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Report #1 in a New Series The Muslim Brotherhood: The Muslim Brotherhood Ideology April 2011

Report #1 in a New NEFA Series: The Muslim Brotherhood The Muslim Brotherhood Ideology By NEFA Director of Analysis and Research Ronald Sandee April 2011 Recently a great deal has been said and written on the subject of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and its officials; commentators and experts alike place many different labels on the organization. From comments made by Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, who said the Muslim Brotherhood was mainly secular, which he retracted several hours later, 1 to those of Leslie Gelb, former president of the Council of Foreign Relations, who wrote: It would be delusory to take the MBs democratic protestations at face value. Look at who their friends are like Hamas. 2 So what is the Muslim Brotherhood and what do they stand for? In this first paper in a series on the Muslim Brotherhood, we will examine certain relevant points of the ideology, or as they called it, fikra, of the Muslim Brotherhood. A Movement, Not a Political Party The Society of Muslim Brothers, also referred to as the Brotherhood and the Ikhwan, is a movement not a political party. Their main goal is restore the Caliphate on the Umma. The Brotherhood wants to establish Islam as a total and global system. Islam includes, according to a message by MB founder Hasan al-Banna in 1936, ideology, economy, army, and health. 3 Two years later, in 1938, al-Banna added to that list, conveying to his followers that the MB is a collective ideology as it comprises many components: a Salafi movement, a prophetic attitude, a Sufi fact, a political body, even a sports group. 4 In 2007, the MB placed a paper on its website in which they state:

the Muslim Brotherhood considers that Islam presents general rule principles which can deal with the problems that the society faces, like unemployment, inflation, housing, price hikes, collapse of manners and drugs and other problems; the most prominent of these principles are: 1- Preparing and forming a Muslim individual who observes Muslim conscience and morals to be an effective element in building facilities.
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Josh Gerstein, DNI Clapper retreats from secular claim on Muslim Brotherhood, Politico, February 10, 2011; http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/0211/DNI_Clapper_Egypts_Muslim_Brotherhood_largely_sec ular.html 2 Leslie H. Gelb, Bear Egypts Muslim Brotherhood, The Daily Beast, January 29, 20111; http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-01-29/beware-egypts-muslim-brotherhood/ 3 Hasan al-Banna, To the Light 1936, mentioned in Muhammad Shawqi Zaki, The Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Society, June 13, 2007; http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=806 4 Muhammad Shawqi Zaki, The Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Society, June 13, 2007; http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=806

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2- Reforming the country in media, educational, economic, social and political perspectives. 3- Depending on Islamic reference as a basis. 5
So it is logical to al-Bannas that there is no separation between church and state: Islam does not recognize the conflict which occurred in Europe between the spiritual and temporal [powers]between the Church and the state 6 In February 2011, Essam el-Erian, a member of the General Guidance Bureau of the MB, and seen as one of the reformers within the movement, said in a PBS Frontline documentary, We have not only a political group. We are an Islamic organization,

Islam deals with politics, economics, with social affairs, with solidarity of people, with their education, with all aspects of life. 7

comprehensive religion and politics is part of general Islamic work. It is our duty, with regards to what was happening in the country, to put forward ideas, participate, and offer sacrifices. Those who do not want to understand this perhaps failed to understand what was happening in Egypt, and our experiences are the best evidence [of this]; for at the parliamentary elections our slogan was "participation not combat." 8

A member of the MBs Executive Bureau and a deputy general guide, Rashad alBayoumi, further explained this notion in the Arab newspaper, as-Sharq al-Awsat, on February 27, 2011: Political work is an integral part of Islamic work, for Islam is a

It is through these lenses the slogan of the Muslim Brotherhood Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope is understood. Islamic Unity: Sunnis and Shiites Another important point in the MBs ideology is that the movement is inclusive, in that the Brotherhood does not see Shiite Muslims as apostates as more puritan sects within Islam see them. The Muslim Brotherhood champions Islamic unity. Founder Hasan alBanna himself was concerned with the division of Muslims into competing and conflicting groups. 9 In The Society of the Muslim Brothers, Richard P. Mitchell writes that al-Banna tried to combat this (disunity ed.) by preaching the essential unimportance of the differences which permissibly exist within the body of Islam. 10 The Brothers, according to al-Banna, belonged to no sect or school and they were tolerant of differences of opinion, believed to be necessary and even desirable for discourse within Islam. Only two groups within Islam were not included in the
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IkhwanWeb, Reading into The Muslim Brotherhoods Documents, June 13, 2007; http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=818 6 Richard P. Mitchell, The Society of the Muslim Brothers (Oxford 1993) p. 244. 7 PBS Frontline, February 22, 2011, Revolution in Egypt, part 2, The Brothers; http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/revolution-in-cairo/ 8 Shaaban Abdul Sattar, A talk with Muslim Brotheroods Rashad al-Bayoumi, As-Sharq al-Awsat, February 27, 2011; http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=3&id=24318 9 Richard P. Mitchell, The Society of the Muslim Brothers (Oxford 1993) p. 217. 10 Richard P. Mitchell, The Society of the Muslim Brothers (Oxford 1993) p. 218

