Islamic Group leaders bunch of dissenters, says Salafist preacher Terfawi (1/2)

Salafist preacher Seif al-Nasr Ali Essa, known by the name Abu Hossam al-Dine al-Terfawi, lashed out at the leaders of the Egyptian Islamic Group, who escaped Egypt to other countries, especially Turkey and Qatar.

He praised calls by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for renewing religious discourse.

In an interview with al-Marjie, Terfawi, who writes about religion and literature, underscored the need for renewing religious discourse so that it can suit the changes taking place.

"Religious sciences cannot stop developing," Terfawi said. "They never stopped developing over the ages."

He said the Islamic Group, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, turned into its military arm. He added that the group turns, however, into a bunch of Khawarij (Arabic for Muslim dissenters), when it comes to the way its members view Egypt's rulers.

"The group is the fastest to carry arms, compared to any other Islamist group," Terfawi said.

He added that group members made intellectual revisions and renounced violence in the past, but returned to their traditional violent course soon after the 2011 revolution which weakened Egypt as a state.

Terfawi said Islamic Group members became mere lackeys of the Muslim Brotherhood in the hope that the Brotherhood would teach them politics as an art.

He described Islamic Group leaders who escaped to Qatar and Turkey as "ignorant".

He said these leaders broke out of their prison cells and turned into putty in the hands of Egypt's enemies in return for money or protection.

"They do what they are ordered," Terfawi said of the leaders of the Islamic Group who escaped to Qatar and Turkey. "They do not control their fate."

He said none of these leaders can criticize the things they criticize in Egypt either in Qatar or in Turkey. These leaders, he said, are mere hypocrites who turn a blind eye to mistakes committed in the two countries and criticize the same mistakes in Egypt.

He said they view Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a Muslim leader, whereas they view Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as an infidel.

"They do not do, because they cannot say anything else," Terfawi said.  

Terfawi was born in Samalout, an administrative section of the central province of Minya, in 1965. He has 30 books to his name, including "Humility: How it Influences the Nation" and "Mohamed … Messenger of Islam and Mercy to Mankind". He was granted a number of awards by several Islamic sites and institutions. He also participated in the Muslim World League.

Terfawi said he was trained at the hands of a large number of Islamic scholars. These scholars included Sheikh Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, describing him as the "renewing imam".

In Egypt, he said, he was also trained by a large number of scholars, including Sheikh Safwat Noureddin and Mustafa al-Adawi.

Terfawi attributes the presence of extremism in Egypt to a number of factors, including the failure of some people to correctly understand Islam, the failure of some religious institutions to draft a correct discourse, deterioration in the standards of the universities, the failure of al-Azhar to make its presence felt, and the failure of the Endowments Ministry in inviting people to Islam.

Islamist movements and the war against knowledge

Terfawi said Islamist movements, such as the Islamic Group and the Muslim Brotherhood hate to see their members learning and understanding things around them because they want to easily control these members.

"These groups control a large number of people," he said.

He said liberal and secular movements are not less ignorant. These groups, he said, like to cast doubts on Islamic heritage and distort the image of Islam by following in the footsteps of orientalists who hate Islam.

He fulminated against people who claim to have knowledge about Islam when they do not have this knowledge, accusing them of spreading ignorance.

"Most sheikhs are contented with only giving advice to people," Terfawi said. "They, however, fail in guiding youths to the right path."

He said these sheikhs are happy to have a large number of people sheepishly following them.

The media section inside Islamist movements  

Terfawi said most Islamist movements tend to fill their members with a specific type of knowledge. These movements, he said, organize seminars and host enlightened scholars to speak at these seminars. He said in these seminars, discussions usually happen between the speakers and those attending. The aim of these discussions, he said, is to remove misunderstandings from the minds of people attending these seminars.

He added that the same movements present a large number of programs on private media. In these programs, he said, the movements discuss important issues and bring in acceptable people to speak about these issues.

Terfawi said the government spends billions of Egyptian pounds on the fight against terrorism. He added that it can save almost half of this money by eradicating extremism and this will only happen if the authorities follow the right course.

He said the Salafist Call in the coastal city of Alexandria has great influence on its junior members. Some of the leaders of the call are enlightened, whereas other leaders, he said, are mere extremists.

Criticizing radical Christians

Terfawi strongly criticized takfiri groups that take root and grow among ordinary people. He said the presence of these groups expose the weaknesses of the state.

These groups, Terfawi said, benefited a lot from the Muslim Brotherhood's propaganda against the Egyptian state.

He said these takfiri groups will carry arms as soon as they think the authorities will not be able to prevent them from doing this.

"This is why the authorities have to be on the alert," he said.

He said he criticized radical Christians at the time Christian organizations campaigned against the Egyptian state in the United States and fomented sectarian strife and hatred.