A Comparative Study between the Brotherhood, Al-Qaeda and Daesh

An introduction

For political science specialists and thinkers, the concept of the state is problematic. The definitions vary and the classifications vary; but there is a general agreement on specific features of its form and functions.

In political science, the state is defined by its pillars, namely the people, the borders, the authority, the province and international recognition. Talk about the state in political science has also come to mean the modern civil state that has a constitution and governing laws.

In this study, we try to examine the problem of the concept of the state in the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda and Daesh (Islamic State) as well as outline the intellectual foundations on which the state for these three organizations is based.

The main question is: What is the concept of the state in the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, Daesh, and Al-Qaeda?

The significance of the scientific study is clear from the definition of the concept of the state, according to the ideology the three organizations. The study also clarifies the intellectual foundations on which the state is based in the thought of each organization and highlights the mechanisms used by each organization to establish the concept of the state according to its methodology.

First: The Concept and Characteristics of the State in the Ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood Group

The group's vision on the society, the regime and the state stems from its absolute belief that Islam is a religion and a state. The Brotherhood believes that Islam provides the nation with the systems, rules, emotions and feelings it needs. The organization deals with the Holy Qur’an as a determinant and governor of social exchanges, including political ones.

The organization believes that Islam has established all the assets and rules necessary for facilitating the lives of citizens; therefore, it opposes human-made laws.

In the concept of the Muslim Brotherhood group, Islam is "a comprehensive system that deals with all life manifestations. It is a state and a homeland, a government and a nation, morals and strength, mercy and justice, culture and law, as well as science and jurisprudence. It is a material, wealth, gain and richness. It is jihad and preaching or army and ideology. It is genuine faith and righteous worship”.

The group believes that Islam does not know priesthood and it has no specific social class that monopolizes it or controls the consciences or mediates between Allah and the people. According to the organization, all Muslims are men of religion who do not need mediators between them and their Lord. This contradicts with what the group’s founder Hassan al-Banna said about how his preaching is the best that humanity has ever known, and that the members of the group are the only ones who deserve ruling the nations.

The group's concept of Islam contradicts the nature of modern civil states which are based on the principles of citizenship and the separation of religion from the regime as a means of creating a kind of harmony and social cohesion. This contradiction is established with the statements made by former Brotherhood leader Mohamed Mahdi Akef who said: “To hell with Egypt and its people! Nationality is Islam and I hope that Muslims of Malaysia rule us.”

The Concept of the State According to Hassan al-Banna

Al-Banna considers the Islamic Caliphate as an "Islamic tradition that all Muslims should consider its restoration. Before the Caliphate comes back, it must be preceded by several things: building the Muslim individual and then the Muslim family. Thus, a solid society will be established, then comes a sound state and finally the Islamic Caliphate will be formed. And the Muslim Brotherhood group will therefore rule the world.

However, the Muslim Brotherhood changed its political discourse in the period that followed the Arab Spring (2011) as a result of the popular rejection of the concept of the religious state according to the Muslim Brotherhood perspective. Such perspective contradicts the national visions that have been consolidated in Egypt since the declaration of the republic in the 1950s.

The organization seeks to overcome public rejection by promoting the idea of ​​a "civil state with an Islamic reference", without realizing the contradiction between the two concepts. The civil state relies in its establishment on bases that are different from that recognized by the religious state. The former recognizes secularism as a mechanism for social harmony and renunciation of differences while the latter adopts religious identity as a means of societal promotion.

This contradiction emerged during the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which lasted for one year from mid-2012. The group’s reign witnessed the deterioration of the government’s institutional work in favor of the organizational and administrative committees of the organization, which adopts a collective policy in governance. That means that the organization had exercised an electoral fraud by pushing one of its members to contest in the presidential elections and then it jumped to rule instead.

The organization tried to replicate its internal administration experience with the Egyptian state, through its relentless endeavor to consolidate power in the hands of the president who had both the legislative and executive authorities after the dissolution of the elected parliament in 2012. It was a double game by the ruling regime at the time as it issued a constitutional declaration calling upon the disbanded parliament in which the organization has the majority to convene again.

