Band of Brothers

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and Iran

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Band of Brothers
by Mehdi Khalaji
17-Feb-2009
 

During a February trip to Iran, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal praised Iranian leaders for their support during the conflict in the Gaza Strip, a further indication of the strengthening ties between the Sunni Islamist group, which the United States has designated as a terrorist organization, and the Shiite regime in Tehran. Mashal's statements come on the heels of the U.S. Treasury Department's terrorist designations of al-Qaeda leaders and operatives sheltered in Iran. These latest examples of Sunni-Shiite cooperation raise new questions about whether Iran can improve its relationship with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

While such a rapprochement appears unlikely, history suggests it is far from impossible. Iran has maintained informal ties to the Muslim Brotherhood for many years, and Shiite Islam probably has more appeal among Egyptian Sunnis than it does among Sunnis in other Arab countries. Iran's sharp criticism of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is also likely to resonate with Egyptian radicals under the thumb of the regime in Cairo. If Iran were to develop close relations with the Brotherhood, Iranian influence would grow considerably in the Arab world, giving Tehran a significant say among Arab radicals and, undoubtedly, producing dangerous developments for U.S. interests in the region.

Ties between Iran and Sunni Extremists
Egypt has long been suspicious of the connection between the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Iran, based in large part on Iran's longstanding strong ties to Hamas -- an offshoot of the Brotherhood. The recent conflict in Gaza is likely to further arouse Cairo's suspicions. During the fighting, Iran was highly vocal in their support of Hamas, blasting the Egyptian government for its inaction. Hamas leader Khaled Mashal thanked Iran for its support of his organization, asserting that the "people of Gaza . . . have always appreciated the political and spiritual support of the Iranian leaders and nation." According to Iranian state television, Mashal reportedly said that "Iran has definitely played a big role in the victory of the people of Gaza and is a partner in that victory."

Iran has also forged stronger working relations with other Sunni extremists. According to the New York Times, Saudi authorities allege that the leader of "al-Qaeda in the Persian Gulf," Abdullah al-Qaraqi, lives and moves freely in Iran, along with more than a hundred Saudis working for him. The Treasury Department, in its recent enforcement action, announced that Saad bin Laden, son of Usama bin Laden, was arrested by Iranian authorities in early 2003 but that "[a]s of September 2008, it was possible that Saad bin Laden was no longer in Iranian custody." According to Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, Saad bin Laden is now most likely in Pakistan.

Prerevolutionary Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood

While the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Iran do not have strong organizational ties, the Brotherhood has had a major impact on Islamic revivalism in Iran, a movement that sought to promote Islam not just as a religion but as an ideology governing all aspects of political, economic, and social life. Mujtaba Mirlowhi, known as Navvab Safavi, (1924-1955) was a young Iranian cleric who created the Society of Islam Devotees (SID) in the early 1940s and played a major role in connecting Shiite fundamentalism to Islamic fundamentalist movements in other countries. Like the founding fathers of Islamic revivalism in Egypt, SID believed that in order to fight the supremacy of the West, Muslims have to combat sectarianism, put the Shiite-Sunni conflict aside, and create a united Muslim front.

In 1954, at the invitation of Sayyed Qutb, then secretary of the Islamic summit and main intellectual of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Navvad Safavi traveled to Jordan and Egypt to meet its leaders. Under their influence, he became more attracted to the Palestinian cause. Before that time, there were few references to the Palestinian problem in Iranian society among clerics or lay (leftist) intellectuals and activists. After his return to Iran, he started a Palestinian campaign and collected promises from five thousand volunteers to deploy to the Palestinian territories to fight the Jews.

Perhaps even more important, in his short autobiography, Iran's current supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei describes becoming interested in political activities after he met Navvad Safavi in Mashhad, Iran. Before Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, Khamenei translated two books by Sayyed Qutb, Al-Mustaqbal li hadha al-Din (The Future of this Religion) and Al-Islam wa Mushkelat al-Hadharah (Islam and the Problems of Civilization).

