Tariq Al-Bishry: Using MB as Scarecrow Is Over

Tariq Al-Bishry: Using MB as Scarecrow Is Over

 

Constitutional Amendments Committee Chairman Tarek el-Bishry said: "I think the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideology is far from revolutionary Shiite ideology of Welayat-e faqih in Iran."

El-Bishry said in an interview with Al Jazeera Centre for Studies: "The Muslim Brotherhood since its inception in 1928, is Sunni in doctrine and has officially opposed violent means. They are not hostile to Shiites but their thought violates them and there are no organizational ties between the Brothers and Iran."

With regard to escalating fears in the West concerning the repetition of Iran’s scenario in Egypt, El-Bishry said: "Since September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the problem in Western thought today has been embodied in the emergence of an Islamic movement that is interpreted as a repetition of the Iranian model or branded as a terrorist group."

 In a question about the MB’s role in the January 25 revolution, he added that the Brothers in general were not behind the events that unfolded in Tahrir Square, even though they may have effectively contributed to it.

 

"The Muslim Brotherhood took part in anti-Mubarak protests as part of Egypt’s social fabric," he said, adding that it is noticeable that they were involved without use of their traditional slogans such as "Islam Is the Solution". They just raise national and political slogans for democracy, without attempting to alter the protests in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood.  He also went on to say, "I would like to emphasize that the Brothers actually exist as a national movement."

 

He stressed that "the old and long-played card of using the Muslim Brotherhood as the scarecrow in the face of pressures calling for democratization proved false in Egypt’s uprising, indicating that Egypt’s regime was benefiting from using the Muslim Brotherhood as a scarecrow in order to gain US support.

 

He has maintained that Egypt’s 25th Revolution showed real solidarity and rare unity among Muslims and Copts that have uprooted sectarian strife that has prevailed in Egypt throughout the past two decades.

 

He also noted that tension is automatically defused and that there has not been even a single attack against any church as many young Muslims have protected Christian churches.