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Takfir wal-Hijra (Arabic تكفير والهجرة - Excommunication and Exodus) is an Egyptian extremist group that was founded in the 1960s and today has members or supporters in several other countries, allied to Al-Qaeda. In Spain the group is also known as Martyrs for Morocco. Little is known about the current organization or hierarchy of the group. Several groups which adhere to the same ideology have possibly used the name independently of each other.

History

Although the group began in the 1960s it did not gain international prominence until 1977. The group was at first seen as a marginalized millenarian sect of little consequence.

In 1977 agricultural engineer Shukri Mustafa became the group's leader. He had begun to build the group after release from prison in 1971. He emphasized a complete break from all of Muslim society which he deemed kafir. Members were therefore to live in an alternative community, or even in caves in upper Egypt. Muslims who felt alienated or marginalized in modern Egypt joined this group for a sense of community. A surprising number of women joined, as he offered them a break from their responsibilities as daughter by deeming their families to be kafir. Although within the group, he had tremendous authority by setting himself up as a kind of Mahdi claimant who could arrange marriages and forbid all outside contact. These activities caused lawsuits from the families of women who joined the group.

In 1977 the group decided to battle mainstream society by kidnapping a Muslim cleric. After Mustafa was captured and executed in 1978 former members were linked to the assassination of Anwar Sadat. The ideology Mustafa helped formulate became an influence on later Takfiri groups.

Ideology

The group has a fundamentalist Islamic ideology, of which Salafism is the binding factor. Mainstream adherents of Salafism reject the extreme position of the takfiris, denouncing them as a modern day version of the Kharijites.

Takfir wal-Hijra takes fundamentalism a step further than most Islamic fundamentalist groups. It advocates armed battle against Jews, Christians and apostate Muslims to restore the unity of the Islamic world order (ummah). The ummah is to be led by a Caliph, who rules according to the Sharia. Although they are Sunnis, the group's warriors are allowed to practice something akin to the Shi'a Islam notion of taqiyya. This means they can disguise their true principles for protection of their own faith. This allows them to blend in with Western society and also to disobey all rules of their form of Islam for the goal of destroying Western civilisation from within, a form of antinomianism. According to this ideology, the warriors will be martyrs in Paradise after death.

Takfir wal-Hijra's ideology is so extreme that in 1996 the group plotted to assassinate Osama bin Laden, supposedly for being insufficiently radical. Many also considered the Taliban movement in Afghanistan to be unbelievers.

Activities

Takfir wal-Hijra is connected with hit-and-run attacks in Algeria.
In Sudan in 2000 an alleged member opened fire on a peaceful mosque killing 20.[1]. In Sudan in 2003 members of the group allegedly wrote a death-list containing the names of prominent local politicians and journalists.
In the autumn of 2004 in Spain a terrorist network was uncovered with suspected links to Takfir wal-Hijra. It had been planning to blow up a Court of Law. It is also alleged that the Madrid bombers had Takfir wal-Hijra connections

Alleged members and supporters

Shukri Mustafa	founder
Abu Muhammad Asem al-Maqdisi	the group's ideologist
Hijra Abdellah Al Rifaee (Abu Issa)	accepted as the group's Caliph
Mohammed Atta	leader of the 9/11 attack
Ayman al-Zawahiri	second-in-command of Al-Qaeda
Karim Koubriti	Detroit Five^[1]
Ahmed Hannan	Detroit Five^[1]
Youssef Hmimssa	Detroit Five^[1]
Abdella Lnu	Detroit Five^[1]
Farouk Ali-Haimoud	Detroit Five^[1]
Saad Madai Saad al-Azmi	Combatant Status Review Tribunal^[2]
Kamel Essamer	leader in Algeria
Mohammed Bouyeri	the assassin of the Dutch film director Theo van Gogh, was influenced by Takfir wal-Hijra's ideology^[3]
The Hofstad Network	the fundamentalist cell of which Mohammed Bouyeri was a supporter, was influenced by Takfir wal-Hijra ideology

References

(Sources: NRC; Planet News; Politics.be)

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 ==History==
-Although the group began in the 1960s it did not gain international prominence until [[1977]]. The group called itself "The Society of Muslims" and believed in withdrawal from the world until they developed the power to take over Egypt and ultimately the [[Islamic world]]. The group was seen as a marginalized [[millenarian]] sect of little consequence.
+Although the group began in the 1960s it did not gain international prominence until [[1977]]. The group was at first seen as a marginalized [[millenarian]] sect of little consequence.
 In 1977 agricultural engineer Shukri Mustafa became the group's leader. He had begun to build the group after release from prison in [[1971]]. He emphasized a complete break from all of Muslim society which he deemed [[Kafir (Islam)|kafir]]. Members were therefore to live in an alternative community, or even in caves in upper Egypt. Muslims who felt alienated or marginalized in modern Egypt joined this group for a sense of community. A surprising number of women joined, as he offered them a break from their responsibilities as daughter by deeming their families to be kafir. Although within the group, he had tremendous authority by setting himself up as a kind of [[Mahdi]] claimant who could arrange marriages and forbid all outside contact. These activities caused lawsuits from the families of women who joined the group.