The Islamic Revolution in the Brotherhood's Eyes

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood at first cautiously welcomed the Ayatollah Khomeini-led Islamic revolution, which may have given the Brotherhood confidence that they too would be able to overthrow their country's secular regime. But after an Islamic radical assassinated Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat in 1981, the Brotherhood was forced to take a cautious attitude toward the Islamic Republic, at least in public. In January 1982, Umar Telmesani, then leader of the Brotherhood, told the Egyptian weekly magazine al-Msuwwar, "We supported him [Khomeini] politically, because an oppressed people had managed to get rid of an oppressive ruler and to regain their freedom, but from the doctrinal point of view, Sunnism is one thing and Shiism is another."

The Muslim Brotherhood nonetheless continued to decry sectarian differences among Muslims, arguing that unity was necessary for the sake of jihad against the corrupt rulers and the West. In 1985, Telmesani wrote in the Egyptian magazine al-Dawa that "the convergence of Shiism and Sunnism is now an urgent task for the jurists." He added that "the contact between Muslim Brotherhood and [Iranian clerics] was not done in order to make Shiites convert to Sunni Islam, the main purpose was to comply with Islam's mission to converge the Islamic sects as much as possible."

There were points where the Brotherhood and Iran cooperated more openly. In 1988, for example, at the conclusion of the Iran-Iraq war, at the request of Muslim Brotherhood leader Shaikh Muhammad Ghazzali, the Iranians agreed to unilaterally release the Egyptian prisoners of war who had fought alongside the Iraqi army against Iran.

More recently, on January 28, Muhammad Mahdi Akef, the current leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, said in an interview with Mehr News Agency: "The Muslim Brotherhood supports the ideas and thoughts of the founder of Islamic Republic." He added "[Ayatollah] Khomeini's idea, especially with regard to the Palestinian issue, is the continuation of the Muslim Brotherhood's attitude toward fighting occupation."

Egypt under Shiites: Distant Past but Popular Memory

Egyptians are more receptive and positively disposed toward Shiism than other Sunni Arabs. One reason is the Fatimid Dynasty that was established in Egypt in the tenth century as an offshoot of the Shiite Ismaelite movement. The dynasty played an important role in the cross-fertilization between Iran and Egypt. The two centuries of Fatimid rule in Egypt marks a high point in the history of Islamic civilization in terms of economic development and cultural prosperity. Even the art in Fatimid Egypt was influenced by Iranian styles.

The Fatimid period left a lasting impression on Egyptians, and vestiges of the country's long-ago Shiite rulers are still seen in Egyptian openness to Shiite practices and traditions, a receptiveness not found anywhere else in the Sunni world. Egyptians still respect the symbols, icons, and sacred places of that period; for example, Egyptians believe that Hussain, the third Shiite Imam, and his family are buried in Cairo, not in Karbala, Iraq. For Sunni Egyptians the tombs of Hussain, Sayyeda Zainab (his sister), and Assayeda Sakina (his daughter) are the most sacred places in the world after Mecca and Medina. Also like their Shiite coreligionists, Sunnis in Cairo perform Ashura (the Shiite commemoration of the death of Hussain) each year. Furthermore, in nineteenth-century Egypt, the Persian language was accepted as a language of literature and science, reflected in the Persian-language newspapers available at the time.

Moreover, in addition to the influence of Egyptian political Islamists on Iranian clerics noted earlier, Iranian clerics in turn helped to shape Islamist revivalism in Egypt. One notable example is the nineteenth-century Islamist Sayyed Jamal al-Din Asadabadi, also known as al-Afghani. When he arrived in Egypt from his native Iran, he claimed to be an Afghan so he could pass himself off as a Sunni. His new ideology advocated the unity of Muslims and sought in "authentic Islam" answers to the ills of Muslim societies.

As a result of this history, for many years Shiism held some appeal in Egypt, despite the fact that Egyptians at the time of the Fatimids, and still today, are predominantly Sunnis.

