Mohammed Badie

Mohammed Badie محمد بديع
8th General Guide of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 January 2010
Preceded by	Mohammed Mahdi Akef
Personal details
Born	7 August 1943 El-Mahalla El-Kubra, Egypt
Alma mater	Cairo University
Religion	Sunni Islam

Mohammed Badie (Arabic: محمد بديع‎‎ Muḥammad Badīʿ, IPA: [mæˈħæmmæd bæˈdiːʕ]; born 7 August 1943) is the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood.^[1] He has headed the Egyptian branch of the international Muslim Brotherhood organization since 2010. Before becoming general guide, Badie had been a member of the group's governing council, the Guidance Bureau, since 1996. He was arrested by Egyptian authorities on 20 August 2013.^[2] On 28 April 2014, after an eight-minute trial^[3] in which Badie could not present his defence, he was sentenced to death, along with 682 others who are allegedly Muslim Brotherhood supporters.^[4] He was sentenced to life in prison on 15 September 2014,^[5] and was sentenced to death on 11 April 2015, along with thirteen other senior Muslim Brotherhood members.^[6] He received a sixth life sentence on 22 August 2015.^[7]

Biography

Early life

Badie was born on 7 August 1943 in the industrial city of Mahalla al-Kubra.^[8] He received a degree in veterinary medicine at Cairo in 1965.^[9]

The same year, he was arrested for the first time for his political activity in the Muslim Brotherhood, along with Muslim Brotherhood leader Sayyed Qutb, during a nationwide roundup of activists; he was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a military tribunal.^[9] After 9 years, he was paroled along with almost all other Brotherhood prisoners in 1974 by the Egyptian president, Anwar al-Sadat. Badi'e went on to continue his studies and begin a teaching career at various Egyptian universities. He became a part-time professor of pathology at the veterinary school of Beni Suef University.

2013 crisis, arrest, and trials

In July 2013, Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, member of the Muslim Brotherhood, was removed by a coup d'état after the June protests. A travel ban was put on Badie as well as Badie's deputy Khairat el-Shater.^[10] Badie's arrest was ordered on 10 July 2013 for "inciting the violence in Cairo on Monday in which more than 50 people were killed."^[11] On 14 July 2013 Egypt's military-installed prosecutor general Hisham Barakat ordered his assets to be frozen.^[12] Badie was arrested on 20 August 2013.^[13][14] His two deputies were also arrested and he was due to stand trial on 25 August.^[15][16] Badie was succeeded as the Muslim Brotherhood's Supreme Guide by Mahmoud Ezzat on a temporary basis.^[17]

Badie then has been tried in the following cases:

• Together with eighteen other defendants, he has been accused at Cairo Criminal Court of inciting the murder of nine protesters who stormed the Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters on 30 June.^[18] On 29 October 2013, a three-judge panel stepped down from the proceedings, citing "uneasiness" over the trial as trial proceedings were disrupted by named defendants.^[19] On 11 December 2013, a second panel of judges withdrew from the trial.^[18]
• On 7 June 2014, 47 defendants (ten of them in absentia) including Badie were tried at the Criminal Court of Shubra el-Kheima for inciting murder and violence, cutting off roads, threatening public order, and resisting authorities, especially referring to a demonstration in the town of Qalyub in July 2013 (notably blocking a highway),^[20] in the course of which at least two people were killed. Along with nine others, Badie was sentenced to death, while there was no sentence yet for additional 37 defendants in the case.^[21] On 5 July 2014 ten of them were sentenced to death by the Banha Criminal Court, the remaining including Badie to life in prison.^[22][23]
• On 15 July 2013, five persons died in clashes in Giza, notably in the Al-Bahr Al-Azam area near a police building. On 8 September 2013, Egypt’s prosecutor-general referred Badie and 14 others to the criminal court, accusing them for being responsible for the incidents.^[24][25] Several trial sessions were reported in the news,^[26] until on 19 June 2014, Giza Criminal Court sentenced Badie, Muslim Brotherhood senior members Mohamed Beltagy and Essam el-Erian, as well as 11 others to death for inciting violence.^[27][28]
• In an eight-minute trial without an opportunity for a defense on 28 April 2014, Badie and 682 others were found guilty and sentenced to die by judge Said Youssef in a court in Minya,^[3] referring to an attack on a police station in the Minya Governorate on 14 August 2013 when a policeman was killed.^[4] The same judge confirmed the death sentence on 21 June 2014 in 183 cases,^[29] including Badie's.^[22][30]

Statements

Israel

In a weekly sermon, titled "How Islam Confronts the Oppression and Tyranny [against the Muslims]," Mohammed Badie accused the Arab and Muslim regimes of avoiding confrontation with "the Zionist entity" and the United States, and also of disregarding "Allah's commandment to wage jihad for His sake with [their] money and [their] lives, so that Allah's word will reign supreme and the infidels' word will be inferior." Badie stated that the U.S. is immoral and doomed to collapse. He accused the Palestinian Authority of "selling out" the Palestinian cause, adding that a third intifada was about to erupt. Badie also stated that "Resistance is the only solution against the Zio-American arrogance and tyranny, and all we need is for the Arab and Muslim peoples to stand behind it and support it."^[31][32][33]

In July 2012, during his weekly sermon, Mohammed Badie stated that Israelis are "rapists" of Jerusalem, and called on all Muslims to "wage jihad with their money and their selves to free al-Quds." He described the creation of Israel in international law as an "alleged, illusory right."^[32][34][35]

