AND ARGUE KINDLY":

Ikhwan believe that the general principle that should determine the relations with the

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Tim WEST IN TIlE EYES OF TIlE EGYPTIAN ISLAl\IIC IUOVEltIENT

West- and with other non-Muslim societies and countries- is the call and argument in
kindness. Hence, peace is the basis unless there has been an aggression. But since this
aggression has taken place systematically and for two centuries now by the West and its
countries against the Muslim peoples Jihad becomes necessary to repulse it. In this
context the West becomes the "great enemy" headed by the U.S. and Israel.(66) The
international system with its various constitutions and organizations is thereby rejected
and condemned(67) because it is nothing more than a consecration of the injustice and
aggression exercized by the West against the Arab and Muslim peoples (in Palestine,
Iraq, Bosnia, Libya, and Somalia). The Ikhwan think that unless the hostilities of the
West against us end, we have no option but to resort to fighting (Jihad) to repel the
aggression in self-defense and to secure the freedom of religion and belief for the faithful
whom the infidels are trying to convert away from their religion.

This is also in protection of the religion so that it can be conveyed to all mankind and
in aid of the believers wherever they are and taking revenge for them against the
unjust. (68)

As we mentioned earlier, the general principle that should govern the relationship
with the West, in the Ikhwan's view, is to communicate and convey the Islamic message
till it reaches the West. They believe that in addition to being a duty made incumbent by
Islam, this is also something necessary to save the West from itself and save the whole of
humanity and to re-build the relationship with it on a new basis founded on fraternity,
justice, and mercy as well as cooperation and participation in the building of international
peace. In this way the international order will be established on new foundations of the
unity of spirit and matter.(69) The Ikhwan have been calling for this ever since the end of
the Second World War and they believe that there is a possibility for the emergence of a
relationship of cooperation and coexistence with the West if it stops its injustice and
aggression.

B) TIlE .JIHAD AND THE ISLAIUIC GROUP. CONFRONTATION AND

TOTAL CONFLICT;

Contrary to the Muslim Brotherhood, we find that the Jihad Group and the Islamic
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UIUIUAD PRESS SERVICE

Group are of the view that the general principle that should govern the relationship with
the West is "Conflict" as part of the eternal conflict between good and evil until the Day of
Judgement.(70) As Jihad sees it, evil is incorporated politically in a main axis; i. e. the
alliance of "the star and the cross" or Zionism and the Western countries headed by the
U.S.<71)

The two groups hold that the evils of the West now weigh very heavily on mankind
and that our countries badly need to "remove the dirt of western Jahiliyya" and to avoid
it(72). This Jahiliyaa has not become consolidated until after it inflicted defeat on the
Muslim nation and trampled over its civilization. The West that has perservered in making
war on Islam has_come to support the secular regimes in the Muslim world because it
fears the Islamic transformation that the Islamic movement aspires to . It is also afraid of
the day of vengeance. (73) This means that in the view of the two groups the relationship
with the West is on the path of an all-out conflict and confrontation in the future. The
Jihad Group, in particular, speaks much about "the philosophy of confrontation" and the
"inevitability of conflict." It also devotes a good deal of attention to laying the
foundations of the "all out conflict" and the "battle of tomorrow". It believes that the main
objective of the current changes on the world scene, the emergence of unified Europe,
and the control by the U.S. on what is called "the new world order" is the confrontation
and the destruction of the Muslim nation. Hence, the Islamic-western conflict has a
special priority in the context of Islam's conflict with Jahiliyya (the non-Islamic polity) as
the Jihad Group sees it.(74)

Therefore, the future does not carry the possibility for building a relationship of
coexistence or cooperation with the West. According to Jihad it is required to prepare for
a conflict relationship of fateful proportions that is being dictated by the radical
contradictions and political and doctrinal differences .(75) The writings and documents
issued by the group set out proposals for the plan to stand up to the West and pave the
way for the decisive battle or the all-out conflict. These include;

1- "Confronting all forms of western domination that aim at subjecting peoples and
plundering wealth".

