Origins of the Muslim Brotherhood

Following the french expedition to egypt in 1798 the centuries-old distribution of power in the middle east was turned upside down as european supremacy grew a group of egyptian intellectuals banded together and formed a reactionary movement called the muslim brotherhood they aimed to reform society without surrendering religious customs

And what ensued was an intellectual battle for national identity that quickly transformed into an armed resistance so let’s talk about the origins of the muslim brotherhood i’m your host shirvan and welcome to caspian report today’s episode is made possible by nordvpn if you want to reduce your digital footprint check out nordvpn

It’s affordable user friendly and it works on mobile devices as well go to nordvpn.com caspian report and use the promo code casper report to get a discount on the premium version having dislodged the ottomans from egypt it was clear that the powerhouses of europe had the upper hand in terms of

Science military prosperity governance pretty much every category imaginable over the course of the 19th century as the footprint of britain and france expanded across the middle east ancient borders were redrawn communities were relocated and some segments of muslim societies took up newly crafted identities simultaneously new ideas inspired by european practices

Surfaced across the islamic world including nationalism secularism capitalism and so on nowhere was this influence more felt than in egypt from the perspective of the europeans their activities were not out of the ordinary the distribution of power and influence had always been a back and forth

Trade but from the point of view of the local muslim communities they were under siege by european civilization as such reactionary movements emerged that sought to reform islamic societies without abandoning their traditions it was a confusing time where contradictory practices and customs struggled for ideological dominance on the one hand there were european

Concepts such as liberalism humanism modernity etc on the other side were islamic intellectuals who argued for reform without surrendering their religious virtues both sides wanted to change and the result was an intellectual battle for identity it is in this upsetting environment that many religious dogmas developed including pan-islamism salafism wahhabism

Etc one of the champions in these ideological encounters was jamaladin alefkani a revolutionary scholar from afghanistan who had served as an advisor to kings and sultans alike his ideas argued for modern governments that were accountable and governed according to the rule of law el afghani took a strong stance against corruption

And wherever he went he stirred up the public’s imagination though he was unsuccessful in his venture the influence of elephanti went well beyond national borders and even time his work strongly influenced the succeeding generation of islamic reactionary factions scholars and activists among them was hassan al-banna from egypt through a series of

Unforeseen events he would establish one of the earliest reactionary groups called the muslim brotherhood but before we go any further with the endeavors of albana we need to look at the precarious situation of his time sitting at the epicenter of revolution egypt was a country torn by change britain and france had far-reaching

Interests in egypt because they were working to connect the mediterranean to the red sea by constructing a canal across the suez region it was a colossal project one that required british and french business tycoons lawmakers technocrats engineers and so on to attend onsite a wave of european immigrants

Flocked to the suez region whereby the technicians brought their families with them over time as the suas canal was being constructed a unique communal situation emerged on the ground new towns had been set up to accommodate the workers including the facilities that come with urban life however these towns were segregated one

Side of the canal had a european culture with luxurious housing cafeterias theaters etc the other side meanwhile retained its islamic character with bazaars tea shops barber houses etc though poverty was widespread this segregated state of affairs lasted well after the completion of the suez canal when the canal opened for business

In 1869 the french and british communities stayed on site they had grown a liking to their life in egypt for the egyptians the circumstances had become less favorable nearly all commercial vessels preferred to do their business in the european towns which left the parallel egyptian towns

Out of the loop still worse with the opening of the suas canal there was no longer a need for a large egyptian workforce thus the egyptian towns along the suez drowned in poverty unemployment and misery the only way to escape their desolation was to assimilate in either french or english

As such some segments of the egyptian communities abandoned their indigenous culture and desperately tried to learn foreign languages morals and customs the prize for assimilating into a european culture was to become a second-tier subject in the british french towns hassan al-banna lived in one such poverty-stricken egyptian town by the suez

And he witnessed firsthand how distinctly different the european and islamic civilizations were and how his fellow egyptians turned their backs on their islamic heritage the scene was humiliating deeply so albana took personal offense to the decay of egyptian culture so in 1927 he established a primary school in a suez town

Called ismailia there albana educated egyptian kids about their history heritage and faith he lectured about cultural colonialism foreign influence injustice and so on the point was to teach the future generation about self-respect and dignity and much of the curriculum was inspired by the previous generation of islamic scholars including jamal din alefkani the

Lecturers of albana were so gripping that teenagers and their fathers started dropping in as well the attendance got so big that albana began offering evening programs for adults and renamed his school as the muslim brotherhood from 1928 onwards the group grew larger still soon enough the muslim brotherhood

Opened new centers along the suez by the 1930s the brotherhood had grown into a nationwide fraternity for men with thousands of loyal educated and capable members across egypt it wasn’t long until the muslim brotherhood moved into the political arena and declared the westernized elite in cairo

And alexandria as the primary foe of the country what’s more since the westernized egyptian elite espoused secularism and nationalism these two ideas were viewed as incompatible with islam instead al-banna and his followers preached for pan-islamism where they called for islamic solidarity and unity this was a powerful message especially

