Sophie El-Masry

Period 7. Lancell
The Muslim Brotherhood
The Muslim Brotherhood is a Sunni Islamist group founded in 1928. The group
was founded by Hassan Al-Banna, a young schoolteacher from southeast Egypt
(Muslim Brotherhood). He believed that Islam is an all embracing concept which
regulates every aspect of life. With this line of thinking, the group was heavily involved
in communities throughout Egypt, by building large social programs which gave back to
their communities. In 1948, the group was blamed for the assassination of Prime
Minister al- Nuqrashi, secret police then assassinated Al-Banna as retaliation. This act
gave momentum to further discrimination against the group, as thousands of members
were arrested and many were not released until 1952. When the group supported the
free officers in the Revolution of 1952, it expected to gain political influence, but instead
was accused of a government takeover by Gamal Abdel Nassers government, which
then sent droves of Muslim Brotherhood members back to prison. In 1966, a rift in the
group developed which split members between those who favored a violent approach to
implement the will of god, and those who disagreed with the use of violence to achieve
that goal. When President Sadat released many Muslim Brotherhood members from jail,
he gave the movement a chance to revive. Because of the time many leaders had spent
in jail for their cause, the group began to lean more and more to a non-violent approach.
This rift caused many members to leave the brotherhood to join or form groups which
were more in line with their personal beliefs. Some offshoot groups that were formed by
former Brotherhood members who believed in violence were al Jamaat al Islamiyya and

al Jihad. Both of these groups were implicated in the assassination of President Anwar
Sadat (Muslim Brotherhood), and several former Muslim Brotherhood members ended
up playing significant roles in Al-Qaeda. In 1973, when Umar al Tilminsani came to the
head of the Muslim Brotherhood, he led the way in a more moderate approach and
started involvement in politics. In 1980, the group joined with the Waft party, a secular
party, in an attempt to gain seats in parliament. The group was trying to separate itself
from its violent past. When protests broke out calling for the the end of the Mubrak
regime, the Muslim brotherhood withheld support until leaders were sure that the
movement would succeed. As the movement gained momentum, the group shifted to
full participation (Rubin). The group created the FJP, Freedom and Justice Party, to
enter politics with as own party, gaining 47% of the seats in Parliament in the 2012
elections. In May, Mohamed Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood member, ascended to the
presidency and was sworn in as the first civilian president of Egypt in over 60 years
(Muslim Brotherhood). But as Morsi gained too much power for his position, the country
became alarmed and staged protests in Tahrir square. The military then removed him
from office and then took control of the egyptian government. Under military control, the
egyptian government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, which gave the
government more legal options against the group. Using this power to their advantage,
the government sentenced hundreds of members to prison terms after short trials.
Throughout the turbulent times, Muslim brotherhood leaders have called for peaceful
protests while their islamic supporters burn coptic churches and attack coptic christians
(Muslim Brotherhood).

When the Muslim Brotherhood was declared a terrorist organization Egyptian

legal decrees said the decree would shatter hundreds of charities and nongovernmental
organizations affiliated with the brotherhood (Cunningham). Since its founding, the
Muslim brotherhood has played a strong role in communities where it gave back to the
community by founding large social programs which grew to include organizations
[that] provide health care and other services to rural and urban areas that lack
infrastructure (Cunningham) today. The decree also made anyone who was a member
of the group, donated to it, or participated in it, susceptible to government action which
could result in five years in prison. The muslim brotherhood had played an important
role in bringing food to impoverished areas in Egypt and this decree crippled their ability
to help the citizens who had relied on the group when the government could not provide
for them.
On Tuesday December 24th, a car bomb exploded in the Sinai city of Mansoura,
killing 15 people, 11 of which who were police officers. The Egyptian government was
quick to accuse the Muslim brotherhood of this attack, despite inconclusive evidence.
The Muslim Brotherhood had renounced violence years earlier, which made this
accusation all the more misplaced, nevertheless anti-muslim brotherhood riots spread
throughout the city of Mansoura. A day later, the Sinai jihadist group ansar Bayt alMaqdis claimed responsibility for the attack.
For so long, despite changing its goals and its methods, the Muslim Brotherhood
remains the scapegoat for any anti-government violence. Labeling the Muslim
brotherhood as a terrorist organization helped the Egyptian military government sedate
a threat to its power. Even though Egypt labeled the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist

organization, the United States refused to do so. But with this label, the turning of public
opinion soon followed. Two years earlier egyptian protesters thanked the group for
supporting its cause, now they seemed to welcome the governments escalation of its
fight against the group (Cunningham). It is hard to tell where the Muslim brotherhood
will go from here, but if the group keeps with its non-violent approach, for the good of
the egyptian people it would be good to see the social programs return.

Works Cited
Cunningham, Erin. "Egypt's Military-backed Government Declares Muslim

Brotherhood a Terrorist Organization." New York Times 25 Dec. 2013: n. pag.

Print.
Muslim Brotherhood." World Almanac of Islamism. American Foreign Policy
Council, 22 Aug. 2014. Web. 5 June 2015. <http://almanac.afpc.org/
muslim-brotherhood>.
Rubin, Barry. "Understanding the Muslim Brotherhood." Foreign Policy Research
Institute. Foreign policy research Institute, July 2012. Web. 5 June
2015. <http://www.fpri.org/articles/2012/07/
understanding-muslim-brotherhood>.