Egyptian Jihadi Sheik Ahmad 'Ashoush: I Do Not Consider Morsi to be Legitimate Egyptian President

Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian Jihadi Sheik Ahmad 'Ashoush, which aired on Al-Rahma TV on August 22, 2012.

Ahmad 'Ashoush: We are at odds with the current regime because it abides by man-made laws and by Western regulations, in general, with regard to people's lives: the legal, bureaucratic, economic, and political systems.

Since we don't have much time, I will focus on the man-made laws. As Muslims, you and I believe in the Koran and the Sunna, and in what is decreed permissible or prohibited.

If anybody – you, me, or anyone else – denies this, he becomes a heretic.

Interviewer: This is tantamount to renouncing one's religion.

Ahmad 'Ashoush: Right. Whoever denies what Allah decreed to be permissible or prohibited is a heretic. Therefore, we must accept the notions of halal and haram. We should allow what Allah decreed to be halal and forbid what Allah decreed to be haram.

This is the meaning of an Islamic state. An Islamic state is bound by the halal and the haram.

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How can this unjust, promiscuous, atheist law be imposed upon me by force of arms, yet I am expected not to rebel against it? I can never obey this law. On the contrary, I must rebel against it, and call it haram and falsehood. This is heresy, because it permits that which is prohibited.

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Do I consider Dr. Morsi to be a legitimate president and emir of this country? The answer is no. Dr. Morsi did not enter the presidency through the legitimate gate of the shari'a. He came to power through the democratic system. The democratic system, as they all say, means a civil state, not an Islamic one. We called upon them to make it an Islamic state. A legitimate ruler must come to power through a pledge of allegiance, and elections are not a pledge of allegiance.

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