O "Islamists" in Egypt, Repentance is Necessary

Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.

Dear brothers, is there still a need to talk about the mistakes of the Islamic parties while they are in their current precarious situation? In fact, we see the need as urgent, for this discussion is not mere criticism but rather a remedy, and for the following four reasons:

Reasons to Discuss the Mistakes of the Islamists

The First Reason: Identifying Mistakes is Part of the Solution

Identifying mistakes is part of the solution. We believe that these mistakes and deviations are what have led the Islamists to their current state of weakness against the criminal enemy. There is no salvation or victory for them except through repentance from these deviations and ridding themselves of them. However, unfortunately, they insist on them, cling to them, do not acknowledge that they are deviations, let alone repent from them. Instead, they believe that victory lies in continuing on the path of democracy and martyrdom for the sake of legitimacy.

The issue is not about blaming the past without benefit; rather, it is a continuous warning because the disease exists. How can some people ask me to be silent when I see that silence is a cause of the disease's worsening? How can they ask me to stop instead of asking the Islamists to stop the deviations they insist on, which drag Muslims with them into the abyss?

Many of those who blame us when we point out the mistakes are the same people who used to defend these deviations whenever we mentioned them over the past year and a half, and others mentioned them as well. Their noise drowns out our voices, and they turn people away from hearing the warnings until the situation reached its current state. Then, they are the ones who return now to blame and criticize us, saying, "It's not the right time." It was not the right time in the past, nor is it the right time now, and it will never be the right time for them until the Day of Judgment. So, when will we learn from our mistakes?

Furthermore, I have said it and will say it repeatedly: I am not against the Brotherhood and the Salafis in general and in detail. Rather, I am with you, aiding you against the devils of the jinn who make these deviations appealing to you. I am with you, O pure-hearted Brotherhood members, against some hardened heads that do not want to learn. With you, to correct yourselves from within before those who do not fear Allah and do not show you mercy uproot you, or before you return to agreeing with the enemies of the religion and the deviations continue. Thus, you will receive your reward for it, and not the drummers who defend your mistakes are more compassionate towards you than I am.

The Second Reason: Preserving People's Good Opinion of Islam

The second reason for continuing is the same one I mentioned in the first episode I spoke about the Arab revolutions a year and a half ago, when we called out: "O Islamic peoples, Islam has not yet entered the battle in many of the arenas where it is called for with proposals said to be Islamic. If the Islamists fail in their attempts, do not say: 'We tried Islam in what we tried, and it did not benefit us.'" What you see is not a correct representation of Islam, and its failure is not a failure of Islam.

Our enemies wanted to deceive the Islamic peoples that Islam was given its chance to rule and proved its failure. On the night of Muhammad Morsi's ouster, I heard many people asking, "Why did this happen?" as if it were an unexpected matter, as if there were a flaw in the laws of Allah, God forbid. And the sick-hearted took advantage of the situation to discuss political Islam and as evidence of the mistake of politicizing religion and the failure of the Islamic experiment in governance. Here, it is necessary to clarify that this experiment was not Islamic to begin with. Preserving people's good opinion of their Lord, their religion, their laws, and His support for the believers is more important to us than having good opinions about those who misrepresented Islam.

The Third Reason: Refuting Incorrect Conclusions

The third reason is that some people say: "If the Islamists carried out an incomplete Islamic experiment and yet they ended up like this, then what if they insisted on the Shariah completely as you demand?" It is necessary here to clarify that their experiment was not Islamic, neither complete nor incomplete. Thus, they lost the companionship of Allah and were left to their enemies. This is the flaw; otherwise, the ignorant would conclude that in the coming times, we should compromise more and more.

The Fourth Reason: Clarifying the Criticism's Starting Points for New Followers

The fourth reason is that many of the new followers do not understand at all our starting points when we judge this experiment as non-Islamic or when we say that the Islamists have abandoned the Shariah. They think that the extent of our criticism of the Islamists is that they took the fatwa of those who permitted parliamentary participation. Some of the new followers even think that by abandoning the Shariah, we mean that the Islamists did not accomplish what was required and did not eliminate the evils from the first day of rule, as if the poor slave had a superficial, hasty proposal unrelated to reality.

It is necessary here to clarify that when we say that the Islamists have abandoned the Shariah and did not apply it, this includes every stage of the post-revolution period, not just taking the fatwa of parliamentary or presidential participation, nor that they were slow in applying the Shariah, but rather, they were quick in opposing the Shariah.

Methodological Deviations That Require Repentance

Now, what are these deviations that must be repented from and the psychological motivations and ideological impurities that have been produced must be eliminated?