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atmosphere of brotherly love, tolerance, and diversity; the Ahmadiyya and the Baha'i, mainly because the founders of both groups believe themselves to be prophets. 11 Again, in the 2007 article published on the official Muslim Brotherhood website, the movement did not change its position on inclusiveness. On Islamic unity it reads: With

the recurrent fuss about doctrinal differences between Sunnis and Shiites, the Muslim Brotherhood considered that doctrinal differences in Islam dont ban support on the basis that we are Muslims. It goes on The Muslim Brotherhood mentioned that the Jafari Shiites are a group of Muslim communities, and there is a consensus on principles of doctrine, worship and manners, and they account for the great majority of the worlds Shiites, and if there is an amount of disagreement in ideology and opinions on a historical basis, this does not bring them outside the framework of Islam, and hence they are brothers in the religion. 12
Consequently, from the perspective of the Muslim Brotherhood, cooperating with the Iranian government or with Shiite organizations like Hizballah does not constitute anything out of the ordinary; this also illustrates the flawed Western conception that Sunni Muslims and Shiite Muslims despise each other and will never cooperate. Western Civilization From its inception, the Brotherhood had a mixed view on the West and especially Western Civilization as a whole. Many Western-conceived innovations were lauded and new inventions and techniques were in particular seen as useful, however, Western thought and ambitions were regarded very negatively. The Brothers saw the West as materialistic, greedy, and tyrannical. The leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood was absolute in their conviction that all ideologies of the West must be resisted as they represented the vanguard of international corruption. Muslims are instructed to depend on the grace of Allah and rid themselves of any Western influences; according to the MB there is no need for foreign ideologies as Islam included them all and more.

Internationalism, nationalism, socialism, capitalism, bolshevism, war, the distribution of wealth, the relation between producers and consumers, and whatever is related to these topicswhich have occupied the leaders of nations and philosophers of society all of these, we believe, Islam has penetrated to the core. Islam established for the world the system through which man can benefit from the good and avoid dangers and calamities. 13
The operations of Western countries in the Middle East were seen by the Brothers as imperialism and as an extension of the Crusader mentality. Muhammad Ghazzali wrote The West surely seeks to humiliate us, to occupy our lands and begin destroying Islam by annulling its laws and abolishing its traditions. 14

Idem IkhwanWeb, Reading into The Muslim Brotherhoods Documents, June 13, 2007; http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=818 13 Richard P. Mitchell, The Society of the Muslim Brothers (Oxford 1993) p. 233. 14 Muhammad al-Ghazzali, Our beginning in wisdom (Washington 1953) p. 15.
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Islam, born of the crusading spirit which is latent in the European mind, we must not let ourselves be deceived by appearances, nor can we let their hypocrisy blind us to the fact that they deny to us any freedom of religion. 15 all these opinions overlook one vital element in the question, which must be added to all other elements the Crusader spirit that runs in the blood of all Westerners. 16
The main ideologues of the Muslim Brotherhood believe the actions of the West in the Middle East were all an extension of the actions of the Europeans (and later their colonial offspring in North America) during the Middle Ages. So his work was consistent with the main MB ideology when Mohamed Akram Adlouni wrote Explanatory Memorandum in the early 1990s. 17 In this paper, which contains evidence used in the case against the Holy Land Foundation, Adlouni returns to the basic Muslim Brotherhood view of the West when he writes:

In his book, Social Justice in Islam, Sayyid Qutb wrote: when we speak of the hatred of

