Religious institutions in Saudi Arabia and UAE represent model for confronting Brotherhood

Ali Ragab

The Saudi-Emirati consensus constitutes an impregnable dam and a rock on which the terrorist plans of the Brotherhood in Arab countries, especially the Gulf region, are destroyed, despite the significant support from countries such as Qatar and Turkey for the terrorist group. But the Riyadh and Abu Dhabi alliance formed the strong bulwark in front of these plans and thwarted them.

The Saudi-Emirati coordination and agreement of the two leaderships in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, led by King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, and the UAE, led by Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is a great force in thwarting the Brotherhood’s scheme in the Gulf region.

Likewise, the Arab alliance between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, and the coordination among its members in confronting terrorism, constitutes a major transfer in Arab action at the level of facing security challenges and combating terrorism.

The countries of the Arab Quartet alliance have classified the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. The Saudi Council of Senior Scholars confirmed that the Brotherhood is a terrorist group that does not represent the approach of Islam, but rather pursues its partisan goals contrary to the guidance of the true religion, and it conceals religion and practices division, stirring up strife, violence and terrorism, which contradict Islam.

The Saudi Council of Senior Scholars also announced in a statement on Tuesday, November 10, that the Brotherhood is a “terrorist group that does not represent the method of Islam,” warning against belonging to it or sympathy with it.

The council added that “everything that affects the unity of the ranks around the rulers of Muslim affairs, such as broadcasting quasi-ideas or otherwise is forbidden in terms of the Quran and Sunnah,” according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

“At the forefront of these groups that we warn against is the Brotherhood. It is a deviant group, based on contesting the rulers and breaking with rulers, stirring up strife in countries, destabilizing coexistence in a single nation, and describing Islamic societies as ignorant,” the council added.

The Council of Senior Scholars considered that “since the establishment of this group, there has been no interest in it for the Islamic faith, nor for the sciences of the Quran and Sunnah, but rather its goal is to reach power. Then, the history of this group was full of evils and strife, and from its womb emerged extremist terrorist groups that ravaged the country and the people with corruption and caused scenes of violent crimes and terrorism around the world.”

For its part, the Emirates Council for Sharia Fatwa confirmed on Monday that its position on sects, groups and organizations is “the position of the rulers” in the country, and that every group or organization that seeks sedition, practices violence or incites against it is “a terrorist organization, whatever its name or claim.”

During a videoconference meeting chaired by Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah, the UAE Council announced its full support for the statement of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars regarding the Brotherhood. The Council indicated that the body’s statement confirms what was previously issued by the governments of the UAE and Saudi Arabia regarding the Brotherhood’s being considered a terrorist organization.

The council said that this is due to “what is known about this group in terms of conflict of rulers and the splitting of the stick of obedience, as well as the groups of extremism and violence that came out of its cloak.” The council called on all Muslims to “abandon division and move away from affiliation or sympathy with such groups that work on splitting ranks, igniting discord and bloodshed.”

The council added that “it is not permissible to pledge allegiance to anyone other than the ruler, nor is it permissible to pledge allegiance to a secret emir. In sum, the legal evidence and the doctrine of the Sunnis are to follow the rulers on matters out of respect and commitment and not to violate discipline and order,” reported the official Emirates News Agency.

Observers believe that Saudi Arabia and the Emirates have played an important role in confronting terrorism and that the Brotherhood’s plans are aimed at igniting discord and conflicts between the components of one people and demolishing the idea of the national state in favor of projects and plans aimed at undermining the unity and stability of Arab countries.

Observers also noted that the statement of religious institutions in Saudi Arabia and the UAE constitutes a categorical fatwa on the danger of the terrorist organization to the stability of Arab and Islamic countries, the beginning of the end of the organization, and the fruit of the efforts of the leaders in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi in the face of the intellectual, moral and material terrorism of the Brotherhood in Arab countries, especially the Gulf.