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What Is The Muslim Brotherhood?

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1928 by Hasan al-Banna, a 22-year-old elementary school teacher. The brotherhood was to be an Islamic revivalist movement following the banning of the caliphate system of government that had ruled the Muslims for centuries until the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The organization was created to promote a return to fundamental Islamic beliefs and practices and to fight Western colonialism in the Islamic world and an opposition movement to the British-backed Egyptian monarchy. The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt more than seven decades ago, is among the most powerful political forces in the Islamic world today. Today there are Brotherhood franchises throughout the Middle East and in many Western countries, including the United States. The founder, Hassan al Banna, has been dead since February 1949 when he was killed by Egyptian government agents in Cairo.

Al-Banna persuaded that Islam was not just a religion, but a way of complete life. Many core beliefs are based on the tenets of the Wahhabism sect of Islam that is very popular in Saudi Arabia. He expanded the criteria within education to include training pupils in the ways of Jihad. Banna felt that this was crucial for protecting fundamental Islam in the future. 

Separation of church and state is a core principle within American democracy, while the Muslim Brotherhood preaches that religion and politics cannot be separated and that governments eventually should all become Islamic. The group also champions martyrdom and jihad, or holy war, as a means of self-defense and has provided the ideology for Muslim militants groups that have included Hamas and al Qaeda 

In the late 1930s The Muslim Brotherhood formed affiliated chapters in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria and strengthened their resolve to institute Islamic rule in Egypt. By the 1960's The Muslim Brotherhood had reached America and has remained ever since. 

Today, a very complex financial network connects the operations of over seventy branches of the Muslim Brothers worldwide. During the Muslim Brothers' seventy-plus years of existence, there have been cycles of growth, followed by divisions, including clandestine financial networks, and violent jihad groups, such as al-Jihad and al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya in Egypt, HAMAS in Palestine and mujahideen groups in Afghanistan. The Brotherhood as a collection of national groups have differing visions on how to best accomplish the missions and ultimate goals of the organization. Their ultimate goal is one so controversial that it is a key reason they have operated in secrecy. It is: to create Muslim states overseas in Europe and some day even in America. A world wide Caliphate. 

The Muslim Brotherhood In Egypt and the Middle East The Muslim Brotherhood very quickly began to apply pressure on the Egyptian government. The organization gained notoriety for repeatedly attempting to overthrow the Egyptian and Syrian governments and for spawning violent groups, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian group Hamas. The Brotherhood blamed the Egyptian government for being weak in dealing with Israel and the West and joined the Palestinian side in the war against Israel and began performing terrorist attacks inside of Egypt. These attacks which resulted in many civilian deaths led to a ban on the movement by the Egyptian government. A Muslim Brother assassinated the Prime Minister of Egypt, Mahmud Nuqrashi, on December 28, 1948. The tensions between the Egyptian government and the Muslim Brotherhood after this assassination resulted in the government killing the founder of the Brotherhood, Hasan al-Banna, three months later.

In 1954 Muslim Brotherhood member Abdul Rauf failed in his assassination attempt of Egyptian President Gamal Nasser. Over four thousand Muslim Brotherhood members were rounded up and imprisoned. The crackdown led to thousands of members fleeing from Egypt and seeking refuge for their operations in Syria where there was already a Brotherhood presence. The Brotherhood also began to migrate to other Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Lebanon. Even though the members left Egypt they still remained active in the Brotherhood within Egypt and began to further the scope and span of the growing influence that the Brotherhood possessed. 

The Muslim Brotherhood continued to clash with the Egyptian government on many issues including implementing Islamic Sharia law within Egypt. The goals were clear for the Brotherhood and were the creation of an Islamic government in Egypt and more support for the Palestinians in their fight for regaining Palestine. It is important to understand that Egypt was having many problems including off and on armed conflicts with Israel that demoralized the Muslim world in their defeats.. 

When Egypt imprisoned and executed numerous Muslim Brothers in the 1950s, other members fled the country and helped spread the philosophy throughout the Arab world. The group's ideological voice became philosopher Sayyid Qutb, who detested Western values and believed that the Koran justified violence to overthrow un-Islamic governments wherever Muslims lived. 