Shiism in Contemporary Egypt
The appeal of Shiism has been dampened somewhat in recent years as the Egyptian government has grown increasingly nervous about what it perceives as a rising Shiite tide in the region. In response, the Egyptian government and the state media began waging a campaign against Shiism and Shiite symbols. In November 2005, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stated that "most Shiites are faithful to Iran, not to their own government." His comment provoked several Shiite demonstrations, including thousands of people in Najaf, a Shiite holy city in Iraq. Afterward, he explained that he meant that Shiites sympathize with Iran in terms of their religious, not political, viewpoint.

On several occasions, prominent Egyptian cleric Shaikh Yousef Qarzawi, a former member of the Brotherhood, warned about the "Shiite tide" and the missionary activities of Shiites and the Iranian government, especially in Egypt. He said that "the increasing infiltration of Shiism in Egypt may lead to a civil war like the one in Iraq." The Egyptian government has made efforts to mobilize powerful clerics and faculty associated with al-Azhar University against the Muslim Brotherhood in order to fight the tide of Shiism.

There are no reliable statistics about the number of Shiites in Egypt. Since Shiites are under pressure from the Egyptian government, most of them avoid publicly admitting their faith. Some Western and Egyptian sources (like the Ibn Khaldun Research Center) indicate that Shiites constitute less than 1 percent of the Egyptian population (approximately 657,000). But Muhammad al-Darini, a prominent Sunni who converted to Shiism, puts the figure at 1.5 million.

Al-Darini also claims that Egyptian Shiites are Twelvers, which is the type of Shiism practiced in Iran. But he denied any connection between the Shiite community and the Iranian government. "Iran does not have any kind of influence over us," al-Darini said. "Sometimes, even Iranians criticize us for some of our stances and statements. Everybody must know that Shiism is not originally an Iranian [sect], but an Arab one, while [the four traditional] Sunni schools stem from Iran" -- a statement which is in fact true. Part of the attraction of Shiism in modern Egypt is political rather than doctrinal in nature. Some young Egyptians see conversion to Shiism as a way of protesting the regime, much as thousands of Iranian Shiite youths convert each year to various other faiths partially in reaction to the Shiite nature of their government.

Conclusion

While a breakthrough in relations between the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Tehran remains unlikely, the consequences for the United States of such a union would be very damaging. Iran remains focused on expanding its influence in the Persian Gulf and beyond, and connections to the strongest opposition party in the Middle East would be a great leap forward. The longstanding and growing ties between Iran and Hamas, as well as a look back at the relevant history, makes clear that U.S. policymakers should monitor this trend.


Mehdi Khalaji is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute, focusing on the role of politics in contemporary Shiite clericalism in Iran and Iraq.

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Brotherhood???? BULL

by babak_mo (not verified) on

Brotherhood???? BULL .....

these same Brotherhoodies, would open fire on iranians in a heartbeat ..... they wouldn't give a rat's ass about iranians. Think back to the 8 year Iraq-Iran war ..... where was that "brotherly love" ???

the palestinian-Israeli conflict is NONE OF OUR BUSINESS. End of story


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is this you

by post (not verified) on


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What was so offensive about

by whycensorship? (not verified) on

What was so offensive about Sazegar's letter to Khamenie??

//www.akhbar-rooz.com/news.jsp?essayId=19495

نامه ی محسن سازگارا به خامنه ای

• محسن سازگارا، در نامه ی سرگشاده ای تحت عنوان «خانه ای از نی» خطاب به علی خامنه ای رهبر حکومت ایران، وی را متهم به ارتباط با ماموران سازمان جاسوسی آلمان شرقی کرده است ...

