Jamiatul Ulama KZN Council of Muslim Theologians
Cii News | 28 August 2013
Dissent has spread amongst citizens, scholars and the Ulama in Saudi Arabia over the regimes fiery pro-coup stance on Egypt made on August 16. This after King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz sent Egypt’s interim president, former head of Egypt’s Supreme Court Adly Mansour, a letter praising the army for its efforts just a day after the coup.
The Saudi king’s support for the de facto Egyptian government against “terrorism, extremism and sedition, and against whomever is trying to interfere in Egypt’s internal affairs,” is rare considering the monarch’s tendency to cower behind the scenes with diplomacy.
Fifty six of the kingdom’s leading scholars however have clearly condemned the July 3 actions in Egypt as “certainly a military coup”. Also reported to have attacked the king’s stance in a sermon is a sheikh at the al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.
Among those who signed the manifesto were Sheikhs Mohammad Naser Al Suhaibani, Ali Bin Saeid Al Ghamdi, Abdul Aziz bin Abdel Mohsen Al Turki, Hasan Bin Saleh Al Hameed, Mohammad Bin Abdel Aziz Al Khodari, Mohammad Bin Sulaiman Al Barak and Abdel Aziz Mohammad Al Fouzan.
Analysts surmise that King Abdullah’s vociferous pro-coup stance is testimony to his apprehension of the repercussions of an ascendant Muslim Brotherhood (MB).
Dr Maha Azzam, associate fellow of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House is among those unsurprised by the monarch’s support.
“What they had was a lethal equation, democracy plus Islamism, albeit under the Muslim Brotherhood. That was a lethal concoction in undermining the kingdom’s own legitimacy in the long run. They know full well they do not want democracy, but to have another group representing Islam was intolerable,” said Azzam to the Middle East Monitor.
But while their leaders have openly supported the coup, Saudis have taken to the streets protesting, and expressing sympathy for Mohamed Morsi. A four-fingered salute, an emblem designed to show support to the ousted president, also known as the sign of Rabaa, features prominently on the social media profiles of Saudi scholar and citizen alike.
So far, as a response to this campaign, the Saudis have fired popular Kuwaiti TV preacher Tareq al-Suwaidan whom they allege to have Brotherhood links. Suwaidan has more than 1.9 million Twitter followers and was told there is no place for those who carry deviant thoughts at the Al Resalah channel.
Below please see English translation for most of the statement interspersed with the original Arabic text. The parts translated are colored blue. The text in black is un-translated. English translation by Shaikh Muneeb Baig.
يان علماء السعودية حول انقلاب مصر The declaration of the Saudi Ulama regarding the coup in Egypt
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
More than a month has passed since the coup. The perpetrators of the coup have committed acts of violence and aggression witnessed by the world resulting in hundreds dead and thousands wounded. (The world has also witnessed) an evil arraying of ranks from the army and the police and a minority of the people who were driven to support the coup either under the influence of devious media campaigns or for sectarian or ideological interests with the goal of imposing a new order by force.
In the face of these perilous developments—for now and in the future—it is the responsibility of the people of knowledge—with the obligation that Allah has placed upon them of speaking the truth and by virtue of the position of leadership that He has granted them over the matters of the Ummah—that they clarify the position of the Shariah with regards to what is happening in Egypt, the truth about the conditions that preceded the coup and its expected outcome, as follows.
1. Deposing of the elected president by the minister of defence is an all-out coup. This is an action that is outlawed and criminal. We reject it, as it is a rebellion against a legitimate elected ruler and a clear transgression against the will of the people. We emphatically declare that all subsequent proceedings are null and void.
We register our protest and astonishment at the behavior of some governments that were quick to recognize the coup despite its being contrary to the will of the people and a rebellion against an elected legitimate ruler. This is an act of aiding sin and transgression, which is forbidden in the Shariah. It will have serious negative consequences on everyone if Egypt—God forbid—were to descend into anarchy and civil war.
ثانياً: ثبت باستقراء الأحداث والتصريحات والمواقف الإقليمية والدولية أن هذا الانقلاب قد وقع بالتواطؤ بين أطراف إقليمية ودولية، وأنه تم الإعداد له من اللحظة التي تم فيها انتخاب الدكتور محمد مرسي رئيساً لمصر. 2. It is proven by looking at all the happenings, statements, and attitudes of regional and international players that this coup occurred with connivance between regional and international parties. And preparations for the coup had been in place from the moment Dr. Muhammad Morsi was elected the president of Egypt.
3. It is no longer a secret for anyone that the failure of the government of Morsi was deliberately and systematically engineered by way of stirring unrest, suspension of the wheels of production, and highhanded control of the elites of the deep state over basic services such as electricity, fuel, and flour with the goal of turning public opinion against him and against hisgovernment.
4. The reality of the matter is this coup was not a coup for reform but a coup meant to oust the Islamic and national movements and to prevent true independence and sovereignty for Egypt.
5. We deplore and condemn the acts of horrific violence and murder carried out deliberately by the army and security forces against hundreds of Muslim demonstrators during salah and in the public squares merely because they demonstrated against the coup–despite the fact that the job of the army and security forces was to defend them and to ensure their safety. Have they never come across this verse? “Whoever kills a believer deliberately, his recompense is Jahannam in which he will dwell forever and Allah has become angry with him and has cursed him and prepared for him a great punishment.”
