September 6, 2013<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n With one Arab army locked in battle against rebels (including Sunni Islamists) in Syria and another apparently set on cleansing the Egyptian political scene of its Islamist presence, a prominent jihadist scholar has questioned the role of Arab militaries in the modern Middle East. In an article entitled \u201cIs There Any Legitimacy Left for the Arab Armies?,\u201d Shaykh Abu Abdulillah Ahmad al-Jijeli calls on Arabs to look closely at the fighting doctrines, methods, education and loyalties of their military elites rather than accept the claims of these militaries that they are guardians of the nation or defenders of the interests of the umma<\/i> (Islamic community). Al-Jijeli suggests that the leaders of the Arab armies form a corrupt, Westernized elite that exists free of oversight or accountability. <\/span><\/p>\n Shaykh al-Jijeli identifies the following as the main problems with modern Arab militaries.<\/span><\/p>\n The shaykh concludes that Arab Muslims have the right \u201cby every standard\u201d to question the legitimacy of these armies following their \u201chorrible crimes.\u201d According to al-Jijeli, the Algerian, Syrian and Egyptian peoples could have avoided their current misfortunes and the crimes of their corrupt militaries if they had owned arms individually, \u201cthe only guarantee to remain alive, in a world that only understands the sounds of bullets and only respects the heavy boots.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Abu Muhammad al-Adnani<\/span><\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n Al-Jijeli\u2019s critique was followed a few days later by a statement delivered by Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, a spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), in which al-Adnani called on Salafists to join the battle against the Egyptian military. <\/span><\/p>\n In Sunni Islam, the military traditionally undertakes the functions of defense and jihad on behalf of the community, rendering it basically unassailable by the community it represents. Al-Adnani challenged this basic interpretation by identifying the Arab armies as the defenders of apostate and tyrannical rulers rather than the Islamic community: <\/span><\/p>\n The infidelity of the armies protecting the tyrants\u2019 regimes, most prominent of which are the Egyptian Army, the Libyan Army and the Tunisian army, before the revolution and after it. As for the Syrian Army, its infidelity is apparent even to the elderly\u2026 The Egyptian Army\u2026 is seeking until death to prevent the implementation of the Law of Allah\u2026 The Egyptian army and those [other] armies falsely claim that they are protecting and defending Muslims and that they watch for their safety and comfort. These armies were only present to protect the tyrants, to defend them and secure their thrones in the palace. The Egyptian Army\u2026 is one that protects the interest-charging banks and brothels. It also protects the Jews, the Copts and the Christians who fight against Allah and his messenger\u2026 It is a wild army that has burnt mosques and Qurans, finished off the wounded and burnt the bodies of the dead. How can any sane person say, \u2018it is not allowed to fight against this army\u2019 even if he or she considered the army as Muslim?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The ISIS spokesman also criticized the Muslim Brotherhood (\u201ca secular party disguised as Islamists\u201d) and the Salafist al-Nur Party (which has decided to support the army\u2019s takeover) for being too peaceful at a time when violence is called for (al-Tahrir TV [Cairo], September 1). [2] Al-Nur leader Younis Makhioun says the party has been forced to distance itself somewhat from the military\u2019s \u201croadmap\u201d for Egypt due to security abuses, but at the same time rejected jihadist calls to fight the military: \u201cThere are conspiracies to attack the Egyptian army\u2026 Those who carry them out are traitors\u201d (Daily News Egypt, August 28). <\/span><\/p>\n As the Egyptian military tries to separate itself from the discredited Mubarak regime, a new decree that ends the practice of Egyptian troops pledging direct loyalty to the Egyptian president is designed to create distance between the military leadership and Egypt\u2019s political leadership (Daily News Egypt, September 2). <\/span><\/p>\n Note:<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n 1.Shaykh Abu Abdulillah Ahmad al-Jijeli, \u201cIs There Any Legitimacy Left for the Arab Armies?\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>al-Andulus Media, August 26, 2013. <\/span><\/p>\n 2. See <\/span>http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JLuiccsV8JE&feature=share<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n This article first appeared in the September 6, 2013 issue of the Jamestown Foundation\u2019s Terrorism Monitor. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Andrew McGregor September 6, 2013 With one Arab army locked in battle against rebels (including Sunni Islamists) in Syria and another apparently set on cleansing the Egyptian political scene of its Islamist presence, a prominent jihadist scholar has questioned the … Continue reading \n
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