The Muslim Brotherhood - the near 100-year old Islamist movement and torchbearer of the ‘Arab Spring’ in Egypt is about to get added to the US terror list. But where did it all go wrong?
Founded by Hassan al-Banna in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood is one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements.
Its aim? To herald a healthy, modern Islamic society - one that was resistant to Western colonialism. Because remember, at the time Egypt was a British colony.
Slowly but steadily, the Muslim Brotherhood got involved in politics and for the longest time they divided opinion. Mainly because sometimes they advocated violence, sometimes peace.
In 2011, the Brotherhood finally entered the political mainstream after it played a pivotal role in what was called the ‘Arab Spring’.
The popular uprising against autocratic rulers kicked off in Tunisia but quickly spread to other countries in the region - Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Syria and Yemen.
In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak had ruled as President for 30 years. Fed up with corruption, poverty, and police brutality, hundreds of thousands took to the streets. It was a grassroots movement that mobilised the old and young. And the Muslim Brotherhood saw an opportunity.
They joined the popular uprising, and soon were leading the demand for regime change. The Brotherhood promised a path to democracy, and a constitution that focussed on social and economic reform.
It worked and Hosni was forced to resign after he lost support of the military that kept him in power for 3 decades. The Muslim Brotherhood won the elections that followed, and Mohamed Morsi became Egypt’s first democratically elected President.
But, public perception changed as soon as Morsi presented Egypt’s new Constitution.
Egyptians thought it as too conservative as they felt the laws discriminated against women, secular Egyptians, and the country’s Coptic Christian minority. What made it worse was that Morsi granted himself far-reaching powers.
Furious Egyptians were back on the streets. This time demanding Morsi’s resignation. Brotherhood supporters clashed with these protesters. There was violence everywhere. Eventually, the military stepped in with then-General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi staging a coup with the support of the people.
Unfortunately, the Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters were not willing to take the defeat. A suicide bombing linked to the organisation killed at least 14 people. That’s when Egypt banned the Muslim Brotherhood, and declared it a terrorist group. Many neighbors followed suit, including Saudi Arabia, UAE and Jordan.
And now, the US has initiated the process. The Trump Administration will designate certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as Foreign Terrorist Organisations (FTOs) and specially designated global terrorists.
