The Muslim Brotherhood or The Muslim Brothers (Arabic: الإخوان المسلمون al-ikhwān al-muslimūn, full title جماعة الإخوان المسلمين jamā'at al-ikhwān al-muslimīn, "The Society of the Muslim Brothers", often simply الإخوان al-ikhwān, "the Brotherhood") is the name of several Islamist organizations in the Middle East. The first Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928; Muslim Brotherhoods have since been founded in other countries, including Syria, Palestine and Jordan.
Egypt
For details and sources, see the main History of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt article.
Hassan al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood in March 1928 along with six workers of the Suez Canal Company. The newly founded group was modeled after the freemasons secret society, an organization that captured al-Banna's admiration. Hence the motto of the Brotherhood :"The secrecy of the organization and the publicity of the da'wa (social work)"
It was both a religious and a political and social movement. Al-Banna called for the return to an original Islam and followed thinkers like Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida. According to him, the contemporary Islam had lost its social dominance, because most Muslims had been corrupted by Western influences. The Qu'ran 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. ^
The Brotherhood also saw itself as a political and social revolutionary movement. Al-Bana 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 hold extremely conservatives 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.
The Brotherhood also had a military wing called "Al gihaz al khass" or the Specialists. These were members of the Egyptian army and police officiers who carried out political assassinations and liquidation of unruly ikhwans. ^
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 be build up something like an Islamist International, thus founding groups in Lebanon (in 1936), Syria (1937), and Transjordan (1946). It also recruted among the foreign students in Cairo. Its headquarters in Cairo became a center and meeting place for representative from the whole Muslim world. ^
With some exceptions, the Brotherhood's leaders and members have demonstrated a commitment to a non-violent, reformist approach to Islamism.
The Brotherhood has been an illegal organization, tolerated to varying degrees, since 1954 (after a failed assassination attempt on president Gamal Abdul Nasser, which was carried out by some of the Brotherhood's members); it is still periodically subjected to mass arrests. It remains Egypt's most popular opposition group, and continues to call for a more open and democratic political system in Egypt.
In the 2005 parliamentary elections, the Brotherhood's candidates, who stood as independents, won 88 seats (20% of the total) to form the largest opposition bloc, despite many violations of the electoral process, including the arrest of hundreds of Brotherhood members. Meanwhile, the legal opposition parties won only 14 seats; this revived the debate within the Egyptian political elite about whether the Brotherhood should remain banned.
Though the Brotherhood formally renounces violence in Egypt, it provides outspoken support for Hamas's armed campaign against Israel's occupation of the West Bank. Also the movement conducts massive fundraising efforts throughout the world, to support various islamist groups.
Syria
For details and sources, see the main History of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria article.
Founded in the 1930s by Syrian students who had participated in the Egyptian Brotherhood, the Brotherhood in Syria played a major role in the broad-based resistance movement that opposed the Ba'th regime starting in 1963; this conflict developed into an armed struggle that continued until 1982, when the rebellion was crushed by the military. Since then, the Brotherhood has ceased to be an active political force in Syria. 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 is a capital offence in Syria.
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.[1] 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 Israeli independence. The Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, founded in 1987 in Gaza, is a wing of the Brotherhood. As it is stated in Article Two of its charter, "The Islamic Resistance Movement [Hamas] is one of the wings of Moslem Brotherhood in Palestine." In the general elections of January 2006, HAMAS swept to victory by claiming 74 out of the 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council. Among their prominent leaders are Sheikh Ahmad Yassin who was assassinated by Israel in March of 2004, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, who was also assassinated by Israel in April of 2004, Mahmoud al-Zahar, and Khaled Mashal.
Iraq
The group is officially represented in Iraq through the Iraqi Islamic Party, which was formed in the 1960s.
Several insurgent groups are also believed to have the background ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, although not officially announced to be a part of the Muslim Brotherhood Organization.
Footnotes
- ^ Cohen, 1982. Pg. 144
- ^ Küntzel, 2003. Pg. 17-19
References
- Cohen, A. "Political Parties in the West Bank under the Jordanian Regime, 1949-1967" Cornell University Press 1982.
- Küntzel, Matthias. "Djihad und Judenhaß" Ça-Ira-Verlag, Freiburg, 2004.
See also
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