How Is Egypt Supporting Sudan in Fighting the Muslim Brotherhood and Its Ideology?
By
George Mikhail
Feb
21, 2021
Egypt
is actively supporting Sudan in fighting the Muslim Brotherhood and its
ideology, as the Egyptian Ministry of Endowments, in coordination with its
Sudanese counterpart, sent a convoy of imams and preachers to Sudan on Feb. 4,
specifically to the Darfur region, where protests and acts of violence have
recently broken out.
On
Feb. 10, protests, acts of violence, and looting broke out in the regions of
north Darfur, west Darfur, east Darfur and north Kordofan. The Sudanese
transitional government accused supporters of ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir
and Muslim Brotherhood members of fuelling those protests and spreading their
ideology in the region. Sudanese authorities consequently launched a crackdown
against figures affiliated with the former regime and the Brotherhood.
On
Jan. 23, the Sudanese authorities shut down 131 Muslim Brotherhood-linked
associations in south Darfur, accusing them of receiving foreign funds to
support terrorist activities, inciting violence and spreading extremist
ideology in the region.
As
part of efforts to counter extremist ideology and the influence of the
Brotherhood in the region, the states of the Darfur region welcomed the
Egyptian missionary convoy to spread moderate thought and fight extremism.
Ashraf
Fahmy, secretary-general of training at the Egyptian Ministry of Endowments and
head of the Egyptian imams delegation to Sudan, revealed the convoy’s
objectives during a press conference upon arrival, saying, “The Egyptian convoy
— in cooperation with the imams of Sudan — is working to spread enlightened
thought, reject division, violence and extremism, and focus on the issue of
preserving the homeland and protecting its national institutions.”
On
Feb. 5, Fahmy delivered a Friday sermon at the Nyala Mosque in the state
of south Darfur on the need to promote tolerance among people and reject
tribalism.
The
missionary convoy organized a training course Feb. 6 for Egyptian and Sudanese
female preachers in north Darfur, which dealt with extremist ideology among
Sudanese citizens.
Egyptian
Minister of Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa said in a Feb. 14 press statement,
“The convoy was very welcomed by the Sudanese, as it had a role in supporting
cooperation in spreading moderate thought and combating extremism. The goal is
to spread moderation, confront terrorism and put an end to what is happening in
Egypt and Sudan.”
Religious
cooperation between Egypt and Sudan has improved since the Sudanese revolution
that overthrew Bashir.
Sudanese
Minister of Endowments Nasruddin Mufreh visited Egypt in December 2020. The
Egyptian Ministry of Endowments and its Sudanese counterpart also organized a
training course for Egyptian and Sudanese imams on Dec. 21, 2020, on the
cooperation in combating extremism and confronting the ideologies of extremist
groups and the Muslim Brotherhood in both countries.
The
Egyptian parliament praised the results of the missionary convoy’s visit to
Sudan, as the parliamentary African Affairs Committee issued a statement Feb.
13 calling on the Egyptian Ministry of Endowments to organize more religious
convoys in Sudan to spread the enlightened moderate thought and confront terrorist
and extremist ideologies.
Amani
al-Tawil, director of the Africa program at Al-Ahram Center for
Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor, “The Darfur region in Sudan suffers from
the spread of extremist ideology and jihadist movements and the proliferation of
arms, especially in light of armed clashes between the [locals] in the region
and [supporters of] the Bashir regime, the high poverty rate and the
Brotherhood’s power there.”
She
said, “Egypt is working to assist the Sudanese government in fighting Brotherhood
and extremist ideology, especially in the Darfur region, by sending convoys and
organizing training courses for Sudanese imams on dealing with the
Brotherhood’s ideology.”
Tawil
noted, “Fighting extremism in Sudan is a strategic goal for Egypt because the
turmoil and acts of violence caused by the Brotherhood affect the security of
Egypt that shares borders with Sudan.”
She
added, “More Egyptian missionary convoys must be sent to Sudan in addition to
supporting the new Sudanese government in eradicating poverty in the Darfur
region.”
In
a Feb. 15 press statement, Fahmy said, “The Egyptian missionary convoy that
headed to Sudan achieved all its desired goals of promoting the common
interests between the two countries on the religious level.”
Fahmy
continued, “The convoy also aimed to spread enlightened thought, to support
common interests and strengthen Egyptian relations with neighbouring countries.
The Sudanese show great participation and positive interaction with Egyptian
imams and preachers, in terms of exchanging experience and information.”
Sherif
el-Gabaly, head of the parliamentary African Affairs Committee, told
Al-Monitor, “Egypt has a unique experience in confronting the Muslim
Brotherhood’s narrow-minded ideology, and this is why Sudan wanted cooperation
to confront extremism.”
He
said, “The Egyptian missionary convoy targeted the Sudanese regions where
Brotherhood ideology is widely spread, and the Egyptian parliament encouraged
the Ministry of Endowments to send such missionary convoys to other African
countries.”
Gabaly
noted, “Sudan is trying to cleanse its regions from the effects of the Muslim
Brotherhood rule by spreading enlightened thought and removing all Brotherhood
members from decision-making centres in conjunction with removing Sudan's name
from the list of terrorism. For this purpose, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah
al-Sisi instructed all state institutions to support Sudan in achieving its
legitimate goals.”
Gabaly
concluded, “Cairo is cooperating with Sudan on the security and religious
levels to put an end to the Brotherhood's schemes because Egypt wants to
preserve Sudan's stability.”
Original
headline- Egypt helps Sudan confront Brotherhood ideology through missionaries
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