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Profile: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood25 December 2013 Middle East

The Ikhwan's most frequently used slogan: "Islam is the solution"

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Profile: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood - BBC News http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-12313405

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Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is perhapsfacing the most serious crisis in its85-year history.

President Mohammed Morsi, a member ofthe group, was ousted by the military,senior leaders and thousands of membershave been detained, and its headquartershave been ransacked and burned.

Protest camps set up in the capital Cairo tocall for his reinstatement have beenstormed by Egyptian security forces withgreat loss of life. The Brotherhooddescribed the action - which broughtinternational condemnation - as "amassacre".

In December, the interim Egyptian government declared the group a"terrorist organisation", blaming it for a string of attacks, which theBrotherhood denied.

The movement is the country's oldest and largest Islamistorganisation, meaning its ideology is based on the teachings of theKoran.

Founded by Hassan al-Banna, the Muslim Brotherhood - oral-Ikhwan al-Muslimun in Arabic - has influenced Islamistmovements around the world with its model of political activismcombined with Islamic charity work.

The movement initially aimed simply to spread Islamic morals andgood works, but soon became involved in politics, particularly thefight to rid Egypt of British colonial control and cleanse it of allWestern influence.

While the Ikhwan say that they support democratic principles, one ofthe group's stated aims is to create a state ruled by Islamic law, orSharia. Its most famous slogan, used worldwide, is: "Islam is thesolution."

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Hassan al-Banna was assassinated byan unknown gunman in 1948

Paramilitary wing

After Banna launched the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928, brancheswere set up throughout the country - each running a mosque, aschool and a sporting club - and its membership grew rapidly.

By the late 1940s, the group isestimated to have had 500,000members in Egypt, and itsideas had spread across theArab world.

At the same time, Bannacreated a paramilitary wing,the Special Apparatus, whoseoperatives joined the fightagainst British rule andengaged in a campaign ofbombings and assassinations.

The Egyptian governmentdissolved the group in late1948 for attacking British andJewish interests. Soonafterwards, the group wasaccused of assassinatingPrime Minister Mahmoud al-Nuqrashi.

Banna denounced the killing, but he was subsequently shot dead byan unknown gunman - believed to have been a member of thesecurity forces.

In 1952, colonial rule came to an end following a military coup d'etatled by a group of young officers calling themselves the FreeOfficers.

The Ikhwan played a supporting role - Anwar al-Sadat, who becamepresident in 1970, was once the Free Officers' liaison with them -and initially co-operated with the new government, but relationssoon soured.

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After a failed attempt to assassinatePresident Gamal Abdul Nasser in 1954, theIkhwan were blamed, banned, andthousands of members imprisoned andtortured. The group continued, however, togrow underground.

This clash with the authorities prompted animportant shift in the ideology of theIkhwan, evident in the writing of oneprominent member, Sayyid Qutb.

Qutb's work advocated the use of jihad(struggle) against jahili (ignorant) societies,both Western and so-called Islamic ones,which he argued were in need of radicaltransformation.

His writings - particularly the 1964 workMilestones - inspired the founders of manyradical Islamist groups, including IslamicJihad and al-Qaeda.

In 1965, the government again crackeddown on the Ikhwan, executing Qutb in1966 and transforming him into a martyr formany people across the region.

Crackdown

During the 1980s, the Ikhwan attempted torejoin the political mainstream.

Successive leaders formed alliances with the Wafd party in 1984,and with the Socialist Labour Party and the Socialist Liberals Partyin 1987, becoming the main opposition force in Egypt. In 2000, theIkhwan won 17 seats in the lower house of parliament, the People'sAssembly.

MuslimBrotherhood

Egypt's oldest andlargest Islamistorganisation

Founded by Hassanal-Banna in 1928

Has influenced Islamistmovements worldwide

Mixes political activismwith charity work

Officially renouncedviolence in the 1970sand endorsesdemocratic principles

Wants to create a stategoverned by Islamiclaw

Slogan: "Islam is thesolution"

EgyptianBrotherhood: Who'swho


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Who are the Muslim Brotherhood? Eugene Rogan explains

Five years later, the group achieved its best election result up tothen, with independent candidates allied to it winning 20% of theseats.

The result shocked President Hosni Mubarak. The governmentsubsequently launched a crackdown on the Ikhwan, detaininghundreds of members, and instituted a number of legal "reforms" tocounter their resurgence.

The constitution was rewritten to stipulate that "political activity orpolitical parties shall not be based on any religious background orfoundation"; independent candidates were banned from running forpresident; and anti-terrorism legislation that gave the security forcessweeping powers to detain suspects and restrict public gatheringswas introduced.

