By Linda Bentley | MARCH 2, 2016
Bill pending to declare Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group
Hassan al-Banna’s book taught jihad as an obligation from Allah on every Muslim that cannot be ignored or evaded
Mario Diaz-Balart
WASHINGTON – Last week, the House Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 3892, the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2015, to call on the State Department to classify the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group.
The bill, introduced by U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., was voted out of committee with a 17-10 party-line vote and is expected to go before the full House for a vote.
H.R. 3892 would require the Secretary of State to submit a report to Congress on the designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization and notes the following countries have declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization and banned it from their countries:
Syria banned the Muslim Brotherhood in 1980 and made membership in the organization punishable by death.
Russia declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization in 2003 and banned the organization from operating in Russia
In 2013, Egypt officially declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization and banned it from Egypt.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization in 2014.
The Cabinet of the United Arab Emirates published a list of terrorist organizations, which includes the Muslim Brotherhood and its local affiliates.
On March 21, 2014, the Foreign Minister of Bahrain backed the terrorist designations of the Muslim Brotherhood by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
H.R. 3892 continues by providing the history and intent of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna.
The organization remains headquartered in Egypt but operates throughout the world.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s long-standing motto includes the following: “Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Qur’an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope. [Allah is greater!]”
Hassan al-Banna’s book, “The Way of Jihad,” taught jihad as an obligation from Allah on every Muslim that cannot be ignored or evaded.
It defines jihad as “the fighting of the unbelievers, and involves all possible efforts that are necessary to dismantle the power of the enemies of Islam including beating them, plundering their wealth, destroying their places of worship and smashing their idols.”
Al-Banna also taught “it is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated,” and that the mission of Islam, as interpreted and executed by the Muslim Brotherhood, must be “to impose Islamic law on nations and to extend its power to the entire planet.”
After providing numerous more recent examples of the teachings of the Muslim Brotherhood, H.R. 3892 states, “It is the sense of Congress that the Muslim Brotherhood meets the criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189); and the Secretary of mState, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, should exercise the Secretary of State’s authority by designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization.”
The bill would give Secretary John Kerry, in consultation with the intelligence community, 60 days to submit a detailed report to the appropriate congressional committees, which it enumerates, that indicates whether the Muslim Brotherhood meets the criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist organization; and if the Secretary of State determines the Muslim Brotherhood does not meet the criteria, includes a detailed justification as to which criteria have not been met.
Ted Cruz
The Senate companion bill, S. 2230, introduced by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, once signed into law, would make it a crime for anyone in the United States to provide material support to the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Treasury Department could force banks to block financial transactions related to the organization.
The bill lists U.S. groups operating under the umbrella and control of the Muslim Brotherhood, including the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT).
Brigitte Gabriel
Brigitte Gabriel, founder and president of ACT for America, the nation’s largest nonprofit, non-partisan, grassroots organization devoted to promoting national security and defeating terrorism with more than 890 chapters nationwide and 11 countries worldwide, is urging citizens to contact their Senators in support of this bill.
