Parliamentary members affiliated to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood are preparing for an investigation that is the first of its kind. They want to discuss the budget allocated to the Azhar for building institutions and the educational syllabuses taught in the ancient university.
On the grounds that the Grand Imam cannot be asked to explain they will question Dr. Atif Ebeid about omitting Jihad verses from the educational syllabuses of the Azhar and reducing jurisprudence [fiqh] materials. They may as well examine the idea of the Grand Imam being appointed by the state.
This time, MPs affiliated to the Brotherhood showed their commitment to the strategic objective of the outlawed group. This objective is to destroy the Azhar which has stood firm against them for a long time.
They are skillfully implementing the set plan formulated by the mufti of Jihad, Sayyed Qotb, in his book titled “Al-Ma’raka Bayna Al-Islam Wa Al-Ra’smaliya”[The battle between Islam and capitalism].
The Brotherhood considers itself the main reference for Islam and believes that diminishing the magnitude of the Azhar is for its benefit.
It is strange and suspicious that the group embellishes its questions with sweet words mentioning that it is working for the benefit of the Azhar and its scholars. Dr. Abdel Mo’ti Bayoumi, an MP and the [former] dean of the Faculty of the Fundamentals of Religion affiliated to the Azhar, dismissed such a claim. He said, “the Brotherhood’s members of parliament did not support me when I spoke for its benefit. We are the sons of the Azhar and we know best what is for its benefit. They seek to destroy the Azhar because they wish to assume exclusive possession of the right to speak in the name of Islam. The existence of the Azhar stands as an obstacle in the way of their aims.”
The disbanded Azhar Scholars Front is involved in this inquiry as the likely requirements of it are the same as statements issued by them. The front declared itself to be the enemy of the Grand Imam and attacked him frequently.
The front previously leaked three novels that were branded as pornographic to the Brotherhood MPs causing the biggest cultural turmoil since the crisis caused by the novel “ The banquet of sea weed”.
The most serious aspect of this Azhar inquiry is not how to answer it, that is an easy task, as the Grand Imam has previously presented his answers to the claims of the front. It is that the MPs affiliated to the Brotherhood have revealed their real aims and begun to act according to their basic strategies. Their aim is to establish themselves as the spokesmen for Islam claiming that all people are negligent of their religion, while they are sticking to it.
The objectives of the group of 17, or “their eminences” as they are called, are hinged on three points:
Firstly they want to damage the prestige of the Azhar and the dignity of Azhar sheikhs and drag them into a whirlpool of numbers and financial liability.
Secondly they are attacking the law using a constitutional approach claiming that Islam is the religion of the State. The latest battle over wine is obvious proof of this course from the group of 17.
Thirdly they want to raise doubts about governmental performance through a flood of questions, requests for information and inquiries. There have been no less than 1200 in the last 15 months.
MPs affiliated to the Brotherhood waited for 15 months before finding it appropriate to begin their attack on the Azhar.
During the two previous legislative terms Brotherhood members submitted a number of questions and requests for information about the Azhar.
Gamal Heshmat, an MP and Brotherhood member, submitted a request for information to the Prime Minister concerning mistakes found in the printed versions of the Holy Qur’an reviewed by the Azhar. The Prime Minister is responsible for the Azhar. Here, they are claiming that the Azhar is not performing its religious duty.
They also submitted a request for information because the Azhar did not issue appointment decrees for teachers working in privately built Azhar institutes.
Another question was about the reason for the delay in paying out allowances allocated for Qur’an memorization schools. This question accuses the Azhar of abandoning its religious role.
They also asked why a branch of the Azhar University had not been established in Sadat City.
The Brotherhood sought to make use of a government statement to raise the issue of selling wine publicly.
When Dr. Bayoumi stood up to the argument about wine and examined this issue from the religious point of view he stressed that the wine trade existed in the Abbassid State. Dr. Bayoumi added that Imam Abu Hanifa mentioned that “if a Muslim poured wine for a Muslim, he may not be secured…and if a Muslim poured wine for a dhimmi [a free non-Muslim under Muslim rule], he may be secured”. Dr. Bayoumi explained that this was mentioned in volume 24 of the book titled “Al-Mabsoot” [the simplified] by Al-Sarkhasi.
Immediately after this argument in parliament Brotherhood members informed Sheikh Youssef Al-Qaradawi about what Dr. Bayoumi had said and opened parliamentary discussions to the public on Al-Jazira Channel in Qatar.
Sheikh Youssef said that there had never been such a statement about wine at any time and Imam Abu Hanifa had not said it despite the accurate reference mentioned by Dr. Bayoumi.
The Brotherhood members depicted Dr. Bayoumi as asking for wine [drinking] to be made lawful.
Dr. Bayoumi says that Brotherhood members carry out ideological terrorism in the name of the Islamic Shari’a because they do not want anyone to speak in the name of Islam except themselves. “They claimed that Dr. Bayoumi made wine lawful… what an evil claim! We answered their claims both in parliament and on Al-Jazira Channel. I challenged them many times to mention any Egyptian law that contradicts with the Islamic Shari’a, but they failed to mention any”, Dr. Bayoumi added.
The Al-Nisr tyre company turned into an inquiry. The Intifada was a good opportunity to out bid the stance of the Egyptian government. They made a statement in which they mentioned ten demands. Expelling the Israeli Ambassador and freezing all relations with the Zionist enemy came top of their list.
Out of a total of 5000 questions and requests for information and investigation, submitted by all 454 members during the last 15 months, parliament members affiliated to the Brotherhood have submitted 1200.
During the first legislative term Gamal Heshmat, an MP affiliated to the Brotherhood, submitted about 120 requests for information and investigation. During the few weeks of the current legislative term he has submitted a further 88.
Heshmat is seeking a confrontation with the Minister of Education, Dr. Hussein Kamel Bahaa Al-Deen, concerning sanitary towels being distributed among schoolgirls. This is being done under an agreement between Procter and Gamble and the ministry in order to spread health awareness in schools.
“When they offend the modesty of our virgin girls, I have [to] enquire and be enraged and the constitution gives me the right to ask”, says Heshmat.
The Minister of Information is targeted by the Brotherhood just like the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Youssef Wali. This is in addition to the ministers of tourism, education, culture and the interior.
The Minister of the Interior is targeted because his ministry pursued the Brotherhood as an outlawed group and inquiries into military trials of Brotherhood members are under way.
Concerning the targeting of certain ministers, Dr. Al-Mursi, a parliament member affiliated to the Brotherhood, says “If you mean the minister of education, it is nor like this but subjects impose themselves. For example, when the Prime Minister says in his statement that the government will build 30 thousand schools within 10 years and the progress rate for this plan is 900 school per year, then we have to speak. When they distribute sanitary towels in schools, we have to speak”.
“Our scope widens to include all subjects. Culture is one of our most important pivots for action, it is due to the fact that we are facing a cultural attack, not because we are searching for instigation”, says Dr. Hamdy Hassan, a parliament member affiliated to the Brotherhood.
“All subjects are important but they are of various degrees. It is right that bread is more important than wine but wine is more dangerous to our Islam. It is not right that our actions are associated with the objective of the guidance office [of the Brotherhood]. We are representing [the] people”, added Dr. Hamdy.
Dr. Bayoumi says that what the Brotherhood members are doing is religious terrorism.
