A Muslim Brotherhood rally in Syria. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

In an effort to reinvigorate the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the group’s leaders — Magdy Shalash — reminded supporters that the organization’s main objective is establishing an “Islamic Caliphate” based on “Sharia” law.

“The Muslim Brotherhood was established for a general overall purpose, namely, the return of the comprehensive entity of the Umma (Muslim community)…the Islamic Caliphate, which is based on many Sharia proofs,” Shalash wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday that was translated by the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT).

While many Islamist apologists attempt to defend the use of terms like “caliphate” or “jihad” as purely religious and peaceful concepts, Shalash does not try to hide the Brotherhood’s true colors.

He calls for “the return of all states Islam ruled, such as Andalusia and others, to the quarters of the coming Caliphate.” Andalusia is part of modern-day Spain.

Islamist sympathizers who view the Brotherhood as a moderate force that only seeks to increase Islam’s role in political life fail to acknowledge the organization’s core mandate: to establish Sharia law and firm rule over all territories that were ever controlled by Islamic governance, no matter how long ago.

Shalash praised the “Ottoman Caliphate” since it “eliminated a state of pluralism and fragmentation in name of a plurality of Islamic countries.”

Official Muslim Brotherhood statements in Arabic tend to reflect the group’s core motivations and goals more than sanitized statements in English.

Following a deadly Palestinian terrorist attack in Jerusalem on July 14, the Brotherhood called for an “Islamic Intifada.” The statement reaffirmed the organization’s extremist and divisive worldview, labeling any Muslim a “traitor” if they failed to join the uprising against Israel: “The Muslim Brotherhood stresses that defending holy places, and blood and goods is a Sharia duty and a duty to every Muslim, which cannot be ignored except by a traitor or someone submissive.”

Palestinian terrorist organizations Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad followed the Brotherhood’s lead, and called for Palestinians to “escalate the Quds Intifada,” which fueled days of heightened tensions between Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem — and led to the deaths of three innocent Israelis in a terror attack the next week.

Pro-Palestinian Islamist organizations and Muslim Brotherhood affiliates in the United States have organized anti-Israel protests throughout the US since the Temple Mount crisis unfolded, often featuring vehemently antisemitic chants and radical statements.

“With life, with blood/we sacrifice for you Al Aqsa” and “the gate of Al Aqsa is of iron [Hadid], no one can open it but a martyr [Shahid].” These chants, which were heard at some of the rallies — as translated by IPT — also show how US Islamist groups cultivate an atmosphere where terrorism and violence against Israel is openly encouraged.