Tale of Muslim Brotherhood

Focus on charity, advocacy

“THE Muslim Brotherhood movement in Kuwait has undergone three major stages,” columnist and Professor wrote for daily.

“During the first phase the group introduced itself as a social reform movement from the 1950s to the 1970s, the second as a political and parliamentary stream since the 1980s, and the third in the 1990s as a political faction and sometimes remained in harmony with the opposition and at other times with the government.

“Historically, the Brotherhood movement in Kuwait emerged in the early 1950s, represented by the Guidance Society founded by Abdulaziz Al-Mutawa in 1951 following a meeting with the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood Group of Egypt Hassan AlBanna and Al-Mutawa and the latter was the general controller of the group in Kuwait.

“But the circumstances that were prevalent in both the Arab and local arenas in the 1950s did not permit the members of the Muslim Brotherhood Group to introduce themselves as a political and popular current because the 1950s and 1960s represented the golden age of Arab nationalism. Moreover, the nationalists in this early period did not quarrel with Islam as a religion.

“Moreover, the then Arab nationalists also did not derive their legitimacy from Islamic currents. In the same period, the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood members concentrated their efforts on advocacy and charity rather than politics, which began only in the 1980s.

“Although Al-Banna’s proposals were very popular and significantly appreciated in Egypt, Kuwait’s social and political circumstances in the same period differed from those of Egypt, which explains why the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood group did not gain popularity among their Egyptian counterparts.

“Al-Banna built his popularity against British colonialism, which was particularly evident in the Suez Canal. It was this resistance that enabled him to send volunteers from his group to fight in Palestine in 1948 to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state.

“When the regular Arab armies were defeated in Palestine, the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt began a state of hostility with their government and held the latter responsible for the defeat which led the government to crack down on the group in 1948. Not just that, the same year the then Egyptian government issued a decision to dissolve the Muslim Brotherhood Group.

“The nature of the colonial presence in Egypt was largely responsible for the existence of the Muslim Brotherhood during that time and the relationship of the group with the Egyptian regime, which differed to a great extent from the conditions of the Gulf and Kuwait in particular.

“In others words, the Gulf emirates during that time were not traditional British colonies, but small independent states governed by protectorate treaties with Britain. Kuwait, for instance, was under the protection of Britain since 1899, and the British presence in it was very limited and the nature of the Kuwaiti communal components did not allow the people in the country to follow the example of Egypt in terms of Westernization unlike in Egypt when Banna established his group to resist it.

“The British presence in Kuwait was actually accepted by the Kuwaiti elite including the founder of the group in Kuwait Abdulaziz Al-Mutawa in view of the role that was played by the British in Kuwait in oil exploration and the role in terms of protecting the Emirate from its powerful neighbors.”

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“Following the defeat of the Islamic State (IS) or the so-called ‘DAESH’ in Iraq, the remnants of the group at the moment are reportedly looking for an exit to flee from that country at a time when the elements of the group in Syrian face persistent bombing and this means within a year this terrorist organization will be wiped out from the face of the earth,” columnist wrote for daily.

“The question is what will happen then particularly to the Popular Mobilization that was created by the Iraqi government to fight ‘DAESH’.

“In this context, we look at the statement that was attributed to the leader of the Popular Mobilization who was quoted as saying his fighters will neither be disarmed nor forced to surrender even if the request comes from the Iraqi government.

“Apart from the above, we also wonder what will happen to the Lebanese Hezbollah which is currently stationed in various Syrian areas. And what about the armed factions of Shiites or Sunnis which are in Syria? And can the international community allow the violation of the security of the relevant countries? And what is the benefit of the existence of these factions following the defeat of DAESH?

“I had earlier in my article said that all these factions were still working to implement some specific agendas. But as long as Mosul in Iraq is liberated from ‘DAESH’ all these factions should be thrown in the garbage of history and completely dismantled.

“Consequently, we expect all of these factions to disappear through an inevitable battle but this battle will be carried out by Arab and Islamic armies. In this context, I think the Arab coalition which is currently led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which was founded more than two years ago with support of the United States of America and NATO will participate in the battle in question and this will eventually result in Iran halting its interventions in the internal affairs of the region.”

“The actions of Iran against us cannot be handled with silence. That country insists on attacking our stability and harming our national security by taking advantage of the lightheaded in our country and provoking their passions,” wrote for daily.

“Amazingly, Iran claims that it is a target of the socalled “The Great Devil” while, at the same time, it behaves unjustly with others. The so-called “Abdali Cell” or more precisely the Iranian cell is a terrorist group created in Iran, planted in Kuwait and was provided training by Hezbollah in Lebanon. This is as per the official Kuwaiti statement.