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TIlE WFST IN TIlE EYES OF TIlE EGYPTL~ ISLA1UIC MOVEIUENT

 2- "Waging an intellectual war on the misguided ideas on their own ground and
intensifying the call for Islam in all other countries so that the battle will be moved
to the enemy's territory and the scope of the conflict widened pending repulsing it
and putting the enemy on the defensive."

3- "Getting rid of ties to East or West and liberating the political decision-making by
achieving self-sufficiency and the establishment of a joint Islamic market among
all Islamic countries so that they can stand up against the economic blocs that seek
to take control of the world's affairs through economic power."

4- "Alerting the nation of the need for economic boycott of all goods, equipment, and
implements imported from the West and Israel which targeted the absorption of
Muslims' money and controlling the markets."

5- "Standing up to the West's attempts to undermine Islamic projects in collusion

with the regimes."

6- "Taking up Islamic funds from foreign banks as the West makes war on us using
their returns. This capital should be invested within an Islamic framework to bring
about development and create a power potential."

7- "Breaking free of the West's stranglehold on the Muslim body in the countries of
the Muslim nation".

8- "Possessing a nuclear deterrent" .(76)

The Jihad Group thinks that the future of the relationship with the West will be
determined in the light of the outcome of a series of decisive battles which are:

A) BATTLE NO. ONEz "This is against the foreign invasion of the Islamic
region ...since organized resistance through the organs of the regimes is out of the
question in view of the dependency of most Arab rulers on the West. Those rulers should
be by-stepped on the popular level by direct confrontation, in individuals and groups
either of the military or of civilians, to that invasion on a large scale."

B) BATTLE NO. TWOs "This is the battle to liberate the Muslim peoples out of the

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U1UMAD PRESS SER\'ICE
 grip of the secular rulers who give no consideration to Islam nor are they bound by God's
Law. This is the battle with the near enemy and it is no less important than the first battle
but rather runs alongside it."

C) TIlE DE(;ISIVE BATI'LE: This is the battle to liberate the Muslim holy places

in Palestine as the direct task of the confrontation states which will then be under an
Islamic banner. No one should expect that occupied Palestine will be freed at the hands of
secular governments that have thrown themselves into the embrace of the USA, Israel's
chief ally. Indeed, the achievement of this goal is conditional upon the toppling of those
rulers and their supporters. Then comes the final task of this battle when evil is chased
around all the earth and the tvrants that stand as obstacles in the way of Islam's reach to
all humanity are demolished.(77)

The upshot is that the future of the relationship with the West is to be determined
through conflict not coexistence as the Jihad and the Islamic Group see it. This conflict
will remain the decisive factor in formulating this relationship, controlling and directing it.
It is this tendency that perhaps explains the excessive attention both groups give to talking
about, urging, and calling for preparations for jihad (fighting).(78) In their view jihad is
the main foundation for building spiritual and material power in order to; wage all these
battles that are imposed by the western challenge, and to "clear the world of
corruption,,(79) and wrest its leadership from the West and return it to Islam under a
universal Caliphate that spreads and protects justice and acts as an alternative to the
existing international order and its unjust institutions.(80)

This, then, is the view of both groups of the future of relations with the West. This
view differs with the Ikhwan conception which looks forward to human fraternity ,
inviting the West to accept Islam, building universal peace, cooperation among all
mankind, and disavowing causes of conflict and dissension. Although the goals of both
Jihad and the Islamic Group incl ude the conveying of the Islamic message to all the world
including the West, they nevertheless speak about war and battles more than they talk
about call, communication, or explanation.

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TIlE WEST IN TIlE EYES OF TIlE EGYPTIAN ISLtUII(; IUOVEIUENT

 It is certain that the ideas and views the three groups put across in the future of
relations with the West are in need of more discussion, argument, scrutiny, and criticism
to bring out where they are consistent and where they are not. But we will here note only
a general critical observation on this question. It is that the discourse of the three groups
on the future of the relationship with the West and methods of dealing with it is
predominent by in generalized rather than in specific terms, in abstract rather in
well-defined way. It does not, for instance, indicate whether this view or views of the
future relationship with the West are fit for the phase before the Islamic state or whether
the establishment of such a state is a precondition for the realization of such visions? It
does not indicate also whether these views are valid both for the pre- and post- Islamic
state phases nor does it lay separation lines between what is valid for the phase preceding
the establishment of the state that the Islamic movement seeks to uphold and what is valid
for the phase following that establishment.

