However this simple attitude of going forward after a bad fall seems to be beyond the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The Second Egyptian Revolution of June 30, 2013 which put an end to their Islamist regime of Morsi as of July 3, should have been an objective lesson to the Brotherhood in how to behave in the future. This would have been both sublime and sublimation. But the Brotherhood has, since those historic reversals which chased them out of both governing and of the affection of the majority of public opinion in Egypt, shifted the blame to a higher authority.
They, through their writings, though remorseful, are not blaming themselves for those happenings. They are saying that it was "God's will," meaning that their crisis has been pre-destined, that it was not their doing, but God's inflicted wounds. Why? The spokesman of the Brotherhood argue in their mouth piece, their daily newspaper "Al-Hurriah Wa Al-Adalah" (Freedom and Justice) that God Almighty is testing them for purposes of purification.
If this is the essential lesson which they learnt from a populist revolution staged by secular Egypt against turning the country into an Islamic Emirates, then their ability to reform themselves is severely limited. Their journey in the wilderness of being banned promises to be prolonged.
In the view of their publicists, the tragedy of the Brotherhood in Egypt resulted from "the force of destiny." Their educational oracle, Dr. Muhammad Wahdan, suggests that "There is no need for either worry or anxiety. For everything is in God's hands." This blatant shift of responsibility of the Brotherhood's downfall to the heavens above is bolstered by several of their vocal leaders and supporters.
Among those is Ahmed Al-Muhammady. He forcefully places certain verses from the Quran in the present mold of distancing the Brotherhood from the factors for their downfall. Truly amazing!! So from the Quran Chapter XI, he quotes verses 9 and 10 as follows: (Translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali:
"If we give man a taste of mercy from ourselves, and then withdraw it from him, behold! He is in despair and (falls into) blasphemy. But if we give him a taste of (Our) favours after adversity has touched him, he is sure to say: 'All evil has departed from me. Behold! He falls into exultation and pride.'"In a vain attempt to shore up the sagging morale of the Brotherhood the trial of several of its leadership including Morsi began on November 4, Mr. Muhammady urges patience. He looks at his fragged-up crystal ball, then sees hope of a quick Brotherhood's return to power. His words are: "Over centuries of human history, the period of crisis was always much shorter than the period of return to empowerment."
This mindset of defeat as a harbinger of ultimate victory is reflected in what a female supporter of the Brotherhood urges in the Brotherhood's daily. Fatima Abdulla, assuming a role of a cheerleader, says: "Each Brotherhood member should implant in himself a feeling of dignity. He should wage jihad for the victory of what is right and for the glory of God's word. This is for God, not for the Egyptian public, the majority of whom evokes in us rage whenever we see them or hear them opposing us... The Brotherhood have opted for the path of jihad... The merciful God has chosen them to worship him and has empowered them to govern."
Well, Ms. Fatima Abdullah: Your Islamist regime came to power through the ballot not through an act of God, and was forced out of power through streetocracy which the Morsi regime has alienated by its imposition of Islamization.
And by the way, it is one thing not to learn from one's mistakes, destructive as this could be. It is another to say that "I do not have to learn anything because whatever mistakes were presumed to have been committed were not my doing but were ordained by God." Unfortunately your resort to the Quran to justify your neutrality is not justifiable.
On this point, here, for the benefit of the Brotherhood, are two quotations from a total of eight verses which admonish owning up to one's mistakes:
"To them came their apostles with clear signs. It is not God who wrongs them, but they wrong their own souls." (Chapter IX, Verse 70). And we have provided for you. (But they rebelled). To us they did no harm, but they harmed their own souls." (Chapter X, Verse 57).From these verses (ayas), selected from eight verses located in several chapters (suras), emerges a sacred rebuttal to the Brotherhood's artful blame-shifting away from themselves. The Quran assigns the blame for self-inflicted wounds to those who caused themselves that harm.
There is also Omar, the second Caliph after Muhammad who, in his appointment of a judge, issued in the appointment commission the following words which adorn most of the courtrooms in the Arab World:
"The return to the path of truth is better than going down the path of falsehood."Teaching Islamic jurisprudence at Fordham University School of Law in New York City, I have found myself impressed by Islam's emphasis on the roles of intent and of free will in either damage avoidance or damage causation. It was not Heaven, but a deliberate Islamist coup against the January 25 Revolution, which ignited the secularists to strike back on June 30, 2013.
How can the Egyptian public regain confidence in the Muslim Brotherhood as a trusted partner in the reconstruction of the new Egypt, if, after the Brotherhood's tragic failure in governance, the Brotherhood is also manifesting its failure in understanding what inclusive Islam stands for?
The Brotherhood's epic failure resulted from misinterpreting the role of the ballot box in the democratic process. The ballot box is only a point of entry. That electoral victory does not provide the victor with a license to subvert the national Egyptian program into an "Islamic program" whose contents, objectives, and ideology are all alien to secular Egypt.
By excluding others in the name of Heaven, the Brotherhood is offending both Heaven and Earth.
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