Facts
What is the Muslim Brotherhood?
• The Muslim Brotherhood’s goal is to turn the world into a theocratic empire. The Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, is a revolutionary fundamentalist movement to restore the caliphate and strict shariah (Islamist) law in Muslim lands and, ultimately, the world. Today, it has chapters in 80 countries. “It is in the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet.” —Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna1
• The Brotherhood wants America to fall. In 2010 their Supreme Guide told their followers to be “patient” because America “is heading towards its demise.”2
• Western democracy is “corrupt,” “unrealistic,” and “false,” according to former Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Muhammed Mahdi Akef.3
• “[Jihad must be waged against] the Muslim’s real enemies, not only Israel but also the United States. Waging jihad against both of these infidels is a commandment of Allah that cannot be disregarded.”
—Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie, Sept. 20104
• The Brotherhood assassinated Anwar Sadat in 1981 for making peace with Israel.5 It also assassinated Egypt’s prime minister in 1948 and attempted to assassinate President Nasser in 1954.6
• The Brotherhood supports Sudan’s genocidal dictator Omar al-Bashir and has worked against international efforts to bring him to justice. The Brotherhood condemned and called on the world to boycott the International Criminal Court when it accused al-Bashir of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in 2009.7 The Brotherhood’s chapter in Sudan backed al-Bashir as well.8
• The terrorist organization Hamas is a “wing of the Muslim Brotherhood,” according to the Hamas Charter. The Charter calls for the murder of Jews, the “obliteration” of Israel and its replacement with an Islamist theocracy.
• The Brotherhood supports Hezbollah’s war against the Jews. Brotherhood leader Mahdi Akef declared he was “prepared to send 10,000 jihad fighters immediately to fight at the side of Hezbollah” during Hezbollah’s war against Israel in 2006.9
• The Brotherhood glorified Osama bin Laden. Osama is “in all certainty, a mujahid (heroic fighter), and I have no doubt in his sincerity in resisting the occupation, close to Allah on high.”
—Former Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Muhammed Mahdi Akef, Nov. 200710
• The Brotherhood sanctioned suicide bombings against Israeli civilians. “They do not have bombs, so they turn themselves into bombs. This is a necessity.”
—Muslim Brotherhood Spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Dec. 17, 201011
• The Brotherhood supports indiscriminate rocket fire at Israeli civilians.12
• The Brotherhood advocates violence and terrorism: The “change that the [Muslim] nation seeks can only be attained through jihad and sacrifice and by raising a jihadi generation that pursues death just as the enemies pursue life,” said Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie in a September 2010 sermon.13 Major terrorists came out of the Muslim Brotherhood, including bin Laden’s deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (mastermind of the 9/11 attacks).14
• The Brotherhood believes it must acquire weapons of mass destruction. “We must possess… [nuclear, chemical, and biological] weapons in order to strike terror in our enemies… If we had nuclear weapons, they would be afraid to attack us… This is armed peace.”
— Muslim Brotherhood Spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi, 200915
• The Brotherhood advocates a deceptive strategy in democracies: appear moderate and use existing institutions to gain power. “The civilizational-jihadist process…is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house…so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious overall other religions,” reads a US Muslim Brotherhood 1991 document.16 It believes it can conquer Europe peacefully: “After having been expelled twice, Islam will be victorious and reconquer Europe....I am certain that this time, victory will be won not by the sword but by preaching and [Islamic] ideology.” — Muslim Brotherhood Spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi, “Fatwa,” 200317
• The Brotherhood believes in subjugating and segregating women. Their ideal society would include “a campaign against ostentation in dress and loose behavior…segregation of male and female students; private meetings between men and women, unless within the permitted degrees of relationship, to be counted as a crime for which both will be censured…prohibition of dancing and other such pastimes."
—Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna, “Five Tracts”18
• The Brotherhood supports female genital mutilation: “[the Americans] wage war on Muslim leaders, the traditions of its faith and its ideas. They even wage war against female circumcision, a practice current in 36 countries, which has been prevalent since the time of the Pharaohs.”
—Former Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Muhammed Mahdi Akef, 200719
• The Brotherhood will not treat non-Muslim minorities, such as Coptic Christians, as equals. “Allah's word will reign supreme and the infidels' word will be inferior.” —Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Muhammed Badi, Sept. 201020 • “[As] far as the movement is concerned, Israel is a Zionist entity occupying holy Arab and Islamic lands...and we will get rid of it no matter how long it takes.”
—Former Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Muhammed Mahdi Akef, 2005 and 200721
• The Brotherhood has anti-Semitic roots. It supported the Nazis, organized mass demonstrations against the Jews with slogans promoting ethnic cleansing like “Down with the Jews!” and “Jews get out of Egypt and Palestine!” in 1936; carried out a violent pogrom against Egypt’s Jews in November 1945; and made sure that Nazi collaborator and Palestinian Mufti al Husseini was granted asylum in Egypt in 1946.22
• The Brotherhood remains virulently anti-Semitic. “Today the Jews are not the Israelites praised by Allah, but the descendants of the Israelites who defied His word. Allah was angry with them and turned them into monkeys and pigs….There is no doubt that the battle in which the Muslims overcome the Jews [will come]....In that battle the Muslims will fight the Jews and kill them."
—Muslim Brotherhood Spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi23
• The Brotherhood’s Arabic language website contains blatantly anti-Semitic articles.24
The Brotherhood attempted to exploit the Arab Spring to dramatically increase its political power in the Middle East. The Brotherhood became a leading political force in Egypt, before being overthrown.
• When the Egyptian Revolution first broke out in January, 2011 the Brotherhood kept a relatively low profile. In June, 2011 the Brotherhood founded the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) to run in parliamentary elections, but promised not to field a presidential candidate. The FJP surprised many by winning 38% of the seats, making it the largest party in the government.25
• In 2012 the Brotherhood broke its promise and nominated Mohamed Morsi to run for president. Morsi won the presidential election in June, 2012.26
• The Brotherhood quickly expanded its power at the expense of the military, which dominated Egyptian politics for 60 years. In August, 2012 Morsi ordered the defense minister and chief of staff to retire and changed the constitution to give himself many new presidential powers.27
• President Morsi and the current leader of the Brotherhood are anti-Semites. During a 2010 speech Morsi said, “we must… nurse our children and grandchildren on hatred [of]… Zionists and Jews,” and Brotherhood chief Mohammed Badie was quoted in Al-Ahram saying, “the Jews have… spread corruption on earth, spilled the blood of believers, and… profaned the holy places…”28
• The Brotherhood discriminated against Egypt’s women and Coptic Christians. The Brotherhood’s stated position is that Copts and women are “unsuitable” to be nominated for president in Egypt. President Morsi has suggested that people who publicly convert from Islam to another religion and attempt to convert others should be executed. According to some reports he also stated that he will make Christians, “convert to Islam, pay [tribute],…or emigrate.” Morsi also broke his promise to appoint a women and a Christian as vice presidents, choosing Islamist Mahmoud Mekki instead. Sectarian clashes between Muslims and Christians grew more violent after the Brotherhood’s rise to power.29
• President Morsi’s government was overthrown by the Egyptian military in 2013, after millions of Egyptians took to the streets to demand his resignation.