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lilUlUAR PRESS SER''lCE

 CONCLUSION: GEl\'ERAL OBSElllTATIONS
We have tried in this paper to account for the picture of the West in the view of the
Egyptian Islamic movement as evident in its writings and documents . We sought to
highlight the component of this picture or concept and its various dimensions as perceived
hy the movement. We also tried to survey the future o f the relationship with the West
from the prespective of the three Egyptian groups (the Ikhwan , Jihad and the Islamic
Group). We are now in position to make these five g~neral conclusions.

Firstly: There are many motives for the concern of the Islamic movement with the
West. It is a cultural enemy and the basic cause behind the backwardness
of Islamic societies as well as a difficult obstacles on the path of Islamic
renaissance and the sovereignty of the Muslim nation. It is a source of
danger to all humanity and, indeed, to its own peoples. It is also an arena
for the call and for Jihad to restrait it before it destroys humanity.

Secondly: The views and ideas of the Muslim Brotherhood on the West tend to
moderation either in the acceptance of some of its positive points or in the
rejection of the negative aspects. In this they rely on the heritage of the
pioneers of Islamic reform in the modern age such as Al Afghani ,
Mohamed Abdou, Rashid Reda, and Hasan AI-Banna. As for Jihad and
the Islamic Group, they tend to a hardline and call for a decisive position
vis-a-vis the West in the light of the inevitability of conflict with it and
with the regime dependent on it. But all three groups call for benefetling
from the valid achievements of scientific and technological progress in
West. They urge that the achievements of human civilization be enlisted to
renew the build of Muslim society. The following figure summarizes the
view of each group with regard to the key issues involved in th e
relationship with and position to the West:

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Tim "EST IN Tim EYES OF Tim E(""'TL~ ISLUIIC IUOVEIUEI\'T

-
 ~
The Muslim
Jihad Islam ic Grou p
Issue Brothe rhood

Basic relation ship Peace. cooperation. Defens e \\' a r ! Defense war, jihad.
with the West. coexis tence, call jihad.
kindly argument.

The great enemy . The West (America The West The West
and Israel) . (Amer ica and (Amer ica and
Israel) . Israel).

P os i t i on on Call for reform and Declar ing them Declar ing them
Islami c world acting upon the inftje ls for infide ls for
govern ments in teachin g of Islam in disobe ying the disobey ing Islamic
relation ship with all fields. law of God and law and seeking to
the West. seeking to topple topple them.
them.
Rejection and call to Reject ion and Reject ion and
Positio n on the rebuild it on new seekin g to seeking to establish
international order bases derived from establ ish the the Islam ic
domina ted by the Is Iam and Islamic Caliphate Caliphate and unify
West. strengt hening the to be the political the countri es of the
nation and its entity o f the Islamic world.
genera l bodies like nation on the
Islamic conferenoe international
level.

Repulsing Repulsing Toppl ing the

Jihad function aggres sion and aggression. regime s, repulsi ng
restor ing the punishing aggres sion, jihad
Muslim Nation 's aggressors, agains t infidel s,
usurped land. resuming retrie ving the
conquest in infidel leaders hip of the
lands, and freeing world.
the world off
corruption.

Phased-action. Immediacy. Immediacy,

Basic feature s of gradualism, revolution radical ity, use of
met hod of change moderation, use of radicality, foroe.
and refonn. peacefu l method s, non·recognition non-recognition of
startin g with the of the legitimacy the legitim acy of
individ ual and then of existi ng existin g regime s .
the societ y. the conditions. Startin g with the
. State. the Caliphate, Startin g with power. then society
finall y. th e power t hen and finally to the
leaders hip of the society up to the Caliph ate . and
world. Caliph ate and leaders hip of the
leadership of the world.
world.