1. Abandoning the Call to Complete the Revolution and Confront the Military: Starting from after Mubarak's resignation, when the call to complete the revolution, dismantle the deep state apparatus, and confront the military trained by America and the Zionists emerged, this revolutionary call is at the core of the Sharia. However, the majority of Islamists abandoned it, even turning people away from it, and thus were not applying the Sharia from the very first step.

2. Cowardice in Defending the People Against the Army's Injustice: When the army took control, it returned to oppressing the people, unleashing thugs on them in Liberation Square, Abbaseya, Mohamed Mahmoud, and elsewhere, and the people were about to revolt anew. The Islamists, however, in every instance, made excuses about the need to ensure the smooth conduct of parliamentary and presidential elections that would empower the people of Islam and establish a strong Sharia state. Instead of joining the people and championing the oppressed—which is an application of the Sharia—they abandoned the people in their confrontation with the army.

3. Abandoning the Demand for the Implementation of Sharia: When calls repeatedly emerged for the implementation of Sharia, some Islamists abandoned these calls and declared that they would not participate in them or in the rallies. Then, they began demanding participation in calls for democracy and attacking those who prevented it.

4. Flattering the Disbelievers: When they flattered the disbelievers in every situation, stood in mourning at the door of the criminal "Shinbet," and some of those claiming to be Salafis communicated with Zionist broadcasts, while the Sharia commands them to be humble toward the believers and dignified toward the disbelievers, especially the leaders of disbelief.

5. Selling the Goal for the Sake of the Means: When the Muslim Brotherhood asked all parties, including the secular, liberal, Coptic, and leftist parties, to elect Morsi, and promised them in return to include them in the governing institution and in drafting the constitution, which is the religion of the state, they sold the goal for the sake of the means. They were not adhering to the Sharia but sold it in advance.

6. Dealing with Sharia Without Any Credibility: When the parties dealt with Sharia without any credibility, rallying people in the name of Sharia during crises, while Katani refused to exclude any member of the House of Representatives from his oath to respect the polytheistic constitution, and members of the Brotherhood insisted on keeping the vague phrase "principles of Sharia" instead of "rulings of Sharia" in order to accommodate the disbelievers and hypocrites, preventing any progress toward the implementation of Sharia in the future. Such an experience cannot be called Islam.

7. Introducing Enemies of Sharia into State Institutions: When the Islamists insisted on introducing singers, actors, Christians, and pagans of the state, and disassociated themselves from the charge of exclusivity, even though the people elected them to rule by Sharia, not to include these elements. Such an experience cannot be called Islam.

Abandoning Sharia After Reaching the Presidency

All of this was before reaching the presidency. The Islamists were not applying Sharia at any of these critical junctures; rather, they abandoned it. As for after the presidency, we issued the statement "You have not established Sharia, nor have you made the people straight" after four months of Muhammad Morsi assuming the presidency, and we presented ten documented pieces of evidence that what was happening was not a delay in applying Sharia but a rush to dismantle it, such as the treacherous Sinai campaign led by the president himself, and the introduction of Torah-based texts into the curriculum, among other things.

Then the breach widened, and we could no longer count it. The fitnah of the polytheistic constitution came, which the Islamists called on the people to approve, and we explained in detail at the time that there was no excuse for approving it. Then came the Ghurdaqa festival, the three-year license for nightclubs, and appeasing the enemies of the religion. The president went, and they were still in their prisons being tortured. What kind of Islamic experience is this for someone to claim that Islam was given its chance to rule?

A Call for Repentance and Course Correction

These, my brothers, are the methodological sins and transgressions committed by the Islamists, and they have no recourse but to repent from them; otherwise, they are exposed to the punishment of Allah the Almighty, of which the military is but one form and tool. The problem is that the psychological motivations for these sins are still present and threaten to repeat in the future as well. The desire for consensus is still present, as is the appeasement of the outside world at the expense of Allah's wrath, still present under the slogans of democracy, disavowal of Islam, and the corrupt jurisprudence of interests and harms that has dissolved all boundaries, still present.

The Muslims suffered what they suffered in the Battle of Uhud due to a single sin, so how about these sins, some of which involve empowering polytheism and abandoning Sharia? Therefore, in upcoming episodes, God willing, we will address these methodological deviations in an effort to rectify them and identify the methodological flaw that produced them in order to treat it, God willing, so that we do not fall into the same pit again.

And we say in conclusion to the Islamists: These were sins and transgressions; repentance is necessary. Do not be like those about whom Allah said: {And when it is said to him, fear Allah, pride seizes him with sin} (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:212), but rather like those about whom Allah said: {So give good tidings to the servants who listen to the word and follow the best of it} (Surah Yazid, 39:17-18).

Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.