Egyptian Sociologist Saadudin Ibrahim: The Muslim Brotherhood Is Hijacking the Revolution, More Dangerous than the Salafis

Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian sociologist Saadudin Ibrahim , which aired on ON TV on July 31, 2012:

Interviewer: You indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood are hijacking the country, not merely the top political posts. Is the Muslim Brotherhood indeed about to hijack the country?

Saadudin Ibrahim: Well, this is how it seems to me, as well as to other observers, some of whom are more knowledgeable than me about the Brotherhood.

I have said that in my youth, I was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, but it was people who remained in it for a longer period, or were much closer to the leadership than me, who helped me form my general view of the Muslim Brotherhood, and of their desire to hijack everything and to control everything.

Their plan is to turn Egypt into an Islamic emirate, which would be the seed of an Islamic caliphate, which would first encompass the Muslim world, and later the world in its entirety.

Of course, in 2012, this sounds like sheer fantasy, but all the major enterprises in history began as an idea. Some of ideas died while still in the cradle, while others developed.

Therefore, we should not underestimate this idea, which is harbored by the Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Egypt.

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The most important statement confirming this was made by Mahdi Akef, the former Muslim Brotherhood General Guide, who said: "To hell with Egypt."

Interviewer: He also said that a [Muslim] ruler from Malaysia could govern Egypt better than...

Saadudin Ibrahim: Ideas like this point to their plan. Egypt is part of a bigger plan, and can be ignored for the sake of something better. Egypt can be governed by any ruler from abroad, as long as he is a devout Muslim, who is acceptable to them.

The concept of a nation state is absent from the Brotherhood's plans. They speak of a comprehensive, religious, Islamic state.

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They are hijacking Egypt, not just the revolution. They were among the last organized groups to join the revolution. They came at the end of the fourth day or at the beginning of the fifth...

Interviewer: Three days after the revolution...

Saadudin Ibrahim: No, four days after it.

Nevertheless, the young people who carried out the revolution are not in power. It is the latecomers who are in power. Some of them like the Salafis, did not participate in the revolution at all. The latecomers and those who did not participate at all are now in the seat of power.

This is an indication of their plan to hijack, control, and monopolize.

Interviewer: Which Islamist movement is the most dangerous to Egypt – the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafis, the Jihadists, or others?

Saadudin Ibrahim: The Muslim Brotherhood.

Interviewer: Even though some believe the Salafis to be the most dangerous?

Saadudin Ibrahim: The Salafis, with their simplistic and naïve ideology, speak their minds. Therefore, we know what they are up to and how to contain it, if it's dangerous.

The Brotherhood, on the other hand, is an organization about whose leadership we know very little. We know that there is the General Guide Office, and that they conduct secretive meetings, from which no protocols are issued for public review. Such a political party does not exist in democratic countries. A politburo may have existed in Communist or totalitarian countries, in the Communist or Nazi parties...

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