-36-
U1U1UAn PRE SS SERl 'lCE
 Thirdly: Although there is a great similarity in the views of the three groups on the
West. there is no identity among thes e views. Moreover. this great
similarity in this regard does not at all mean that they have similar views
with regard to other issues, questions. or positions and particularly those
relating to the domestic Egyptian scene. Each group has its own distinctive
vision and mcthod of understanding reality and dealing with it whether for
the purpose of reforming it (the Muslim Brotherhood) or for radically
changing it (Jihad and the IslamiC Group). The great similarity in their
views on the West is merely by way of an identity of view on a question
of foreign policy on which there are usually no radical differences among
various political parties and groups inside the same countries. This is
confirmed by the fact that the view of some parties and groups of a
nationalist, even leftist, tendincy are not different in their overall bent from
that of the Islamic groups regarding the West, at least on the political
aspect.

Fourthly: Currently, the. Egyptian Islamic movement adopts a strictly critical

attitude towards the West particularly on the direct political level. It sees no
better future for the Muslim world either under the West's control of
international politics or under the pro-western secular and dictatorial
regimes . Nevertheless , the writings and documents of the movement
hardly include a weighty scientific criticism of the philosophical and
epistemological dimensions and background s of the western social
sciences that lie behind the West's policies and its cultural rendencies as
well as aggressive attitudcs. These writings and documents only include a
call for exercising this criticism.

Fifthly: What the Egyptian Islami c movement has not so far grasped in its view of
the West is the danger posed by its scientific progress to the present and
future of all humanity. This progress lacks humanitarian or ethical
controls. Its negative aspectS have multiplied and they are increasing fast.

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TIlE WEST IN TIlE E'l'E,S OF TIlE EG'l'PTIAN ISL"JUIC JUO\'EI\IEJ\T

 take for example. the rising rates of environmental pollution, the increases
in unempl oyment levels, th e marginalizati on of large sectors of society,
and the massive depletion of natural resources to fulfill the demands of the
capitalist mode of production that continually expands even at the expense
of other consideration relati ng ~o the environment and the future of
mankind.

Most of the perception of the Islamic movement of the west centres on the political
dimensions and, to a lesser degree, on the economic, cultural, and social aspects. But it
neglects the threats of the scientific progress led by the West. In general, the movement
has been remiss in criticizing that latter tendency and against its negative impact and
implications . In its various writings and documents we found no views on this issue.
While the movement devotes a good deal of attention to the developments of the world
order, the European political transformations, and the Maastricht summit, for example it
hardly made a comment on the "Earth Summit" held last year (1992) nor did it criticize the
position adopted by the U.S.A. the leader of the West, toward the decisions of that
summit resolutions.

- 38-
L1UIUAn PRESS SERl'lCE

-
(1) "Heritage" here means all the creed. culture. values. arts. literature. crafts. and the other
material and moral achievements inherited or received from our predecessors. By saying that
the Islamic movement "identifies" with the heritage we mean that it takes pride in it as an
heir does in the bequest he received from his predecessor. The Islamic Movement does not
reject this heritage on the pretext of innovation or contemporaneity; but it adopts the sound
and useful elements abandoning the harmful and the unsound in accordance with th e
measure of the Quran and the Correct Sunna [i.e. the Revelation]. Revelation remains
independent. transcendent. and controlling over this heritage and it does not. in our view.
become part of it.

(2) The writer has undertaken an attempt to monitor and analyze the controversy and the reasons
behind the confusion in the terms denoting "Islamic Revival " in a number of Arab studies.
"The Present Condition of the Islamic Revival in Egypt. Intellectual and Practical Issues "
{Unpublished study in four parts. 1987.} For a critical study of this confusion in Western
studies see Hasanein Tawfik Ibrahim and Arnany Mas'oud. "The Phenomenon of Islamic
Revival in Western Studies, An Analytic-Critical View." AI Hewar (Dialogue) Quarterlv
magazine. in Arabic. No. 25. Summer 1992. p. 19 and 44.

