Al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya

For other uses, see Al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Jemaah Islamiyah.

الجماعة الإسلامية Al-Jamāʻah al-islāmīyah
LeaderOmar Abdel-Rahman[1]
Karam Zuhdi
Ala Mohieddin
Tal'at Fu'ad Qasim Executed
Ahmed Refai Taha †
Dates of operation1992–1998 (as an armed group)
HeadquartersCairo, Egypt
Active regionsEgypt
IdeologySunni Islamism
Islamic extremism (formerly)[2][3]
Salafi jihadism (formerly)[4]
Notable attacksAssassination of Farag Foda
Hosni Mubarak 1995 assassination attempt
1995 Rijeka bombing
1996 Cairo shooting
Luxor massacre
Allies Al-Qaeda (factions)[5]
Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Opponents Egypt
 Israel
 United Kingdom
 United States
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Al-Jamāʻah al-islāmīyah (Arabic: الجماعة الإسلامية, "Assembly of Islam") is an Egyptian Sunni Islamist movement, and is considered a terrorist organization by the United Kingdom[6] and the European Union,[7] but was removed from the United States list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations in May 2022. The group was dedicated to the overthrow of the Egyptian government and replacing it with an Islamic state. Following the coup that toppled Mohamed Morsi, the group has committed to peaceful activities.[8]

From 1992 to 1998, al-Jamāʻah al-islāmīyah fought an insurgency against the Egyptian government during which at least 796 Egyptian policemen and soldiers, al-Jamāʻah al-islāmīyah fighters, and civilians including dozens of tourists were killed.[9] During the fighting al-Jamāʻah al-islāmīyah was given support by the governments of Iran and Sudan, as well as from al-Qaeda.[10] The Egyptian government received support during that time from the United States.[10]

The group(s) is said to have constituted "the Islamist movement's only genuine mass organizations" in Egypt.[11] While the assassination of the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1981 is generally thought to have been carried out by another Islamist group, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, some[example needed] have suggested al-Jamāʻah al-islāmīyah was responsible for or at least related to the assassination. In 2003, the imprisoned leadership of the group renounced bloodshed, and a series of high-ranking members were released, and the group was allowed to resume semi-legal peaceful activities.[12] Then again some of its members were released in 2011. The imprisoned cleric Omar Abdel-Rahman was a spiritual leader of the movement, and the group actively campaigned for his release until his death in 2017.[4]

Following the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, the movement formed a political party, the Building and Development Party, which gained 13 seats in the 2011–2012 elections to the lower house of the Egyptian Parliament.[13]

  1. ^ "Editor Of Independent Egyptian 'Al-Misriyyoun' Daily: Sheikh 'Omar 'Abd Al-Rahman Was Never Convicted Of Assassinating Sadat – Or Of Involvement In 1993 World Trade Center Attack". MEMRI. 23 February 2017.
  2. ^ Drevon, Jérôme (2015). "Assessing Islamist Armed Groups' De-Radicalization in Egypt". Peace Review. 27 (3): 296–303. doi:10.1080/10402659.2015.1063371. S2CID 143418392.
  3. ^ Schuck, Christoph (2016). "Peacebuilding through Militant Islamist Disengagement: Conclusions drawn from the case of Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya in Egypt". Peacebuilding. 4 (3): 282–296. doi:10.1080/21647259.2016.1156817. S2CID 156582728.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Free_Jihadists_2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Hamzawy, Amr; Grebowski, Sarah. "From Violence to Moderation: Al-Jama'a al-Islamiya and al-Jihad" (PDF). Carnegie Endowment. p. 13. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Proscribed Organisations". Terrorism Act 2000 (c. 11, sched. 2). UK Public General Acts. 20 July 2000. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013.
  7. ^ "THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, COUNCIL DECISION of 21 December 2005 on specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities with a view to combating terrorism" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2009.
  8. ^ "Jama'a al-Islamiya rejects Assem Abdel Magued". Egypt Independent. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  9. ^ Uppsala Conflict Data Program, Conflict Encyclopedia, The al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya insurgency, Government of Egypt – al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, viewed 2013-05-03, http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=50&regionSelect=10-Middle_East# Archived 11 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ a b Uppsala Conflict Data Program, Conflict Encyclopedia, The al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya insurgency, viewed 2013-05-03, http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=50&regionSelect=10-Middle_East# Archived 11 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Kepel, Gilles. Muslim Extremism in Egypt; the Prophet and Pharaoh, p. 129, 1985, ISBN 0520239342
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference autogenerated2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "Interactive: Full Egypt election results". Al Jazeera English. 1 February 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2013.