And the statement of the Messenger of Allah, “The loss of the entire world is lighter in the sight of Allah than the unjust shedding of the blood of one Muslim.”
سادساً: نؤكد للجميع أن عزل الرئيس مرسي وإفشال حكومته تحت شعار منع أخونة الدولة هو ذريعة وتعلق بقشة باهتة، والحق أنها أسقطت لأنها ذات توجه إسلامي وطني. 6. We reiterate for everybody that deposing of President Morsi and the bringing down of his government under the pretext of stopping the betrayal of the nation amounts to clutching at straws. The fact is that his government was overthrown because it was oriented Islamically and nationally.
In our stance of rejection of the coup and its aftermath, we are not defending the Muslim Brotherhood but rather seek to defend the truth and stand with the oppressed and with the rights of the Egyptian masses that have been transgressed against. We will never stand for one day with a party or individuals for their own sake, but if they are in the trenches on the side of the truth, we will stand with them and we will never forsake defending the truth just because they happen to be on its side.
7. Thus we deplore the stance of some parties and movements and individuals that are supporting this coup. We say: Our Shariah rejects rebellion against a legitimate ruler and rather calls for advising him and holding him responsible through legal means. Our faith requires us to fulfill our contracts and pledges even if they be against us.
We thus call upon them (the parties supporting the coup) to revoke their stance and to disassociate themselves from the coup makers, to remove the cloak of legitimacy from them, to condemn all actions of violence and aggression, to attribute them (these actions) to their true perpetrators, and to reconcile with their Islamic milieu, which is their mainstay. Similarly, we applaud the stance of the scholars that have sided with the truth and stood by it.
8. As is its habit, the West has proven again that it will side with tyranny and violence against the Muslim masses whether it be in the form of a war of annihilation as in Syria or a coup and confiscation of rights as in Egypt. We declare to the West that the people have understood its games and soon it will have to pay the price of violating values and principles. The West, with its double standards, is driving the region into anarchy and establishing a culture of violence.
تاسعاً: يتعين على أطراف النزاع أن يتقوا الله، وأن يقدموا ما توجبه الشريعة من رعاية المصالح التي مبناها على حفظ الضرورات الخمس، ويتجردوا من حساباتهم الشخصية والحزبية، وأن يتوافقوا عاجلاً على إقامة العدل ووقف نزيف الدم وانقسام الشعب. وعلى عقلاء مصر أن يخرجوا عن الصمت والتردد إلى حمل الفرقاء على محكمات المصالح ومكتسبات الشعب المصري، وأن يكون الاحتكام إلى الحوار في علاج المشكلات، وإلى الصناديق في حسم النزاع . 9. We commend the stance of the Ulama of al-Azhar and other ulama from Egypt who have openly spoken the truth and rejected the coup. And we remind all the scholars, activists, and intellectuals of the necessity of taking a firm stand against the coup.
10. We call upon the entire world and media that they fear Allah with regards to Egypt and its people and to side with the truth and to recant their positions, especially after the coup-mongers have shed sacred blood, divided the people, and sought to spread mischief by inciting the people to fight each other.
To remain silent in the face of the crimes of the military is (in reality) betraying them and to support them is betrayal of the ummah and the aspirations of the people to freedom and dignity. There is only one way to help them—that is to prevent them from oppression.
حادي عشر: نؤكد دعمنا لكل المطالبين بعودة الرئيس المنتخب الدكتور محمد مرسي وندعوهم للثبات والاحتساب، فهم على حق، ومطالبهم مشروعة، ونناشدهم ضبط النفس، وقطع الطريق على مريدي الفتنة، الذين سيجعلون منها ذرائع لمزيد من القتل. والله نسأل أن يتقبل من قضى منهم ويشفي جرحاهم، وينزل على ذويهم الصبر والسلوان، ويرزقهم الاحتساب.
11. We emphasize our support for everyone who calls for the restoration of the elected President Dr. Muhammad Morsi. We call upon them to stand firm and hope for reward from Allah, for they are on the truth and their demand is legitimate. We also implore them to restrain themselves and to block off the paths of those who seek mischief and will create means for further killings.
We supplicate to Allah to accept those that passed away from amongst them, to heal their wounded, to bestow upon their families patience and consolation, and grant them hope of reward (from Him).
12. We remind ourselves and our brethren in Egypt and elsewhere that whatever is happening is occurring with the decree of Allah; it is but a chapter from the annals of conflict between truth and falsehood, between secularism and Islam, between leadership and subjugation. Gird yourselves and stand firm in opposing the coup that began with the suspension of your constitutional institutions and followed with the massacres of people in prayer….
Finally, we must be brave enough to see our own shortcomings that undoubtedly have been the weak points that the enemy took advantage of, foremost amongst them being our own inner division and party politics.
We advise our brethren in Egypt to be conscious of Allah and to hold fast to His strong rope and to stand firm on the straight path…. Allah says: “And verily this my straight path, so follow it, and do not follow the (other) ways, lest they separate you from His way. That is what He has enjoined upon you so that you may be God-fearing.”
O Allah protect Egypt, its peace, security and faith; unite its people on the truth; and protect them from their enemies—whether they be internal or external. Ameen.
28/9/1434هـ
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