Muslim Brotherhood To Form Political Party-First Step Toward Islamist Egypt

Our Islamic religion is not a religion of priests and monks, who worship their Lord individually without taking interest in others but rather it is a complete religion which organizes peoples' lives in this world as well as in the next life: It organizes the economic, social and political matters of Muslims and still – [is] a religion of faith, law and ritual, which addresses every minor and major issue related to man-Mustafa Mashhur Muslim Brotherhood Leader 1996- till his death in 2002

Despite reports that it has no intention of getting into politics, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said today that it intends to form a political party once democracy is established. The country's new military rulers has formed a committee to amend the country's constitution to allow democratic elections later this year.

The panel is to draw up changes at a breakneck pace - within 10 days - to end the monopoly that ousted President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party once held, which it ensured through widespread election rigging. The initial changes may not be enough for many in Egypt calling for the current constitution, now suspended by the military, to be thrown out completely and rewritten to ensure no one can once again establish autocratic rule. Two members on the panel said the next elected government could further change the document if it choses.

In a sign toward the further one of the panel's members is Sobhi Saleh, a former lawmaker from the Brotherhood.

The eight-member committee, which met with Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi on Tuesday, also includes a Christian supreme court judge, along with other judges and legal experts, one of its members Mohammed Hassanein Abdel-Al, a legal scholar told The Associated Press. The panel is headed by Tareq el-Bishri, a widely respected former judge and scholar who was once a secular leftist but later became one of the most foremost thinkers of what Egyptians refer to as the "moderate Islamic" political trend and is seen as a bridge between the movements.

Right now the Egyptian constitution does not ban the Muslim Brotherhood per se but it explicitly bans any parties formed on a religious basis. The Muslim Brotherhood was banned under that provision but ran candidates for parliament anyway as independents. In 2005, it made a surprisingly strong showing, winning 20 percent of parliament's seats, but it was pushed out completely in the most recent election in November and December, plagued by fraud.

The Brotherhood announced Tuesday that it would form a party once promised freer laws are in place.

"The Muslim Brotherhood group believes in the freedom of the formation of political parties. They are eager to have a political party," spokesman Mohammed Mursi said in a statement on the Brotherhood website.

Essam el-Arian, a prominent Brotherhood figures, said the movement would not run any candidate for upcoming presidential elections, acknowledging that such a move would be too controversial.

"We are not going to have a candidate for the upcoming presidential elections. Its time for solidarity, its time for unity, in my opinion we need a national consensus," he said. But he said the Brotherhood's top leadership had decided on the creation of a party.

The Brotherhood's charter calls for creation of an Islamic state in Egypt, and Mubarak's regime depicted the Brotherhood as aiming to take over the country, launching fierce crackdowns on the group. Some Egyptians remain deeply suspicious of the secretive organization, fearing it will exploit the current turmoil to vault to power.

But many in the US Mainstream Media still contend that the Muslim Brotherhood is secular and is not a terrorist organization. But that is not what the Muslim Brotherhood claims.  Their stated goal is to use Jihad to turn the world into a Muslim Caliphate.

• - “the Islamic Ummah [nation] can regain its power and be liberated and assume its rightful position which was intended by Allah, as the most exalted nation among men, as the leaders of humanity...”
• “know your status, and believe firmly that you are the masters of the world,even if your enemies desire your degradation "
• “It should be known that Jihad and preparation towards Jihad are not only for the purpose of fending-off assaults and attacks of Allah's enemies from Muslims, but are also for the purpose of realizing the great task of establishing an Islamic state and strengthening the religion and spreading it around the world”
• “Jihad for Allah is not limited to the specific region of the Islamic countries, since the Muslim homeland is one and is not divided, and the banner of Jihad has already been raised in some of its parts, and it shall continue to be raised, with the help of Allah, until every inch of the land of Islam will be liberated, the State of Islam will be established,”