اخبار روز: www.akhbar-rooz.com
سه‌شنبه ۲۹ بهمن ۱٣٨۷ - ۱۷ فوريه ۲۰۰۹

جناب آقای خامنه ای:
در چند هفته گذشته، رسانه های تحت امر جناب عالی چون صدا وسیما وکیهان پا را از گلیم خود درازتر کرده وآن چه تهمت وناسزا بوده نصیب بنده کرده اند. گفته های این رسانه های مامورارزش پاسخگویی ندارند اما از آنجا که حرفهای آنها منعکس کننده مواضع و نظرات حضرتعالی است، فکر کردم این چند خط را خطاب به شما بنویسم. شاید کمی به خود بیایید وتقوا پیشه کنید.
اول- دربیست سال گذشته که جنابعالی درمسئولیت رهبری نظام جمهوری اسلامی قرار داشته اید، برای سرکوب مخالفین و تثبیت پایه های قدرت خود، بدون استثناء (حتی بدون یک استثناء) تمام مخالفین خود را به عامل آمریکا و سپس اسرائیل و دیگر کشورها متهم کرده اید. در این راه حتی کسانی که مخالف شما نبوده اند وفقط دیدگاه و نظری غیر از نظر شما و یا تفسیری از دین و دنیا غیر از تفسیر شما داشته اند را هم به این اتهامات مزین کرده اید. برایتان هم فرق نمی کرده مخاطب شما معلمین بوده اند یا کارگران، فعالین حقوق زنان بوده اند یا مدافعین حقوق بشر، بازاریان بوده اند یا دانشجویان، روحانیان بوده اند یا دانشگاهیان، نویسندگان بوده اند یا روزنامه نگاران، سیاسی بوده اند یا غیرسیاسی. حتی اصلاح طلبان داخل حکومت هم از این تهمت و برچسب زنی شما در امان نبوده اند. توپخانه صدا وسیما و روزنامه هایی چون کیهان به محض کسب اجازه از شما، شلیک تهمت و افترا را شروع کرده اند. شب و روز نغمه مرگ بر این و مرگ بر آن سر می دهید و همگان را مطیع خود می خواهید، غافل از آن که به قول شیخ اجل:
کس نیاید به زیر سایه بوم گرهمای از جهان شود معدوم
به همین دلیل هر کس و هر گروه اجتماعی یا سیاسی که به نوعی در راه دموکراسی، حقوق بشر، آزاد اندیشی و مطالبات به حق مردم ایران می کوشد، اگر از جانب رسانه های مامور شما به مزدوری و وابستگی و پادویی و حقوق بگیری آمریکا و اسرائیل و دیگران متهم نشود، به نظرم حتما باید در اصالت کار خود شک کند و قبول کند که یک جای کارش لنگ است و لابد به نوعی آب به آسیاب استبداد دینی می ریزد که از ماشین تهمت زنی شما در امان مانده است.
دوم- من مدت ها فکر کرده ام که چرا شما این گونه اید. یک بخش از این رفتار شما را به درد بی درمان درون جامعه ومیان مردم ایران، یعنی تهمت زنی و بدبینی نسبت می دادم و هنوزهم می دهم. یک بخش دیگر را هم ناشی از ساختار ذهنی و بدبینی مفرط شما می دانستم و هنوز هم می دانم، به خصوص با قوت بیمارگونه تئوری توطئه در ذهن شما. جنابعالی تمام حوادث عالم را ناشی از برنامه ریزی یک هیئت مدیره برای کل دنیا به نام "دشمن" می دانید و فکر می کنید که تمام حوادث سیاسی عالم از عصر رنسانس تا حالا حاصل کار یک عده سرمایه دار و صهیونیست است که می خواهند مادیت و انسان محوری و انحراف اخلاقی را جایگزین معنویت و خدا محوری نمایند و چون جمهوری اسلامی و شخص شما هم سمبل این معنویت و بازگشت به خدا و نشانه حکومت صالحان هستید، لذا شب و روز هم علیه جمهوری اسلامی و شخص شما توطئه می کنند. تمام سیاستمداران و حتی متفکرین، به خصوص غربی ها هم عروسک خیمه شب بازی آن هیئت مدیره پشت پرده، دانسته یا ندانسته، هستند. معتقدم که این ذهنیت و تفسیر بیمارگونه از عالم، نزد شما و بسیاری از اطرافیانتان به شدت جاری است و اثبات حرفم را هم اتفاقا بیش ازهمه، نوشتجات همین روزنامه کیهان و برنامه های صدا و سیما می دانم که نظرات و تئوری های شما را اعلام می کنند و چکیده هزاران صفحه نوشته و صدها ساعت برنامه و تحلیل این رسانه ها هم همین چند خطی است که این جا آوردم. شما هنوز هم از این بیماری رنج می برید و امیدی هم به بهبودی نیست.
تا این جا دوضلع "تثبیت استبداد" و "بیماری ذهنی" توجیه اصلی من برای تهمت پراکنی و برچسب زنی روزمره شما و کیهان و صدا وسیما و سایر رسانه هایتان بوده است.
و اما سوم- چندی پیش به جوان محقق ایرانی برخورد کردم که سال ها است برای رساله دکترایش روی اسناد سازمان امنیت آلمان شرقی (اشتازی) که اکنون در اختیار پلیس جمهوری فدرال آلمان است، کار می کند. او با معرفی دانشگاهش و با پیگیری های فراوان توانسته به سراغ آن بخش از اسنادی برود که هنوز اجازه انتشار و در اختیار عموم قرار گرفتن را نیافته اند. این اسناد نشان می دهند که پس از پیروزی انقلاب اسلامی در ایران، به دلیل حساسیت ها روی شوروی و شعار نه شرقی- نه غربی حاکم بر انقلاب و همچنین به دلیل سکونت رهبران حزب توده طی سالیانی طولانی در آلمان شرقی و همکاری تنی چند از رهبران این حزب با سازمان امنیت آلمان شرقی و در نتیجه تخصص و تبحر این سازمان در امور ایران، شوروی تصمیم می گیرد که بخش اصلی امور ایران را در سازمان امنیت آلمان شرقی متمرکز کند و جالب است که یکی از افسران عالی رتبه "ک. گ. ب" (سازمان امنیت معروف شوروی) که بخشی از مسئولیت امور ایران را هم داشته، همین جناب ولادیمیر پوتین بوده که حتما معرف حضور جنابعالی هست و در سفر اخیرش به تهران "حضرت مسیح" را هم در وجود شما دید.


