Muslim Brotherhood
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The Muslim Brotherhood or The Muslim Brothers (Arabic: الإخوان المسلمون al-ikhwān al-muslimūn, full title "The Society of the Muslim Brothers", often simply الإخوان al-ikhwān, "the Brotherhood") is the name of a world-wide Islamist movement, which has spawned several religious and political organizations in the Middle East. While often viewed as branches of the global Brotherhood, they are normally structurally separate, although linked by a common ideology of politicized Sunni Islam, as well as extensive cross-border organization.
The Muslim Brotherhood advocates the creation of Islamic government, believing that God has set out a perfect way of life and social organization in the Quran (as seen in the slogan, "The Quran is our constitution"). It expresses its interpretation of Islam through a strict conservative approach to social issues such as the role of women, but also believes that Islam enjoins man to strive for social justice, the eradication of poverty and corruption, and political freedoms as defined by the Islamic state. It is strongly hostile to colonialism, and was an important actor in the struggle against Western domination in Egypt and other Muslim countries during the early 20th century. Their goal as stated by founder Hassan al-Banna was the “doctrine of reclaiming Islam’s manifest destiny; an empire, founded in the seventh century, that stretched from Spain to Indonesia.”
The Brotherhood is one of the most influential political and religious forces in the Islamic world, and especially so in the Arab world. The first Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928, and Egypt is still considered the center of the movement; it is generally weaker in the Maghreb, or North Africa, than in the Arab Levant. Brotherhood branches form the main opposition to the governments in several countries in the Arab world, such as Egypt, Syria and Jordan, and are politically active to some extent in nearly every Muslim country. There are also diaspora branches in several Western nations, composed by immigrants previously active in the Brotherhood in their home countries.
The movement is immensely influential in many Muslim countries, and where legally possible, it often operates important networks of Islamic charities, guaranteeing it a support base among Muslim poor. However, most of the countries where the Brotherhood is active are ruled by undemocratic regimes. As a consequence, the movement is banned in several Arab nations, and the lack of a democratic system prevents it from gaining power through elections. Contrary to popular belief in the West, the Muslim Brotherhood normally pursues its goals peacefully, and advocates participation in democratic systems, as well as democratic reform in dictatorships. However, it makes an exception for situations of military occupation, and its Palestinian branch, Hamas, pursues a violent struggle against Israel, in which it has frequently used bombs and other methods that specifically target Israeli civilians; something which has resulted in Hamas being labeled a terrorist movement by governments including the USA and the EU.
The following article will deal with each national branch separately.
Egypt
For details and sources, see the main History of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt article. Also known as the Muslim BrethrenHassan al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood in the city of Ismailia in March 1928 along with six workers of the Suez Canal Company. It was both a religious and a political and social movement with the credo is “God is our objective; the Quran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader; Struggle is our way; and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations” . Al-Banna called for the return to an original Islam and followed Islamic reformers like Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida. According to him, contemporary Islam had lost its social dominance, because most Muslims had been corrupted by Western influences. The Qur'an and the Sunnah were seen as laws passed down by God, that should be applied to all parts of life, including the organization of the government and the handling of everyday problems.Küntzel, 2002. Pg. 17-19
The Brotherhood also saw itself as a political and social revolutionary movement. Al-Banna strived to be a populist. The Muslim Brotherhood claimed to want to protect the workers against the tyranny of foreign and monopolist companies. It founded social institutions such as hospitals, pharmacies, schools, etc. However, in addition to holding extremely conservative views on issues such as women's rights, it was from the start extremely hostile to independent working-class and popular organisations such as trade unions.
By 1936, it had 800 members, then this number increased greatly to up to 200 000 by 1938. By 1948, the Brotherhood had about half a million members. The Muslim Brotherhood also tried to build up something like an Islamist International, thus founding groups in Lebanon (in 1936), Syria (1937), and Transjordan (1946). It also recruited among the foreign students in Cairo. Its headquarters in Cairo became a center and meeting place for representative from the whole Muslim world.
Generally, the Brotherhood's leaders and members have demonstrated a commitment to a non-violent, reformist approach to Islamism. However, partly influenced by Brotherhood radical Sayyid Qutb, Brotherhood-affiliated groups or splinter movements would turn to violence in the 1960s and 1970s, as Egyptian government repression of the movement was at its heaviest. This resulted in the creation of several radical militant movements, who gradually moved away from Brotherhood doctrine, such as the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which famously pursued a campaign of terrorism in the 1990s. Still, the Brotherhood has kept its distance to these "jihadist" groups, and as a result of this and of its growing political clout, the movement is increasingly if unofficially tolerated by the Egyptian government.
In the 2005 parliamentary elections, the Brotherhood's candidates, who since the movement is formally banned stood as independents, 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. Meanwhile, approved opposition parties won only 14 seats. This revived the debate within the Egyptian political elite about whether the Brotherhood should remain banned.
In Bahrain, the Muslim Brotherhood play a full role in political life; following parliamentary elections in 2002, the Muslim Brotherhood affiliated Al Menbar became the joint largest party with eight seats in the forty seat Chamber of Deputies. Prominent members of Al Menbar include Dr Salah Abdulrahman, Dr Salah Al Jowder, and outspoken MP Mohammed Khalid. The party has generally backed government sponsored legislation on economic issues, but has sought a clamp down on pop concerts, sorcery and soothsayers. It has strongly opposed the government's accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the grounds that this would give Muslim citizens the right to change religion, when in the party's view they should be "beheaded" [link]. Municipal councillor, Dr Salah Al Jowder, has campaigned against people being able to look into other people's houses, changing the local by-laws in Muharraq to ensure that all new buildings are fitted with one way glass to prevent residents being able to see out[link]. Although a competitor with the salafist Asalah party, it seems likely that Al Menbar will opt for a political alliance in 2006's election to avoid splitting the Sunni Islamist vote.
