A Brief Introduction on the Modus Operandi of the Muslim Brotherhood in the West
Author(s): EMAN Network
In recent years, Western governments, academics, and pundits have debated the Muslim Brotherhood’s presence in the West in frequently contentious disputes. The earliest active Muslim Brotherhood affiliates in the West can be traced back to the late 1950s and early 1960s when tiny, dispersed groups of militants fled various Middle Eastern nations to settle in cities across Europe and North America. It is, however, the conventional wisdom that individuals and organisations with strong ties to the ideologies of the Muslim Brotherhood and political Islam more broadly maintain strong bases in western capitals, most notably London.
A few of these forerunners, such as Said Ramadan and Yussuf Nada, were key members of the Egyptian Brotherhood that escaped the Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Egypt. Muslim Brotherhood members from other Middle Eastern nations sought sanctuary in the West in the decades that followed. However, the bulk of Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated activists migrating to the West were students, members of the Middle East’s educated middle classes who had previously joined or were considering joining the movement in their home countries.
Over the years, Muslim Brotherhood-based networks, affiliates, and other Islamist movements that share common ideologies grew rapidly and evolved into multifunctional and generously funded groups that began competing to become the top representatives of Western Muslim communities in an attempt to hold leverage over governments. In a 2012 statement, Yousef Nada, a noted businessman and Muslim Brotherhood financial strategist, claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood organisation has over 100 million supporters across the world. Yousef Al Qadarwi, the Doha-based spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood stated in 2007 that “The peaceful conquest has foundations in this religion, and therefore, I expect that Islam will conquer Europe without resorting to the sword or fighting. It will do so by means of da’wa (preaching) and ideology.” Their controversial presence in the West has made some experts and policymakers see them as constructive factors that promote integration while others portray them as ‘modern-day trojan horses’ who seem to be moderate radicals of Western Muslims. As EMAN has stated in the past, the non-violent ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood and political Islam more broadly is but a conveyor belt – not a prevention – for further extremism, radicalism and intolerance that in many aspects promotes violence.
There are increasing concerns among European governments and CVE/CT experts about nonviolent Islamist organisations, especially those associated with the Muslim Brotherhood operating in Europe. This is clearly demonstrated in Germany’s heated debates on the presence of extremist Islamist movements on German soil. That said, German security services have repeatedly warned about the threats presented by Muslim Brotherhood-inspired groups’, claiming that they polarise society and undermine democracy.
Similarly, Dalia Al-Aqidi mentioned in her article, “Muslim Brotherhood’s influence in US should be confronted and defeated”, the Muslim American Society [MAS - the American chapter of the Muslim Brothehood] as an example of the political Islamist organisations that are tightly linked to the Muslim brotherhood. Despite the fact that MAS claims to be an autonomous American organisation with no ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, it asserts that Hassan Al-Banna’s writings, the Egyptian founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, will continue to be included in its curricula.
Economically, more light is being thrown on the Muslim Brotherhood’s financing and business networks in the West and how MB-affiliated organisations operate. The economic objectives of the Muslim Brotherhood have always been tightly linked to its da’wa initiatives and political goals. As such, the economic aspect has become one of the key factors in the formation of the movement’s ideological worldview, alongside da’wa and political orientations. According to Prof. Al-Sayyid Abdel Sattar, a former Muslim Brotherhood leader - businessmen and financiers eventually controlled the organisation in practically every way. In his book “My Experience with the Brotherhood: From Da’wa to the Secret Organisation [in Arabic], Abdel Sattar highlights the fact that the movement is “headed by money changers and bankers instead of preacher-scholars.”
Lorenzo Vidino, a leading expert on the Muslim Brotherhood stated in his book “The New Muslim Brotherhood in the West” that the organisation employs different strategies to increase its popularity and boost its status amongst Western communities. Vidino argues that in the West, individuals and organisations with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood openly call for the group’s commitment to integration and democracy in the media and in forums, adjusting their discourse to what they believe would be acceptable to a Western audience. In Muslim-majority countries, however, this is not the case, as the organisation’s discourse often center’s around the “us vs. them” mentality, regime change, intolerance towards religious minorities and armed jihad – particularly when debating in Arabic, Urdu, or Turkish. Additionally, they continue to generate money for armed Islamist organisations despite openly condemning terrorist actions in official pronouncements.
Despite its immense power, few areas of the organisation are without controversy. Scholars, governments, and the general public in both the Muslim and Western worlds have different approaches when it comes to the movement’s philosophy and goals. One of the primary causes of this misunderstanding is the group’s customary secrecy. Furthermore, a general evaluation of what the Muslim Brotherhood is and its desires is hampered further by the fact that the organisation’s doctrine and methods have changed throughout time and vary by region.