And because the decision was rejected, the president clinched both the legislative and executive powers. That meant that his plan has achieved its purpose in both cases. However, due to the lack of integrity on the side of the group and its ikhwanization policy (consolidating members of the group in various governmental organizations), the Egyptian people turned against the Brotherhood on June 30, 2013. The organization's policy reflected its lack of faith in the idea of ​​a civil state that recognizes equality in employment as a basic right for citizens.

Characteristics of the State for the Muslim Brotherhood Group

For the Muslim Brotherhood, the state has three pillars and is based on the ideas of Hassan al-Banna (the founder of the group) and is a far cry from practical application. The first pillar was justice as it is the foundation on which civilizations are based and without which neither civil institutions nor countries can be established. The Brotherhood considers that justice is the basis of the Shari'a, which came to establish the community of justice among all human beings whether rulers or those who are governed, Muslims or non-Muslims.

The group believes that justice cannot be done without guaranteeing freedom, equality and realizing shura (consultation). With justice, a balance between the interests of individuals and groups can be achieved. The group sees equality as the other side of justice and the other origin of the building of the society. The idea of ​​equality is based on the unity of human origin. All humans come from Adam and Adam is made out of dust.

The second pillar is freedom. The group sees that God has created mankind with a free will, and with the ability to choose whatever opinions or actions he wants. Freedom is inherent in man. The group believes that attacking or detracting from human freedom is a challenge to the will of the Creator. The state has to guarantee that the freedoms of citizens are protected.

The third pillar is jihad. The group considered jihad as an asset on which the Islamic state is based. According to the group, there will be no state without struggle, no freedom will be protected without weapons, and no national security for any country will be realized without a strong army.

It is worth mentioning that the idea of ​​jihad for the Muslim Brotherhood has developed over time. Al-Banna’s idea of jihad was based on the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice as well as giving advices only for Allah, his Messenger, his Holy Book, the Imams of the Muslims and their followers, and calling for the path of the Lord with wisdom and good preaching. With the development of the group's ideology and a further direction towards violence, jihad appeared in its armed sense.

From the foregoing, it is clear that the state in the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood is indispensable to achieve the goals of Islam, including the preservation of religion, mind, soul, honor and money in addition to the implementation of collective duties that individuals cannot do, and that the state is a one of preaching.

Second: The concept and Characteristics of the State for Al-Qaeda

The Al-Qaeda organization follows a specific approach, namely the Islamic approach which is based on the Qur’an and the Sunnah (Way of the Prophet) as the main sources of legislation and governance. These two are followed by the other sources that the nation has unanimously agreed upon, namely the consensus, the measurement, the Maslaha (A concept in shari’ah that denotes prohibition or permission of a thing according to necessity and particular circumstances) and the satisfaction. Al-Qaeda is the predecessor of thought, birth, leadership and curriculum.

Thus, the proper concept of the state in the ideology of al-Qaeda is to reach the Caliphate state. Jihad is used as a main mechanism for achieving its goal, in addition to other means that include an act of preaching in order to prepare the society for the rule of shari’a. Thus, jihad is revered in al-Qaeda’s agenda and precedes all religious rituals. It is considered by the organization as the shortest way to approach God, and better than all nafl prayers (supererogatory prayers).

Al-Qaeda's jihad goals are represented in applying Islam and its rules, deepening the ties between the participants, strengthening the physical aspects of the individuals, and working to meet the needs of the society and the prospects for the stage of empowerment.

According to the concept of al-Qaeda, every Muslim should take part in the jihad to restore the deserved position of Islam, and to target infidels (kafara) (who do not belong to them). Muslims also should label the Arab and Muslim regimes as infidels that do not follow the correct approach of Islam and tend to be like the West.

Third: The Concept of the State for Daesh

Daesh or Islamic State announced in 2014 what it called a pledge of loyalty for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as a caliph of Muslims. Daesh is considered an armed terrorist organization, which adopts the Salafist jihadist ideology (takfiri). Its founders seek to restore what they call the Islamic Caliphate and the application of the Islamic shari’a law.

According to the Daesh ideology, the Islamic state is based on the Islamic Caliphate and the application of the Islamic shari'a law. The ideology also attributes the only difference in thoughts between al-Qaeda and Daesh to the idea of ​​the close enemy and the distant enemy. Al-Qaeda had put striking the interests of the United States of America (declaring the war on the alliance of the Jews and the Christians, according to Al Qaeda's 1998 statement) as a major target of all its attacks. Therefore, the biggest enemy of al-Qaeda is the United States of America. Meanwhile, Daesh prefers targeting the local economy than the external one.

