Egypt arrests top Muslim Brotherhood leader: Does this mean the end for that group’s goals?
Muslim Brotherhood
Egypt’s military-backed government has arrested the ‘spiritual head’ of the Muslim Brotherhood, while Saudi Arabia backs Egypt’s new leaders:
August 20, 2013
CAIRO — Egyptian authorities are continuing their crackdown on members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the powerful Islamist group behind ousted President Mohamed Morsi.
Egyptian authorities said they have arrested Mohamed Badie, the spiritual head of the Muslim Brotherhood. Badie is the most influential member taken into custody in a widespread crackdown against the Islamist group…Badie’s son, Ammar, was killed in subsequent protests.
Badie had been the focus of wrath at rallies held throughout the past year, seen as the true power behind Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. Mr. Morsi was ousted by the military July 3rd and is being held in an undisclosed location.
Amir Bassam, on the board of the Brotherhood’s political wing, spoke to VOA by telephone from an undisclosed location in Greater Cairo.
He said despite the many arrests, it’s impossible to eliminate the Brotherhood as it represents what he called a “genuine, integral, working part of Egyptian society.”
But popular anger at the nation’s millions of Islamists continued to climb, fueled yet again when suspected militants killed 25 police officers in Sinai Monday. On state media, news of the deaths far overshadowed the deaths of some 36 protesters while in custody. http://www.voanews.com/content/muslim-brotherhood-leader-arrested/1732935.html
August 20, 2013
Mohamed Badie, 70, the Brotherhood’s general guide, was taken from an apartment in Nasr City in northeast Cairo, the area where protesters demanding Morsi’s reinstatement had staged a vigil for six weeks before they were violently dispersed.
He was charged in July with incitement to murder during protests before Morsi’s overthrow and is due to stand trial on Aug. 25 together with his two deputies…The state news agency said Badie was taken to Tora prison on the southern outskirts of Cairo, where other Brotherhood leaders are held…
The Brotherhood, which renounced violence decades ago, has promised peaceful resistance to the army takeover…
The United States urged Egypt not to ban the Brotherhood, an option floated in the past week by the interim prime minister.
Founded in 1928, the Brotherhood used its organizational muscle to propel Morsi to power in last year’s presidential election. It says it has about a million members among Egypt’s 85 million people, as well as offshoots across the Arab world. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/egypt-arrests-muslim-brotherhoods-leader/article13867258/
August 20, 2013
CAIRO — Egypt’s political crisis has dealt a blow to any hopes for a quick economic recovery, but aid from its Gulf allies is likely to prevent a financial collapse.
Clashes between followers of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and security forces have caused the deaths of at least 830 people since Wednesday, the worst political bloodletting to rock Egypt in recent history…“If you see widespread terrorism and bombs, you won’t get a recovery in tourism or domestic investment, and capital flight may continue,” said Simon Kitchen, a strategist with investment bank EFG Hermes.
But after Morsi was deposed, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates promised Egypt a total of $12 billion in loans, grants and fuel shipments. Of that, $5 billion has already arrived – an unusually fast delivery of aid commitments, showing the importance the Gulf attaches to stabilizing Egypt…Late on Monday, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal signaled that the world’s top crude oil exporter was ready to provide more billions if necessary.
“To those who have declared they are stopping aid to Egypt or are waving such a threat, the Arab and Muslim nations are wealthy with their people and resources and will not shy away from offering a helping hand to Egypt,” he told state news agency SPA in Jeddah. http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-with-gulf-aid-egypt-economy-can-limp-through-crisis/1733037.html
CAIRO — Saudi Arabia is emerging at the forefront of a forceful effort by Persian Gulf monarchies to back Egypt’s new military leaders, exacerbating a fierce struggle for influence in the chaotic and increasingly leaderless Arab world…Saudi leaders were unsettled by the prospect of the Muslim Brotherhood consolidating its hold over the Arab world’s most populous nation, analysts say.“It’s not about expansionism,” said Gamal Soltan, a professor of political science at the American University of Cairo. “The Saudis are doing these things out of fear rather than greed.”
But at a time when many Arabs are growing queasy at the high human cost of the crackdown, “this is an enormous gamble for the king,” said Christopher Davidson, professor of Middle East history at Durham University in England. “Saudi Arabia is putting itself in direct confrontation with the Muslim Brotherhood, which has broad regional sympathy across the region.”
It is also opening a new front in Riyadh’s ongoing rivalry with Qatar and Turkey, both of which have their own regional aspirations and were enthusiastic backers of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated government.
The situation in the Middle East and North Africa is tense and battle lines are being drawn.
