The writings of the former Islamists and their comments on social media platforms arouse much reflection and reflection on the nature of the complex relationship that brings these groups and their movements and organizations together, before they split from it and leave it for various reasons, whether political, ideological or personal.
In theory, the writings and comments of these people are supposed to represent an important source of knowledge for researchers involved in the phenomenon of Islamic movements, and the dismantling of their complex relationship with society, politics, and public space, especially if they are from the leadership level, and they have a presence in the issue of decision-making within these groups and organizations. But in many cases, these people confuse personal, objective, private and public matters, so the researcher's mission becomes more complicated in understanding and deconstructing these writings when trying to understand what is happening within these organizations and groups. This requires a great deal of thought and understanding to know the contexts of these writings and their impact on individuals and groups.
However, what is contemplating contemplation, and sometimes confusion, in many of the writings of the former Islamists is the speech of incitement and attack, and sometimes hatred, which these defectors (or those who repent according to some!) Wage against their previous groups and organizations, in a similar way to disavowal and self-purification from their past. This often comes at the expense of the facts and historical experience that they have already lived within their organizations.
In some cases, some exaggerate their role within the organization and the group, as do previous Islamists such as "Mukhtar Noah" and "Tharwat al-Kharbawi" who defected from the "Muslim Brotherhood" in the late nineties of the last century, and who, contrary to what they claim, did not enjoy the role A senior leader in it, whether in the Guidance Bureau or the Community’s Shura Council, and neither of them had an influential role in shaping the group’s vision and decision-making. Their hatred and hostility towards the Brotherhood has reached the point of publicly inciting its members and demanding their liquidation and disposal, especially in the post-coup of July 3, 2013.
Whoever reads or writes what the two men declare, especially "al-Kharbawi," about the group, easily discovers the extent of exaggeration and lies about their role within the organization and the group, even though they did not exceed that they were representatives of the group within the Egyptian "Bar Association" in the late eighties until the mid-nineties, before that They split from her. In no case can they take what they say about the group with much confidence and seriousness, because of the size of the confusion between personal and objective, as well as the desire to achieve fame and obtain material and political gains from showing their hostility to the group.
The issue is further complicated when dissident (or repentant) Islamists fall into the trap of political recruitment by their former opponents, especially authoritarian regimes that use them as spearheads against their groups, colleagues, and former friends.
At other times, some dissidents practice retaliation and retaliation against his group retroactively, either because of his organizational marginalization or his personal injustice from the leaders, as is the case with Dr. Muhammad Habib, the former first deputy leader of the Brotherhood, who resigned from the group after a revolution January after he unofficially suspended his membership in it after failing to reach the position of General Guide. He who reads the articles of a man, especially in the post-coup stage, is surprised by the size of the attack, incitement, and the "political correction" he is practicing against his former group, in which he reached the highest leadership positions, and he was a stone's throw away from its leadership before he was displaced by the group's internal balances.
And whoever reads his memoirs entitled "Memories of Muhammad Habib" issued several years ago by "Dar Al-Shorouk" (its first edition was issued in 2012), reveals the bitterness with which a man talks about his relationship with the group, especially in his last days with it.
The issue is further complicated when dissident (or repentant) Islamists fall into the trap of political recruitment by their former opponents, especially authoritarian regimes that use them as spearheads in the face of their groups, colleagues, and former friends. This has happened many times, whether with those already mentioned or with others. For example, the Sisi regime succeeded in employing "Noah" and "Al-Kharbawi", and after them Kamal Al-Helbawi, Sameh Youssef, Abdul Jalil Al-Sharnoubi, Ahmed Ban and others, to incite, demonize and liquidate the "Brotherhood". Al-Sisi's regional allies, especially the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, have invested in these media and research, so that they are hosted, celebrated and presented as "experts and specialists in the affairs of Islamic groups" without mentioning their previous ties to the organization.
Not only the Islamists of the region, there are Western Islamists who defected from various Islamic organizations and groups, whether moderate or jihadist, and they marketed themselves as experts in the affairs of these groups and wrote books and wrote articles on the most important international newspapers and newspapers about the nature of these organizations thought, ideology and organization. Some of them exaggerated his hostility to his previous regimes to the point of deforming and inciting them, just as their peers in the Arab world do. It was also not surprising that Western media and research centers celebrated and presented them as "experts on Islam and Muslims". After a while, the matter turned into a real "livelihood" process. The more one of them criticized and attacked the Islamic groups and movements, the greater his yield and gains. Analysis is on demand, attack by recipient, and so on.
As for what is new in this phenomenon, it is that apologetic and purgatory discourse practiced by some of the youth of the “Muslim Brotherhood”, who defected from it either because of frustration and despair from the mistakes of their leaders, or as a result of their mixing with other intellectual and political currents that are hostile to the group and reject its existence. Where some of these behave as if on their heads a "shovel" trying to orbits, so they turn to the far end of the equation to talk about their former group, as if they were trying to distance the accusation and suspicion from them. And you find some of them deduct events, statements, comments and sometimes specific posts from their contexts, consciously or unconsciously, in order to prove their idea and attack the group. While others exaggerate his criticism and attack on the group, in order to be accepted in his group or paralysis or new relations, whether in the work environment or personal relationships.
Of course, there is much that is written and said about the problems and mistakes of Islamic groups and movements, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, and we have written dozens of articles, studies, and books in criticism of them, their ideas, and their behavior. The problem, however, is when objective criticism mixes with personal attack, imagination with truth, selectivity with accuracy and investigation of contexts. If it is important for researchers to read what former Islamists write about their experiences within their previous groups and organizations, then it is also important that this be done according to a conscious reading of the content of what they write, and put it in the context of their own experiences and circumstances, in order to respect the reader's mind, and to preserve the credibility and integrity of the analysis.