Muslim Brotherhood
ERC, PSC and Comuns oppose combating political Islam in the European Parliament.
Who is Fatiha El Mouali, much more than the helpless immigrant from the newspaper ARA
Austria prepares to ban Muslim Brotherhood political Islam
Germany prevents civil servant from being a civil servant due to ties with the Muslim Brotherhood
An official Austrian report accuses the Muslim Brotherhood of wanting to transform democracy from within.
The foundation that manages the Barcelona Office of Religious Affairs paid €175 to denounce Islamophobia
The Generalitat trains teachers with an Islamic preacher who denies Western equality between men and women
The University of Strasbourg paid the lawyers of a student who had denounced a researcher critical of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Germany's intelligence service warns of the infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood into institutions and parties.
Sweden stops using the term “Islamophobia” because it considers that it protects Islam from legitimate criticism.
ERC, PSC and Comuns oppose combating political Islam in the European Parliament.
Who is Fatiha El Mouali, much more than the helpless immigrant from the newspaper ARA
Austria prepares to ban Muslim Brotherhood political Islam
Germany prevents civil servant from being a civil servant due to ties with the Muslim Brotherhood
An official Austrian report accuses the Muslim Brotherhood of wanting to transform democracy from within.
The foundation that manages the Barcelona Office of Religious Affairs paid €175 to denounce Islamophobia
The Generalitat trains teachers with an Islamic preacher who denies Western equality between men and women
The University of Strasbourg paid the lawyers of a student who had denounced a researcher critical of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Germany's intelligence service warns of the infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood into institutions and parties.
Sweden stops using the term “Islamophobia” because it considers that it protects Islam from legitimate criticism.
A survey in Germany reveals that almost half of young Muslims hold Islamist views.
France issues a warrant for the arrest of the Muslim Brotherhood's leader in Europe, Tariq Ramadan
What are the Muslim Brothers?
History of the Muslim Brothers
The Muslim Brotherhood is an Islamist movement founded in Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna. Its main objective is to organise society in accordance with an interpretation of Islam that integrates religion, politics and social life within a single ideological framework.
The movement argues that Islam is not merely a private faith but a comprehensive system that should regulate education, law, the economy and government. For this reason, the Muslim Brotherhood promotes political participation, social activism and religious preaching as ways to gradually transform society.
Over time, the movement has spread to many countries in the Islamic world and also to the West, often through cultural, educational or charitable associations. Although they share a common ideology, their organisations operate differently depending on the political context of each country.
Why it is necessary to analyse them
The Muslim Brothers constitute one of the most influential Islamist movements of the 20th and 21st centuries, but also one of the most ambiguous. Often They present themselves as a moderate religious organisation, committed to peaceful change and democratic participation, especially when acting in Western contexts.. However, official reports such as that of the UK Government They reveal a much more complex and problematic reality, marked by a profoundly transformative ideological project, an instrumental relationship with democracy and a persistent ambiguity regarding violence.
Hierarchy of the Muslim Brothers
The hierarchy of the Muslim Brotherhood is a central element of its functioning and explains much of its capacity for resistance, adaptation and influence. From its inception, the movement has been organised as a pyramidal structure, with a clear separation between the leadership and the rank and file, and with internal mechanisms designed to ensure obedience, ideological cohesion and discipline. This hierarchy is not only administrative but also doctrinal, as the leadership controls the interpretation of political Islam that the movement conveys to its members, limiting any internal dissent.
One of the most salient features of this hierarchy is its opaque and semi-clandestine character. Full membership of the movement requires a lengthy process of training and selection, structured in different levels of commitment, during which the candidate progressively absorbs the doctrine and internal rules. This system of cells and degrees of initiation makes it difficult to identify formal members and allows the movement to deny public responsibility when it is convenient, especially in Western contexts where transparency is a democratic requirement.
Finally, the hierarchical structure of the Muslim Brotherhood fosters a logic of loyalty to the movement above civic or national loyalties. The figure of the supreme leader and the governing bodies acquire a moral authority that transcends state borders, which facilitates international coordination but also generates tensions with the states in which they operate. This hierarchical, rigid and ideologically closed model contrasts with the principles of pluralism, open debate and accountability inherent in liberal democracies, and constitutes one of the main points of concern highlighted by various official reports.
The Muslim Brothers in Catalonia
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Democracy as an instrument, not as a value
The Muslim Brotherhood's relationship with democracy is not based on adherence to its fundamental principles, but on a strategic use of its mechanisms. The movement accepts elections, parliaments and participatory processes when these allow it to advance its ideological project, but does not embrace democracy as a value system based on pluralism, popular sovereignty or equality of rights. In its view, ultimate legitimacy does not derive from the will of the citizens, but from the conformity of laws and institutions to a particular interpretation of Islam.
This instrumental conception of democracy became particularly evident during the Muslim Brotherhood's experience in power in Egypt between 2011 and 2013. Although they had come to government through elections, the movement did not demonstrate a clear willingness to govern for the whole of society or to respect institutional balances. Political and constitutional decisions prioritised the consolidation of their ideological project and control of the State, generating growing social mistrust and polarisation that ultimately eroded their popular support.
Far from undertaking a deep self-criticism after the failure of this phase, the Muslim Brotherhood's leadership interpreted the loss of power as an injustice imposed from outside. This victim narrative allowed the movement to avoid a review of its approach to democracy and to reinforce the idea that democratic processes are only valid so long as they do not contradict its ultimate objectives. This attitude confirms that, for the Muslim Brothers, democracy is not an end in itself but a contingent means subordinate to a pre-existing political and religious project.
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