SUMMARY
al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group) was formed in the mid-1970’s (around 1973-74), primarily in the Upper Nile region of southern Egypt. Like Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Palestinian territories al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya was an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic group formed in Egypt in the 1920’s with the aim of working for the rebuilding of the Caliphate and the spread of Islam. Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya adheres to Sunni Islam, and is inspired by the teachings of Sayyid Qutb (a Muslim Brotherhood scholar of the 1950’s and 1960’s) and its spiritual leader Sheikh Omar Abdel al-Rahman, but had no specific founding father. The formation of the group was aided by tacit support to Islamists from the Egyptian government of Anwar Sadat (to contain other groups such as leftists), a catastrophic economic and social situation in the Upper Nile region and anti-Israeli and anti-US sentiments that prevailed in Egypt following the 1973 war with Israel. The militants also received a boost following Sadat’s peace agreement with Israel in 1979, and the successful Islamic Revolution in Iran during the same year. The group organised itself into small cells, with each cell leader communicating with the others, and did not establish –as is common amongst Islamic groups– a majlis al-shura (governing council) until the late 1980’s.
Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya was formed with the expressed goal of toppling the secular and authoritarian Egyptian government, and replacing it through violent means with one that would govern through Islamic law (sharia). Whilst the Muslim Brotherhood modified its strategy from violence to one of working within educational, social and religious structures after the Egyptian government began to crack down on Islamists, al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya went through no such transformation, and the two groups have since become at loggerheads with one another. Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya instead continued to believe that violent jihad –combined with preaching– was the only way to create an Islamic societal revolution. In its struggle against the Egyptian government al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya began to attack security forces, Christian Copts, foreign tourists and anyone whose morals were deemed to not be up to the standards of Islamic sharia law. The group’s most prominent claim to fame came with the assassination of Egyptian President Sadat in 1981. The group suffered from a split in the late 1990’s, between an extremist and a moderate faction, which severely weakened it.
The main base of operations for al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya has been the economically deprived Upper Nile region of Egypt, specifically in the areas of Al-Minya, Asyut, Qina and Sohaj. Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya operatives have however also been in active in Afghanistan (in the 1980’s, fleeing a government crackdown), fighting alongside the mujahideen against Soviet forces. Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya has also had a presence in Pakistan and along the border of Tajikistan. After the end of the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan many al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya militants returned to Egypt and began the uprising that gave rise to the group’s inclusion in the UCDP’s state-based and one-sided categories of conflict.
States and organisations that have supported al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya include Sudan, Iran and the al-Qaeda. Allegedly the group found refuge and opportunities for training in the Islamist state of Sudan, and received material support as well as expertise from Iran. The many al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya members that participated in the mujahideen war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan made connections to al-Qaeda a natural consequence. In 1998 the more extremist faction of the group signed Usama bin Laden’s fatwa calling for jihad against America and the West, more firmly tying the group to al-Qaeda.
The most prominent leader of al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya is Sheikh Omar Abdel al-Rahman, who was not a founding member of the group, but later became the head of its majlis al-shura. He is currently serving a multiple lifetime sentence in the US for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Rifa’i Taha Musa currently leads the more extreme faction of the group, whilst one Mustafa Hamza heads the more moderate branch.
Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya has been involved in the intrastate and one-sided categories of UCDP organised violence.
