Dr. Ahmed Darag, an Egyptian political analyst, recently declared that “Every individual in every Islamic group in general, supports the Islamic State in one way or another.”
His comments came soon after it was revealed that Dr. Yasser Burhami—one of the nation’s leading Salafis and vice president of the Salafi Call—was working closely and supporting the Islamic State.
Added Darag: “It’s well known and no one can deny it, not even Burhami himself, that a large number of Salafi leaders, as well as his disciples and followers, are currently in Syria fighting under the banner of the Islamic State, and they remain in continuous contact with Burhami and his organization.”
However, the Egyptian political analyst’s greater point was that it’s not just Burhami and the Salafis, but that “all Islamic groups”—presumably including the Muslim Brotherhood—are supportive of the Islamic State, for they all share in the same “extremist thinking.”
Although much diminished since the 2013 Egyptian revolution, the Nour Party, or political wing of the Salafi Call, remains active in Egyptian politics and has several seats in parliament.