Muslim Brotherhood is one of the most influential political and religious movements in the Middle East. The brotherhood calls for Muslim nations to establish governments based on Islamic principles. It rejects secularism—that is, the separation of politics from religion. In Arabic, it is known as the Ikhwān al-Muslimūn.
Hasan al-Bannā, an Egyptian teacher, founded the brotherhood in 1928. He saw European colonialism in Egypt and the Middle East as corrupting Muslim society and politics. He hoped to use Islamic ideals to reorganize society and develop modern Egypt. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, the movement spread throughout North Africa and into Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria.
During the 1940’s, some brotherhood members began to push for a more aggressive approach to establishing Islamic governments. In 1948, a member of the brotherhood assassinated Egyptian Prime Minister Mahmud Nuqrashi, who had banned the movement. In 1954, another member fired a gun at Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser in what may have been an assassination attempt, and the government arrested many members. In 1966, Egypt hanged the movement’s best-known writer and activist, Sayyid Qutb. Qutb’s ideas still influence many radical Muslims. See Qutb, Sayyid.
The brotherhood in Syria launched an uprising against the secular government in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. In 1982, the uprising ended when government forces killed at least 10,000 people in the brotherhood’s stronghold of Hama, Syria.
The status of the brotherhood varies from country to country. In Syria, brotherhood membership is a crime punishable by death or imprisonment. In contrast, Jordan’s brotherhood has been a part of mainstream politics since it was established in the 1940’s, and its members have served as cabinet ministers. In 2006, Hamas, a Palestinian organization that grew out of the brotherhood, won elections in the Palestinian territories. Despite its popularity in Egypt, the brotherhood is banned there and considered a terrorist organization.
