How I view the way Europe dealt with Islamist movements (the movements misrepresenting and misinterpreting the Islamic religion) was and continues to be regulated by four main beliefs.
These
beliefs were formed over a very long period of time, during which I had direct
contact with these movements in my country, Egypt.
During
the same years, I wrote 18 books in Arabic on the thinking and strategies of
these movements. The books dwelt on all sorts of movements, including the
Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaeda, militant groups, Salafist groups, and, finally,
Daesh.
Two
of the 18 books, the first being On the Muslim Brotherhood State, and
the second being, On the State of Daesh, were translated into both
English and French.
The
first of the four beliefs is that Europe is in real danger, one posed by the
arrival to it of the values of the movements misinterpreting the Islamic
religion. Muslim Brotherhood societies and organizations are at the heart of this
arrival. There are around 500 societies and bodies affiliated to this
organization as we speak. The presence of these entities poses real danger to
European values, such as freedom; rule of law; modernity; equality, and
diversity.
The
fact is that the onslaught on these basic European values takes place according
to a well-calculated plan that the Brotherhood implemented previously in other
geographical areas. The same plan was implemented in some of the countries of
the Middle East.
The
second belief is that the terrorism that makes Europe suffer today, including
the 1995 Paris metro bombing, started at the intellectual level in Arab states.
Bombings
were only the end result of long years of action by these movements to spread
hatred of non-Muslims and the need for Muslims to achieve supremacy of the
world through violence. There was nobody to fight these ideas, which is why
they are now part of the way most Muslims think. This causes our repeated
friction with these movements in the Arab region.
Europe
is under threat of repeating the same experience if it fails to act to counter
the ideas of these movements right now and early on.
These
movements did not struggle in the Arab region to put democracy and governance
into practice like their media and the media of countries supporting them like
to claim. The Islamist movements do not believe in democracy at all. They do
not believe in freedom of speech or the freedom of faith. The fact is that
these movements consider democracy as a work of the devil that must be avoided
by true Muslims.
It
is important for Europe to start acting now while the thoughts of these
movements are still in their early stage. It can do this by the force of law,
by the force of European constitutions and by the force of the traditions
regulating European societies.
Europe
will be doomed to face the dangerous results of failure to act against these
thoughts. The results will be nothing but unending terrorism that destroys
European societies, no matter what the Europeans will do to prevent this.
The
third belief is that success in the fight against these movements cannot be
achieved without a profound study of the experiences of their countries of
origin. The study has to focus on the different phases of the evolution of
these movements until the climax of this evolution, specifically during the
Arab Spring revolutions. There is a need for focusing on studying the conduct
of these movements during these revolutions.
This
is necessary if Europe really wants to take decisive action against the
terrorism and extremism it is facing today. This required action was actually
why we founded the Center for Middle East Studies in Paris.
The
fourth belief is that the way Europe dealt with Islamist movements was full of
mistakes at all stages. Europe committed a mistake by dealing with these
movements in the light of the laws prevalent in it, ones that protect the
privacy of people. Some European leftist and liberal political forces also
curried favor with some of these movements under the pretext that they were not
involved in violent activities, even as their thoughts and practices will
inevitably lead to violence at the end.
