The Oath of the Soldier

I recently ran into an army officer who told me he was happy with the campaign supporting our army against those questioning its integrity. He reminded me of an article about the pledge of allegiance that protects the homeland, which he considered a reasonable explanation of the patriotism of the Egyptian army.

I wonder, then, why we see and hear about soldiers in other countries around us who, like us, are defending their land against ISIS, but who take off their military uniforms, flee their positions, leave their weapons, and choose not to defend the women, children and the elderly. The soldier and the officer alike go into battle knowing that their predecessors were killed by treachery and guile, and yet they know too that their duty in front of God is to their family and their homeland—it is with honor that they carry their arms with sincerity and integrity in defense of their country.

I wonder if our youth ever stop to think why some media personalities are vocal about their positions in defense of their homeland. Why do they make their voices heard even though their names are on lists of people targeted for assassinations? And even without these lists, these people know that they are a potential target for every villain who thinks he is defending the religion of Allah.

Have any of our young skeptics ever asked if there is still anyone who works for the sake of God, the homeland and a decent life for the people of Egypt?

On his Facebook page Professor Alaa Hamouda said, “I don’t have any secret information to disclose. I am not connected to intelligence officers, and I am not familiar with what’s going on. But I do have a group of friends in the line of fire from whom I know the following:

The Egyptian Eagles are fighting over who will pilot the aircraft
The soldier or officer who was on leave and voluntarily canceled his vacation has come back to defend his country
The Christian soldiers and officers give up food in Ramadan; they do not eat out of respect and solidarity with their fasting Muslim comrades. They too fast from dawn to sunset.

Every time our soldiers capture a prisoner from the terrorist camp, he starts crying like a baby and says: “I was tricked into fighting with them”
Morale is high, the enemy is losing, dying or being captured; they are trembling, cowardly and terrified
Our men swear to cleanse the pure soil of Sinai from the last crawling “pest.”

Do you know the secret to all this? It is the military’s pledge of allegiance, its oath: “I swear by the Almighty God, to be a loyal soldier of the Arab Republic of Egypt, maintaining its security and safety, defending its land, sea and air, inside and outside the Republic. Obedient to the military orders, I will always protect my weapon and never lose it till death, and God will be my witness.” It is this oath that protects Egypt. It is this oath that drives our fighters to shame the worthless murderers of this era, those who call themselves Muslims yet have nothing to do with Islam. Our soldiers are standing strong against the enemy, forcing the latter to flee, dishonored and defeated in front of our heroes, Muslims and Christians, from southern Egypt to the north, east and west.

ISIS has targeted our heroes over and over, launching several deadly attacks, but our soldiers have prevented them from raising the ISIS flag on Sinai soil, from declaring the collapse of civilization and the victory of barbarity.

How? With this oath.

We are proud of you, and we will not allow anyone to question you or your patriotism, not in good faith nor in ignorance. Please read the oath again. This oath has and continues to protect Egypt and is what will empower us to move forward—when we turn it from the oath of the soldier to the oath of the whole community.