So what does the Muslim Brotherhood mean by the concept of restoring the caliphate? It means that in order for Islam to be what it is intended to be, namely a triumphant religion and triumphant culture, it needs to have a leader, and the leader is being defined from the early time of Islam as the caliph. The caliph ruled, so to speak, the entire Islamic world, at least spiritually, not like a pope of course. We should not compare it, but at least by title he was the head, the titular head of Islam. There are a few things that cannot be done by Islam unless you have a recognized caliph. For instance, war and peace in general, or calling for jihad, holy war. You need a head of Islam in order to create a situation of general war between the Islamic world and the rest of the world and the Christian world… So creating the caliphate is something that is very much on the agenda of the Islamic Brotherhood.Isn’t this the real danger, as the Muslim Brotherhood is about to take over in Egypt? Do they feel they are getting closer and are they ready to anoint someone as caliph? No, I don’t think they will be able to anoint someone as a caliph yet. But what is important is that they are on their way to controlling the biggest and strongest Arab country in the Middle East. This is no small thing, because Egypt has many international agreements – like the peace treaty with Israel – and we don’t know how they are going to react to it. They might say the peace with Israel was against Islam, which we cannot keep. It might very well happen, and this might bring us nearer to a new war between Israel and Egypt, which I think nobody wants. But this can develop first of all from declarations and then to actions.How do you view reports that the Obama administration has engaged in a dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood and received assurances that they are not going to ditch the Israel-Egypt peace treaty?Well, first of all, the Islamic Brotherhood is not in government yet, so what kind of assurances and with whom did they speak? I am not so sure that the Americans actually understand the gravity of the situation. It is a grave situation, and I think it was started by Obama’s speech which he made in Cairo, in which he did not stop commending Islam… The Muslims could have felt from his speech that he has never seen a better movement than the culture of Islam. So this was something which was very encouraging to the Muslim Brotherhood…By securing a real stronghold in Egypt, do you think the Muslim Brotherhood is now positioned to wield influence in Jordan, in Syria and the Palestinian areas? One has to look at each of these countries in different ways. In Syria, definitely the Sunnis are interested in coming back to power in place of the Alawite minority that has been ruling the country for the last 35 years. But Assad is not going to go away so quickly… and if he goes, it means we are talking about a bloodbath in Syria.In Jordan, the king is very well established, and he is trying to maneuver himself in order to show that he is doing something for the Muslims. The most important thing is that he is all of a sudden working with Abbas.As far as Abbas is concerned, yes, the Islamic Brotherhood is very strong in Gaza and also in Judea and Samaria, the so-called West Bank. And if there are free elections, the Muslim candidates will be victorious. But let’s not forget that in Gaza, there is already a Palestinian state with its own borders, own parliament, own government. This is in fact the outstretched arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Who is the Muslim Brotherhood?
Israel's leading expert on Islam answers questions on the Muslim Brotherhood, its mission, and its growing influence in the Islamic world.
So what does the Muslim Brotherhood mean by the concept of restoring the caliphate? It means that in order for Islam to be what it is intended to be, namely a triumphant religion and triumphant culture, it needs to have a leader, and the leader is being defined from the early time of Islam as the caliph. The caliph ruled, so to speak, the entire Islamic world, at least spiritually, not like a pope of course. We should not compare it, but at least by title he was the head, the titular head of Islam. There are a few things that cannot be done by Islam unless you have a recognized caliph. For instance, war and peace in general, or calling for jihad, holy war. You need a head of Islam in order to create a situation of general war between the Islamic world and the rest of the world and the Christian world… So creating the caliphate is something that is very much on the agenda of the Islamic Brotherhood.Isn’t this the real danger, as the Muslim Brotherhood is about to take over in Egypt? Do they feel they are getting closer and are they ready to anoint someone as caliph? No, I don’t think they will be able to anoint someone as a caliph yet. But what is important is that they are on their way to controlling the biggest and strongest Arab country in the Middle East. This is no small thing, because Egypt has many international agreements – like the peace treaty with Israel – and we don’t know how they are going to react to it. They might say the peace with Israel was against Islam, which we cannot keep. It might very well happen, and this might bring us nearer to a new war between Israel and Egypt, which I think nobody wants. But this can develop first of all from declarations and then to actions.How do you view reports that the Obama administration has engaged in a dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood and received assurances that they are not going to ditch the Israel-Egypt peace treaty?Well, first of all, the Islamic Brotherhood is not in government yet, so what kind of assurances and with whom did they speak? I am not so sure that the Americans actually understand the gravity of the situation. It is a grave situation, and I think it was started by Obama’s speech which he made in Cairo, in which he did not stop commending Islam… The Muslims could have felt from his speech that he has never seen a better movement than the culture of Islam. So this was something which was very encouraging to the Muslim Brotherhood…By securing a real stronghold in Egypt, do you think the Muslim Brotherhood is now positioned to wield influence in Jordan, in Syria and the Palestinian areas? One has to look at each of these countries in different ways. In Syria, definitely the Sunnis are interested in coming back to power in place of the Alawite minority that has been ruling the country for the last 35 years. But Assad is not going to go away so quickly… and if he goes, it means we are talking about a bloodbath in Syria.In Jordan, the king is very well established, and he is trying to maneuver himself in order to show that he is doing something for the Muslims. The most important thing is that he is all of a sudden working with Abbas.As far as Abbas is concerned, yes, the Islamic Brotherhood is very strong in Gaza and also in Judea and Samaria, the so-called West Bank. And if there are free elections, the Muslim candidates will be victorious. But let’s not forget that in Gaza, there is already a Palestinian state with its own borders, own parliament, own government. This is in fact the outstretched arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.