The process of settlement is a Civilization-Jihadist Process with all the word means. The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and Gods religions made victorious over all other religions. Without this level of understanding, we are not up to this challenge and have not prepared ourselves for Jihad yet. It is a Muslims destiny to perform Jihad and work wherever he is and wherever he lands until the final hour comes, and there is no escape from that destiny except for those who chose to slack. But, would the slackers and the Mujahedeen be equal. 18
The earlier mentioned 2007 paper reads: The Muslim Brotherhood thinks that the problem of the Western civilization lies in the fact that it includes aggressive anti-Islam elements proved in the imperial conduct of the Western countries during the 19th and 20th centuries; it is a civilization which is miles away from Christianity, and it was based on non-forgiveness, intolerance and hate; the Western countries desire to dominate over other peoples revealed their aggressive nature. 19 A series of ideas and strategies aimed at fighting Western influences are laid out for the reader in Explanatory Memorandum. Through the increasing cooperation between left wing movements in Europe and the U.S., with Muslim (Brotherhood) organizations operating in the West, both the escalation of the Gaza Flotilla in May 2010 and what is transpiring in Egypt make more sense related to the overarching strategies.
Sayyid Qutb, Social Justice in Islam (London 1970) p. 235. Sayyid Qutb, Social Justice in Islam (Islamic Publications International 2000) p. 270 17 Mohammed Akram Adlouni was a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. in the early 1990s. Now he is the Secretary General of the International al-Quds Institute in Lebanon an organization led by influential Muslim scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi. 18 Mohamed Akram Adlouni, An Explanatory Memorandum. On the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America, May 22, 1991; http://nefafoundation.org//file/FeaturedDocs/ExplMemoGenStratGoaltrial2.pdf 19 IkhwanWeb, Reading into The Muslim Brotherhoods Documents, June 13, 2007; http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=818
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To confront the Western and US domination, the Muslim brotherhood thinks that fighting dominations requires adopting several factors. Including: 1 Spreading Islamic concepts that reject submission to humiliation, and incite to fighting it, and to be on to rise to support the oppressed. 2 Reviving the will of liberation and independence in the peoples, and sowing the spirit of resistance. 3 Supporting (the) Hamas government with all spiritual and material and with experience; to spare the Palestinian peoples need for Western countries which are biased against its freedom and interests. 4 Forming an international relation and public opinion that fights injustice and seeks establishing rights, justice and peace in the world. 5 Activating the economic boycott against imperialist states, and also boycotting their cultural production. 6 Achieving political, economic and social internal reform, and removing the food and technological gaps with imperialist states. 7 Working on correcting the image of Islam among Westerners, and clarify the truth of our fair causes, and removing the deformed image about Islam and Muslims. 8 Spreading popular movements in Europe and South America opposing US domination. 20
The practice of working together with left wing, anti-globalist organizations and with human rights organizations started at the World Social Forum (WSF) after 9/11. The World Social Forum is an annual meeting based in Brazil, with other related meetings held all over the world. In 2004, the WSF was held in Mumbai, and that year, organizations close to, and persons associated with, the Muslim Brotherhood attended the meeting and were able to create a bond with the popular movements in Europe and South America opposing U.S. domination as it is stated above. Islamic Revival In his earlier mentioned interview on PBS Frontline, Essam al-Erian also stated: our goal, our most important mission is to have an Islamic Revival in the society he goes on to say that the MB wants to let people know that you can build a new country, a new era according to your Islamic believes. 21

Muslim Brotherhood considers that the awakening of Islamists, based on a comprehensive cultural view of Islam and its moderate method, are one of the sources of strength to face the Western project that aims to attack the Nation. Thus, the awakening of this Nation is not just a rejection of an injustice afflicting it, or a resistance

In the 2007 paper published on their site, the position of the MB is as follows: The

IkhwanWeb, Reading into The Muslim Brotherhoods Documents, June 13, 2007; http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=818 21 PBS Frontline, February 22, 2011, Revolution in Egypt, part 2, The Brothers; http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/revolution-in-cairo/

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to a flagrant aggression against it, but it is that it possesses its project which is based on its religion, and is consistent with its identity. 22
The current Islamic Revival thinking of the Muslim Brotherhood is still in line with remarks they made roughly 70-80 years ago: Islam the includes all the virtues of other

systems, it is sufficient in itself for the renaissance of the nation: Its history has testified to its fitness and has exhibited to humanity as a wholeone of the strongest, noblest, most merciful, virtuous, and blessed of nations. In building our lives on our own principles, not on others, we are asserting, as with our political independence, our truly social and existential independenceIslam can give a nation that is being reborn all that it needs. 23
Their need for an Islamic Awakening has never left the consciousness or the plans of the Muslim Brotherhood and is still seen as the first and most important step to bringing not only Egypt, but the entire Islamic Nation (Umma) closer to a real Islamic Society. Concluding Remarks Many observers claim that the Muslim Brotherhood is not a monolith, and to a large degree they are correct. In an organization as large as the Muslim Brotherhood, with conservative claims of up to 600,000 paying members, it is not uncommon for individuals to have their own ideas and beliefs, but they all agree on the general ideology and principles of the organization. All Muslim Brothers agree an Islamic Revival is needed. All Muslim Brothers agree that the Western influence (especially that of the United States) is oppressing and destructive to them. All strictly adhere to the slogan of the Muslim Brothers: Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope. What is clear is the fact that the ideas developed by Hasan al-Banna, Muhammad al-Ghazzali, and Sayyid Qutb are as vibrant now as they were when they were first conceptualized and written down.

IkhwanWeb, Reading into The Muslim Brotherhoods Documents, June 13, 2007; http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=818
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Richard P. Mitchell, The Society of the Muslim Brothers (Oxford 1993) p. 233

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