Muslim Brothers Muslim Brotherhood al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin Jama'at al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun Hizb Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimoon al-Ikhwan ("The 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."�Muslim Brotherhood
The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1928 by Hasan al-Banna, a 22-year-old elementary school teacher, as an Islamic revivalist movement following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent ban of the caliphate system of government that had united the Muslims for hundreds of years. Al-Banna based his ideas that Islam was not only a religious observance, but a comprehensive way of life, on the tenets of Wahhabism, better known today as "Islamism", and he supplemented the traditional Islamic education for the Society's male students with jihadia training.
The Brotherhood grew as a popular movement over the next 20 years, encompassing not only religion and education, but also politics, through the Party of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hizb Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimoon. It blamed the Egyptian government for being passive against "Zionists" and joined the Palestinian side in the war against Israel; and started performing terrorist acts inside of Egypt, which led to a ban on the movement by the Egyptian government. A Muslim Brother assassinated the Prime Minister of Egypt, Mahmud Fahmi Nokrashi, on December 28, 1948. Al-Banna himself was killed by government agents in Cairo in February, 1949.
The Egyptian government legalized the Brotherhood again in 1948, but only as a religious organization; it was banned again in 1954 because it insisted that Egypt be governed under shari'a (Islamic law).
Abdul Munim Abdul Rauf, a Brotherhood activist, attempted to assassinate Egyptian President Nasser in 1954 and was executed, along with five other Brothers. Four thousand Brothers were also arrested, and thousands more fled to Syria, Saudia Arabia, Jordan, and Lebanon.
In 1964, Nasser granted amnesty to the imprisoned Brothers, hoping that their release would weaken interest in the recently formed Arab Socialist Union party; the result was three more assassination attempts by the Brothers on Nasser�s life. The top leaders of the Brotherhood were executed in 1966, and many others were imprisoned.
Nasser's successor, Anwar-as-Sadat, promised the Brothers that shari'a would be implemented as the Egyptian law and released all of the Brotherhood prisoners; however, the Brothers lost their trust in Sadat when he signed the peace agreement with Israel in 1979; four Brothers assassinated Sadat in September, 1981.
Although officially banned by the Egyptian government since 1954, the Muslim Brothers captured 17 seats in the Egyptian Parliament running as independents; they also hold important offices in professional organizations in Egypt.
Today, a very complex financial network connects the operations of over seventy branches of the Muslim Brothers worldwide. During the Muslim Brothers' seventy-plus years of existence, there have been cycles of growth, followed by divisions into factions, including clandestine financial networks, and violent jihad groups, such as al-Jihad and al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya in Egypt, HAMAS in Palestine and mujahideen groups in Afghanistan.
Sources and Resources
Ikhwan Web, the official Muslim Brotherhood English language web site
El-Awaisi, Abd Al-Fattah M. "Jihadia Education and the Society of the Egyptian Muslim Brothers: 1928-49". Journal of Beliefs & Values, Vol. 21, No. 2 (2000):213-225.
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/mb.htm Prepared by Julie Spears Maintained by Steven Aftergood Updated January 8, 2002 ====================================
Image copyrightAFPImage captionThe Ikhwan's most frequently used slogan: "Islam is the solution"
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is perhaps facing the most serious crisis in its 85-year history.
President Mohammed Morsi, a member of the group, was ousted by the military, senior leaders and thousands of members have been detained, and its headquarters have been ransacked and burned.
Protest camps set up in the capital Cairo to call for his reinstatement have been stormed by Egyptian security forces with great loss of life. The Brotherhood described the action - which brought international condemnation - as "a massacre".
In December, the interim Egyptian government declared the group a "terrorist organisation", blaming it for a string of attacks, which the Brotherhood denied.
The movement is the country's oldest and largest Islamist organisation, meaning its ideology is based on the teachings of the Koran.
Founded by Hassan al-Banna, the Muslim Brotherhood - or al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun in Arabic - has influenced Islamist movements around the world with its model of political activism combined with Islamic charity work.
