According to a prominent Egyptian cleric, if Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi wins the presidential election next week, Egypt’s new capital no longer will be Cairo.
According to Safwat Hagazy, Egypt’s new capital will be Jerusalem.
These claims were made at a presidential rally aired on the Egyptian Al-Nas TV station on May 1 and later re-posted on YouTube with English subtitles being added by MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute.
In the video, Hagazy is seen shouting to an enthusiastic crowd:
“We can see how the dream of the Islamic Caliphate is being realized, Allah willing, by Dr. Muhammad Mursi and his brothers, his supporters and his political party. We can see how this great dream, shared by us all. The United States of the Arabs will be restored, Allah willing. The United States of the Arabs will be restored by this man and his supporters. The Capital of the Caliphate, the capital of the United States of the Arabs, will be Jerusalem, Allah willing.”
The video has gone viral on Youtube with over 125,000 views. It is also being widely reported by Arab news outlets throughout the Islamic world.
In the video, crowds are seen waving both Egyptian, as well as Hamas flags.
Hagazy’s speech continued to call for “millions” of “shaheeds” or Muslim martyrs in the march to take Jerusalem:
“Our capital shall not be Cairo, Mecca or Medina. It shall be Jerusalem with God’s will. Our chants shall be: ‘millions of martyrs will march towards Jerusalem’… Yes, we will either pray in Jerusalem or we will be martyred there.”
After Hagazy’s speech, the crowd’s can be heard chanting, “Tomorrow Mursi will liberate Gaza.”
The speech was attended by Mursi as well as the Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohammed Badei.
See the speech:
According to The Voice of Russia, in a speech made at Cairo University, Mursi also made the following call for the implementation of Shariah law and jihad as the foundation of Egypt’s new government:
The Quran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader, jihad is our path, and death in the name of Allah is our goal. … Today we can establish Shariah law because our nation will acquire well-being only with Islam and Shariah. The Muslim Brothers and the Freedom and Justice Party will be the conductors of these goals.
And according to the Egyptian website, El Bashayer, Muhammad Mursi was caught saying last week that he will “achieve the Islamic conquest of Egypt for the second time, and make all Christians convert to Islam, or else pay the jizya (mandatory tax placed on all non-Muslims under Islamic law).”
The election run off will take place next week, June 16 and 17.
As Egypt falls to the radical Islamists, Barack Obama’s overt support for the overthrow of long-time American ally Hosni Mubarak may haunt him in his own upcoming election effort.
Only one year ago, Obama enthusiastically got behind what would come to be the Iranian Revolution of this generation:
“The people of Egypt have spoken. Their voices have been heard, and Egypt will never be the same. … By stepping down, President Mubarak responded to the Egyptian people’s hunger for change, but this is not the end of Egypt’s transition. It’s the beginning.”
Some analysts of Islamic apocalyptic tradition see in Mursi’s and Hawgazy’s calls for Jerusalem as the capital of the Islamic Caliphate a harkening to Islamic prophecy and Islam’s messiah figure known as the Mahdi. According to Islamic apocalyptic tradition, the Mahdi is the awaited and coming Caliph of Islam.
According to Egyptian authors Muhammad ibn Izzat and Muhammd ‘Arif in their book “Al-Mahdi and the End of Time”:
“The Mahdi will be victorious and eradicate those pigs and dogs and the idols of this time so that there will once more be a Caliphate based on prophethood as the hadith states. … Jerusalem will be the location of the rightly guided Caliphate and the center of Islamic rule, which will be headed by Imam al-Mahdi. … That will abolish the leadership of the Jews …”
According to various Islamic hadith, both Sunni and Shi’a, the armies of the Mahdi are believed to march to Jerusalem and plant the black flags of Islam on the Temple Mount.
And according to the Bible, the Messiah himself will take his someday rightful place as the Davidic King and rule the world from Jerusalem (Isaiah 9:10, Luke 1:30-33, Hebrews 1:8):
“The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.’” (Luke 1:30-33)
Before this happens, the Bible, however, also makes it clear that just before the Messianic age, a powerful Middle Eastern leader will establish his seat of authority in Jerusalem, before meeting his death in the land of Israel (2 Thess. 2:4, Daniel 11:45).
“He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.” (Daniel 11:45)
