Jama'at al-Muslimin
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Takfir wal-Hijra (Arabic تكفير والهجرة – Excommunication and Exodus) was a radical Islamist group which emerged in Egypt in the 1960s as an offshoot of Muslim Brotherhood. The term has since been used to describe a wide variety of militant groups with little or no connection to each other or the original group.[1]
The meaning of Takfir wal-Hijra
The word takfir means to judge somebody to be a kafir, based on their behavior resembling the behavior of infidels. So to commit Takfir is to claim that a society has deviated from the teachings of Islam, and therefore label it as a kafir society or as an infidel society. Hijra means flight or emigration or leaving; thus, if a society is pronounced to be an infidel society, the members of Takfir wal-Hijra see it as their duty to separate from it and conspire and act to destroy and conquer it.
Ideology
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The group has a radical neo-Khawarij ideology which is an offshoot of the Salafi school of thought. Mainstream adherents of Salafism reject the extreme position of the takfiris, denouncing them as a modern day version of the Khawarij.
Takfir wal-Hijra takes fundamentalism a step further than most Islamist groups. It advocates armed battle against Jews, Christians and apostate Muslims to restore the unity of the Islamic world order (ummah). The ummah is to be led by a Caliph, who rules according to the Sharia. The group's warriors are allowed to practice something akin to taqiyya. This means they can disguise their true principles for protection of their own faith. This allows them to blend in with Western society and also to disobey all rules of their form of Islam for the goal of destroying Western civilisation from within, a form of antinomianism. According to this ideology, the warriors will be martyrs in Paradise after death.
History
The group began in the 1960s as a splinter group of Muslim Brotherhood, but did not gain international prominence until 1977. The group was at first seen as a marginalized millenarian sect of little consequence.
In 1977 agricultural engineer Shukri Mustafa became the group's leader. He had begun to build the group after release from prison in 1971. He emphasized a complete break from all of Muslim society which he deemed kafir. Members were therefore to live in an alternative community, or even in caves in upper Egypt. Muslims who felt alienated or marginalized in modern Egypt joined this group for a sense of community. A surprising number of women joined, as he offered them a break from their responsibilities as daughters by deeming their families to be kafir. Although within the group, he had tremendous authority by setting himself up as a kind of Mahdi claimant who could arrange marriages and forbid all outside contact. These activities caused lawsuits from the families of women who joined the group.
In 1977 the group decided to battle mainstream society by kidnapping a Muslim cleric. After Mustafa was captured and executed in 1978 former members were linked to the assassination of Anwar Sadat. The ideology Mustafa helped formulate became an influence on later Takfiri groups.
Further allegations
Although the original group was eliminated in Egypt following Shukri Mustafa's execution, authorities have used the name as a derogatory term for any militant Islamists. Both Osbat al-Ansar in Lebanon and the GIA in Algeria were initially described as Takfir wal-Hijra cells. Despite the many references, there is little evidence of any extremist group using the name. [2]
- In Sudan in 2000 an alleged member opened fire on a peaceful mosque killing 20.[3] In Sudan in 2003 members of the group allegedly wrote a death-list containing the names of prominent local politicians and journalists.
- On 7 February 2011, RPG-wielding militants identified as members of Takfir wal-Hijra carried out an attack in Rafah, Egypt, leading to a two-hour battle with Egyptian security forces and local tribesmen in which two people were reported injured.[4]
Alleged members and supporters
| Shukri Mustafa | the group's founder |
| Karim Koubriti | Detroit Five[5] |
| Ahmed Hannan | Detroit Five[5] |
| Youssef Hmimssa | Detroit Five[5] |
| Abdella Lnu | Detroit Five[5] |
| Farouk Ali-Haimoud | Detroit Five[5] |
| Kamel Essamer | leader in Algeria |
| Mohammed Bouyeri | the assassin of the Dutch film director Theo van Gogh, was influenced by Takfir wal-Hijra's ideology[6] |
| Kassem Daher | Lebanese-Canadian theatre owner arrested in the Bekaa Valley[7] |
International opposition
Takfir wal-Hajra has been designated a terrorist organization by the European Union.[8]
Literature
- Gilles Kepel: Le Prophète et le Pharaon. Aux sources des mouvements islamistes, Paris, Le Seuil, [1984], revised edition 1993.
References
- ^ Jane's World Insurgency and Terrorism
- ^ Jane's World Insurgency and Terrorism
- ^ The Salafist Movement, Frontline (PBS)
- ^ [ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/world/middleeast/08sinai.html?partner=rss&emc=rss Amid Egypt Turmoil, More Clashes in Sinai], New York Times 08-02-2011
- ^ a b c d e USA v. Karim Kobrouti et al. (page 4 of the .pdf), Findlaw
- ^ Murder for the sake of Allah- Blasphemy vs.Jihad in Holland, Militant Islam Monitor
- ^ Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Summary of the Security Intelligence Report concerning Mahmoud Jaballah, February 22, 2008
- ^ implementing Article 2(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2580/2001 on specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities with a view to combating terrorism and repealing Decision 2005/848/EC (.pdf), Official Journal of the European Union, December 23, 2005
(Sources: NRC; Planet News; Politics.be)