The movement initially aimed simply to spread Islamic morals and good works, but soon became involved in politics, particularly the fight to rid Egypt of British colonial control and cleanse it of all Western influence.
While the Ikhwan say that they support democratic principles, one of the group's stated aims is to create a state ruled by Islamic law, or Sharia. Its most famous slogan, used worldwide, is: "Islam is the solution."
Paramilitary wing
After Banna launched the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928, branches were set up throughout the country - each running a mosque, a school and a sporting club - and its membership grew rapidly.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionHassan al-Banna was assassinated by an unknown gunman in 1948
By the late 1940s, the group is estimated to have had 500,000 members in Egypt, and its ideas had spread across the Arab world.
At the same time, Banna created a paramilitary wing, the Special Apparatus, whose operatives joined the fight against British rule and engaged in a campaign of bombings and assassinations.
The Egyptian government dissolved the group in late 1948 for attacking British and Jewish interests. Soon afterwards, the group was accused of assassinating Prime Minister Mahmoud al-Nuqrashi.
Banna denounced the killing, but he was subsequently shot dead by an unknown gunman - believed to have been a member of the security forces.
In 1952, colonial rule came to an end following a military coup d'etat led by a group of young officers calling themselves the Free Officers.
The Ikhwan played a supporting role - Anwar al-Sadat, who became president in 1970, was once the Free Officers' liaison with them - and initially co-operated with the new government, but relations soon soured.
After a failed attempt to assassinate President Gamal Abdul Nasser in 1954, the Ikhwan were blamed, banned, and thousands of members imprisoned and tortured. The group continued, however, to grow underground.
This clash with the authorities prompted an important shift in the ideology of the Ikhwan, evident in the writing of one prominent member, Sayyid Qutb.
Qutb's work advocated the use of jihad (struggle) against jahili (ignorant) societies, both Western and so-called Islamic ones, which he argued were in need of radical transformation.
His writings - particularly the 1964 work Milestones - inspired the founders of many radical Islamist groups, including Islamic Jihad and al-Qaeda.
In 1965, the government again cracked down on the Ikhwan, executing Qutb in 1966 and transforming him into a martyr for many people across the region.
Crackdown
During the 1980s, the Ikhwan attempted to rejoin the political mainstream.
Successive leaders formed alliances with the Wafd party in 1984, and with the Socialist Labour Party and the Socialist Liberals Party in 1987, becoming the main opposition force in Egypt. In 2000, the Ikhwan won 17 seats in the lower house of parliament, the People's Assembly.
Media captionWho are the Muslim Brotherhood? Eugene Rogan explains
Five years later, the group achieved its best election result up to then, with independent candidates allied to it winning 20% of the seats.
The result shocked President Hosni Mubarak. The government subsequently launched a crackdown on the Ikhwan, detaining hundreds of members, and instituted a number of legal "reforms" to counter their resurgence.
The constitution was rewritten to stipulate that "political activity or political parties shall not be based on any religious background or foundation"; independent candidates were banned from running for president; and anti-terrorism legislation that gave the security forces sweeping powers to detain suspects and restrict public gatherings was introduced.
At the beginning of 2011, anti-government demonstrations, apparently encouraged by the Tunisian street protests which prompted the sudden departure of Tunisia's President Ben Ali, kicked off across the country.
Though many members of the Ikhwan joined the protests, they maintained a low profile. The group's traditional slogans were not seen in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionThe Ikhwan came to the fore not long after the start of the 2011 revolution
But as the protests grew and the government began to offer concessions, including a promise by Mr Mubarak not to seek re-election in September 2011, Egypt's largest opposition force took a more assertive role.
Rising power
In the first parliamentary elections after Mr Mubarak's overthrow in February 2011, the Ikhwan's newly formed Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) won nearly half the seats in the People's Assembly, eclipsing the earlier performances of independents allied to the movement.
The ultraconservative Salafist Nour party came second, meaning that Islamists controlled 70% of the seats in the lower house. There was a similar outcome from elections for the upper house, the Shura Council.