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To Niki or Nilki

by Gimme a break (not verified) on

Please sell your bridge to those fools who echo in here your exact gibberish.

The author could be the presdient of Israel or Ehud Olmert himself, what difference would it make? mullahs are the ones to blame for deliberately playing into their hands and giving everybody the excuse!!!!!!

If mullahs do not want to be labelled as terrorists, they'd better stop their pursuit of Israel's destruction, both in deed and in action.
What is their beef with Israel, a country thousands of kilometers away from Iran? What is it? Why would Israel want to invade Iran if mullahs in Iran day in and day out wish openly for its destruction and annhilation off the world's map?! If it was just the opposite would you and your ilk stand for it?
their ship full of arms and ammunitions was seized in Cyprus, the UN not the Israeli government admitted that the contents of the ship were illegal and against arms' shipment agreement.

Third, mullahs want to have BOTH the cake AND also the ability to eat it too all by themselves! I've got news for you, it does not work that way my dear!

If mullahs really care about the welfare of the Iranian people and want sanctions lifted, they'd better start bending and playing by international norms and rules of behavior.


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to SDF

by Jack Palance (not verified) on

who said we are intellectuals? And if we are does it mean that you are not among us? Every one of the comments here have been far more logical than the entire article. What else do you expect from an average Iranians that we are.

What we are saying that Washington Institute is rented and hired mouthpiece by the Israel lobby, and the author is only trying to secure his employment and job security so he writes things that are more or less old news. If he dares he should write and criticize the British government and Israel in the same article as the founders of the Islamic Regime.

Now, what do you have to add sdf?


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I'm beginning to understand

by sdf (not verified) on

I'm beginning to understand why we lost the revolution to Islamists. The quality of debate and on this thread is so poor. Look at our intellectuals who can't substantiate or back up any of their claims and can't think any deeper than what they've heard or been taught in academia. It's truly disappointing.


