Saudi Arabia has officially designated the Muslim Brotherhood as “a terrorist group that does not represent the Islamic approach but pursues partisan objectives contrary to Islam.”
“The Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organisation and does not represent Islam,” the Council of Senior Scholars said statement on Tuesday.
“The Group is a terrorist group and [does not] represent the method of Islam, rather it blindly follows its partisan objectives that are running contrary to the guidance of our graceful religion, while taking religion as a mask to disguise its purposes in order to practice the opposite such as sedition, wreaking havoc, committing violence and terrorism,” the statement read.
According to the council, the Muslim Brotherhood’s mission is “calling for rebellion against rulers, wreaking havoc in states, [and] destabilising coexistence in countries.”
The group’s only goal is “to grab the reins of power” rather than show “any care of Islamic creed,” the Council added.
The Saudi announcement came as a surprise to the Islah party, which is the Yemeni branch of Muslim Brotherhood that has been siding with the Saudi invasion of Yemen since 2015.
Al-Islah is a key ally for Saudi Arabia in the war in Yemen, fighting both against the forces of the National Salvation Government and the southern Yemeni separatist mercenary groups backed by the United Arab Emirates.
Saudi Arabia, though accusing the Muslim Brotherhood of terrorism, is itself also a major supporter of terrorist organisations, with movements such as al-Qaeda and Daesh getting significant financial support from Riyadh