The Muslim Brotherhood itself is a Sunni Muslim group. Most Arabs are Sunni Muslims (countries such as Iran and Iraq are mainly Shi’ite Muslims; Syria has a Shi’ite Muslim leader, though the majority of Syrians are Sunnis). A couple of months ago, Egypt’s President Morsi called for Egyptian fighters to begin a war against three Shi’ite ruled nations, including Syria (see Egypt’s Morsi taking ‘King of the South’ steps, but…). This did not set well with the military in Egypt and it decided that it wanted to see certain changes from President Morsi or it would support the unelected opposition. When the changes the military wanted did not quickly materialize, after mob protests, it removed President Morsi from office and declared the Chief Justice of its Supreme Court, Adly Mansour, as interim president (Adly Mansour installed as Egypt’s interim president).
So, the Muslim Brotherhood called for protests. The military-backed government decided to not tolerate certain protests and helped kill and/or injure thousands of people. And the Muslim Brotherhood keeps calling for protests.
Saudi Arabia is funding the military-backed government in Egypt because it wants regional influence and it is afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood. The leaders of Saudi Arabia simply do not wish to be swept aside by Muslim Brotherhood supported leader in the region.
Notice who and what the Muslim Brotherhood wants:
What is the Muslim Brotherhood?
The world’s largest and most influential Islamist movement. Founded in Egypt in 1928, the group was originally focused on ridding the country of corrupting secular influences brought by British colonial rule. Over the years, it established branches and affiliates in many countries to promote traditional Sunni Islamic morals, social justice, and the eradication of poverty and corruption. “The Islamic nation,” its charter states, “must be fully prepared to fight the tyrants and the enemies of Allah as a prelude to establishing an Islamic state”—ideally a re-established caliphate, stretching from Spain across the Middle East and Central Asia to Indonesia, to be governed according to Islamic sharia law. (Understanding the Muslim Brotherhood. February 14, 2011. © The Muslim Brotherhood. http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=28019 viewed 11/21/2011)
The Muslim Brotherhood apparently wants as its top priority a pan-national Islamic caliphate ruled by an Imam. Many Muslims long for the rising up of a leader called the 12th Imam, often referred to as the Imam Mahdi. It will not end up with Spain if I understand certain aspects of Bible prophecy correctly, but the confederation of the final King of the South may go from around Western Sahara and/or Mauritania to Oman (with possible involvement and/or coordination with Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and/or Indonesia). The leaders of Saudi Arabia are opposed to this as it basically would mean that they would have to answer to whoever runs the caliphate.
Notice a translation of what some, who are part of it, write that the Muslim Brotherhood wants:
…the Islamic Ummah [nation] can regain its power and be liberated and assume its rightful position which was intended by Allah, as the most exalted nation among men, as the leaders of humanity…
He [Hassan al-Banna] felt the grave danger overshadowing the Muslims and the urgent need and obligation which Islam places on every Muslim, man and woman, to act in order to restore the Islamic Caliphate and to reestablish the Islamic State on strong foundations and to liberate the Muslims and defend them from any attack, and to spread the Da’wa (Islamic missionary activity) of Islam in the world and to establish this great religion, which Allah wanted for his servants…
Some think that Shahada (Martyrdom) causes loss and damages the [Muslim Brotherhood] Society, since it has lost influential people in action and Jihad. This is wrong, since the fall of the Shahid (Martyr) for the sake of Da’wa (Islamic missionary activity) is [seen as] provisions and fuel for the [next] generations, and as a symbol of self sacrifice in the way of the Da’wa until realization of the goals which the [Muslim Brotherhood] Society was established for, that is, establishing the State of Islam, headed by the Islamic Caliphate, in order to establish Allah religion on Allah’s land…(Source: The Muslim Brotherhood – in its own words Translation of “Jihad is the way” by Mustafa Mashhur Leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, 1996-2002 by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik. http://www.palwatch.org/STORAGE/special%20reports/Jihad_is_the_way_by_Mustafa_Mashhur.pdf viewed 04/30/11)
To bring enough Arab nations together, I have felt that some type of “strongman” needed to rise up. One who Arabs would tend to respect–who might use or not use the title Imam Mahdi. The time may be now for him to rise up and the Muslim Brotherhood may play an important role. The Muslim Brotherhood is is the world’s oldest and largest Islamic political group and has been called the “world’s most influential Islamist movement” (http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/2010/11/2010111681527837704.html)–though some new group could also form.
The Bible tells of confederation of something like what the Muslim Brotherhood wants rising up in North Africa and the Middle East:
40 “At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. 41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. 42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels. (Daniel 11:40-43)
1 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
“Wail, ‘Woe to the day!’