Sources:
1 Jewish Virtual Library, “Terrorism: Muslim Brotherhood,” at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-muslim-brotherhood 2 Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Muhammad Badi, "How Islam Confronts the Oppression and Tyranny,” Sermon, Sept. 2010, translated at MEMRI at http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4650.htm 3 Cited in Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi, “The Muslim Brotherhood: A Moderate Islamic Alternative to al-Qaeda or a Partner in Global Jihad?” Jerusalem Viewpoints, Nov. 1, 2007, at http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=2&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=443&PI D=0&IID=1920&TTL=The_Muslim_Brotherhood:_A_Moderate_Islamic_Alternative_to_alQaeda_or_a_Partn er_in_Global_Jihad? 4 Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Muhammad Badi, "How Islam Confronts the Oppression and Tyranny,” Sermon, Sept. 2010, translated at MEMRI at http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4650.htm 5Andrew C. McCarthy, “Fear the Muslim Brotherhood,” National Review, Jan. 31, 2011, at http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/print/258419 6 Dore Gold, “The Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Crisis,” Jerusalem Issues Briefs, Feb. 2, 2011, at http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID =5953 7 Muslim Brotherhood, “MB All Over the World Condemn Decision to Arrest Al-Bashir,” Ikhwanweb, March 7, 2009, at http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=19497&ref=search.php 8 Muslim Brotherhood, “Strong MB presence in Sudanese election.” Ikhwanweb, February 17, 2010, at http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=23226 9 Cited in Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi, “The Muslim Brotherhood: A Moderate Islamic Alternative to al-Qaeda or a Partner in Global Jihad?” Jerusalem Viewpoints, Nov. 1, 2007, at http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=2&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=443&PI D=0&IID=1920&TTL=The_Muslim_Brotherhood:_A_Moderate_Islamic_Alternative_to_alQaeda_or_a_Partn er_in_Global_Jihad? 10 Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi, “Where is The Muslim Brotherhood Headed?” Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, June 20, 2012, at http://jcpa.org/the-muslim-brotherhood-a-moderate-islamic-alternativeto-al-qaeda-or-a-partner-in-global-jihad/ 11 Interview with leading Sunni scholar Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi, on Al-Hayat 2 TV on December 17, 2010, translated at MEMRI at http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/2731.htm 12 Muslim Brotherhood, “86 Qassam rockets launched and 18 [Zionists] wounded in two days,” Ikhwanonline, June, 21, 2012, at http://www.ikhwanonline.com/new/Article.aspx?ArtID=112198&SecID=0; Samer Ismail, “Million dollars for the protection of the Zionists [from] the resistance missiles,” Ikhwanonline, April 9, 2011, http://www.ikhwanonline.com/new/Article.aspx?ArtID=90520&SecID=0 13 Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Muhammad Badi, "How Islam Confronts the Oppression and Tyranny,” Sermon, Sept. 2010, translated at MEMRI at http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4650.htm 14 Dore Gold, “The Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Crisis,” Jerusalem Issues Briefs, Feb. 2, 2011, at http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID =5953 15 MEMRI, “Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi Sermon on Qatar TV: The Arabs Must Obtain, But Not Use, Weapons of Mass Destruction,” March 26, 2009, at http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/3208.htm 16 Steven Merly, “The Muslim Brotherhood in the United States,” Current Trends, April 2009, at http://www.currenttrends.org/docLib/20090411_Merley.USBROTHERHOOD.pdf 17 Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, “Fatwa,” 2003, translated at Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi, “The Muslim Brotherhood: A Moderate Islamic Alternative to al-Qaeda or a Partner in Global Jihad?” Jerusalem Viewpoints, Nov. 1, 2007, at http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=2&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=443&PI D=0&IID=1920&TTL=The_Muslim_Brotherhood:_A_Moderate_Islamic_Alternative_to_alQaeda_or_a_Partn er_in_Global_Jihad? 