(3) Hasan AI Banna. Collection of the Messages of Martyred Imam. "Message to the Fifth
Conference". Alexandria ; Dar AI Da'wah; 1988. pp. 174-175.

(4) AI Banna. Op. Cit. "Message: Between Yesterday and Today." P. 163

(5) In Mostafa Mashhour. From The Islamic Trend to the People of Egypt. Cairo: The Islamic
Publishing and Distribution House. N.D. p. 16.

(6) See in this connection: Saleh AI Werdany. The Islamic Movement in Egypt: A Realisti c
View of the Seventies. Cairo; AI Bedaya for publication. Media. and Distribution. 1986.
p.p. 125 to 140 on the Islamic Group, pp. 165 to 177 on the Jihad Group. The early roOts
of the Jihad Group go back to 1958 but the group only spread in the seventies and after.
See Rifaat Sayyed Ahmad's: "'fhe Armed Prophet". Also. "The Militants". Riyadh AI Rais
for Books and Publishing. 1991.p.80.

(7) The Concept of Assassination in Islam . Anonymous author. Published by the Jihad Grou p
in Egypt. N.D. p.6

(8) Aboul Feda: The Development of the Islamic Movement Through Its Prominent Leaders.

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TilE \lFST I~ TIlE EYES 0.' TilE EG1'PTIAN ISLA1UIC IUO\'El'IENT

 Published by the Jihad Group. N.D. p.41 and 46.

(9) Anonymous writer. The jihad Document and the Outlines of Revolutionary Action.
Published by the Jihad Group: January 1988 p.18.

(10) The Concept of Assassination p.2.

(J 1) and (12) See a booklet entitled: A Serious Report on the Current Situation Between the
Islamic Group and the Egyptian Regime . Published by the Islamic Group N.D.

(13) For details see: Asem Abdel Maged. Esam Al-Din Derbala. Nageh Ibrahim Abdullah. "The
Chaner of Islamic Action" Published by the Islamic Group. N.D.

(14) We have earlier indicated that with its longer history, skills and experience the Ikhwan is
better in comparison with the other two groups.

(15) Hasan Al-Banna . Collection of Messages. "To What Do We Call the People? " Op. Cit.
p.3
(16) Op. Cit "Our call in a New Phase" P.l3l.

(17) The Jihad Document. Op. Cit. p.18

(18) Asem Abdel Maged. Charter of Action. Op. Cit p.86.

(19) Hasan Al-Banna. "Four Evidences". The daily Muslim Brotherhood newspaper No . 513.
January 2, 1948.

(20) Omar Abdel Rahman. Open Letter to University Youth. Distributed in academic year
1988-1989.

(21) For more in this print see Ibrahim Al Bayyoumy Ghanem Op. Cit.

(22) See Ibrahim Al Bayyommy Ghanem . The Political Thought of Iman Hasan Al Bana.
Cairo' The Islamic Distribution and Publishing House. 1992. p. 479, 484.

23) See for example: "Who Will Come to the Aid of the Usurped Sanctities of Islam". In
Al-Fath, a periodical issued in Paris by the Jihad Group in Egypt. 1412 AH

(24) See The Rule on the Fighting of a FactionThat Denies the Laws of Islam. Published by
the Islamic Group in Egypt. ND. p.3.

(25) Hasan Al-Banna. "The Fundamentals of Islam as a Social Svstem": Al-Shihab. No.2.
December 14. 1847.

U1U1UAD PRESS SERl'lCE

-
 (26) See The Jihad Document and Outline of Revolutionary Action. Op. Cit. p 6.8.

Tarek Al-lomor: "The Ballie of Islam and Secularism in Egypt," Published by the Jihad Group
in Egypt. October 1990. p.114.

(28) See for example "Who Are We and What Do We Want". An introduction to the Islamic
Group . 1988. p. 15; "The Chaner of Islamic Action," Op. Cit. p. 6. 52, "The Total
ConDict" Published by the Jihad Group. N.D. p.9; and the message of the General Guide of
the Ikhwan to President Mubarak on the occasion of the 1987 elections (Al-Shaab. October
17, 1987).

