One of the mistakes that the West makes is that it doesn’t
listen to what the Islamists are saying. If only we listened, we could
hear their strategy. On November 20, Sheikh Yousef al-Qaradawi, the top
Muslim Brotherhood theologian and arguably the most influential Sunni
cleric in the world, called on
Muslims to embrace “gradualism.”
The
doctrine of gradualism is successful because we fail to appreciate the ability of the Islamists to be skillful political
strategists. Gradualism is an intelligent form of jihad based on
pragmatism, patience, long-term planning and self-evaluation. The
Islamists evaluate their performance and recalibrate their strategy
accordingly. The West misinterprets this as being “moderate,” when in
reality, not all Islamists are as reckless as Al-Qaeda.
“Gradualism in applying
the Sharia is a wise requirement to follow,” Qaradawi declared, stating
that Mohammed followed it.
The
Islamists, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, have always worked in
stages. In December, the Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide, Mohamed Badi, outlined six phases:
Sharia over the individual; Sharia over the family; Sharia over the
society; Sharia over the government; the resurrection of the Caliphate
and finally, “mastership of the world.” The Muslim Brotherhood is in the
process of completing the fourth phase in Egypt.
In this stage, the Islamists implement Sharia by describing it
as their form of “democracy” and “freedom.” They will argue that each
democracy is different and so we must be tolerant of their version.
Sheikh Qaradawi explains,
“What I am for is a genuine type of democracy, for a society driven by
the laws of Sharia that is compatible with the values of freedom, human
rights, justice and equity.”
Qaradawi
admits that “our democracy is different.” Secular democracy like that in the West does not honor
God and is immoral. “Democracy itself also can make what it wants as
lawful, or prohibit anything it does not like. In comparison, the Sharia
as a political system has limits. If we are to adopt democracy, we
should adopt its best features.”
As
far back as 1982, the Muslim Brotherhood had drawn up a 12-point
strategy to “establish an Islamic government on earth.” It was
discovered when the Swiss authorities raided the home of Yousef Nada in
2001 and is referred to as "The Project."
The document says to exercise
“flexibility at the local level” and “to reconcile political engagement
and the necessity of avoiding isolation on one hand, with permanent
education and institutional action on the other.” It calls for
“controlling the local centers of power through institutional action”
and to build alliances with other Islamic groups even if there are
disagreements. It supports “temporary cooperation” with non-Muslim
groups that are anti-Israel and “struggle against colonialism.”
The strategy document says the
worldwide Brotherhood must “support movements engaged in jihad across
the Muslim world” but “should not look for confrontation with our
adversaries, at the local or the global scale, which would be
disproportionate and could lead to attacks.” It talks of constructive
“self-criticism” and using the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to further
its strategy, “since it acts as the keystone of the renaissance of the
Arab world today.” In other words, use the conflict to radicalize the
masses.
Hamas, a wing of the
Muslim Brotherhood, also acts in accordance with gradualism. In
December, the leader of Hamas stated
that it was working towards the “interim objective of liberation of
Gaza, the West Bank, or Jerusalem.” The destruction of Israel,
or in the Islamists’ words, the “liberation of all Palestine,” follows.
Wherever the Muslim Brotherhood
and similar Islamists operate, there is a phased strategy—even in the United States. The Islamic Circle
of North America, one of the most powerful Muslim-American groups in the U.S., explained
its five phases in its handbook published in 2010 and it very closely
follows what Badie said in Egypt. The phases are: Educating yourself;
Converting your family; Outreach
into the community; “establish an Islamic society” on the state level
and then a “united Islamic state, governed by an elected khalifah in
accordance with the laws of Sharia.”
An
FBI memo written in 1988 likewise documented
that a source, apparently within the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood in
the U.S., described a six-phased plan. At the time, the Muslim
Brotherhood, specifically the International Institute of Islamic Thought
and the North American Islamic Trust, were working on the first phase.
It included creating “political action front groups with no traceable
ties” so that it can “peacefully get inside the United States government
and also American universities.” The source told the FBI that
Brotherhood operatives “claimed success infiltrating the United States
government.”
In 2004, the FBI found
seized another Brotherhood strategy document
that describes its “work in America as a kind of grand jihad in
eliminating and destroying Western civilization within.” It describes 5
phases:
· The “secret establishment of leadership”
·
“…gradual appearance on the public scene.” This phase calls for
“infiltrating various sectors of government,” “gaining religious
institutions,” “gaining public support and sympathy,” and “establishing a
shadow government.”
· “Escalation phase.” This focuses on “utilizing
mass media” and the document says that this stage is “currently in
progress.” Unfortunately, we do not know when this was written.
·
“Open confrontation with the government through…political pressure.” It
also calls for “training on the use of weapons domestically” and says
that there are “noticeable activities in this regard.” Could this have
something to do with the Jamaat ul-Fuqra training camps on American
soil?
·
The final phase: “Seizing power to establish their Islamic Nation under
which all parties and Islamic groups are united.”
The Islamists have a comprehensive long-term
strategy for victory that’s been around for decades. It’s about time
that we made one of our own.
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