Former Egyptian Islamic Jihad Leader Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif Deems Morsi and All Election Voters to Be Infidels

Following are excerpts from an interview with Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif, one of the founders of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on March 5, 2013:

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: Jihad has been a duty incumbent upon the Egyptians since 1810.

Interviewer: To this day?

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: Yes.

Interviewer: So everyone should grab a weapon and go wage Jihad?

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: There is a difference between what is obligatory and what is possible.

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When the Egyptian Islamic Jihad wanted to carry out attacks in Egypt, I opposed it. I did not oppose this on the grounds that Jihad is forbidden or wrong. Jihad continues to be a duty to this day, but we did not have the capabilities. Engaging in Jihad back then would have meant the destruction of the Islamic Jihad, and indeed, this is what happened.

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Interviewer: What do you say about President Dr. Mohamed Morsi? What is he – a believer, an infidel, a Muslim?

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: Allah said: “Those who do not rule by what was revealed by Allah are the infidels.” From Muhammad Ali to this day, all Egypt’s rulers were infidels. Not just Morsi.

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Interviewer: What sin did Morsi commit that makes you call him an infidel?

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: He is not the only infidel. All those who voted for him are infidels.

Interviewer: The entire people?

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: All those who voted for him or for anyone else.

Interviewer: Four or five million are infidels because they voted for Morsi?

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: Even if they had been 100 million. If you asked me if there are a billion infidels in India, I’d say: Yes. In China, there are 1.2 billion infidels.

Interviewer: How do you declare somebody an infidel so easily? You said that someone who drinks alcohol or a belly-dancer is part of the Muslim community, yet you so easily pronounce the four or five millions who voted for Morsi to be infidels.

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: “He made heresy, depravity, and disobedience hateful to you.” These are the degrees of sin. Disobedience is a minor sin, depravity is a major sin, and as for heresy – anyone who commits a deed or says anything deemed by Allah or the Prophet Muhammad to be heresy, warranting excommunication, is, indeed, a heretic. It makes no difference if he prays, gives alms, or is said to be pious, because the word of Allah outweighs everything.

Interviewer: What should be done with such a ruler, as far as you are concerned?

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: One should dissociate oneself from this Falsehood.

Interviewer: And what about Jihad?

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: It is impossible at present.

Interviewer: How come?

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: The Jihadi movement is very weak. In order to wage Jihad, we need an infrastructure, which we lack. Generally speaking, the Jihad movement is week and divided.

Interviewer: How can you say that? They are at the top.

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: No, they are not. The Jihadi movements all over the world annoy rather than achieve. In addition, in many places, the Jihadi movements are being used.

Interviewer: By whom?

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: By the countries’ intelligence agencies.

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Interviewer: You have written that Egypt is following in the footsteps of Lebanon. What did you mean?

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: Egypt is on the threshold of a sectarian rule.

Interviewer: But we don’t have sects in Egypt.

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: We do. The Muslim Brotherhood is a sect.

Interviewer: But they are Sunni.

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: The Muslim Brotherhood is a sect.

Interviewer: We don’t have a Sunni-Shiite divide.

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: There is a sectarian rule. The Muslim Brotherhood is a closed sect, and a closed sect means a sectarian rule. It doesn’t matter whether they are Sunnis or Shiites. In fact, they are neither. They are an apostate sect, because they placed an infidel ruler over Egypt. After calling people to join Islam and saying “Islam is the solution” for 80 years, they bring an infidel ruler to power... “Those who do not rule by what was revealed by Allah are the infidels.” Anyone who brings an infidel to power and wants heresy to persist is an infidel.

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All the people you see now are opportunists, and most of them were paid by the security services to beat us.

Interviewer: By opportunists you mean the Muslim Brotherhood?

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: Yes, and all the Salafis...

Interviewer

: All of them?

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: The vast majority. All the “eminent preachers” and “famous preachers” you hear about today were operated by the security services.

Interviewer: Like Sheik Muhammad Hassan?

Sayyid Imam Al-Sharif: The security services were killing and arresting people in the mosques, while allowing other groups to preach and spread. Why? In order to lure the youth away from the Jihadi movement. Thus, the Jihadi movement has become insignificant. The result of all this is that Allah kept Islam away from Egypt.

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