(29) Statement by the Ikhwan Group on the massacre at Al-Aqsa Mosque. October 9. 1990. See
also the statement from the group's General Guide under the title: The Nation Should Stand
in the Face of the American Aggression Against Libya. Novermber 30, 1991.

(30) The Ballie of Islam and Secularism. Op. Cit. p 150.

(31) "A New Phase of Dependence". Al Fath No,8 A magazine published in Paris by the
Egyptian Jihad Group. N.D, p3-4.

(32) Editorial of the magazine "A True Word" Published by the Islamic Group in Egypt, No 7.
1413 A.H.

(33) Hasan Al-Banna. "The Missing Factor". An article in the fortnightly Muslim Brotherhood
newspaper. February 26, 1944.

(34) For more detail see Ibrahim Al Bayyoumy Ghanem's. "The Political Thought of Imam
Hasan Al-Banna, Op. Cit. p.238.

(35) See The Battle of Islam and Secularism. Op. Cit p.16.

(36) See Aboud Al Zomor's "Message on the Western Civilization". (Unpublished) p,2.

(37) See The Battle of Islam and Secularism. Op. Cit p.116.

(38) The Chaner of Islamic Action . Op. Cit p,50.

(39) For more details see note No. (1) of this study.

(40) 'The Islamic Movement and th e Current International Changes", In AJ-Fath 15,16, A
magazine published in Paris bv the Jihad Group in Egypt. p.24.26.

(41) Hasan Al-Banna's. "Collection of Messages", Op. Cit. Between Yesterday and Today" p.156

(42) A massage sent by the General Guide of the Ikhwan, Mr. Mohamed Hamed Aboul Nasr, to
the 36th Conference of the Muslim Students' Society in Pakistan. September 25, 1989.

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TIlE " 'FST IN TIlE E,\'FS OF TilE E6,\,PTL\N ISI.AIUIC IUO\'E1UENT

 (43) Aboud Al Zomor's "A Message on Western Civilization", Op. Cit. p.3; see also Aboud Al
Zomor 's ." An Urgent Message Before the Explosion". Published in Al-Fath Op. Cit. p.
13.14,

(44) Tarek Al Zomor. The Battle of Islam. Op. Cit. p.l46

(45) Ibid. p. 54, 58 See also The Jihad Document. Op. Cit. p.15.

(46) See The Charter of Islamic Action. Op. Cit p. 52.

(47) Mostafa Mashhour. "The Crisis of Our Nation Between a Permanent and a Quick
Solution." Al Shaab. January 1. 1991, See also "An Islamic View of the Gulf Crisis:" Al
Shaab. January 29, 1991. Also Abdel Moniem Selim Gabbara. The Muslim Brotherhood
i and the Gulf Crises. Cairo. Publishing and Distribution House. p.20.
I (48) Most statements released by the Ikhwan include appeals to rulers. heads of government. and
I the Muslim peoples to return to Islam and abide by its teachings. See, for example. "An
Appeal from Omar Al Telmesani to the Rulers. Leaders. and Ulama of Muslim countries".
Cairo; January 22. 1991. Also the appeal contained in Message From the Muslim
Brotherhood to President Hosni Mubarak on the occasion of the Pople's Assembly in 1987.

(49) The Jews and Their Slaves. Al Fath 11. 1412 AH.

(50)The Jews and Their Slaves. Al Fath 11. 1412 AH.

(51) The Islamic Movement and the Current International Changes. Al Fath 15, 16. 1412 AH.
P 24,26
(52) See. for example. The Battle of Islam. Op. Cit p 114 and Aboud AI-Zomor. Urgent
Message. Op. Cit p.14,

(53) "Egypt and a New Phase of Dependence". Al Fath. 8 Op. Cit p. 23; and The Battle of
Islam. Op. Cit. p. 32. 28.

(54) The Philosophy 01 Confrontation. Op. Cit. p.28.

(55) The Jihad Documents and Outline of Revolutionary Action. Op. Cit. p.13

(56) Ibid. p. 16.

(57) Ibid p.18.