2: Mechanisms Used by Each Organization

First: The Mechanisms Used by the "Brotherhood"

The Brotherhood IS trying to use several mechanisms to achieve its vision. The Brotherhood's presence in Egypt will be presented as a case study of the mechanisms used by the group to implement its objectives.

The Brotherhood tried to use politics to achieve its objectives. The group was not in harmony with President Gamal Abdel Nasser's regime. After President Anwar Sadat came to power, there was a breakthrough in the Brotherhood's relationship with the political leadership at the time. Such breakthrough was crowned with the establishment of an alliance that was aimed at the leftists. The Brotherhood’s objective from forming such an alliance was re-building the group and winning an official recognition.

With the beginning of the era of former president Hosni Mubarak, the group moved to the opposition side. They tried to obtain official recognition from the state for the sake of getting integrated into state institutions, participated in the first parliamentary elections in 1984 in alliance with the Wafd Party, and took part in the 1987 elections. In the same year, the country’s parliamentarians nominated Mubarak for a second term in order to avoid a clash with the head of the regime in the context of their search for legal legitimacy of their political work. Also, it seems that the group has fluctuated in the practice of politics between being supporters or opponents of the regime. It also insisted on the practice of a political approach under the roof of the regime and the state until the January 25 revolution broke out. They participated in historical events before and after the revolution, leading to reign in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Sudan. In Libya, they tried to implement their plot; but they did not succeed.

The Brotherhood used jihad as an instrument to achieve its goals. It takes jihad as a way to change and reform. The group's ideology included jihad against occupation and colonialism, or even against regimes that do not rule according to God’s instructions.

There are three variables that defined the position of the group from jihad. The first one is the fluctuation of the group between al-Banna’s phase (relating to the ideas of Hassan al-Banna) and the Qutb phase (relating to the ideas of Sayyid Qutb). The second is the oscillation between the state (in its political sense) and the international idea (as it is an international organization comprising members from different peoples). The third is the structure that plays the largest role in directing the transformations of the contents of jihad.

Second: Al-Qaeda's Mechanisms to Achieve the Concept of the State

The global jihadi movements have expanded and spread all over the world, and their presence in Syria, Tunisia and Libya has lately intensified. Their presence in the region has led to violence, crime and the spread of terrorism. However, al-Qaeda has predicted the clustering of jihadist movements since 2012, thus setting out a strategic plan from 2002 until 2020 consisting of 6 stages, namely:

The first is recovery (2000 - 2003). It was aimed at provoking the United States of America; to declare war on Islam; and accordingly wake up Muslims.

Second: The Conquest of Bases (2003-2006). Here al-Qaeda hoped to transform itself from an organization into a broader movement and spread its bases in some Arab countries, taking Iraq as the center of jihad to prepare cadres for future wars.

Third: Advancement and standing on the feet (2007 - 2010). This stage aims to focus more on the countries of the Arab Mashreq, and Syria in particular.

Fourth: Restoration of wellness and being capable of realizing change (2010 - 2013). Here al-Qaeda expected the fall of all Arab regimes, which it considers tyrant.

Fifth: Declaration of the State (2013 - 2016) in the hope of establishing the Caliphate state.

Sixth: The Comprehensive Confrontation (2016-2020). During this period, al-Qaeda expects a full-scale war with those they regard as "infidels", leading to the success of the Caliphate.

Al-Qaeda documents and literature reveal that its vision of the restoration of the Islamic Caliphate is based on the theory of fighting the distant enemy. It said that the restoration of the Caliphate begins with the depletion of American powers until they reach the stage of collapse. Then begins the stage of fighting local regimes which al-Qaeda believes will not fall unless America falls.

Al-Qaeda, represented by the organization's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, acknowledged its calls for jihadist elements to establish an Islamic emirate in Yemen while continuing to weaken America, and working on the depletion of its powers. Then, the organization topples the rulers who abandon the Islamic shari’a law.

Third: Mechanisms of Daesh in Establishing its State

In contrast to al-Qaeda, Daesh concept of the Islamic Caliphate project stems from the theory of fighting the close enemy. This is attributed to the emergence of the organization in Iraq where the distant enemy represented in the American occupation forces overlapped with the near enemy represented in the Iraqi political authority.