This allowed the Ikhwan and their allies to control the selection of candidates for the 100-member constituent assembly tasked with drafting Egypt's new constitution, prompting criticism from liberals, secularists, Coptic Christians, young people and women, who complained that the panel did not reflect the diversity of Egyptian society.
Image copyrightAPImage captionPresident Mohammed Morsi alienated allies and ignored rising public discontent
Concerns that the Ikhwan might be seeking to monopolise power were heightened when they announced they would field a candidate in the presidential election, despite having previously promised they would not.
In 2012, the FJP's then chairman, Mohammed Morsi, became Egypt's first democratically elected president. He won 51% of the vote in a deeply polarising run-off against retired air force commander Ahmed Shafiq.
Mr Morsi sought to reassure opponents of the Ikhwan by insisting that as president he wanted to build a "democratic, civil and modern state" that guaranteed the freedom of religion and right to peaceful protest.
Overthrow
Significant public opposition to Mr Morsi and the Ikhwan began building in November 2012.
Image copyrightAPImage captionThe headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood was ransacked by protesters before Mr Morsi was ousted
Wishing to ensure that the constituent assembly could finish drafting the new constitution, the president issued an interim constitutional declaration granting himself far-reaching powers. He agreed to limit the scope of the declaration after days of opposition protests, but there was further outrage at the end of that month when the constituent assembly approved a rushed version of the constitution - despite a boycott by liberals, secularists and the Coptic Church, who said it failed to protect freedom of expression and religion.
As opposition mounted, President Morsi issued a decree authorising the armed forces to protect national institutions and polling places until a referendum on the draft constitution was held in December 2012, which critics said amounted to a form of martial law.
The army returned to barracks after the charter was approved, but within weeks it was forced to deploy in cities along the Suez Canal to halt deadly clashes between opponents and supporters of Mr Morsi and the Ikhwan. At the end of January 2013, the military warned that the political crisis might "lead to a collapse of the state".
In late April, opposition activists set up the grassroots Tamarod (Rebel) protest movement. It focused on collecting signatures for a petition, which complained about Mr Morsi's failure to restore security and fix the economy, and accused him of putting the Brotherhood's interests ahead of the country's as a whole. Tamarod also organised mass protests to mark the first anniversary of the day Mr Morsi took office. On 30 June 2013, millions of people took to the streets to demand his resignation.
Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionThe Ikhwan have vowed that they will refuse to deal with Egypt's interim leaders
The unrest and rising death toll prompted the military to warn Mr Morsi on 1 July that it would intervene and impose its own "roadmap" if he did not satisfy the public's demands within 48 hours and end the political crisis.
On 3 July, the military deployed troops and armoured vehicles in the streets. It declared that the constitution had been suspended and the chief justice of the SCC would assume presidential powers, overthrowing Mr Morsi.
The Ikhwan denounced the "military coup against the elected president and the will of the nation", and vowed that they would refuse to deal with Egypt's interim leaders.
Brotherhood supporters set up protest camps in Nahda Square and near the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque and refused to disband them, despite repeated calls by the interim government.
After weeks of deadlock, hopes rose that the protests would remain peaceful. However, on 14 August security forces swept into the camps and the authorities imposed a state of national emergency.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionMohammed Morsi rejected the authority of the courts to try him
Egypt's former President, Mohamed Morsi, has died while standing trial.
Morsi was overthrown by the military in July 2013 following mass protests, a year after he took office as the country's first democratically elected leader.
A death sentence handed to the 67-year-old was quashed by an appeals court in 2016, but he remained in prison because of convictions on several charges. He was also facing retrials in two cases.
How did he end up in court?
Morsi was a leader of the now-banned Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood. He was elected president a year after an uprising brought an end to Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.
