History of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt

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This article refers to the Egyptian organisation called the Muslim Brotherhood; for other organisations that use the same name, see the Muslim Brotherhood article.

1 1928-1938
2 1939-1954
3 1954-present
4 General leaders (G.L) of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt المرشد العام لجماعة الإخوان المسلمون
5 External links
6 See also

[edit] 1928-1938

For details and sources, see the main History of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt (1928-1938) article.

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna, a schoolteacher, to promote a social renewal based on an Islamic ethos of altruism and civic duty, in opposition to political and social injustice and to British imperial rule. The organisation initially focused on educational and charitable work, but quickly grew to become a major political force as well, by championing the cause of disenfranchised classes, playing a prominent role in the Egyptian nationalist movement, and promoting a conception of Islam that attempted to restore broken links between tradition and modernity.

[edit] 1939-1954

For details and sources, see the main History of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt (1939-1954) article.

In response to intense pressure from the Brotherhood's younger members, some historians believe that al-Banna accepted, albeit reluctantly, the creation of its military wing (the "secret apparatus"), but managed to keep it mainly inactive throughout World War II. During the 1940s, the Brotherhood continued to grow rapidly, and is thought to have had over a million members by the end of the decade. After the war, it continued to play a leading role in the nationalist movement, which took on huge proportions. Although the Brotherhood's leaders remained committed to a nonviolent approach, the secret apparatus began to disobey the leadership and carry out terrorist attacks. The organisation's increasing popularity led Egypt's ruling elite (which was still largely under British control) to consider it a threat to their power. As a consequence, al-Banna was assassinated by the police in 1949, and was succeeded by Hassan Isma'il al-Hudaybi, a former judge. Hudaybi attempted to abolish the secret apparatus, but it continued to operate without the leadership's knowledge. The Brotherhood supported the military coup that overthrew the monarchy in 1952, but the junta, though popular at first, was unwilling to share power or lift martial law; it quickly lost its public support, and began to provoke confrontations with the Brotherhood. In 1954, a member of the secret apparatus was accused by the authorities of an assassination attempt on Gamal 'Abd al-Nasser, who then abolished the Brotherhood and imprisoned and punished thousands of its members. Nasser's successor, Anwar Sadat, promised the Brotherhood that shari'a would be implemented as the Egyptian law and released all of the Brotherhood prisoners. However, after Sadat signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1979, the Brotherhood considered him a traitor to the Zionists. As a result, four members of the Brotherhood assassinated Sadat on October 6th, 1981.

[edit] 1954-present

For details and sources, see the main History of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt (1954-present) article.

During Nasser's rule, many members of the Brotherhood were held for years in prisons and concentration camps, where they were systematically tortured. One of these was the writer Sayyid Qutb, who became the Brotherhood's most influential thinker for a time; he argued for a gradual preparation for violent revolution, to overthrow a state that he viewed as anti-Muslim. Qutb was sentenced to death in 1966. Over the next few years, the Brotherhood's leadership distanced itself from his revolutionary ideology, adhering instead to a nonviolent reformist strategy, to which it has remained strongly committed ever since. During the presidency of Anwar al-Sadat, the imprisoned Brothers were gradually released; since then, the organisation has been tolerated to an extent, but remains illegal and is subjected to periodic crackdowns. Osama bin Laden, while studying at a university, became influenced by the brother of Sayyid, Muhammad Qutb, a professor in Egypt.

In the 1970s, a large student Islamic activist movement took shape, independently from the Brotherhood. In the 1980s, during Hosni Mubarak's presidency, many of these activists joined the Brotherhood, enabling it to win a number of elections to the executive boards of prominent professional associations. In order to quell the Brotherhood's renewed influence, the government again resorted to harsh repressive measures starting in 1992. Despite mass arrests, police harassment and an essentially closed political system, Brotherhood candidates have made strong showings in several parliamentary elections. In the past decade, the Brotherhood has made repeated calls for a more democratic political system, and in 2005 it participated in pro-democracy demonstrations with the Kifaya movement.

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 legally approved opposition parties won only 14 seats. This revived the debate within the Egyptian political elite about whether the Brotherhood should remain banned.