“This is an aggressive action and interference in the internal affairs of a peaceful Muslim country which has hurt no one. However, the Iranian interference did not stop at that. Iran reacted to Kuwait’s response represented in the judiciary procedures, claiming that Kuwait is conspiring against Iran. Moreover, Iran threatened that it will activate its mercenaries/spies inside Kuwait.

“The official spokesperson of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was bold enough to call the Kuwaiti Charge d’Affaires and inform him that Iran strongly protests against the Kuwaiti accusations directed at Iran. He stressed that his country has the rights to respond.

“Actually, the response was a prompt one when Iran instructed the Iranian TV channel “Al-Alam TV” to broadcast a report with threatens directed at Kuwait. The report addressed the Iranian militants to shake the stability of Kuwait and target Kuwaiti interests around the world especially in Basra, Iraq as well as provoke crises related to land frontiers and marine territories shared with Iraq. The report showed Iran as the maker of the Iraqi decisions.

“While all this is happening, a number of Kuwaiti citizens are justifying Iran’s terrorist actions.”

“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while inaugurating a series of development projects in one Turkish province a couple of days ago said the country’s exports have reached $150 billion,”

wrote for daily. “Whoever visits Turkey will feel the renaissance and development in all aspects of life, and the people overwhelmed by the mental and spiritual cooperation with their leader and government are working hard to ensure their welfare and that of their country without indulgence. The slogan is clearly understood in their action, ‘Grant me freedom for me to become free’.

“The people are working relentlessly with all their capabilities to develop the country. They are wellknown for their high level of patriotism in raising the flag of their country at all national festivities with passion. We observe that Turkey has several gigantic development projects in vital areas that will gulp billions of dollars. The verifiable fact is that Turkey is a creditor and does not need loan from any quarter. The Great Turkey will emerge in 2023”.

“Kuwait is with its people” … a sentence reverberated by many since ancient times, and which carries sincere meaning about the country deriving its status through communication, compassion, kindness, originality, love, solidarity and cooperation with its people,” wrote for

daily. “There are several facts to support the aforementioned statement, among them the difficulty experienced by the country during the brutal invasion, which showed the original Kuwaiti approach to adversity through solidarity, support and love for their country and leadership. In the event of the martyrdom of two noble Sheikhs, Dr Waleed Al Ali and Fahad Al-Husseini, the people of Kuwait stood by their families as if each house in Kuwait was bereaved.

“The father of all and humanitarian leaders His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad led many citizens to offer their condolences. The families hard hit by the loss of their loved ones were consoled by the Amir. His Highness received them again and showered them with affection like a father consoles his sons in hard times”.

“Kuwait is in dire need of reformers in economic field, due to the State’s dependence on a single resource, which is diminishing with time, “columnist

wrote for daily. “From the time when Kuwait started exporting oil, many studies have been conducted alongside development plans aimed at unearthing alternative sources of income. Sadly, studies have established reasons preventing the desire to transform Kuwait to an industrial or agricultural State, but the State encourages investments in industry and agriculture.

“The Fund of Future Generations was established upon serious thought about finding a way for the future generation to live a prosperous life when oil resource is out. The law prohibits spending from the future generations fund without approval of the Government and the National Assembly.

“Kuwait had a reliable bursary due to investments she made in foreign countries, but the problem started with the declining oil prices and the MPs negative response to measures on streamlining expenditure. The MPs continue to make laws draining the state budget, which only serve personal interests—particularly electoral gain.

“The Government also follows the footsteps of the MPs and not given up wasteful spending, while it’s supposed to set good examples for citizens through rationalization. The extravagant expenditure of Government and the MPs led to high budget deficit exceeding KD 7 billion per annum.

“Without a doubt, the continuation of this strategy will lead to exhaustion of the Future Generations Fund in due course. The current situation raises alarm, which the deaf can even hear. Therefore, a group of experts are needed as a matter of urgency to explore new sources of income, if we truly want to sustain the life of luxury for future generations”.

“Since the inception of Islam and the Holy Prophet (PBUH) started receiving inspiration, the religion has honored women with all rights denied them in the primitive era,” wrote for

daily. “It was the era when beautiful girls were buried to prevent situation whereby their parents would be insulted and ridiculed. Female circumcision prevailed at that time, and women could not obtain their rights of inheritance and were deprived of many other privileges. Islam later surfaced to end the injustice perpetrated against women, and their honor was restored.

“Throughout the 1400 years of Islam, several major issues concerning women have been connected with decoration. You will see their love for fragrance, cosmetics, beauty care and music. With the emergence of television, they took to watching movies and drama series. They even spend time backbiting and chitchatting. This means the majority of women keep repeating the same mistakes for years.

“Lately, some women are deviating from their nature through disobedience to Allah the Almighty by challenging Islamic teachings in a way that contradicts their nature. It all started with the demand for equal rights with men”.

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb