Eastern Rite Catholics
Eastern Rite Catholics. Members of the Eastern Rite Churches. The Eastern Rite Churches are Christian churches based in Southwest Asia in communion with the Roman Catholic Church and the pope in the Vatican. These churches have retained their identity, and can be classified according to which of five rites they belong: (1) Byzantine, (2) Alexandrian, (3) Antiochene (from which the Maronites and Syrians stem), (4) Chaldean and (5) Armenian. Estimates as to the number of adherents of the Eastern Rite Churches vary between 4 and 12 million throughout the world. However, the lower estimate appears to be the most accurate. About half of the Eastern Rite Catholics live outside Southwest Asia and North Africa, mainly in Europe and the Americas.
The Eastern Rite Churches are also called the Eastern Rite Church (note the singular), Eastern Catholic Church or the Uniate. The main churches include: Armenian Catholic Church; Chaldean Catholic Church (part of the Nestorian tradition); Maronite Church; Melkite Greek Catholic Church; Coptic Catholic Church (a small part of the total Coptic Church); and Syrian Catholic Church. By their affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Rite Churches differ from other churches in the same region, the so-called Orthodox Churches and the independent churches.
By defining the Eastern Rite Churches as having their own rites (or rituals), these churches have retained a certain degree of independence. However, they have had to accept the core of the Catholic faith namely the seven sacraments (baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, anointing or extreme unction, holy orders or ordination, and matrimony) and the pope as the supreme head of the church.
The liturgy, sacred art, organization and canon law are specific to each church. One of the most notable differences is that the clergy is allowed to marry. In most churches, local language or the founding language are used in the liturgy, not Latin as in the Catholic Church.
Eastern Rite Churches are organized from the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, with the pope as prefect, and cardinal proprefect as chairman. The churches are headed by a patriarch, who has the right to appoint bishops and create dioceses. There are now six Eastern Catholic patriarchs: one in Alexandria for the Copts; three in Antioch (with one for the Maronites [based in Jounieh, Lebanon], one for the Syrians, and one for the Melikites [based in Damascus, Syria]); one in Iraq for the Chaldeans; and one in Sis for the Armenians. The two latter patriarchs are also called katholikos. Below the patriarchs, there are archbishops, bishops and priests.
A brief history of the Eastern Rite Churches reads as follows:
In 1182, the Maronite Church attained partial affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church, but was allowed to preserve its liturgy and keep the organization with the Patriarch in Lebanon.
In 1439, the Council of Ferrara-Florence failed in uniting east and west in the Christian world. The Council had convened in an attempt to bring churches back under the supremacy of the Pope in Rome.
In 1551, many Nestorian congregations rejoined the Roman Catholic Church. These congregations came to be known as the Chaldean Catholic since it would have been heretical (in the eyes of the pope) to keep the reference to Nestorius.
In 1596, two Ukrainian Orthodox bishops acknowledged the primacy of the pope. This became the founding moment of the idea of “Eastern Rite Churches.”
In 1667, one of the two opposing patriarchs of the Syrian Church joined the Catholic Church.
In 1724, the Melkite Church joined the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1741, a congregation of the Coptic Church joined the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1742, part of the Armenian Orthodox Church joined the Eastern Rite Church.
On November 21, 1964, in the Decree on the Catholic Eastern Churches, the Second Vatican Council declared its intent to preserve and protect the Eastern rites.
Eastern Rite Church see Eastern Rite Catholics.
Eastern Catholic Church see Eastern Rite Catholics.
Uniate see Eastern Rite Catholics.
Eastern Rite Catholics. Members of the Eastern Rite Churches. The Eastern Rite Churches are Christian churches based in Southwest Asia in communion with the Roman Catholic Church and the pope in the Vatican. These churches have retained their identity, and can be classified according to which of five rites they belong: (1) Byzantine, (2) Alexandrian, (3) Antiochene (from which the Maronites and Syrians stem), (4) Chaldean and (5) Armenian. Estimates as to the number of adherents of the Eastern Rite Churches vary between 4 and 12 million throughout the world. However, the lower estimate appears to be the most accurate. About half of the Eastern Rite Catholics live outside Southwest Asia and North Africa, mainly in Europe and the Americas.
The Eastern Rite Churches are also called the Eastern Rite Church (note the singular), Eastern Catholic Church or the Uniate. The main churches include: Armenian Catholic Church; Chaldean Catholic Church (part of the Nestorian tradition); Maronite Church; Melkite Greek Catholic Church; Coptic Catholic Church (a small part of the total Coptic Church); and Syrian Catholic Church. By their affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Rite Churches differ from other churches in the same region, the so-called Orthodox Churches and the independent churches.
By defining the Eastern Rite Churches as having their own rites (or rituals), these churches have retained a certain degree of independence. However, they have had to accept the core of the Catholic faith namely the seven sacraments (baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, anointing or extreme unction, holy orders or ordination, and matrimony) and the pope as the supreme head of the church.
The liturgy, sacred art, organization and canon law are specific to each church. One of the most notable differences is that the clergy is allowed to marry. In most churches, local language or the founding language are used in the liturgy, not Latin as in the Catholic Church.
Eastern Rite Churches are organized from the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, with the pope as prefect, and cardinal proprefect as chairman. The churches are headed by a patriarch, who has the right to appoint bishops and create dioceses. There are now six Eastern Catholic patriarchs: one in Alexandria for the Copts; three in Antioch (with one for the Maronites [based in Jounieh, Lebanon], one for the Syrians, and one for the Melikites [based in Damascus, Syria]); one in Iraq for the Chaldeans; and one in Sis for the Armenians. The two latter patriarchs are also called katholikos. Below the patriarchs, there are archbishops, bishops and priests.
A brief history of the Eastern Rite Churches reads as follows:
In 1182, the Maronite Church attained partial affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church, but was allowed to preserve its liturgy and keep the organization with the Patriarch in Lebanon.
In 1439, the Council of Ferrara-Florence failed in uniting east and west in the Christian world. The Council had convened in an attempt to bring churches back under the supremacy of the Pope in Rome.
In 1551, many Nestorian congregations rejoined the Roman Catholic Church. These congregations came to be known as the Chaldean Catholic since it would have been heretical (in the eyes of the pope) to keep the reference to Nestorius.
In 1596, two Ukrainian Orthodox bishops acknowledged the primacy of the pope. This became the founding moment of the idea of “Eastern Rite Churches.”
In 1667, one of the two opposing patriarchs of the Syrian Church joined the Catholic Church.
In 1724, the Melkite Church joined the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1741, a congregation of the Coptic Church joined the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1742, part of the Armenian Orthodox Church joined the Eastern Rite Church.
On November 21, 1964, in the Decree on the Catholic Eastern Churches, the Second Vatican Council declared its intent to preserve and protect the Eastern rites.
Eastern Rite Church see Eastern Rite Catholics.
Eastern Catholic Church see Eastern Rite Catholics.
Uniate see Eastern Rite Catholics.
Ebadi, Shirin
Shirin Ebadi (b. June 21, 1947, Hamadan, Iran) was an Iranian lawyer, writer, and teacher, who received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2003 for her efforts to promote democracy and human rights, especially those of women and children in Iran. She was the first Muslim woman and the first Iranian to receive the award.
Ebadi was born into an educated Iranian family; her father was an author and a lecturer in commercial law. When she was an infant, her family moved to Tehran. Ebadi attended Anoshiravn Dadgar and Reza Shah Kabir schools before earning a law degree, in only three and a half years, from the University of Tehrān (1969). That same year she took an apprenticeship at the Department of Justice and became one of the first women judges in Iran. While serving as a judge, she also earned a doctorate in private law from the University of Tehrān (1971). From 1975 to 1979 she was head of the city court of Tehrān.
After the 1979 revolution and the establishment of an Islamic republic, women were deemed unsuitable to serve as judges because the new leaders believed that Islam forbids it. Ebadi was subsequently forced to become a clerk of the court. After she and other female judges protested this action, they were given higher roles within the Department of Justice but were still not allowed to serve as judges. Ebadi resigned in protest. She then chose to practice law but was initially denied a lawyer’s license. In 1992, after years of struggle, she finally obtained a license to practice law and began to do so. She also taught at the University of Tehrān and became an advocate for civil rights. In court, Ebadi defended women and dissidents and represented many people who, like her, had run afoul of the Iranian government. She also distributed evidence implicating government officials in the 1999 murders of students at the University of Tehrān, for which she was jailed for three weeks in 2000. Found guilty of “disturbing public opinion,” she was given a prison term, barred from practicing law for five years, and fined, although her sentence was later suspended.
Ebadi wrote a number of books on the subject of human rights. These include The Rights of the Child: A Study of Legal Aspects of Children’s Rights in Iran (1994), History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran (2000), and The Rights of Women (2002). She also was founder and head of the Association for Support of Children’s Rights in Iran. In addition to writing books on human rights, Ebadi reflected on her own experiences in Iran Awakening: From Prison to Peace Prize, One Woman’s Struggle at the Crossroads (2006; with Azadeh Moaveni; also published as Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope).
Ecevit
Ecevit (Bulent Ecevit) (May 28, 1925 - November 5, 2006). Turkish prime minister (r. 1974, 1978-1979, and 1999-2002). He was born in Istanbul into an intellectual family. His father Ahmet Fahri Ecevit, who was born in Kastamonu, was a professor of forensic medicine at Ankara University. Later, Ahmet Fahri entered political life as Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi's (CHP's) Kastamonu deputy between 1943-1950. His mother, Fatma Nazli, was born in Istanbul and was among the first women in Turkey to paint professionally.
During the 1940s, he received an education from universities in Istanbul, Great Britain and the United States. In 1944, Ecevit graduated from Robert College and started working as a translator in the Press Publication Head Office (Basin Yayin Genel Mudurlugu). He married his classmate Rahsan Ecevit in 1946. He came to the United States in the mid-1950s on a State Department fellowship, and worked at two newspapers in North Carolina.
A poet and student of literature, Ecevit turned to politics as a protégé of Ismet Inonu, leader of the Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi -- Republican People’s Party (RPP), and was elected to the parliament in 1957. From 1961 to 1965, he served as minister of labor in Inonu’s cabinets. In 1966, Ecevit became the secretary general of the Republican People’s Party.
Breaking with Inonu over the intervention of the military in 1971, Ecevit stepped down from his position as secretary-general of the Republican People’s Party. Ecevit won leadership of the RPP the following year. In 1974, he formed a coalition government with the National Salvation Party of Necmettin Erbakan. Ecevit briefly became a national hero, when he ordered (on July 20, 1974) the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in response to a coup in Cyprus organized by the Greek military government. The Ecevit government's actions led to the dividing of the island, the uprooting of hundreds of thousands of people and the setting of the stage for the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (a de facto state which is only officially recognized by Turkey). His coalition broke apart, however, and (in November) he was forced to resign.
Ecevit returned to power in January of 1978, but after a year of escalating political terrorism and economic deterioration, he resigned in October 1979.
Ecevit was a hard line nationalist, and he was opposed to the recognition of cultural and linguistic rights for Turkey’s Kurdish minority. As prime minister in the 1970s, Ecevit was responsible for an anti-European policy. While in power through most of 1974, Ecevit was in charge of invading northern Cyprus, reintroducing opium production in the country and attempting to limit the excesses of the police.
Following the September 12, 1980, military coup led by General Kenan Evren, Ecevit was incarcerated and was suspended from active politics for life. Imprisoned in December 1981 for making political statements, he was released in early 1982. A referendum in 1987 lifted his ban from politics, and he became the chairman of the Demokratik Sol Parti (Democratic Left Party) inheriting the position from his wife, Rahsan Ecevit. His party failed to enter the National Assembly in 1987 national elections, and in spite of passing the electoral barrier in 1991 managed to win only 7 seats in the parliament. The fortunes of the Democratic Left Party changed after the elections in 1995, securing the party 75 seats (out of 550). After two short lived governments (formed by Mesut Yilmaz and Necmettin Erbakan respectively) Ecevit became a deputy prime minister under the last government of Mesut Yilmaz.
Ecevit, as leader of the Democratic Left Party, once again became prime minister of Turkey in January 1999 after nearly a 20 year absence from power. In January 1999, Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, a political rival, asked Ecevit to form a caretaker government, a parliamentary group that would govern until elections could be held. Ecevit’s coalition was comprised of three parties: Ecevit’s Democratic Left Party; the Motherland Party (Anavatan Partisi) of the last prime minister, Mesut Yilmaz; and the True Path Party (Milliyetci Hareket Partisi) of former prime minister, Tansu Ciller. In May, 1999, voters upheld Ecevit’s governing coalition in the Turkish Parliament.
Initially, Ecevit enjoyed high approval ratings. His government restored public confidence in the wake of scandals that had toppled former Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz in late 1998. Ecevit, who strongly opposed political autonomy for the Kurdish region of Turkey, benefited politically when Turkish agents captured Abdullah Ocalan, a Kurdish rebel, in February 1999. Ecevit’s government came under severe criticism, however, for its handling of emergency relief after a devastating earthquake struck western Turkey on August 17, 1999. In that disaster, more than 17,000 Turks perished and as many as 600,000 were left homeless.
Much like the devastation caused by the earthquake, Ecevit’s third tenure as prime minister likewise turned out to be a disaster, bringing Turkey into one of its deepest and most serious economic crises ever. Ecevit's government undertook a number of reforms aimed at stabilizing the Turkish economy in preparation for accession negotiations with the European Union. However, the short term economic pain brought on by the reforms caused rifts within his coalition and party, and eventually forced new elections in 2002.
The popular reaction to this devastation was made manifest in the November 2002 general elections, when none of the parties of Ecevit’s government coalition received enough votes to be represented in the parliament. On November 3, 2002, Ecevit’s party received only 1.2 percent of the votes in the general elections and garnered no representation in the parliament. Ecevit subsequently retired from active politics in 2004.
Ecevit was not only a politician but also a published poet, journalist, essayist, and translator. He wrote many books on Turkish politics and translated Hindu and British literature into Turkish. He studied Sanskrit, Bengali, and English, and translated works by Rabindranath Tabore, T. S. Eliot, and Bernard Lewis into Turkish. Ecevit, who studied at American Robert College, the most prestigious high school in Istanbul, was successful in these literary endeavors despite never having graduated from a university, a fact that also prevented Ecevit from ever running for President of the Turkish Repbulic since, pursuant to the Turkish constitution, holding a university degree was a prerequisite for the presidency.
Ecevit was hospitalized at the Gulhane Military Hospital in Ankara and placed in a medically induced coma after suffering a stroke on May 19, 2006. He died on November 5, 2006, due to respiratory failure without regaining consciousness.
Bulent Ecevit see Ecevit
Ecevit (Bulent Ecevit) (May 28, 1925 - November 5, 2006). Turkish prime minister (r. 1974, 1978-1979, and 1999-2002). He was born in Istanbul into an intellectual family. His father Ahmet Fahri Ecevit, who was born in Kastamonu, was a professor of forensic medicine at Ankara University. Later, Ahmet Fahri entered political life as Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi's (CHP's) Kastamonu deputy between 1943-1950. His mother, Fatma Nazli, was born in Istanbul and was among the first women in Turkey to paint professionally.
During the 1940s, he received an education from universities in Istanbul, Great Britain and the United States. In 1944, Ecevit graduated from Robert College and started working as a translator in the Press Publication Head Office (Basin Yayin Genel Mudurlugu). He married his classmate Rahsan Ecevit in 1946. He came to the United States in the mid-1950s on a State Department fellowship, and worked at two newspapers in North Carolina.
A poet and student of literature, Ecevit turned to politics as a protégé of Ismet Inonu, leader of the Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi -- Republican People’s Party (RPP), and was elected to the parliament in 1957. From 1961 to 1965, he served as minister of labor in Inonu’s cabinets. In 1966, Ecevit became the secretary general of the Republican People’s Party.
Breaking with Inonu over the intervention of the military in 1971, Ecevit stepped down from his position as secretary-general of the Republican People’s Party. Ecevit won leadership of the RPP the following year. In 1974, he formed a coalition government with the National Salvation Party of Necmettin Erbakan. Ecevit briefly became a national hero, when he ordered (on July 20, 1974) the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in response to a coup in Cyprus organized by the Greek military government. The Ecevit government's actions led to the dividing of the island, the uprooting of hundreds of thousands of people and the setting of the stage for the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (a de facto state which is only officially recognized by Turkey). His coalition broke apart, however, and (in November) he was forced to resign.
Ecevit returned to power in January of 1978, but after a year of escalating political terrorism and economic deterioration, he resigned in October 1979.
Ecevit was a hard line nationalist, and he was opposed to the recognition of cultural and linguistic rights for Turkey’s Kurdish minority. As prime minister in the 1970s, Ecevit was responsible for an anti-European policy. While in power through most of 1974, Ecevit was in charge of invading northern Cyprus, reintroducing opium production in the country and attempting to limit the excesses of the police.
Following the September 12, 1980, military coup led by General Kenan Evren, Ecevit was incarcerated and was suspended from active politics for life. Imprisoned in December 1981 for making political statements, he was released in early 1982. A referendum in 1987 lifted his ban from politics, and he became the chairman of the Demokratik Sol Parti (Democratic Left Party) inheriting the position from his wife, Rahsan Ecevit. His party failed to enter the National Assembly in 1987 national elections, and in spite of passing the electoral barrier in 1991 managed to win only 7 seats in the parliament. The fortunes of the Democratic Left Party changed after the elections in 1995, securing the party 75 seats (out of 550). After two short lived governments (formed by Mesut Yilmaz and Necmettin Erbakan respectively) Ecevit became a deputy prime minister under the last government of Mesut Yilmaz.
Ecevit, as leader of the Democratic Left Party, once again became prime minister of Turkey in January 1999 after nearly a 20 year absence from power. In January 1999, Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, a political rival, asked Ecevit to form a caretaker government, a parliamentary group that would govern until elections could be held. Ecevit’s coalition was comprised of three parties: Ecevit’s Democratic Left Party; the Motherland Party (Anavatan Partisi) of the last prime minister, Mesut Yilmaz; and the True Path Party (Milliyetci Hareket Partisi) of former prime minister, Tansu Ciller. In May, 1999, voters upheld Ecevit’s governing coalition in the Turkish Parliament.
Initially, Ecevit enjoyed high approval ratings. His government restored public confidence in the wake of scandals that had toppled former Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz in late 1998. Ecevit, who strongly opposed political autonomy for the Kurdish region of Turkey, benefited politically when Turkish agents captured Abdullah Ocalan, a Kurdish rebel, in February 1999. Ecevit’s government came under severe criticism, however, for its handling of emergency relief after a devastating earthquake struck western Turkey on August 17, 1999. In that disaster, more than 17,000 Turks perished and as many as 600,000 were left homeless.
Much like the devastation caused by the earthquake, Ecevit’s third tenure as prime minister likewise turned out to be a disaster, bringing Turkey into one of its deepest and most serious economic crises ever. Ecevit's government undertook a number of reforms aimed at stabilizing the Turkish economy in preparation for accession negotiations with the European Union. However, the short term economic pain brought on by the reforms caused rifts within his coalition and party, and eventually forced new elections in 2002.
The popular reaction to this devastation was made manifest in the November 2002 general elections, when none of the parties of Ecevit’s government coalition received enough votes to be represented in the parliament. On November 3, 2002, Ecevit’s party received only 1.2 percent of the votes in the general elections and garnered no representation in the parliament. Ecevit subsequently retired from active politics in 2004.
Ecevit was not only a politician but also a published poet, journalist, essayist, and translator. He wrote many books on Turkish politics and translated Hindu and British literature into Turkish. He studied Sanskrit, Bengali, and English, and translated works by Rabindranath Tabore, T. S. Eliot, and Bernard Lewis into Turkish. Ecevit, who studied at American Robert College, the most prestigious high school in Istanbul, was successful in these literary endeavors despite never having graduated from a university, a fact that also prevented Ecevit from ever running for President of the Turkish Repbulic since, pursuant to the Turkish constitution, holding a university degree was a prerequisite for the presidency.
Ecevit was hospitalized at the Gulhane Military Hospital in Ankara and placed in a medically induced coma after suffering a stroke on May 19, 2006. He died on November 5, 2006, due to respiratory failure without regaining consciousness.
Bulent Ecevit see Ecevit
Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) (Al-Jihad) (Jihad Group (Islamic Jihad) (Jihad Organization). Egyptian group active since the late 1970s. The EIJ is apparently split into two factions: one led by Ayman al-Zawahiri -- who currently is in Afghanistan and is a key leader in the Usama bin Laden (UBL) network -- and the Vanguards of Conquest (Talaa’ al-Fateh) led by Ahmad Husayn Agiza. Abbud al-Zumar, leader of the original Jihad, was imprisoned in Egypt and recently joined the group’s jailed spiritual leader, Shaykh Umar Abd al-Rahman, in a call for a “peaceful front.” The group’s traditional goal is the overthrow of the Egyptian government and creation of an Islamic state. Given its involvement with UBL, during the years immediately after 2001, the EIJ appeared to be increasingly willing to target United States interests. The group threatened to strike the United States for its jailing of Shaykh al-Rahman and the arrests of EIJ cadres in Albania, Azerbaijan, and the United Kingdom.
The Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), formerly called simply Islamic Jihad (and Liberation Army for Holy Sites) originally referred to as "al-Jihad," and then "the Jihad Group", or "the Jihad Organization", was an Egyptian Islamist group active since the late 1970s. It has been under worldwide embargo by the United Nations as an affiliate of al-Qaeda. It was also banned by several individual governments including that of the Russian Federation. It was led by Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The organization's original primary goal was to overthrow the Egyptian Government and replace it with an Islamic state. Later it broadened its aims to include attacking the United States and Israel interests in Egypt and abroad.
EIJ has suffered setbacks as a result of numerous arrests of operatives worldwide, most recently in Lebanon and Yemen. In June 2001, Al Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which had been associated with each other for many years, merged into "Qaeda al-Jihad."
Al-Jihad or "Tanzim al-Jihad" was formed in 1980 from the merger of two clusters of Islamist groups: a Cairo branch, under Mohammad abd al-Salam Faraj, and a Saidi (Upper Egypt) branch under Karam Zuhdi. Faraj used to deliver Friday sermons in a private mosque that had been built by his in-laws. During the ensuing discussions with his listeners, he managed to convince some to join in a clandestine organization to eventually wage violent jihad. The Cairo branch was composed of five or six groups, loosely connected and each with its own emir (one of whom was Ayman al-Zawahiri). They had autonomy but met weekly to work out a general strategy.
In October 6, 1981 it carried out the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. After the assassination, the Egyptian government succeeded in rounding up the membership of Tanzim al-Jihad, but was rather lenient in the ensuing trial. Only the four direct perpetrators and the Cairo leader Faraj, were condemned to death. In prison, the Cairenes and Saidis reverted into two factions, the Cairo militants later becoming the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and the Saidis later forming the al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, or the Islamic Group.
The leader of the Cairo militants was Abud Zumour, a onetime army intelligence officer serving a life sentence for his part in the plot to kill Sadat. This faction, the Islamic Jihad, was small and tightly disciplined. Among its members was a 30-year-old Cairo physician named Ayman Zawahiri.
Most of the middle-rank members were discharged from prison after only three years and fled to Pakistan and Afghanistan to help the mujahideen there and escape persecution at home.
In the mid-1980s, in Peshawar Pakistan, the militants reconstituted themselves as the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, with very loose ties to their nominal imprisoned leader, Abud al-Zumur. A physician by the name of Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif or "Dr. Fadl" was head of EIJ for some time, although eventually Ayman al-Zawahiri, whose leadership style was autocratic, would take over. During this time EIJ became more extreme, with for example, Dr. Fadl emphasizing the importance of takfir and execution of apostates, which he argued should include those who registered to vote, since this was a violation of God's sovereignty over governance.
It was also at this time that some saw "the Egyptians" of the EIJ begin to exert an influence on Osama bin Laden, who at the time was known as a wealthy and well-connected fundraiser for the jihad in Afghanistan. Egyptian filmmaker Essam Deraz, bin Laden's first biographer, met bin Laden in the "Lion's Den" training camp in Afghanistan and complained that the Egyptians formed a barrier around bin Laden and whenever an outsider tried to speak confidentially to bin Laden, the Egyptians would surround the Saudi and drag him into another room. One of those who complained of being elbowed aside was a former mentor of bin Laden Abdullah Azzam, the original exponent and organizer of global jihad on behalf of the Afghan mujahideen.
In 1991, EIJ broke with al-Zumur and al-Zawahiri took control of the leadership. At this point, the EIJ became a free-floating network without any real ties to its original society or to its surrounding society.
Al-Jihad (EIJ) had a blind-cell structure, meaning members in one group did not know the identities or activities of those in another, so that if one member were captured they would not be able to endanger the whole organization. However, Egyptian authorities captured the membership director of EIJ, the one member who had all the other members names. The database in his computer listed every member's address, aliases, and potential hideouts. Al-Jihad leader al-Zawahiri bitterly lamented the government newspapers elation over the arrest of 800 members of the al-Jihad group without a single shot being fired.
In August 1993 Al-Jihad attempted to kill the Egyptian Interior Minister, Hasan al-Alfi. who was leading a crackdown on Islamic militants and their terror campaign. A bomb-laden motorcycle exploded next to the minister's car, killing the bomber and his accomplice, but not the minister. The attack marked the first time Sunni Islamists had made use of suicide in terrorism, a technique made famous by Shia Hezbollah in Lebanon. It is likely that the notion of suicide bombing was inspired by Hezbollah as EIJ head Ayman Zawahir had been to Iran to raise money, and had sent his talented associate, Ali Mohamed, to Lebanon to train with Hezbollah.
A few months later in November Al-Jihad made another bombing attempt, this time to kill Egypt's prime minister, Atef Sidqi. The car bomb exploded close to a girls' school in Cairo as the minister was driven past. The minister, protected by his armored car, was unhurt, but the explosion injured 21 people and killed a young schoolgirl, Shayma Abdel-Halim. Unfortunately for al-Jihad this bombing was preceded by two years of terror by a larger terror group, al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya that had killed 240, and the patience of the Egyptian public had run short. Shayma's death captured people's emotions as nothing else had and when her coffin was borne through the streets of Cairo, people cried, `Terrorism is the enemy of God!`" A harsh police crackdown followed and 280 EIJ members were arrested, with 6 eventually given a death sentence.
EIJ's longtime association with al-Qaeda became closer at this time when most of its members were reported to have gone on the al-Qaeda payroll. EIJ leader hoped this would be a temporary measure but later confided to one of this chief assistants that joining with bin Laden had been the only solution to keeping the Jihad organization abroad alive.
In June 1995 another failed assassination attempt caused yet a greater setback. Operating from its exile base in Sudan, EIJ joined forces with the Egyptian al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya and Sudanese intelligence in an attempt to kill Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak while he was in Ethiopia for a conference of the Organization of African Unity. The leader of the plot was Mustafa Hamza, a senior Egyptian member of Al-Qaeda and commander to the military branch of the Islamic Group. The plotters had been planning the attack for more than a year, and even married local women in Ethiopia. They received assistance from Sudanese intelligence services, which smuggled weapons into their embassy in Ethiopia.
Their hope was to decapitate the Egyptian government thereby eliminating the "iron grip" of the state security services, and creating a power vacuum which Islamists could then fill. Unfortunately for this plan, the attack was foiled by a malfunctioning grenade launcher and Mubarak’s bulletproof limousine.
Back in Egypt, Mubarak launched a ruthless campaign to crush anyone involved in Islamist terrorism, but in Sudan the EIJ had even worse troubles. In 1994, Ahmad Salama Mabruk's 17-year old son Musab, as well as the 15-year old son Ahmed of Mohammed Sharaf, were captured by the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate and sexually abused. They were blackmailed with videotape of the sodomy, until they agreed to act as informants against their fathers' group. Musab went through his father's files and photocopied them for the Egyptians, but the Sudanese intelligence service saw the covert meetings and alerted al-Jihad, recommending that they treat the boys leniently if they confessed. al-Zawahiri convened a Sharia court, where Musab confessed he had been given explosives by the Egyptians which he was told to detonate at the next Shura council meeting. They were each found guilty of sodomy, treason, and attempted murder, and sentenced to death by firing squad. The trial, and the execution, were filmed and copies of the film were distributed by al-Jihad.
When the Sudanese found out about the executions in its jurisdiction, al-Zawahiri and the rest of EIJ were ordered to leave the country. It was a devastating blow to the group.
Bin Laden was also weakened by this failed operation. The core of his al-Qaeda group was made up of members of Islamic Jihad. Because of Sudan's collaboration in the plot, the United Nations voted to impose sanctions on the country. To rehabilitate itself in the international community, the Sudanese government pressured bin Laden to leave the country. Bin Laden and many EIJ returned to war torn Afghanistan having lost many members and almost all of bin Laden's assets.
On November 19, 1995 EIJ bombed the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad killing 16 and wounding 60. The attack served as a prototype for future attacks by its sister organization al-Qaeda, such as the 1998 bombings of American embassies in Africa.
In 1998, three al-Jihad members were arrested in Albania, and the United States intervened to ensure they were extradited to Egypt to face charges. In Afghanistan Zawahiri wrote the 1998 fatwa for the International Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, calling for the killing of Americans and their allies, both civilian and military, which was signed by representatives of several jihadi organizations, including EIJ. In August 1998, Issam Abdel-Tawab was extradited to Egypt from Bulgaria.
Dissent among EIJ members to this change of direction and abandonment of the taking over Egypt as the group's primary goal, was so strong that in the end, Zawahiri pledged to resign if the members failed to endorse his actions. The organization was in such disarray because of arrests and defections, and so close to bankruptcy, that the only choice was to follow Zawahiri or abandon al-Jihad. One of those who did abandon al-Jihad was Zawahiri's own brother Muhammed, the military commander of EIJ.
In June 2001, Al Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad merged into an entity formally called jamaa'at Qa'idat al-Jihad, with leadership of EIJ comprising the majority - six of nine seats - of al Qaeda's ruling council (shura).
Consequently, EIJ is often considered synonymous with Al-Qaeda, (for example by the U.S. Treasury Department), although some refer to it as a separate organization with al-Zawahiri as its leader and global jihad's main ideologist.
The organization specializes in armed attacks against high-level Egyptian Government personnel, including cabinet ministers, and car-bombings against official United States and Egyptian facilities. The original Jihad was responsible for the attempted assassinations of Interior Minister Hassan al-Alfi in August 1993 and Prime Minister Atef Sedky in November 1993. Egyptian Jihad and rival armed groups launched a wave of violence against Egypt's secular government in 1992, a campaign they only abandoned at the end of the decade. Nearly 1300 people died in the unrest, including policemen and government officials. It is responsible for the Egyptian Embassy bombing in Islamabad, Pakistan in 1995. In 1998 a planned attack against the US Embassy in Albania was thwarted by a roundup of suspects who are now called the Returnees from Albania.
Al-Sharif passed the Jihad leadership to Ayman al-Zawahiri amid dissent within the movement in the mid 1980's. The al-Zawahiri faction subsequently formed an alliance with Al-Qaeda leading over time to the effective merger of the two groups operations inside Afghanistan.
Although al-Zawahiri was frequently referred to as a lieutenant or second in command of Al Qaeda this description is misleading as it implies a hierarchical relationship. The modern Al Qaeda organization was the combination of Bin Laden's financial resources with al-Zawahiri's ideological and operational leadership. Despite the effective merger of al-Zawahiri and Bin Laden's groups in the Afghanistan area of operations there is evidence that suggests that at least part of the Islamic Jihad group continuing to operate in Egypt remained independent of Bin Laden's organization and reports to al-Zawahiri personally.
EIJ see Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Al-Jihad see Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Jihad Group see Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Islamic Jihad see Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Liberation Army for Holy Sites see Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Jihad Organization see Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) (Al-Jihad) (Jihad Group (Islamic Jihad) (Jihad Organization). Egyptian group active since the late 1970s. The EIJ is apparently split into two factions: one led by Ayman al-Zawahiri -- who currently is in Afghanistan and is a key leader in the Usama bin Laden (UBL) network -- and the Vanguards of Conquest (Talaa’ al-Fateh) led by Ahmad Husayn Agiza. Abbud al-Zumar, leader of the original Jihad, was imprisoned in Egypt and recently joined the group’s jailed spiritual leader, Shaykh Umar Abd al-Rahman, in a call for a “peaceful front.” The group’s traditional goal is the overthrow of the Egyptian government and creation of an Islamic state. Given its involvement with UBL, during the years immediately after 2001, the EIJ appeared to be increasingly willing to target United States interests. The group threatened to strike the United States for its jailing of Shaykh al-Rahman and the arrests of EIJ cadres in Albania, Azerbaijan, and the United Kingdom.
The Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), formerly called simply Islamic Jihad (and Liberation Army for Holy Sites) originally referred to as "al-Jihad," and then "the Jihad Group", or "the Jihad Organization", was an Egyptian Islamist group active since the late 1970s. It has been under worldwide embargo by the United Nations as an affiliate of al-Qaeda. It was also banned by several individual governments including that of the Russian Federation. It was led by Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The organization's original primary goal was to overthrow the Egyptian Government and replace it with an Islamic state. Later it broadened its aims to include attacking the United States and Israel interests in Egypt and abroad.
EIJ has suffered setbacks as a result of numerous arrests of operatives worldwide, most recently in Lebanon and Yemen. In June 2001, Al Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which had been associated with each other for many years, merged into "Qaeda al-Jihad."
Al-Jihad or "Tanzim al-Jihad" was formed in 1980 from the merger of two clusters of Islamist groups: a Cairo branch, under Mohammad abd al-Salam Faraj, and a Saidi (Upper Egypt) branch under Karam Zuhdi. Faraj used to deliver Friday sermons in a private mosque that had been built by his in-laws. During the ensuing discussions with his listeners, he managed to convince some to join in a clandestine organization to eventually wage violent jihad. The Cairo branch was composed of five or six groups, loosely connected and each with its own emir (one of whom was Ayman al-Zawahiri). They had autonomy but met weekly to work out a general strategy.
In October 6, 1981 it carried out the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. After the assassination, the Egyptian government succeeded in rounding up the membership of Tanzim al-Jihad, but was rather lenient in the ensuing trial. Only the four direct perpetrators and the Cairo leader Faraj, were condemned to death. In prison, the Cairenes and Saidis reverted into two factions, the Cairo militants later becoming the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and the Saidis later forming the al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, or the Islamic Group.
The leader of the Cairo militants was Abud Zumour, a onetime army intelligence officer serving a life sentence for his part in the plot to kill Sadat. This faction, the Islamic Jihad, was small and tightly disciplined. Among its members was a 30-year-old Cairo physician named Ayman Zawahiri.
Most of the middle-rank members were discharged from prison after only three years and fled to Pakistan and Afghanistan to help the mujahideen there and escape persecution at home.
In the mid-1980s, in Peshawar Pakistan, the militants reconstituted themselves as the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, with very loose ties to their nominal imprisoned leader, Abud al-Zumur. A physician by the name of Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif or "Dr. Fadl" was head of EIJ for some time, although eventually Ayman al-Zawahiri, whose leadership style was autocratic, would take over. During this time EIJ became more extreme, with for example, Dr. Fadl emphasizing the importance of takfir and execution of apostates, which he argued should include those who registered to vote, since this was a violation of God's sovereignty over governance.
It was also at this time that some saw "the Egyptians" of the EIJ begin to exert an influence on Osama bin Laden, who at the time was known as a wealthy and well-connected fundraiser for the jihad in Afghanistan. Egyptian filmmaker Essam Deraz, bin Laden's first biographer, met bin Laden in the "Lion's Den" training camp in Afghanistan and complained that the Egyptians formed a barrier around bin Laden and whenever an outsider tried to speak confidentially to bin Laden, the Egyptians would surround the Saudi and drag him into another room. One of those who complained of being elbowed aside was a former mentor of bin Laden Abdullah Azzam, the original exponent and organizer of global jihad on behalf of the Afghan mujahideen.
In 1991, EIJ broke with al-Zumur and al-Zawahiri took control of the leadership. At this point, the EIJ became a free-floating network without any real ties to its original society or to its surrounding society.
Al-Jihad (EIJ) had a blind-cell structure, meaning members in one group did not know the identities or activities of those in another, so that if one member were captured they would not be able to endanger the whole organization. However, Egyptian authorities captured the membership director of EIJ, the one member who had all the other members names. The database in his computer listed every member's address, aliases, and potential hideouts. Al-Jihad leader al-Zawahiri bitterly lamented the government newspapers elation over the arrest of 800 members of the al-Jihad group without a single shot being fired.
In August 1993 Al-Jihad attempted to kill the Egyptian Interior Minister, Hasan al-Alfi. who was leading a crackdown on Islamic militants and their terror campaign. A bomb-laden motorcycle exploded next to the minister's car, killing the bomber and his accomplice, but not the minister. The attack marked the first time Sunni Islamists had made use of suicide in terrorism, a technique made famous by Shia Hezbollah in Lebanon. It is likely that the notion of suicide bombing was inspired by Hezbollah as EIJ head Ayman Zawahir had been to Iran to raise money, and had sent his talented associate, Ali Mohamed, to Lebanon to train with Hezbollah.
A few months later in November Al-Jihad made another bombing attempt, this time to kill Egypt's prime minister, Atef Sidqi. The car bomb exploded close to a girls' school in Cairo as the minister was driven past. The minister, protected by his armored car, was unhurt, but the explosion injured 21 people and killed a young schoolgirl, Shayma Abdel-Halim. Unfortunately for al-Jihad this bombing was preceded by two years of terror by a larger terror group, al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya that had killed 240, and the patience of the Egyptian public had run short. Shayma's death captured people's emotions as nothing else had and when her coffin was borne through the streets of Cairo, people cried, `Terrorism is the enemy of God!`" A harsh police crackdown followed and 280 EIJ members were arrested, with 6 eventually given a death sentence.
EIJ's longtime association with al-Qaeda became closer at this time when most of its members were reported to have gone on the al-Qaeda payroll. EIJ leader hoped this would be a temporary measure but later confided to one of this chief assistants that joining with bin Laden had been the only solution to keeping the Jihad organization abroad alive.