18 "Toward the Light" in Five Tracts of Hasan al-Banna, trans. by Charles Wendell (Berkeley, 1978), ISBN 0520-09584-7 pp.126 19 Cited in Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi, “The Muslim Brotherhood: A Moderate Islamic Alternative to al-Qaeda or a Partner in Global Jihad?” Jerusalem Viewpoints, Nov. 1, 2007, at http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=2&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=443&PI D=0&IID=1920&TTL=The_Muslim_Brotherhood:_A_Moderate_Islamic_Alternative_to_alQaeda_or_a_Partn er_in_Global_Jihad 20 Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Muhammad Badi, "How Islam Confronts the Oppression and Tyranny,” Sermon, Sept. 2010, translated at MEMRI at http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4650.htm 21 Cited in Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi, “The Muslim Brotherhood: A Moderate Islamic Alternative to al-Qaeda or a Partner in Global Jihad?” Jerusalem Viewpoints, Nov. 1, 2007, at
http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=2&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=443&PI D=0&IID=1920&TTL=The_Muslim_Brotherhood:_A_Moderate_Islamic_Alternative_to_alQaeda_or_a_Partn er_in_Global_Jihad 22 Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi, “Where is The Muslim Brotherhood Headed?” Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, June 20, 2012, at http://jcpa.org/the-muslim-brotherhood-a-moderate-islamic-alternativeto-al-qaeda-or-a-partner-in-global-jihad/ 23 Cited in Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi, “The Muslim Brotherhood: A Moderate Islamic Alternative to al-Qaeda or a Partner in Global Jihad?” Jerusalem Viewpoints, Nov. 1, 2007, at http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=2&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=443&PI D=0&IID=1920&TTL=The_Muslim_Brotherhood:_A_Moderate_Islamic_Alternative_to_alQaeda_or_a_Partn er_in_Global_Jihad 24 Ismail Ali Mohamed, “Jewish ethics as laid out by the teachings of the Old Testament and the Talmud,” Ikhwanonline, Octuber 20, 2010, at http://www.ikhwanonline.com/new/Article.aspx?ArtID=72477&SecID=0 25 Jewish Virtual Library, “The Muslim Brotherhood,” n.d., at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/muslimbrotherhood.html; Jasmine Coleman and agencies, “Egypt election results show firm win for Islamists,” The Guardian, January 21, 2012, at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/21/egypt-election-clear-islamist-victory; 26 David D. Kirpatrick, “In Egypt, Declaration of Winner in Presidential Contest Is Said to Be Near,” New York Times, June 23, 2012, at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/world/middleeast/in-egypt-hints-of-an-accordbetween-muslim-brotherhood-and-the-generals.html?pagewanted=all 27 Roi Kais and AP, “Morsi fires Tantawi; expands presidential powers,” Ynet News, August 12, 2012, at http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4267633,00.html 28 MEMRI, “Egypt’s Morsi in 2010: Obama Insincere; we must nurse our children and grandchildren on hatred of Jews,” YouTube, January 16,2013, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCopdzv29WY; Elhanan Miller, “’Holy Jihad’ is the only way to deal with Israel, says Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood chief,” Times of Israel, October 11, 2012, at http://www.timesofisrael.com/holy-jihad-is-the-only-way-to-deal-with-israel-saysegypts-muslim-brotherhood-chief/ 29 Raymond Ibrahim, “Christians Should ‘Convert, Pay Tribute, or Leave’ Says Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Candidate?” Gatestone Institute, May 30, 2012, at http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3083/egypt-christiansconvert-pay-tribute-leave; MEMRI, “Mohamed Morsi during Egyptian Presidential Elections Campaign: Conversion of Religion Is Allowed If Not Done in Public,” May 19, 2012, at http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/3528.htm; Mounir Adib Mohamed Talaat Dawod Hany ElWaziry, “Muslim Britherhood member: Copts and women ‘unsuitable for presidency,’” Egypt Independent, February 20, 2011, at http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/muslim-brotherhood-member-copts-and-women-unsuitablepresidency; Elder of Ziyon, “Morsi appoints Islamist VP, breaking election promist,” August 14, 2012, at http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2012/08/morsi-appoints-islamist-vp-breaking.html; Reuters, JPost Staff, “Coptic Church head slams Egypt’s new government,” Jerusalem Post, August 4, 2012, at http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=280041