While in power, Morsi was seen by many Egyptians as preoccupied with establishing political control rather than tackling economic and social problems.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionA deadly crackdown followed Morsi's overthrow by the military in 2013
On the first anniversary of his taking office, opponents of Morsi organised demonstrations that saw millions take to the streets to demand his resignation. Three days later, then military chief - and now president - Abdul Fattah al-Sisi overthrew Morsi.
The authorities subsequently launched a crackdown on supporters of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in which hundreds were killed and tens of thousands detained.
Morsi and his top advisers were held incommunicado by the military for several months before prosecutors began filing charges against them. He was first detained at a high-security prison near the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, and then moved to Tora prison outside Cairo.
What was Morsi convicted of?
DETENTION AND TORTURE OF PROTESTERS
Morsi was sentenced to 20 years of hard labour in April 2015 after being found guilty of ordering the unlawful detention and torture of opposition protesters during clashes with Muslim Brotherhood supporters outside the Ittihadiya presidential palace in Cairo in December 2012.
Morsi was, however, cleared of inciting Brotherhood supporters to murder two protesters and a journalist - a charge that could have carried the death penalty.
In October 2016, Egypt's top appeals court, the Court of Cassation, confirmed Morsi's conviction and the 20-year sentence.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionMost of those killed in the clashes outside the Ittihadiya palace were Brotherhood supporters
LEADING AN ILLEGAL GROUP
In June 2015, Morsi was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of "leading a group established against the law" - the Brotherhood - and a further 15 years for "facilitating the leaking of classified documents to Qatar".
Prosecutors alleged that Morsi's aides had been paid $1m (£800,000) to leak documents to Qatari intelligence and the Qatar-owned Al Jazeera TV network that included details on the location of, and weapons held by, the Egyptian armed forces and on Egypt's foreign and domestic policies.
In September 2017, the Court of Cassation acquitted Morsi of facilitating the leaking of classified documents, but upheld the conviction of leading an illegal group and the 25-year sentence.
Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionMohammed Morsi was being detained at Tora prison, in southern Cairo, at the time of his death
INSULTING THE JUDICIARY
Morsi was accused of insulting the judiciary by naming a judge in a public speech and accusing him of overseeing fraud in previous elections
He was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison in December 2017. He was also ordered to pay a $60,000 in compensation to the judge.
What about his other trials?
PRISON BREAKS
In May 2015, Morsi was sentenced to death after being convicted of colluding with foreign militants - from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Lebanon's Shia Islamist Hezbollah movement - to organise a mass prison break during the 2011 uprising.
He was found guilty of the murder and kidnapping of guards, damaging and setting fire to prison buildings, and looting the prison's weapons depot.
In November 2016, the Court of Cassation overturned the conviction and ordered a retrial.
Last December, Morsi faced his predecessor Hosni Mubarak in court, as the latter testified during the retrial. No verdict had been reached before Morsi's death.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionHamas dismissed the claim it had plotted with Morsi and the Brotherhood, calling it a "disgrace"
CONSPIRING WITH FOREIGN ARMED GROUPS
Morsi was also given a life sentence - equivalent to 25 years - in May 2015 after being convicted of conspiring to commit terrorist acts with foreign organisations to undermine national security.
Prosecutors alleged that the Brotherhood had hatched a plan in 2005 to send "elements" to military camps run by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Revolutionary Guards force in Iran.
In November 2016, the Court of Cassation overturned the conviction and ordered a retrial.
Morsi was attending a session of this retrial when he died. The public prosecutor said he had collapsed in the defendants' cage shortly after addressing the court.
What did Morsi say about the trials?
Morsi rejected the authority of the courts.
At the start of his first trial in November 2013, he shouted from the dock that he was the victim of a "military coup".
"I am Egypt's legitimate president. You have no right to conduct a trial into presidential matters," he asserted.
After that, Morsi was forced to sit in soundproof glass cages in courtrooms, which officials said were designed to prevent him disrupting proceedings.
Morsi's supporters said the trials were politically motivated and attempts to give legal cover to a coup.
Human rights activists have said the trials were compromised by due process violations, the appearance of bias, and an absence of conclusive evidence.
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