(58) Anonymous writer. Reply to a Serious View by Sheikh Al Albani on Fearing. Apostate
Rulers. Published bv the Jihad Group in Egypt. N.D. p.18.

(59) The Philosophy of Confrontation. Op. Cit. p.23.

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L~11UAII PRESS SERVICE

 (60) Tarek AI-Zomor : Th~ Battie of Islam . Op. Cit. p.26. :27.

(61) The Philosophy of Confrontation . Op. Cit. p. 19-24. See also "The American
Arrangements in the Region: AI- Fath 8. N.D.

(62) For more details see the "Charter of Islamic Action ". Op. Cit. p.24.

(63) "For All This Mubarak Will Not Apply the Shari·a". An anicle in the magazine "A True
Word". Publihsed by the Islamic Group in Egypt:; ]\;0 . 6 N.D. p.3l.

(64) Anonymous writer. The Islamic Movement and Pani.sen Activity. Published by the Islamic
Group Egypt. N.D. p.8l- 82.

(65) "Tomorrow the Bullets Will Be Defeated " In A True Word. 6 N.D. p.7.

(66) See. for example. a statement by the Ikhwan entitled: "A New Massacre in the Aqsa
Mosque, Cairo. October 29, 1990.

(67) See. for example, a statement by Ikhwan on the occasion of the announcement of a
Palestinian state following the meeting of the National Palestinian Council in Cairo.
November 3D, 1988. Also the Ikhwan statement on the massacres in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Cairo May 18, 1992.

(68) For more details see Ebrahim AI Bayyoumy Ghanem: "Political. Thought" . Op. Cit.
p.379.

(69) Decisions of the Ikhwan's general assemblv. September 8. 1945.

(70) See Total Conflict Op. Cit. p.2.

(71) Ibid. p.3 .

(72) See the Philosophy of Confrontation. Op. Cit. p.3 and also Aboud AI Zomor. Message on
the Western Civilization Op. Cit.

(73) The Battle of Islam and Secularism. Op. Cit. p.l13.

(74) For more detail sec: The Jihad Document. Op. Cit. p. 22. 23.

(75) See "The Battle of Islam and Secularism. Op. Cit. p.117.

(76) These eight points have been extracted from:

-Total Confrontation. Op. Cit. p.9 , 23, 24.

- Aboud AI Zomor: "The Arab Dilemma and the Islamic Way Out. " AI-Noll! newspaper.
Jul y 3. 1991.

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TIlE ft'F..sT IN TIlE EYES 01<' TilE EG''''TU.l~ ISL.UIIC IUOVOIEI\T

-------------------------------------------- --------------------- ---- ~

 - Aboud Al Zomor: "An Isla mic Caliphate Not An Arab Summit." Published by the Jihad
Group in Egypt. N.D.

(77) See "Total Confrontation -. Op. Cit. pll. 12 For more details on each of these battles and
its background see: Aboud AI Zomor's "Bases of the Bailie of Tomorrow". Published by
Jihad Group in Egypt. N.D .

(78) See. for example. "Who We Are and What We Want," An introduction leanet published by
the Islamic Group in Egypt. 1988. p.26. Also "The Chaner of Islamic Action". Op. Cit
p.39, 45. 50 and 93. For the Jihad Group see "The Philosophy of Confrontation". Op. Cit.
p.3: and Saif Allah AI Mokhtar (pseudonym) The Inevitability of Connict in Islam.
Alexandria. AI Bora'a Publishers. N.D. p.13.

(79) See "Total Confrontation" Op. Cit. p.8. This is a view that the Jihad Group frequently
cites in its writings and it is taken from the book "Fath AI Qadir" in its definition of what
is meant by jihad. The group also frequently cites the saying of Imam Ibn Taymia:
"Fighting is an incumbent duty so that religion will be all purely to God and so that there
will no sedition". When religion is not purely to God then fighting is incumbant."

(80) See some detail in Aboud AI Zomor "An Islamic Caliphate Not An Arab Summit. Op.
Cit. and Total Confrontation Op. Cit. 209, 219.

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