Muslim Brotherhood terrorist group, does not reflect Islamic values: Saudi scholars

Protesters carry a picture of Hassan Al-Banna, the Muslim Brotherhood founder, in Beirut. (File/Reuters)

• Muslim Brotherhood ‘stirs up sedition, violence and terrorism’
• ‘Terrorist group’s history is full of evils and strife’

RIYADH:The Saudi Council of Senior Scholars said on Tuesday that the Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist group and does not represent the true values of Islam, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The council described the Brotherhood as a deviant group that undermines coexistence within nations and stirs up sedition, violence and terrorism. The group pursues its partisan goals in an attempt to seize more power for itself, and does so under the cover of religion, it added. It said that the history of the organization is one of evil, strife, extremism and terrorism.
As a result, the council said any form of support, including funding, for the Brotherhood is forbidden, in accordance with the teachings of the Qur’an and the Sunnah (the guidance of the Prophet). It added that the Brotherhood is an aberrant and deviant group that encourages rebellion against rulers, wreaks havoc in states and destabilizes peaceful co-existence.
From its formation, the group has never shown any respect for the Islamic creed or the knowledge contained within the Qur’an or the Sunnah — its only goal has been to grab the reins of power, the scholars said.
They concluded by pointing out that the history of the Muslim Brotherhood reveals the full scale of the evil and mischief it is responsible for, and that it has inspired the formation of many extremist and terrorist groups that are responsible for atrocities all around the world.
The council called on the public to be wary of the Brotherhood and its activities, and warned them not to join it, support it or become involved with its activities.
Saudi Arabia blacklisted the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization in May 2014, in a royal decree, along with three other Middle East-based Islamist groups. The decree outlawed membership of the groups, along with any form of support or sympathy for them expressed “through speech or writing.”