In October 2012, Badie alleged that "The Jews have dominated the land, spread corruption on earth, spilled the blood of believers and in their actions profaned holy places, including their own." As such, he demanded that the Arab world reject negotiations with Israel in favor of "holy Jihad," saying that "the Zionists only understand force" and while alleging that allowing Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site, would result in the destruction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.^[36]

Operation Pillar of Defense

Badei denounced peace efforts with Israel, urging holy war against Israel, on 22 November 2012—just a day after Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi succeeded in brokering a truce to end eight days of Israel-Hamas fighting. Badei says "jihad is obligatory" for Muslims and that peace deals with Israel are a "game of grand deception." He says there's been enough negotiations, the "enemy knows nothing but language of force."^[37]

Overthrow of Mohamed Morsi

In July 2013, Badei condemned the removal of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi by the Egyptian military stating "I swear by God that what (Gen. Abdel-Fattah) al-Sissi did in Egypt is more criminal than if he had carried an axe and demolished the holy Kaaba, stone by stone."^[38]

Personal life

Badie has four children, three daughters and a son.^[39] His son, Ammar, was killed in the clashes in Cairo on 16 August 2013.^[39]

References

1. "Muslim Brotherhood: Decision to participate in Friday protest is to preserve unity". Egypt Independent. 9 October 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
2. "Egypt arrests Muslim Brotherhood leader". Los Angeles Times. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
3. Cockburn, Patrick (28 April 2014). "The Death of Justice in Egypt". The Independent. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
4. "Egypt: Mass death sentence on Islamists passed". BBC News. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
5. "Badie and 14 MB leaders sentenced to life for Giza clashes". Mada Masr. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
6. Reuters (11 April 2015). "Mohamed Badie, leader of Muslim Brotherhood, sentenced to death in Egypt". CBC News. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
7. "Egyptian MB Leader Sentenced". ABC Australia. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
8. "Who's Who in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood". Washington Institute for Near East Policy. September 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
9. Profile of Dr Badie: A resilient leader Ikhwan, Retrieved 25 January 2011.
10. "Morsi reportedly being held hours after being ousted as Egypt's president". Fox News. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
11. "Egypt Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie arrest ordered". BBC News. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
12. "Asset freeze for Islamist leaders goes into action". Egypt Independent. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
13. "VIDEO: Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Badie arrested". Ahram Online. 19 August 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
14. "Egypt's Brotherhood General Guide Mohammad Badie detained". Al Arabiya. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
15. "Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie reported detained". The Guardian. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
16. "Egypt arrests Brotherhood spiritual leader; Mubarak could be released". The Washington Post. 19 August 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
17. "Mahmoud Ezzat named Muslim Brotherhood's new leader". Al Arabiya. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
18. "Second judging panel withdraws from Brotherhood trial". Ahram Online. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
19. "Judges in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood trial quit". Al Jazeera. 29 October 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
20. "Badie's 'Qalyub highway' case postponed to May 7". The Cairo Post. 29 April 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
21. "MB supreme guide, nine others sentenced to death in Qalyub case". Mada Masr. 7 June 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
22. "Badie sentenced to life in prison over blocking road". The Cairo Post. 5 July 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
23. Mitra Mobasherat (5 July 2014). "Muslim Brotherhood leader, 36 others sentenced to life in Cairo". CNN. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
24. "Brotherhood's Badie referred to criminal court for Giza clashes". Ahram Online. 8 September 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
25. "Badie, Beltagy and Erian referred to criminal court over al-Bahr al-Azam clashes". Cairo Informer. 9 September 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
26. "Badie's Bahr Al-Azam trial adjourned". The Cairo Post. 12 May 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
27. "MB supreme guide, 13 others sentenced to death for Istiqama clashes". Mada Masr. 19 June 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
28. "Leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood sentenced to death for a second time". Canada.com. 19 June 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
29. "Ägypten: 183 Islamisten zum Tode verurteilt". N24 (in German). 21 June 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
30. "Egypt court confirms death sentences for over 180". Associated Press. 21 June 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
31. "Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide: 'The U.S. Is Now Experiencing the Beginning of Its End'; Improvement and Change in the Muslim World 'Can Only Be Attained Through Jihad and Sacrifice'". MEMRI. 6 October 2010. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
32. "Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood leader: Israelis are rapists of Jerusalem". Israel Hayom. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
33. "Terrorism: Muslim Brotherhood". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
34. "Muslim Brotherhood Leader Calls Israelis Rapists". The Algemeiner. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
35. Schwartz, Sharona (8 July 2012). "Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's Leader Says Jihad on Israel Is Every Muslim's Duty". The Blaze. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
36. Miller, Elhanan (11 October 2012). "'Holy Jihad' is the only way to deal with Israel, says Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood chief". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
37. "Egypt Brotherhood Leader Blasts Peace with Israel". ABC News. Associated Press,. 22 November 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
38. "MB leader: Mursi's ouster worse than destroying Islam's holiest shrine". Al Arabiya. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
39. "Son of Brotherhood's Supreme Guide shot dead, house set ablaze". Egypt Independent. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.

External links

• Mohammed Badie collected news and commentary at Al Jazeera English
• Mohammed Badie collected news and commentary at Al-Masry Al-Youm