In June 1995 another failed assassination attempt caused yet a greater setback. Operating from its exile base in Sudan, EIJ joined forces with the Egyptian al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya and Sudanese intelligence in an attempt to kill Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak while he was in Ethiopia for a conference of the Organization of African Unity. The leader of the plot was Mustafa Hamza, a senior Egyptian member of Al-Qaeda and commander to the military branch of the Islamic Group. The plotters had been planning the attack for more than a year, and even married local women in Ethiopia. They received assistance from Sudanese intelligence services, which smuggled weapons into their embassy in Ethiopia.
Their hope was to decapitate the Egyptian government thereby eliminating the "iron grip" of the state security services, and creating a power vacuum which Islamists could then fill. Unfortunately for this plan, the attack was foiled by a malfunctioning grenade launcher and Mubarak’s bulletproof limousine.
Back in Egypt, Mubarak launched a ruthless campaign to crush anyone involved in Islamist terrorism, but in Sudan the EIJ had even worse troubles. In 1994, Ahmad Salama Mabruk's 17-year old son Musab, as well as the 15-year old son Ahmed of Mohammed Sharaf, were captured by the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate and sexually abused. They were blackmailed with videotape of the sodomy, until they agreed to act as informants against their fathers' group. Musab went through his father's files and photocopied them for the Egyptians, but the Sudanese intelligence service saw the covert meetings and alerted al-Jihad, recommending that they treat the boys leniently if they confessed. al-Zawahiri convened a Sharia court, where Musab confessed he had been given explosives by the Egyptians which he was told to detonate at the next Shura council meeting. They were each found guilty of sodomy, treason, and attempted murder, and sentenced to death by firing squad. The trial, and the execution, were filmed and copies of the film were distributed by al-Jihad.
When the Sudanese found out about the executions in its jurisdiction, al-Zawahiri and the rest of EIJ were ordered to leave the country. It was a devastating blow to the group.
Bin Laden was also weakened by this failed operation. The core of his al-Qaeda group was made up of members of Islamic Jihad. Because of Sudan's collaboration in the plot, the United Nations voted to impose sanctions on the country. To rehabilitate itself in the international community, the Sudanese government pressured bin Laden to leave the country. Bin Laden and many EIJ returned to war torn Afghanistan having lost many members and almost all of bin Laden's assets.
On November 19, 1995 EIJ bombed the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad killing 16 and wounding 60. The attack served as a prototype for future attacks by its sister organization al-Qaeda, such as the 1998 bombings of American embassies in Africa.
In 1998, three al-Jihad members were arrested in Albania, and the United States intervened to ensure they were extradited to Egypt to face charges. In Afghanistan Zawahiri wrote the 1998 fatwa for the International Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, calling for the killing of Americans and their allies, both civilian and military, which was signed by representatives of several jihadi organizations, including EIJ. In August 1998, Issam Abdel-Tawab was extradited to Egypt from Bulgaria.
Dissent among EIJ members to this change of direction and abandonment of the taking over Egypt as the group's primary goal, was so strong that in the end, Zawahiri pledged to resign if the members failed to endorse his actions. The organization was in such disarray because of arrests and defections, and so close to bankruptcy, that the only choice was to follow Zawahiri or abandon al-Jihad. One of those who did abandon al-Jihad was Zawahiri's own brother Muhammed, the military commander of EIJ.
In June 2001, Al Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad merged into an entity formally called jamaa'at Qa'idat al-Jihad, with leadership of EIJ comprising the majority - six of nine seats - of al Qaeda's ruling council (shura).
Consequently, EIJ is often considered synonymous with Al-Qaeda, (for example by the U.S. Treasury Department), although some refer to it as a separate organization with al-Zawahiri as its leader and global jihad's main ideologist.
The organization specializes in armed attacks against high-level Egyptian Government personnel, including cabinet ministers, and car-bombings against official United States and Egyptian facilities. The original Jihad was responsible for the attempted assassinations of Interior Minister Hassan al-Alfi in August 1993 and Prime Minister Atef Sedky in November 1993. Egyptian Jihad and rival armed groups launched a wave of violence against Egypt's secular government in 1992, a campaign they only abandoned at the end of the decade. Nearly 1300 people died in the unrest, including policemen and government officials. It is responsible for the Egyptian Embassy bombing in Islamabad, Pakistan in 1995. In 1998 a planned attack against the US Embassy in Albania was thwarted by a roundup of suspects who are now called the Returnees from Albania.
Al-Sharif passed the Jihad leadership to Ayman al-Zawahiri amid dissent within the movement in the mid 1980's. The al-Zawahiri faction subsequently formed an alliance with Al-Qaeda leading over time to the effective merger of the two groups operations inside Afghanistan.
Although al-Zawahiri was frequently referred to as a lieutenant or second in command of Al Qaeda this description is misleading as it implies a hierarchical relationship. The modern Al Qaeda organization was the combination of Bin Laden's financial resources with al-Zawahiri's ideological and operational leadership. Despite the effective merger of al-Zawahiri and Bin Laden's groups in the Afghanistan area of operations there is evidence that suggests that at least part of the Islamic Jihad group continuing to operate in Egypt remained independent of Bin Laden's organization and reports to al-Zawahiri personally.
EIJ see Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Al-Jihad see Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Jihad Group see Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Islamic Jihad see Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Liberation Army for Holy Sites see Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Jihad Organization see Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Ekrem Bey
Ekrem Bey (1847-1914). Turkish writer, poet, and critic. He was one of the leading personalities in the victory of the modern school of poetry over traditional poetry.
Bey, Ekrem see Ekrem Bey
Ekrem Bey (1847-1914). Turkish writer, poet, and critic. He was one of the leading personalities in the victory of the modern school of poetry over traditional poetry.
Bey, Ekrem see Ekrem Bey
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