Like many other people around the world I have been glued to the news coming from Egypt. It is exciting and confusing. One wants to know what the future holds for the people of Egypt and for the political stability of the surrounding region. Those of course are questions that cannot be answered today and likely not tomorrow. One group that figures very prominently in speculation about the future is the Muslim Brotherhood. I have heard the name occasionally over the years, but really know very little about the organization. I now see a very wide variety of claims and predictions being made about them. It seemed like the time had come to do some research on the subject.
The Society of the Muslim Brothers was founded in 1928. It has an established presence in many countries of the world. It can be described as a major political organization in several Arab states. Beyond that who and what it is is a matter of considerable dispute. It is clearly an Islamic organization that is committed to the value of social and political structures organized around the principles of Islam.
There is a worldwide organizational structure with specific committees for each country that operate under this structure. They have an English language website which can be found here.
The Muslim Brotherhood Official English Website
It is a site with a very large amount of material to wade through. There is a long Wikipedia article that is written with a balanced tone. Wiki This statement seems to provide a useful perspective.
The Brotherhood condemned terrorism and the 9/11 attacks, but whether or not it has ties to terrorism is a matter of dispute.[13] Its position on violence has also caused disputes within the movement, with advocates of violence at times breaking away to form groups such as the Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (The Islamic Group) and Al Takfir Wal Hijra (Excommunication and Migration).
It is a rather loosely structured global organization. It does not seem plausible that everyone who is associated with such a group can be accurately characterized as fitting the same exact ideological and political agenda.
The Brotherhood was founded in Egypt. It has been in active conflict with the reigning military regime since the days of Nassar. The organization is officially banned by the Mubarak government. In the past its members have been involved in violent political confrontation. In 1954 the organization was convicted of an attempt to assassinate Nassar. The government efforts at repression have not had a great deal of success. From the Wiki article:
The Brotherhood is still periodically subjected to mass arrests. It remains the largest opposition group in Egypt, advocating Islamic reform, democratic system and maintaining a vast network of support through Islamic charities working among poor Egyptians.[38] The political direction it has been taking lately has tended towards more moderate secular "Islamism" and so-called Islamic Democracy comparable to Christian Democrat movements in Europe, the Christian-right in the United States, and the Muslim oriented democratic parties of Turkey.
In the 2005 parliamentary elections, the Brotherhood's candidates, who had to run as independents due to their illegality as a political party, won 88 seats (20% of the total) to form the largest opposition bloc. The electoral process was marred by many irregularities, including the arrest of hundreds of Brotherhood members. One observer, Jameel Theyabi, writing in an op-ed for Dar Al-Hayat, noted that a December 2006 campus demonstration by Muslim Brotherhood university students that included the "wearing of uniforms, displaying the phrase, 'We Will be Steadfast', and the drills involving martial arts, betray the group's intent to plan for the creation of militia structures, and a return by the group to the era of 'secret cells'...."
Today's New York Times attempts to provide an analysis of the position of the Brotherhood in the present political situation.
As Islamist Group Rises, Its Intentions Are Unclear
After maintaining a low profile in protests led largely by secular young Egyptians, the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest opposition force, appeared to be taking a more assertive role on Thursday, issuing a statement asking for President Hosni Mubarak to step aside for a transitional government.
But one of the few near certainties of a post-Mubarak Egypt is that the Muslim Brotherhood will emerge as a powerful political force.
The unanswered question, according to experts on the region, is whether that will prove a manageable challenge for the United States and Israel or a catastrophe for American interests in the Middle East.
But even among specialists, the degree of uncertainty about the Brotherhood’s future is striking. Several admitted they could not say for sure whether participation in government would have a moderating effect on the group, or whether moderation might prove to have been a convenient false front to be cast off if the group attained real power.
The impression conveyed by the mass political protests is that a majority of the people in Egypt are demanding political change that moves the country in a more democratic direction. It seems quite probable that if they are given the opportunity for self determination, which they have never had before, that the Muslim Brotherhood will emerge as a major political force. There are people in both the US and in Israel who view such a prospect with considerable alarm. This headline from the Jerusalem Post provides one example.
Muslim Brotherhood: ‘Prepare Egyptians for war with Israel'
A leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt told the Arabic-language Iranian news network Al-Alam on Monday that he would like to see the Egyptian people prepare for war against Israel, according to the Hebrew-language business newspaper Calcalist.
The threat of Islamic terrorism has played a major role in the debate over US foreign policy over the past decade. As events unfold in Egypt and elsewhere in the region, that trend seems certain to continue. The Muslim Brotherhood is clearly an on the ground political reality, whatever else it is. It is going to have to be dealt with as such.