In 1964, Egyptian President Gamel Nasser granted amnesty to imprisoned Brothers; the result was three more assassination attempts by the Brothers on Nasser’s life. The top leaders of the Brotherhood were executed in 1966, and many others that failed to flee the country were once again imprisoned 

In 1966 Sayyid Qutb a very vocal and influential Muslim Brotherhood member was put to death by the Egyptian Government. Qutb is given credit for the ideology that has sparked many violent Islamic fundamental groups. He urged Muslims to take up arms against non Islamic governments. He spent time in the United States in 1949 studying education and became a very vocal spokesperson about the evil within American Culture. Qutb became a leader of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood on his return to Egypt. After the overthrow of the monarchy in 1953, he was once considered for a Cabinet post. But he was later accused of plotting against the government and executed in 1966. However his writings have sparked a fire within groups like al Qaeda.

"Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope."

                              —Muslim Brotherhood"

The Muslim Brotherhood In America

Many American Commentators have labeled the Muslim Brotherhood as "radical Islamists" deeply hostile to America. Hostile to any government that is unwilling to convert to Islamic Law and governing.   So why in the 1960's did the organization establish a chapter in the United States?  After all America is a democracy.  There was not a strong Muslim presence in the United States. America is friend and ally to Israel the arch enemy of fundamental Islam.  Well the answer is complex but we will do our best to shed light on this very secretive movement that has changed the face of American Islam. During the 1960's an influx of Muslims arrived in the United States to study at American Universities.  Some of the students were members of the Muslim Brotherhood in their homelands and decided the best way to create  unity among Muslims in America and to recruit from this pool of possible candidates for the Muslim Brotherhood was to create the Muslim Students Association in 1963.  The main concentration was in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan schools. They hoped to spread the Brotherhood's ideology with other Muslims in America and provide support for the new Muslims arriving yearly to take advantage of the American education system and to gain life experience.  To many the transition from the Muslim world to American culture was too dramatic and they felt too isolated due to their beliefs.  The purpose of creating these types of organizations in America was to make the transition for Middle Eastern Muslims easier. There was not a lot of attention paid by Americans to the influx of the Muslim students arriving more and more frequently as each year passed.  Many believed it was an educational and a cultural exchange.  To many Muslim students this was exactly what it was. However much light was revealed on the organization at the university level of the Muslim Brotherhood Chapter in the United States.  In government exhibits presented in the United States of America vs. Holy Land Foundation it presented the following information: Even though  Sayyid Qutb a very influential Muslim Brotherhood member detested American culture and believed that America was no place for Muslims, persecution of the Brotherhood members in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries still forced many to flee their native countries for America.  Qutb ideology preached that America was an evil culture and a threat to the Islamic world based on his experience living in America during 1949 while at an American college..  His writings have been very influential to many militant Islamic groups including al Qaeda.  Inside American mosques and in the student unions at the higher education institutions of higher learning there has been a growing issue of fundamental Islam that preaches and practices disdain for American culture and politics.  An atmosphere of conservative leadership working within the American framework is creating small cells of possible terrorist minded individuals that are capable of acting out the next 911.  American born citizens have converted to Islam and some are gravitating toward the conservative styles of groups like the Taliban and al Qaeda.  It is unfair to label all Muslims in America as possible terrorists and it would be an unacceptable practice.  However, for one to say that this type of  recruitment and secrecy coupled with a goal of creating a worldwide Muslim government as proposed by the driving force of the Islamification of America within the Muslim Brotherhood would be dangerous and irresponsible.  In the future it is certain that we will see more and more American born individuals associated with terrorism organizations.  At the current time the creation of this dilemma is in it's infancy.  Over time it would not be surprising to see more John Walkers (American Taliban) and Adam Gadahn   (American al Qaeda).  The reason this is stated is because The Muslim Brotherhood and the Saudi government has made it no secret that they are eager to build as many mosques in North America as possible as a place for worship for the future converts to Islam.  According to the Mapping Sharia in America Project we do know there are approximately 6 million Muslims in the US. This number is growing exponentially. David Gaubatz, the director of counterintelligence and counterterrorism for the Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE) told Insight Magazine, "Our initial investigation has concluded there are between 400 to 500 radical Islamic centers in the U.S. In those places, they preach an extreme version of Islam that says America and the West are the enemy. They espouse violence, hatred and the need for terrorism." Many of the Islamic centers are operating under the auspices of the Saudi Arabian government and U.S. front groups for the radical Muslim Brotherhood based in Egypt. For more information check out our article: Terrorist Sleeper Cells in America According to a leader in the organization involved in the case The United States of America vs. Holy Land Foundation, during the 1970's a new era began for the Muslim Brotherhood in America.  