3 For the day is near,
Even the day of the Lord is near;
It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles.
4 The sword shall come upon Egypt,
And great anguish shall be in Ethiopia,
When the slain fall in Egypt,
And they take away her wealth,
And her foundations are broken down.5 “Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all the mingled people, Chub, and the men of the lands who are allied, shall fall with them by the sword.”
6 ‘Thus says the Lord:
“Those who uphold Egypt shall fall,
And the pride of her power shall come down.
From Migdol to Syene
Those within her shall fall by the sword,”
Says the Lord God.7 “They shall be desolate in the midst of the desolate countries,
And her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are laid waste.
8 Then they will know that I am the Lord,
When I have set a fire in Egypt
And all her helpers are destroyed.
9 On that day messengers shall go forth from Me in ships
To make the careless Ethiopians afraid,
And great anguish shall come upon them,
As on the day of Egypt;
For indeed it is coming!” (Ezekiel 30:1-9)
Despite the arrests and various shows of force by the military in Egypt or the funding by Saudi Arabia, there is still going to be a rise of a pan-national Arabic power (with likely support from Turkey and others) similar to what the Muslim Brotherhood wants. This is what the Bible prophesies (Daniel 11:40-434; Ezekiel 30:1-9).
Even if the Muslim Brotherhood itself were eliminated (and that is not likely), the situation in Egypt will change. As far as its goal of a confederation of Arabic, Turkish, and North African peoples, the Bible teaches, “For indeed it is coming!” (Ezekiel 30:9).
Some items of possibly related interest may include:
The Future King of the South is Rising Does the Bible teach that there will be a future King of the South in Daniel 11? Is this kingdom rising up now? Did the old Worldwide Church of God (WCG) teach that there would be another one? And who is the King of the South? How will this involve Egypt? Is the final King of the South some type of Arab-Muslim confederation? Can Iran be involved? Is there a group that seems to be supporting the goals of the King of the South? Has the Obama Administration supported the rise of this power? This sermon video answers those questions.
The Muslim Brotherhood and the Rise of the King of the South The Bible tells of the formation of a power of nations that are in the Middle East and North Africa that are part of the final “King of the South” (Daniel 11:40-43) The Muslim Brotherhood wishes to have an Islamic empire with basically the same nations. This YouTube video explains what to expect from such a confederation.
Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Might this King be called the Mahdi? What does the Bible say?
The Arab and Islamic World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam? What about the Imam Mahdi? What lies ahead for Turkey, Iran, and the other non-Arabic Muslims?
What Should You Know About Turkey in Prophecy Do you know the Turkish people descended from? Did the Ottoman Empire possibly fulfill a promise in Genesis? Will Turkey support the European King of the North or Arabic King of the South? Will it betray one of them? Will Turkey be involved in the encouraging the destruction of Israel? Is Turkey going to become Catholic? Is Turkey mentioned in Psalm 83, Daniel 11, and elsewhere in the Bible? This video provides answers.
Damascus and Syria in Prophecy Will Bashar Assad hold power as he has it? Does the Bible show that Damascus, the capital of Syria, will be destroyed? What will happen to Syria? Will the Syrians support the final King of the South that the Bible tells will rise up? Which scriptures discuss the rise and fall of an Arabic confederation? Does Islamic prophecy predict the destruction of Syria. This is a YouTube video.
Is There an Islamic Antichrist? Is Joel Richardson correct that the final Antichrist will be Islamic and not European? Find out.
Barack Obama in Islamic Prophecy? There is actually a 17th century Shiite prophecy that some believe that Barack Obama will fulfill that will lead to a rising up of Islam.
Arabic Nazarenes May Have Kept Original Christian Practices Were their faithful Arabs who held to original Christianity?
Nazarene Christianity: Were the Original Christians Nazarenes? Should Christians be Nazarenes today? What were the practices of the Nazarenes.
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Edition for Second Obama Term This is a 160 page book for people truly interested in prophecies related to Barack Obama and the United States, including learning about many that have already been fulfilled (which the book documents in detail) and those that will be fulfilled in the future. It also has a chapter about a Republican choice. This book is available to order at www.barackobamaprophecy.com. The physical book can also be purchased at Amazon from the following link: Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States: Is Barack Obama Fulfilling Biblical, Islamic Catholic, Kenyan, and other America-Related Prophecies? What About Republican Leaders? Second Edition for Second Obama Term.
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Term-Amazon Kindle edition. This electronic version is available for only US$2.99. And you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to for your free Kindle reader and then go to Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States-Second Term-Amazon Kindle edition.
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