It has long been a sad truism – high profile attacks in the west not withstanding – the number-one victim of Islamist violence is other Muslims. That fact was on display this weekend following Friday’s attack on a Sufi mosque in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula. As of Sunday afternoon, the death toll stands at 305, including 27 children, with a further 128 wounded.
The attack is not just the largest and most deadly terrorist attack in modern Egypt’s history. The Jerusalem Post, which boldly proclaimed it to be “Egypt’s 9/11,” also succinctly pointed out that “for the first time, jihadists deliberately targeted Muslim civilians during prayer time in a mosque.” Other high-profile attacks of places of worship, such as the February 2006 bombing of the al-Askari mosque in Samarra, Iraq, occurred when the buildings were empty.
The likely ISIS connection
So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Al Rawdah mosque in Bir al-Abed, on the Mediterranean coast. Egyptian officials have asserted that the attackers, who initiated their assault with explosives and then fired on those fleeing the building, carried ISIS flags during the attack. ISIS-affiliated militants originally calling themselves Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (“Supporters of the Holy House”) have been active in the Sinai since its formation in 2011.
The group, which has more recently taken to calling itself Islamic State – Sinai Province, originally declared itself to be the Sinai affiliate of Al Qaeda, according to Stanford University’s “Mapping Militant Organizations” project. It initially focused its attacks on Israel, but after the Egyptian military ousted the Islamic Brotherhood-led government in 2013, it shifted its focus to the Egyptian security apparatus. It’s most spectacular success was the October 31, 2015 downing of a Russian airliner that killed 224.
The Egyptian military struck back quickly, claiming to have killed 15 terrorists in a raid Friday following the attack, and additional airstrikes overnight Saturday on “hideouts used by terrorists.”
Sufi mysticism enrages ISIS
The mosque at the center of the attack is home to a group of Sui’s, a mystical branch of (mostly) Sunni Islam. Mysticism in general, emphasizes obtaining knowledge of a special truth through non-physical means. One experiences an understanding of God through revelation, not logic or education. Early Christian Gnostics, who wrote some of the Gospels that came to be considered heretical, are another example of a mystical sect.
Sufis not only stray from a strictly orthodox view of Islam, but tend to be more open and tolerant of others, making them a prime target for the wrath of extremists like those who comprise the ranks of ISIS. It should come as little surprise that these extremists, unsettled by their recent string defeats in Syria and Iraq at the the hands of other Muslims, would turn their attention from Coptic Christians and the Egyptian military and police, to these fellow Muslims they believe to be heretics.
But the Jerusalem Post may be right. This attack may serve as a wake-up for much of the Muslim world that ISIS are not defenders of the faith, but puritanical enemies of it. If that happens, they will have proven to be their own worst enemy.