The first bylaws of the organization began to place more emphasis on Ikhwan's (Muslim Brotherhood) influence and organization.  A steady flow of Saudi and other Gulf states Muslims arrived in America to attend the Universities.  In 1972, the Muslim Kuwaiti Youths Association was founded which was later converted in 1976 into the Muslim Arab Youths Association and its work centered around the Muslim students coming to America from all the Arab countries. In 1980, the Muslim Students Union was developed into the Islamic Society in North America (ISNA) to include all the Muslim congregation from immigrants and citizens, and to be a nucleus for the Islamic Movement in North America. Over the last 40 years, small groups of devout Muslim men have gathered in homes and Universities in U.S. cities to pray, memorize the Koran and discuss events of the day.  These collection of diverse groups wanting to expand on the bonding of fellow Muslims arriving in America created entities with the support and assistance of members of the  Muslim Brotherhood organization such as the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), all three listed by the Department of Justice as co-conspirators in terrorism. Since the Early days of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States a code of secrecy was developed that would keep the members and positions of the organization in the dark. A group aiming to create Islamic states worldwide has established roots here, in large part under the guidance of Egypt-born Ahmed Elkadi. Elkadi, an Egyptian-born surgeon and a former personal physician to Saudi Arabia's King Faisal headed the group from 1984 to1994 but abruptly lost his leadership position.  Many moderate Muslims in America are uncomfortable with the views preached at mosques influenced by the Brotherhood, scholars say. Those experts point to a 2001 study sponsored by four Muslim advocacy and religious groups that found that only a third of U.S. Muslims attend mosques. The majority of mosques built in America over the past twenty years were sponsored by the Muslim brotherhood along with the Saudi government. According to a story in the Chicago Tribune in suburban Bridgeview, Ill., some moderates say they quit attending the Mosque Foundation because the leadership became too conservative and dominated by Brotherhood members.  The Muslim Brotherhood in the United States claim their organization has broken no laws in America.  They also claim that they have no intentions on ever overthrowing the democratic government here either.  The Brotherhood's plan is to build as many mosques as possible and to convert as many Americans as possible to Islam.  After a few generations they hope that America will choose to impose Islamic law on itself through a democratic process controlled by a Muslim society that America will become. As mentioned earlier the brotherhood is extremely secretive and operate like many fraternal organizations or other forms of secret societies.  . Even today, few outside the Islamic inner circles from which it recruits know when, how often or where the Brothers meet to discuss the organization's goal: the creation of Islamic states throughout the world, including the U.S. Not anyone can join the Brotherhood. The group had a detailed procedure on how to find and evaluate potential members, according to a Brotherhood instructional booklet for recruiters Leaders would scout mosques, Islamic classes and Muslim organizations for those with orthodox religious beliefs consistent with Brotherhood views. The leaders then would invite them to join a small prayer group, or usra, Arabic for "family." The prayer groups were a defining feature of the Brotherhood and one created by al-Banna in Egypt. When the time was right and the members agreed the candidate would then be asked to officially join. according to the Tribune article a former member says he found out that the U.S. Brotherhood had a plan for achieving Islamic rule in America: It would convert Americans to Islam and elect like-minded Muslims to political office. In recent years it is commonplace for visitors at Muslim bookstores located in the American mosques to be able to pick up books by anti-West writers and other conservative Muslim Brotherhood members such as Sayyid Qutb that teach a deep hatred of Western culture.  The Muslim Brotherhood in America has been a mixed bag of good and potentially harmful activities.  It is the clandestine small groups that spring from such a secret organization that attempt to work outside the box of the more recent moderate stance the group has taken.  These Clandestine cells tend to raise money for terrorist organizations throughout the world and recruit members. It is hard to prove who is a member of the brotherhood and who is not, this makes it tough for federal law enforcement agencies to connect the dots. It is tough to grasp a religion based organization that has no tolerance for other religions converting Muslims away from Islam attempting to create a world wide Islamic state through conversion of non-religious and other religions group members.  In America the Brotherhood has this freedom to operate and as long as it is not implicated directly to violating U.S. laws will continue to do so working slowly toward the goal of an Islamic state in America.  The reality is that in the future as the connections are made by law enforcement through a better understanding and education on the operations of the group will be better able to realize the clandestine groups as part of the whole and put an end to the secrecy that protects the Muslim Brotherhood from being banned as they have in other countries in the Middle East.