At the beginning of 2011, anti-government demonstrations,apparently encouraged by the Tunisian street protests whichprompted the sudden departure of Tunisia's President Ben Ali,kicked off across the country.

Though many members of the Ikhwan joined the protests, theymaintained a low profile. The group's traditional slogans were not


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seen in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

The Ikhwan came to the fore not long after the start of the 2011 revolution

But as the protests grew and the government began to offerconcessions, including a promise by Mr Mubarak not to seekre-election in September 2011, Egypt's largest opposition force tooka more assertive role.

Rising power

In the first parliamentary elections after Mr Mubarak's overthrow inFebruary 2011, the Ikhwan's newly formed Freedom and JusticeParty (FJP) won nearly half the seats in the People's Assembly,eclipsing the earlier performances of independents allied to themovement.

The ultraconservative Salafist Nour party came second, meaningthat Islamists controlled 70% of the seats in the lower house. Therewas a similar outcome from elections for the upper house, the ShuraCouncil.

This allowed the Ikhwan and their allies to control the selection ofcandidates for the 100-member constituent assembly tasked withdrafting Egypt's new constitution, prompting criticism from liberals,

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secularists, Coptic Christians, young people and women, whocomplained that the panel did not reflect the diversity of Egyptiansociety.

President Mohammed Morsi alienated allies and ignored rising public discontent

Concerns that the Ikhwan might be seeking to monopolise powerwere heightened when they announced they would field a candidatein the presidential election, despite having previously promised theywould not.

In 2012, the FJP's then chairman, Mohammed Morsi, becameEgypt's first democratically elected president. He won 51% of thevote in a deeply polarising run-off against retired air forcecommander Ahmed Shafiq.

Mr Morsi sought to reassure opponents of the Ikhwan by insistingthat as president he wanted to build a "democratic, civil and modernstate" that guaranteed the freedom of religion and right to peacefulprotest.

Overthrow

Significant public opposition to Mr Morsi and the Ikhwan beganbuilding in November 2012.

AP


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The headquarters of the MuslimBrotherhood was ransacked byprotesters before Mr Morsi was ousted

Wishing to ensure that theconstituent assembly couldfinish drafting the newconstitution, the presidentissued an interim constitutionaldeclaration granting himselffar-reaching powers. Heagreed to limit the scope of thedeclaration after days ofopposition protests, but therewas further outrage at the endof that month when theconstituent assembly approveda rushed version of theconstitution - despite a boycottby liberals, secularists and the Coptic Church, who said it failed toprotect freedom of expression and religion.

As opposition mounted, President Morsi issued a decree authorisingthe armed forces to protect national institutions and polling placesuntil a referendum on the draft constitution was held in December2012, which critics said amounted to a form of martial law.

The army returned to barracks after the charter was approved, butwithin weeks it was forced to deploy in cities along the Suez Canalto halt deadly clashes between opponents and supporters of MrMorsi and the Ikhwan. At the end of January 2013, the militarywarned that the political crisis might "lead to a collapse of the state".

In late April, opposition activists set up the grassroots Tamarod(Rebel) protest movement. It focused on collecting signatures for apetition, which complained about Mr Morsi's failure to restoresecurity and fix the economy, and accused him of putting theBrotherhood's interests ahead of the country's as a whole. Tamarodalso organised mass protests to mark the first anniversary of the dayMr Morsi took office. On 30 June 2013, millions of people took to thestreets to demand his resignation.

The unrest and rising death toll

AP

REUTERS


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The Ikhwan have vowed that they willrefuse to deal with Egypt's interimleaders

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Enduring repression and insurgency in Why US-Egyptian ties are warming

prompted the military to warnMr Morsi on 1 July that it wouldintervene and impose its own"roadmap" if he did not satisfythe public's demands within 48hours and end the politicalcrisis.

On 3 July, the militarydeployed troops and armouredvehicles in the streets. Itdeclared that the constitutionhad been suspended and the chief justice of the SCC would assumepresidential powers, overthrowing Mr Morsi.

The Ikhwan denounced the "military coup against the electedpresident and the will of the nation", and vowed that they wouldrefuse to deal with Egypt's interim leaders.

Brotherhood supporters set up protest camps in Nahda Square andnear the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque and refused to disband them,despite repeated calls by the interim government.

After weeks of deadlock, hopes rose that the protests would remainpeaceful. However, on 14 August security forces swept into thecamps and the authorities imposed a state of national emergency.

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proﬁle: egypt's muslim brotherhood - university of oregonpages.uoregon.edu/aweiss/militant...

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