Former Muslim Brotherhood secretary-general sues his party – Details

16th May 2022

1 minute read

The Islamic Action Front in Jordan, the political front of the Muslim Brotherhood, has announced a two-year freeze on the membership of its former secretary-general, Zaki Bani Arshid, on the grounds that he insulted Muawiya bin Abi Sufyan, whom he compared to members of the terrorist organization Daesh.

In a statement posted on its website, the party said: The freeze was “the result of his insulting the great companion Muawiya Ibn Abi Sufyan on social media, in contravention of the opinion of the Sunnis and the group, considering the companions – may God be pleased with them – they are all trustworthy and just”.

The party continued in its statement: “During the previous period, the party leadership tried to convince Zaki to back down from his ill-treatment of the noble people and ‏ away from his ‏ accusation of killing and tyranny, and to compare him – may God be pleased with him – to ISIS, but he refused”, he said.

The IAF Party continued in its statement: “This compelled the party’s internal courts, and as a result of a complaint ‏made by a member of the party’s Shura Council, to take this decision after the issue had passed through all its stages in the central and higher courts elected ‏‏members of the party’s 12-member Shura Council‏”.

“The party’s executive leadership, including the secretary-general, has no authority over the party’s judiciary, which is an independent court elected by the Shura”, he said.

The party also asserted that its leadership “was very careful not to deal with this issue in the media, until they dealt with in an untrue manner, according to what was reported in some media yesterday. Therefore, it was necessary to highlight”.

Beni Arshid filed a complaint against the party at the court of first instance against the decision of the ‏internal courts ‏ the party to freeze it for two years for insulting the pro-Brotherhood journalist Moaouya Ben Abi Sufyan on social media, according to the pro-Brotherhood Radio Husna.

The IAF is one of Jordan’s largest parties and was founded in 1992. It is the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.