Who is the islamist brotherhood

For example, encrypted text messaging and voice applications such as WhatsApp or Viber allow users to pass on information. Social media sites such as Facebook, online portals such as Ikhwanweb, and pro—Muslim Brotherhood satellite television stations such as Rabea TV or Al-Watan are all outlets through which ideas can be transmitted.

As most Brotherhood-linked television stations are in Turkey, and because it is difficult to comprehensively block internet sites, the Egyptian authorities find it almost impossible to prevent the dissemination of leadership announcements or news about the Brotherhood. At the same time they are crucial for keeping communication lines open, therefore for connecting the leadership with grassroots Brotherhood members.

The pledge, or baya , is the outward oath of allegiance to the supreme guide as head of the organization. Proselytizing and teaching activities are not a priority for the Muslim Brotherhood today , due to the strains and risks that regime harassment has imposed.

However, the training and selection program continues to pay off as it has produced skilled and devoted members. In addition to attempting to destroy the internal structures of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian regime has also taken its battle into the realm of ideas and ideology.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi has often associated the Brotherhood with religious extremism. This depiction of the Brotherhood resonates positively with international actors. In assessing the ideological trajectory of the Muslim Brotherhood, there has been a tendency to focus on the discord between younger members and the older leadership following the coup.

There is a belief that the Brotherhood has been crippled by a deep ideological rift over the use of violence and revolutionary action, therefore over how to interpret the writings of the influential Muslim Brotherhood ideologue Sayyid Qutb, who was hanged by the Nasser regime in August Such an assessment misjudges the causes, dynamics, and extent of these disagreements.

In his book Milestones , Sayyid Qutb did indeed introduce radical ideas that could be interpreted as calls to violence and revolution. But it would be a mistake to assume this is what divides Brotherhood members. Indeed, the internal friction between Cairo as the base of the youth movement and Istanbul as the main center of the Guidance Office in exile has caused noticeable tremors and shake-ups that have also reverberated in London, Doha, and the wider global network.

The Brotherhood has shown consistency in its calls for nonviolent resistance. Of greater inspiration to the Brotherhood were the ideas of Hassan al-Banna, its founder. While some members may argue that the emphasis on gradualism needs to be revised , there is no evidence of an imminent ideological shift that will turn the Brotherhood toward violence. One issue crucial to Muslim Brotherhood thought and discussions is the renewed emphasis on the mihna —a divinely ordained trial that tests the conviction and persistence of true believers in the pursuit of justice and truth.

On both the personal and organizational levels, regime repression has become a core element of current narratives within the Brotherhood and has contributed to shifting away from a resort to violence as a potential option. The reference to mihna as a call for patience, persistence, and fortitude plays on the tribulations of those imprisoned and tortured during the Nasser period.

The emphasis of the mihna is a deliberate attempt to draw parallels between the past and present. It contributes to the construction of an image that regards tenacity against authoritarianism as an ideal that should be emulated as well as reaffirming a need for internal unity.

The costs of the relentless suppression of a significant social movement such as the Muslim Brotherhood are incredibly high. That is not only true for its members and supporters, but also for the authorities who implement such a course of action. While the Sisi regime might regard the repressive measures as necessary, they also carry a risk.

Editors' notes Paperback reference : Meriboute, Z. Top of page. Browse Index Authors Thematic keywords Geographic keywords. Follow us. Newsletters OpenEdition Newsletter. Member access Login Password Log in Cancel. In collaboration with. In All OpenEdition. Home Catalogue of journals OpenEdition Search. The Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood was founded in During the two first decades, it advocated parliamentary democracy and the recognition of the rights of religious minorities in more unambiguous terms than the Egyptian mother movement.

After the Baathist coup in , a jihadist wing within in the Brotherhood emerged in Hama, led by Marwan Hadid. The following days, thousands of members of the Brotherhood were arrested and tortured. In , a law was passed banning membership in the movement under the penalty of death. At the end of the s, the moderate wing regained dominance within the Brotherhood.

It initially attempted to bargain with the regime but after initiated a dialogue with the secular opposition. In , the Brotherhood published a political program demanding free and transparent elections and assured that it would accept a Christian or a woman as president if this would be the result of elections.

It had gained 55 per cent of the votes in the local elections in and 44 per cent in the first round of elections for the presidency in However, the military intervened, deposed the president, cancelled the second round of elections, and banned the party. This was the beginning of a bloody civil war that cost an estimated , lives between and It is still discussed to what extent groups within the regime were involved in the violence against civilians Utvik ff.

FIS was founded in by members in various Islamist groups. However, some of the leader refused to join the new party.

Both were inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood. HAMAS entered a closer cooperation with the regime and even participated in some governments between and The Algerian case illustrates how groups ideologically influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood in some circumstances may end up on different side, even in a civil war Utvik ; Boubekeur f; Willis 57ff.

In Tunisia, the Islamic Tendency Movement harakat al-ittijah al-islami was founded in the with the aim to Islamise society and counter Western influences on Tunisian society. He appears to the earliest Islamist leader who advocated that women could be chiefs of state.

He describes Islam as a normative system which provides a spiritual and moral dimension to what he considers the purely materialistic basis of Western democracy. This combination of Islam and democracy has made Ghannouchi a central point of reference for many Brotherhood sympathisers in Europe Roald f. In , the party declared that it considered itself as a purely political party and did not identify as Islamist.

The hierarchical structure of the Muslim Brotherhood has proved to be both a strength and a liability. Strategically, Brotherhood branches have been involved in both armed and peaceful resistance, as well as being coopted by authoritarian regimes. Al-Anani , K. Inside the Muslim Brotherhood. Religion, Identity, and Politics. New York : Oxford University Press. Al-Rasheed , M. Contesting the Saudi State. Islamic Voices from a New Generation.

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. Muted Modernists. London : Hurst. Amghar , S. Besson , S. Le projet secret des islamistes. Paris : Seuil. Boubekeur , A. Toward a Political Professionalization? Salih ed. New York : Palgrave , — Brenner , B. From Islamic Democracy to Islamist Government. London : I. Daoud , A. Lund : Lund Studies in History of Religions. Gunning , J.

Democracy, Religion, Violence. Hroub , K. London : Pluto. Johnson , I. A Mosque in Munich. New York : Mariner Books. Trakulhun and R. London : Lexington , — Lacroix , S. Awakening Islam.

Ashes of Hama. The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria. Lia , B. The Society of the Muslim Brothers in Egypt. The Rise of an Islamic Mass Movement — Reading : Ithaca Press. Mitchell , R. The Society of the Muslim Brothers. Roald , A.

Meijer and E. Bakker eds, The Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. London : Hurst , 71 — Otterbeck and L. Stenberg eds, Islamologi. Studiet av en religion. Falun : Carlssons , 88 — Women in Islam. The Western Experience.