Brotherhood chief suspends Ramadan fast for anti-coup ‘jihad’
Mohammed Badie says fight for control of Egypt, mirroring seventh-century Battle of Badr, will be waged later this month
July 15, 2013,
The Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader ruled on Monday that protesters against the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi may break the fast of Ramadan, since they were in a “state of jihad” and would soon wage a battle for control of Egypt.
In a series of tweets, Mohammed Badie compared the struggle against the June 30 military coup, centered around a sit-in at Cairo’s Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque, to the Battle of Badr, a decisive battle waged between the Prophet Muhammad and his adversaries from the tribe of Quraish in the year 624.
“The ruling against those who leave Rabia al-Adawiya Square is akin to the ruling against those who flee the battle and jihad against the infidels,” wrote Badie on Sunday. A meeting between Badie and a number of Muslim Brotherhood officials led to a decision to prepare for “the second Battle of Badr” on the battle’s anniversary, 17 Ramadan (July 26), he added.
Muslim tradition holds that the followers of Islam suspended their Ramadan fast during the Battle of Badr to be combat ready.
Badie’s warning came as thousands of pro-Brotherhood protesters marched on Sunday evening from Rabia al-Adawiya to the nearby headquarters of Egypt’s National Security building in Nasr City demanding the reinstatement of Morsi as Egypt’s president. Army aircraft hovered above the crowd, dropping leaflets that called on the protesters to go home “because your family needs you,” independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.
Meanwhile, Egyptian media reported on Sunday that attorney general Hisham Barakat ordered a freeze on the assets of a number of Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi officials, including Badie’s.
On Saturday, Algerian daily En-Nahar Al-Jadid reported that Badie announced the coming of a “Free Egyptian Army” to fight Morsi’s ouster, a statement denied as “utterly false” by the Muslim Brotherhood website late Sunday night, claiming that Badie never commented to “an Egyptian or non-Egyptian newspaper.”
“The Muslim Brotherhood’s resistance to the military coup is peaceful, encompassing the masses who cannot forego their freedom and sovereignty,” the website stated.
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