Press Release
Warraq Island: When the Regime Becomes the Enemy!
(Translated)

In a recurring scene, the repression of oppressive regimes is no longer limited to political prisoners and advocates of Islamic thought, but has now encompassed all those who stand in the way of their authoritarian projects, which serve corrupt capitalist interests and hegemonic agendas. The events on Warraq Island are not merely clashes between police and the island's residents; they represent a microcosm of what is happening in Egypt and other Islamic countries, where ruling regimes are becoming tools of oppression against their people, instead of their protectors.

What's happening on Warraq Island?

Warraq Island, a small expanse of land in the middle of the Nile, has become a battleground between the Egyptian regime and its residents, who reject the forced displacement they have been subjected to for years. The regime wants to empty the island for massive investment projects that will benefit a small group of beneficiaries, including businessmen and real estate companies linked to the regime, while the island's residents are cast into the unknown without real compensation or a decent alternative.

The scene in brief:

A stifling siege on the island, preventing the entry of essential supplies.

Arbitrary arrests targeting 12 of its residents simply because they refused to abandon their homes.

The police's use of excessive force, which has become a tool of oppression against its own people.

Heroic steadfastness from the residents, who refuse to be victims of forced eviction policies.

Forced displacement is a Shariah and legal crime. Islam views land as the property of its owners, it is not permissible to seize it by force or to take it unlawfully. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: «مَنْ أَخَذَ شِبْراً مِنْ الْأَرْضِ ظُلْماً فَإِنَّهُ يُطَوَّقُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مِنْ سَبْعِ أَرَضِينَ»“If anyone takes a span of land unjustly, its extent taken from seven earths will be tied round his neck on the day of resurrection.”

What the regime is doing on Warraq Island is a blatant assault on people's rights and a clear violation of the Islamic law, it does the following:

1- It usurps people's lands and forces them to leave at gunpoint.

2- It deprives them of their legitimate right to a dignified life, displacing them without providing fair alternatives.

3- It uses repressive force against those it is supposed to protect, turning the state into an enemy of its own people.

All of this is forbidden according to Shariah and a grave crime, because Islam requires the ruler to protect the interests of the people, not to destroy them!

For whose benefit are the residents of Warraq being displaced?

The justifications the regime is promoting regarding "developing the island" and transforming it into a tourist or investment zone are merely a cover for a conspiracy aimed at emptying the land of its inhabitants, to hand it over to investment companies and influential businessmen closely linked to the government and regime.

This is nothing new; Egypt has witnessed similar operations elsewhere, such as:

• The displacement of Sinai residents under the pretext of fighting terrorism, while the real goal is to empty the area of ​​its residents as part of plans linked to Jewish security.

• The evacuation of some neighborhoods in Cairo for multi-billion dollar real estate projects that do not benefit the people but are monopolized by the ruling class and influential individuals.

• Selling state assets, privatizing its resources, and handing them over to foreigners at low prices, while poverty and marginalization among the people of Egypt increase.

So, what is happening on Warraq Island is not development, but rather a violent takeover. It is an extension of the policies of starvation and oppression pursued by the puppet regimes in Islamic countries, which serve only the interests of colonialism and its tools.

The army and police are supposed to be protectors of the people, not tools of oppression in the hands of the tyrants! But the reality in Egypt—as in the rest of the Muslim world—is that these apparatuses have become subservient to the protection of the corrupt regime and its interests, not to the protection of the people or the defense of their rights!

Why didn't the army move to protect the people of Warraq as it did to suppress them?

Why isn't the military force directed against the Ummah's true enemy, the Jewish entity, instead of targeting the people of Egypt?!

This deviation in the role of the army and security forces is one manifestation of the regime's corruption, and clear evidence that these regimes do not represent the Ummah, but rather work against it!

Islam does not recognize a ruler who oppresses his people or usurps their lands. Rather, it considers him a traitor, usurper of power, and illegitimate.

The Prophet (saw) said: أَفْضَلُ الْجِهَادِ كَلِمَةُ حَقٍّ عِنْدَ سُلْطَانٍ جَائِرٍ» «“The best form of jihad is a word of truth spoken before a tyrannical ruler.”

If the ruling regime in Egypt is practicing such injustice and mobilizing the security forces to protect the interests of a handful of corrupt individuals, then it is the duty of the people of Egypt to take action to remove it and replace it with a true Islamic government that preserves their rights and governs them with Islamic justice.

The solution lies neither in filing complaints nor in waiting for the regime's mercy, but in moving towards radical change that uproots this corruption.

1- Refusing to submit to the status quo and confronting these crimes by all legitimate means.

2- Realizing that the problem does not lie solely with Warraq Island, but in the regime that governs the entire country based on the logic of plunder and looting.

3- Calling for the establishment of the Islamic rule that will put an end to these tragedies, governs people according to what Allah has revealed, protects their rights, and establishes justice among them.

4- Calling on the army and security services to act in support of the Ummah, rather than serving tyrants and criminals.

What is happening on Warraq Island is a repeated crime against the people of Egypt, indeed against the entire Ummah. The regime that displaces and oppresses its people is the same one that prevents jihad against the Jewish entity and implements policies of impoverishment and starvation in favour of the West.

O People of Egypt: Do not remain silent in the face of injustice and the oppressor. Do not accept humiliation. Take action for your Deen, your land, and your dignity.

[إِنَّ اللهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ]

“Indeed, Allah would never change a people’s state ˹of favour˺ until they change their own state ˹of faith˺” [Ar-Ra’d: 11]