The organization has passed through three stages since its establishment. The first stage is the action stage inside Iraq. The second is the expansion within Syria, and finally the organization’s random extension to the geographical area of ​​the Middle East. During these three stages, the relationship between Al Qaeda and Daesh fluctuated between the absolute dependency in the first stage to the conflict in the second phase, until the relationship reached the state of rebellion and complete disobedience in the third phase.

According to some newspapers, the organization - the worst and most brutal and radical in the history of extremist groups - has a five-year plan to establish the Islamic Caliphate which extends beyond the borders of the Islamic world. Daesh plans to establish an Islamic state that includes the Middle East and North Africa, a large part of Western Asia and parts of Europe.

Daesh also plans to seize the Balkans. It wants to impose his hegemony over Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, and a number of Eastern European countries as well as Austria.

According to the aforementioned, it seems that violence is a common intellectual framework between the three organizations. Violence has been used by the three groups as a means to achieve their religious goals of establishing the Caliphate.

As for the Brotherhood, the group has taken a violent course in order to take over the society and the state. To achieve that goal, it has used many methods that started with preaching and polarization and ended with violence, exclusion and religious extremism. The Brotherhood takes great care of the individual whom it considers the main pillar of the society.  Through this individual, the group manages to direct the moral reform process in the way it wants.

The Brotherhood considers the individual as an integral part of the group and believes that the individual has no importance in the society except when it is associated with it. This reflects the extent of its racism. Violence is more evident in Mr. Qutb's thinking.

Daesh does not have different views. The organization uses violence as a means to consolidate the roots of its state. It considers fighting as a tool to solidify the pillars of its ruling.

The idea of ​​violence can be addressed by supporting the role of civil society groups in presenting ideas that combat extremist ideology. Religious institutions should also take up its role in revealing the truth of these extremist ideas, clarifying that they have no relation to religion as well as outlining the proper understanding of religion and that it does not call for violence. The media also plays a pivotal role in describing and defining the events.

As for the dynamic confrontation of the state according to the concept of the three organizations, it is in the security aspect. There is an inverse relationship between security and the existence of extremist organizations. This is clear in Egypt’s confrontation of terrorism. With Egypt stepping up security measures in its fight against terrorism, the phenomenon is receding inside Egypt. At first, Egypt was facing violent blows, but with the preparation of a comprehensive confrontation plan, terrorism has noticeably declined and the state continues to enhance its strength to counter terrorism.

For political regimes to fight terrorism, they must develop the society. The real cause behind extremism and violence is frustration. As long as development is realized, extremism is eliminated.

Conclusion

After the study clarified the concept of the state for each of the three organizations, it is clear to us that it is similar in the ideology of the three groups. The Brotherhood regarded the state as a Caliphate. But due to its political practices and its good understanding of the requirements of the people, the group managed to use loose sentences and expressions in order to reflect a good understanding of the requirements of the status quo. Therefore, it can control the minds and use those minds later in achieving their goals.

Therefore, it used the term modern civil state with an Islamic reference to describe the concept of the state, unlike the organizations of al-Qaeda and Daesh, who did not have the ability to manipulate terminology because they do not exercise politics. Thus, the three organizations do not believe in the borders of the state. In political science, the state has land, air and sea borders.

We also note that the three organizations use the concept of the nation and not the people. These organizations do not believe in the people, even though the people are the main component of the state. If the people and the state are present, identity goes for the homeland. However, the three groups always use the term the nation (in their belief the Muslim nation which holds their same ideas). For them, identity goes for the doctrine. The concept of the nation is not limited to a specific scope. They are a group who has unified culture spreading in many countries and are always trying to become a reality.

As for the mechanisms used by organizations, it is clear how there are stark similarities between them. They all use jihad as a means to achieve their goals with the slight difference in the organizations’ concept of jihad. There are many factors mentioned above - which influenced each group’s identification of its focal point for attacks. The three organizations can cooperate at times of weakness; but they soon return to conflict.

The Brotherhood differs from al-Qaeda and Daesh as it used politics as a tool to establish its state. It also made many attempts to reach that, but eventually failed. It the resorted to violence as an alternative to politics and is expected to continue using it until its cells disappear, then reconsiders its ideology and finally starts over.