Gatestone Institute
May 22, 2012
Despite the fact that some in the West
portray Islam and democracy as being perfectly compatible, evidence
continues to emerge that, for many countries in the Middle East, democracy and elections are various means to one end: the establishment of a decidedly undemocratic form of law—Islamic, or Sharia Law.
Thus, Egyptian cleric Dr. Talat Zahran
proclaimed that it is "obligatory to cheat at elections, a beautiful
thing," his logic being that voting is a tool, an instrument, the only
value of which is to empower Sharia. Likewise, Hazim Shuman, a cleric
who has his own TV program, issued a fatwa
likening the voting for Islamist candidates as a "jihad," adding that
paradise awaits whoever is "martyred" during the electoral campaign.
Most recently, according to Al Wafd,
last Friday, May 18, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, one of if not the most
authoritative clerics in the Islamic world, "called on all Egyptians to
vote for one of the Islamist candidates," specifically naming the three
Islamists, Muhammad Mursi (candidate of the Salafist party), Abd
al-Mun'im Abu al-Futuh (candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood's political
wing), and Muhammad al-Salim al-Awwa. Qaradawi described them as "best
for Egypt" because they will "apply the Islamic Sharia and achieve
justice." Moreover, during his Friday sermon, Qaradawi said that it is
"mandatory for every Egyptian to go and vote at the presidential
elections," calling it a form of "obligatory testimony" on behalf of
Islam, and quoting Koran 2:283 as proof: "And do not conceal testimony,
and whoever conceals it, his heart is surely sinful; and Allah knows
what you do."
Qaradawi's position was restated yesterday, Monday May 21, when, according to Al Ahram,
the Sharia Body for Rights and Reforms—one of the most powerful Islamic
organizations, with members from the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafis,
and Al Azhar—issued a fatwa asserting that it is "impermissible to vote
for anyone not intending to apply Islamic Sharia, and it is obligatory
to vote for those who do seek to implement it," adding that the
"presidential election is a modern way of directing the state, and
therefore it behooves Muslims to use it as a way to enforce Sharia."
If Qaradawi and many others are stressing the obligation to vote for those most likely to enforce Sharia, Sheikh Osama Qassim,
a member of Egypt's notorious Islamic Jihad, which also seeks to
enforce Islamic law, recently attacked the non-Islamist
candidates—specifically naming Ahmed Shafiq and Amr Mussa—saying that if
they win the presidential elections, it will only be "by cheating," at
which point "the Islamist organizations" will resort to "armed action"
(code for Jihad), adding that such presidents will suffer the same fate
of Anwar Sadat (assassination), but that this time, the struggle will
see "the Islamists achieve complete domination" in Egypt.
Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
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