Call For National Unity

Dr. Abdel Monem Abo el fotoh, member of the Muslim Brotherhood Executive Bureau issued a statement in response to the government latest crackdown against members of the group.

 

In his statement, Dr. Abo el Fotoh reiterated the Muslim Brotherhood’s rejection of violence and military actions as a mean to achieve domestic reform. He reminded President Mubarak of his earlier statement when he first took office declaring the Muslim Brotherhood was not connected to the violence that swept the country in the 1970s and 80s. Abo el Fotoh concluded his statement by reaffirming that the Muslim Brotherhood is engaging in public life for the welfare of the country and will be seriously willing to suspend all its activities if that will serve the nation’s best interest.

 

The following is the full statement of Dr. Abdel Monem Abo el Fotoh which was first published by Al Dostor newspaper in Egypt,

 

“Like all Egyptians, I am worried about the future of my country during this critical period which has been worsened by the government’s unjustified escalation against the Muslim Brotherhood, which represents a large segment of patriotic Egyptians. It is needless to reconfirm that Al-Azhar students’ actions have no relation with the government latest escalation against the MB, as it became evident that such escalation was planned well ahead of time. I must say that there are many sencere officials who called me more than two months ago to warn me that there are “certain people within the government” are pushing for a confrantation between the Muslim Brotherhood and the state before 2007. I must also admit that they told me that many state institutions consensusly rejected this escalation, because it will do harm for the country and its future specially during this critical period. Therefore, I’d like to take this opportunity and invite president Mubarak as well as the country intellectuals, and the political and social elites; to discuss several points which I believe are important,

1-When I was honored to join the Islamic and national movement in the early seventies, before many Muslim Brotherhood leaders were released from prison; I was concerned with creating a new trend in the Islamic national work based on “nation’s development”, which Imam Al-Afghani and his supporters initiated but relapsed during the 1950s and 1960s for reasons not related to our generation. This social, peaceful, national and Da’wah method is based on advice, reconciliation, partnership and cooperation among all Egyptians, including Muslims and Copts, leftists and liberals, rulers and ruled; where all of us will be held accountable in front of Allah, history and the coming generations about the safety and dignity of this country. What helped me was that the Egyptian regime’s clash with the Muslim Brotherhood during the 1940s and the 1950s “established” concepts among the Muslim Brotherhood’s leaders who were just released from prison; so, the concepts of my generation and the next generations after us agreed with those of the MB released leaders; this consequently helped to protect large numbers of young men from joining organizations that adopt violence to confront the government and society; thus, we managed- with Allah’s support- to gather this majority of young men in an organized entity that believes that the call for the true path of Allah, and loving the nation and building it are inseparable duties; this path was initiated due to the support of Allah on the one hand, and the tolerant and tranquil nature of the Egyptians on the other hand.

2-I acknowledge the role, influence and knowledge of Al Azhar scholars during the period of initiating the Islamic national action; I had the honour of calling them to give lectures and participate with us in celebrations, including late sheikhs Abdul Halim Mahmoud, Mohammad Al-Ghazzali, Al Sayed Sabeq, in addition to Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, and the jurisprudence, knowledge and thought of the sheikhs Al-Moti’y, Al Khedr Hussein, sheikh Deraz, Al-Labban, Al Maraghi and Shaltout and others who have blessed fruitful resultes among those of Al Azhar Al Sharif. The cademic influence of Al-Azhar was and still throughout centuries playing a great role in forming and reforming our ideas and concepts about the great religion of Islam.

3-President Mubarak knows very well since he was a vice president and during his meetings with late MB chairman Mr. Omar Al-Tilmisani who informed me of thier details, that the ideology of violence and military actions aren’t adopted by the Muslim Brotherhood and aren’t parts of its methodology and though, and what happened during the era of the 1940s and 1950s were things of the past that ended with the end of the monarchy and British occupation. President Mubarak also knows very well that the early clashes between the 1952 revolution and the Muslim Brotherhood took place because of mistakes commited by both sides, and when the president took office; he declared in all local and foreign media that the Muslim Brotherhood isn’t connected to the violent incidents that swept the countries in the seventies and early eighties, a statement which reflected on the reality, let alone the monitoring carried out by institutions whose leaders are mostly distinguished by a high patriotic feeling.

4-I expected from many intellectuals and politicians to take a different stance since they know that there are certain people who are seeking to creat a clash beween the state and the Muslim Brotherhood and press for this in a suspicious way that may send our beloved country and into an unkown and frightening path that harms its future, in order to achieve their own personal interests. For the good of the country, they must declare their honest and fair opinion about what is happening in Egypt nowadays, especially, the government’s aggravation against the sociey represented by the MB, Egypt’s biggest social and political movement. The country should close ranks to draft a new constitution through which it can enter a new, important and serious stage of its glorious history.

5-I conclude my statement by reaffirming that the Muslim Brotherhood participates in all aspects of public life only for the interest, stability, security, safety and future of our country. The Muslim Brotherhood will be willing to suspend and freeze all activites if it is for the best interest of Egypt”

Related Topics:

 

MB Today [About MB]
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The Future of the Muslim Brotherhood
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On Al Azhar’s Protests: A Parade of Foolishness
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