Since the ottoman empire had collapsed only a few years earlier so there was a yearning for some sort of islamic unity and al bana’s muslim brotherhood spoke to that passion going by this narrative the brotherhood viewed the space extending from libya to syria as a singular entity and they called on other

Pan-islamic groups to forge similar designs at around the same time that the muslim brotherhood was taking shape much of the world was going through its own revolutionary phase the united states was struggling to keep afloat during the great depression the nazis were taking over the government in germany

And stalin was cementing his hold on the soviet union outside of egypt nobody had ever heard of the muslim brotherhood that world view started to change from 1946 onwards members of the brotherhood took up arms and started armed operations against british interests with the goal being to expel the colonial role in egypt

Meanwhile as westernization and industrialization continued across the country the egyptian working class kept on growing in turn more egyptians turned to the muslim brotherhood for guidance it is estimated that in 1948 the brotherhood had over 2 000 local branches and roughly half a million members and sympathizers they had constructed schools

Hospitals pharmacies mosques all over egypt and their esteem had flourished as a result so the muslim brotherhood was by no means just a militant group its growth represented a cultural battle for the soul of egypt navigating through this cultural minefield was hazardous and albana believed that his organization had to prepare

For the battle to come they inscribed the motto preparer in their code of arms and condemned ideas such as secularism and nationalism sensing conflict on the horizon the egyptian prime minister mahmoud al-nurashi pasha officially disbanded the brotherhood in 1948 impounded its assets and detained many of its core

Members however in the same year a member of the brotherhood gunned down the gunman likely acted on his own because al-banna immediately condemned the assassination however at the time the situation was extraordinarily tense because egypt had joined the arab league in the war against israel so the cairo government would indulge

No second guessing and retaliated by assassinating the founder al-bana king farooq had lured albana into the open by promising a peaceful resolution only for albana to be gunned down in the street it was a major loss for the muslim brotherhood but the act triggered a nationwide insurgency

In the next few years the muslim brotherhood mobilized its members to overthrow the monarchy and government with open rebellion in the streets of the capital be that as in may neither side had the decisive upper hand by 1952 the muslim brotherhood switched tactics and conspired with an elite group of egyptian military officers

To overthrow the monarchy the execution was near flawless and the constitutional monarchy of king farooq was abolished egypt declared itself a republic britain left the area and the leading officer muhammad nagib became its president as soon as the military officers settled into power they turned against each other gamal abdul nasir

Accused muhammad nageeb of sympathizing with the muslim brotherhood and forced him to resign from the presidency in 1954 nasser was then sworn in as the new president while delivering a speech in alexandria which was being broadcast to the arab world by radio a gunman of the muslim brotherhood fired shots at nasr

But all missed him panic broke out among the audience but nasser maintained his posture and reassured the public of his commitment and resolve all this happened while the radio broadcast was still on air it was a stunning display of courage and it propelled nasr to the forefront of the entire arab world

With the egyptian public sympathizing with nasr the new president abolished the muslim brotherhood and imprisoned thousands of its members this act nearly destroyed the brotherhood as a functioning organization foreign [Applause] foreign it wasn’t until the 1970s that the group made a comeback when they assassinated egypt’s third president anwar sadat the cairo government

Retaliated for the assassination but during this period the muslim brotherhood became somewhat of a covert tool for the government’s domestic policies whenever cairo needed to silence someone or make people disappear they called in the brotherhood this newfound relationship between the kaio government and the muslim brotherhood remained an uneasy balance

Over the decades the two would occasionally hit back at each other only for the other to retaliate military officers were assassinated brotherhood members were held for trial and executed and so on eventually though the armed ethos of the muslim brotherhood underwent a fundamental change to regain the trust

And confidence of the egyptian public the brotherhood started adapting a policy of non-violence as a means to achieve its goals violence was only used for defensive purposes not to overthrow the government not everyone agreed with the non-violence policy and some core members parted ways and organized new splinter groups

That carried on the armed struggle one such splinter group was hamas now active in the gaza strip overall though the bulk of the muslim brotherhood remained faithful to the non-violence policy using violence only to defend themselves over the next few decades as the cairo government became increasingly authoritarian in its pursuits political opposition

Found a safe haven among the muslim brotherhood so by the 1980s during the reign of hosni mubarak the brotherhood had reinvented itself as an umbrella institution for political opposition public sympathy towards the organization grew drastically by the turn of the millennium it was experiencing a revival in egypt

This change in public sentiment is what allowed the muslim brotherhood to claim power in 2011 when it won several elections in egypt including the 2012 presidential election as a member of the muslim brotherhood muhammad morsi became egypt’s first president to gain power through an election though

A year later he was overthrown by the military following massive demonstrations in cairo today the muslim brotherhood is once again outlawed in egypt and some of its affiliate divisions in the arab world are banned as well still with millions of members across the middle east the pan-islamic message of the muslim brotherhood

Continues to resonate far beyond its indigenous base of operations i’ve been your host shirvan from caspian report if you enjoyed this video leave a comment like and subscribe thank you for watching and saaho you

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