Niki

To Gimme a Break

by Niki on

First, my name is Niki, not Nilki.

Second, what blame game are you talking about? What doesn't hold water? The author already identified himself as an employee of the Washington Institute, which is openly an arm of the Israeli lobby.  If you think the fact that a pro-Israel "think tank" is producing this kind of information about Iran is irrelevent, I have a bridge to sell you.

Third, there is no evidence, past or present, that sanctions have ever hurt the leaders of a country, it is the people who are hurt severely. If you support hurting the people of Iran, then I suggest you apply for a job with the Washington Institute.


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To Nilki

by Gimme a break (not verified) on

u said "The good employees of the Israeli lobby "think tank", The Washington Institute, would connect the IRI to pink flamingos if it would mean that Iran would come under more sanctions and threat of war. "

HOGWASH!

Oh please! Don't start the blame game! this old blame game has run its course and does not hold water any more.

If the "innocent" and "oppressed" Iran under mullahs comes under more sanctions or threat of war, it will be only and only on account of its incompetent rulers, the ones for whom Iran's national interests are the last things on their minds.

P.S. Even Syria and Bashaar Asad are begging America and Israel for mercy.


Niki

IRI and pink flamengos

by Niki on

The good employees of the Israeli lobby "think tank", The Washington Institute, would connect the IRI to pink flamingos if it would mean that  Iran would come under more sanctions and threat of war.

Articles by Mr. Khalaji have long been fueling fear of Iran, one he day he scares his audience by telling them about their "apocalyptic" shia ways, one day he scares them by connecting them to "sunni extremists". This time, he has thrown in a little of both for good measure.


Farhad Kashani

IRI is the Godfather if

by Farhad Kashani on

IRI is the Godfather if Islamic Terrorism. Every group that is committing terrorism in the name of Islam is inspired, and in most cases, supported by IRI and its ideology. Just like USSR was the Godfather of Communism, IRI is the Godfather of Islamic Fundamentalism.


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Under cutting Mosdagh

by sharizie (not verified) on

well written article.

Mullah Kashani who undermined Dr. Mosdagh was rumored to have had connection / came from the Islamic brotherhood also

The Shiites were killed by millions in Egypt at hands of Ottomans . 4-6 million people has been thrown around. So not sure IRI influence will fly 4 centuries later either


Hamid Y. Javanbakht

A Peculiar System

by Hamid Y. Javanbakht on

I guess it's being done in the name of "democracy"...when does it go too far, is this "morality"?

"Masonry propagates no creed except its own most simple and Sublime One; that universal religion, taught by Nature and by Reason."

//www.topix.com/forum/world/singapore/TO7CKPL7NRF1QKSEV 

//www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/moralsanddogma.html 

//www.phinnweb.org/neuro/assassins.html 

 

Nice idea, way ahead of their era, but non-unitary time evolution suggests we shouldn't be calling it a uni-verse, mono-verse, or multi-verse, but more like holo-verse, of course, that would change the nature and distribution of power, maybe it's for our own good, couldn't ask for a cooler system to influence the "progress" of the world through, based on math, kind of like the Ionian Pythagoreans. Perhaps instead of G for god and geometry it should be T for topos and theology. Whatever the grand architect wants, or is it that engineer? The mysterious is a beautiful thing sometimes.


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آقا میتی خوجینی

رضا خان میر فایو (not verified)


رابطه بین اخوان المسلمین و جمهوری اسلامی را کم وبیش دیگر هر ایرانی از آن آگاه است. شما که وقت میگذاری روی این مطالب، لااقل در مورد نقش دولت انگلستان وسعی او برای بهبود هرچه بیشتر بین این دو دست نشانده اش بنویس که اقلا چیز جدیدی برای جوانان زیر بیست سال ارائه شده باشد.

هیچ هم نگران نباش خود امریکا هم دیگر دارد از دست انگلیس کلافه میشود.