I had preferred that the Rabaa and al-Nahda sit-ins not be dispersed the way they were on Wednesday, 14 August for fear that blood would be spilled. But that was God's will.
What happened on that day and the following days up until Friday evening calls for prayer and for begging God's mercy and his acceptance of all the victims as martyrs. We ask that God grant their parents, their children, and their families patience and fortitude, and protect Egypt and its people from all evil. To God we belong and to Him we return.
According to the Health Ministry, 600 people have died and 4,500 have been injured. There were also 52 police officers and soldiers who perished, and 300 among them who were injured.
To be fair, we have to say that both sit-ins were not peaceful and that the government and security agencies gave the Muslim Brotherhood many chances to end the sit-ins in a way that preserved blood and lives. But of course they did not read these hints. They even increased their conceit, arrogance, and delusion.
They imagined for a moment that they were the stronger party and that offers of reconciliation and mediation, especially from foreign delegations, reflected the weakness of state institutions, which made the Brothers raise their own terms and conditions.
Some demanded the return of Morsy to rule, the revival of the 2012 Constitution, and the return of the dissolved Shura Council. One even said that the moment Morsy returned to the presidency, violence would stop in Sinai!
At some stage, their demands included the release of Morsy without his return to rule and the release of leaders detained pending investigation, without prosecuting other leaders. But these demands were out of context as they opposed the demands of the tens of millions who came to the streets on 30 June, 3 July, and 26 July.
To be sure, the Muslim Brotherhood relied mainly on the support of the US administration and its pressure on state institutions, on the grounds that US interests would be respected in return. They forgot that the US administration stands with the stronger party, and that the US administration dealt with them on that basis at the beginning when they had the people, the army, and the police on their side. But now no one stands with them.
They lost everything due to their failure to understand what was happening around them. The Brotherhood’s mistakes were their downfall. They failed to achieve political stability and security. They failed to find solutions to the dire economic crisis and their fateful Constitutional Declaration led to division, fragmentation, civil strife, and violence, as well as the collapse of the rule of law.
As the Rabaa and al-Nahda sit-ins were being dispersed, police stations were stormed, churches and courts were burned, and public and private properties were attacked in many governorates. There was a scheme to turn Egypt into another Syria. If investigations and trials prove that the Muslim Brotherhood and its partisans were behind these acts, that will mean that their political, historical, and religious demise will have been from their own hands. The Brothers have not only lost power, but also lost people’s trust and sympathy. They evoke people's discontent, anger, and wrath to such a degree that some are currently calling for labeling the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization that should, along with its political party, be dissolved.
After the curfew and emergency law has been imposed, does the Muslim Brotherhood and those on their side want the cycle of violence to continue? Do they want Egypt to fall into seas of bloodshed? Do they want to urge the security forces to deal with them using ferocity, cruelty, and violence so that more victims fall? Do they want to be a tool in US / Zionist schemes which aim to fragment the region and subjugate the nation by fomenting ethnic, sectarian, and religious conflicts, and spreading chaos to destabilize the country's security and weaken the Egyptian army?
This would be a crime neither people nor history would forgive them for.
It is a crime that will follow them wherever they go. Let them ask themselves about the role they played in strengthening the security and safety of the Zionist enemy, which gained US applause during their rule.
Perhaps the letter sent to the Zionist butcher Shimon Peres telling him we wish you a prosperous life in your country and calling him "my loyal friend" is the best evidence.
Mohamed Habib is the former Deputy General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood. He is also the founder of the Renaissance Party.