Founded in the 1930s by Syrian students who had participated in the Egyptian Brotherhood, the Brotherhood in Syria played a major role in the mainly Sunni-based resistance movement that opposed the secularist, pan-Arabist Baath Party, which seized power in 1963 (since 1970, it has been dominated by the Alawite Assad family, adding a religious element to its conflict with the Brotherhood). This conflict developed into an armed struggle that continued until culminating in the Hama uprising of 1982, when the rebellion was bloodily crushed by the military.[link] Since then, the Brotherhood has ceased to be an active political force inside Syria, but it retains a network of support in the country, of unknown strength, and has external headquarters in London and Cyprus. In recent years it has renounced violence and adopted a reformist platform, calling for the establishment of a pluralistic, democratic political system. However, membership of the Brotherhood remains a capital offence in Syria, as specified under Emergency Law 49 of 1980. The leader of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood is Ali Sadr al-Din al-Bayanuni, who lives as a political refugee in London.
The Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, founded in 1987 in Gaza, is a wing of the Brotherhood[link], formed out of Brotherhood-affiliated charities that had gained a strong foothold among the local population. These had been permitted by Israeli occupation authorities to operate in the Palestinian Territories to counter the influence of the secular Palestinian resistance movements, but during the First Intifada (1987-93), Hamas and the Brotherhood militarized and transformed into one of the most violent Palestinian resistance groups.
Hamas refused to accept the 1993 Oslo Accords, and has, particularly during the al-Aqsa Intifada, launched a series of attacks (including suicide bombings) against Israeli civilians. This led many governments, including the USA, Canada, and the EU, to label Hamas terrorist movement, while the prevailing view in the Arab-Muslim world has been that Hamas is carrying out a war of legitimate resistance.
In the general elections of January 2006, Hamas swept to victory, claiming 74 out of the 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). Palestine, while still under occupation, thus became the only present-day Arab nation where the Muslim brotherhood has gained power through democratic elections. However, when the movement later formed the first non-Fatah government, this engendered considerable controversy, as Western governments refused to deal with a group that they had formally listed as a terrorist organization. This has caused an economic crisis for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), as these governments withheld the foreign aid that is the main source of the PNA's income. While these developments are primarily a part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they are also closely monitored by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in other countries, and seen as a setback to its strategy of participating in democratic elections.
Among the most prominent leaders of Hamas are Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the founder of the movement who was assassinated by Israel in March of 2004, his successor Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, who was also assassinated by Israel in April of 2004, and Mahmoud al-Zahar. The political head of the movement is now Khaled Mashal, a hardliner living in exile in Syria, who survived an assassination attempt by Israeli agents in Jordan in 1997.
The Jordanian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood was formed in 1942, and is a strong factor in Jordanian politics. While most political parties and movements were banned for a long time in Jordan, the Brotherhood was exempted and allowed to operate by the Jordanian monarchy. The Jordanian Brotherhood has formed its own political party, the Islamic Action Front, which has the largest number of seats of any party in the Jordanian parliament.[link]
The Iraqi Islamic Party was formed in 1960 as the Iraqi branch of the Brotherhood[link], but as government repression hardened under the Baath Party, the group was forced underground. After the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003, the Islamic Party has reemerged as one of the main spokesmen of the country's Sunni community. It has been sharply critical of the US-led occupation of Iraq, but participates in the political process.[link] Its leader is Muhsin Abd al-Hamid.
Sudan, always close to Egyptian politics, has had a Muslim Brotherhood presence since 1949.
Islamist scholar Hasan al-Turabi does not represent Muslim Brotherhood in sudan
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The Brotherhood has been an illegal organization, tolerated to varying degrees, since 1954 when it attempted to assassinate Gamal Abdel Nasser, head of the Egyptian government; it is still periodically subjected to mass arrests. It remains Egypt's most popular opposition group, advocating Islamic reform, democratic system and maintaining a vast network of support through Islamic charities working among poor Egyptians.[link]Bahrain
Syria
For details and sources, see the main History of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria article.Palestine
The first group in Palestine was formed in Jerusalem in 1946, with other groups springing up the same year in Jaffa, Lod, Haifa, Nablus, and Tulkarm.Cohen, 1982. Pg. 144 The Brotherhood members fought alongside the Arab armies during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, which encouraged many Palestinian Muslims to join the movement in the wake of Israel's creation, which caused the Palestinian refugee crisis.
Jordan
Iraq
Saudi Arabia
The Muslim Brotherhood's brand of Islam and Islamic politics differs from the strict Wahhabi creed officially held by the state of Saudi Arabia. Despite this, the Brotherhood has been tolerated by the Saudi government, and maintains a presence in the country.[link]Sudan
Kurdistan
There are several Islamic movements inspired by or part of the Muslim Brotherhood network in the different parts of Kurdistan. In Iraqi Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) holds seats in the Kurdish parliament, and is the main political force outside the dominance of the two main secularist parties, the PUK and KDP. [link]Footnotes
References
See also
External links
Egypt
Syria
Jordan
Iraq
Palestine
Sudan
Iraqi/South Kurdistan
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