STAND WITHABRAHAM

Muslim Brotherhood glossary

Terms explained with sources. We criticise ideologies, never peoples or faiths.

Draft, under review: this content has not yet been approved for publication.

This glossary explains the ideology and methods of the Muslim Brotherhood as an organisation and political movement. It is not about Muslims or Islam. Most Muslims have no link to the Muslim Brotherhood, and many Muslim-majority states ban it. Every entry is sourced.

Sources used - [UKGOV] UK Government, Muslim Brotherhood Review: Main Findings, 17 Dec 2015. Page and PDF - [CFR] Council on Foreign Relations, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood - [BBC] BBC News, Profile: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood - [CEIP05] Carnegie Endowment, Take Advantage of the Brotherhood's Gains (2005) - [CEIP14] Carnegie Endowment, The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's Failures (2014) - [BROOK] Brookings, The Myth of Political Islam has been Exposed in Egypt (2013) - [HAMAS88] Hamas Covenant 1988, English translation, Yale Law School Avalon Project: text - [UAE] WAM, 15 Nov 2014, UAE Cabinet approves list of designated terrorist organisations

Organisation

  1. Ikhwan (al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun): the Arabic name of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hassan al-Banna founded it in Egypt in 1928. It combined preaching, political activism and charity work. [BBC], [CFR]
  2. Supreme Guide (Murshid): the movement's leader. The Egyptian Supreme Guide remained, at least in theory, the spiritual leader of the whole international movement. [UKGOV §8, §12]
  3. Cell structure: from its founding the Muslim Brotherhood organised itself into secretive cells, relying on group solidarity and peer pressure for discipline. The UK review found that this "clandestine, centralised and hierarchical structure persists to this day". [UKGOV §9]
  4. Formation curriculum: an "elaborate induction and education programme" for new members. The UK review found that Sayyid Qutb's ideas "remain central" to it. [UKGOV §9, §16]
  5. International Guidance Bureau: the international network that the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood dominated. Chapters had their own tactics but shared a common ideology. The network helped the movement regroup after setbacks. [UKGOV §12, §15]
  6. Special Apparatus: a paramilitary wing that al-Banna created and which carried out bombings and assassinations in Egypt. [BBC], [UKGOV §16]
  7. Front organisations: public-facing bodies that are not openly identified with the Muslim Brotherhood while membership stays secret. The UK review described this pattern in Britain. [UKGOV §23, §39]
  8. Charity networks: networks of charities that raise funds. The UK review found some were linked to Hamas. [UKGOV §30]
  9. Hamas as the Palestinian branch: Hamas's 1988 charter calls it "one of the wings of Moslem Brotherhood in Palestine", and the UK review notes the Muslim Brotherhood treats it as such. [HAMAS88 Art. 2], [UKGOV §14]

Ideas

  1. Jahiliyya ("ignorance"): Sayyid Qutb applied this term to Western societies and to Muslim societies he considered un-Islamic, and he argued they needed radical transformation. [BBC]
  2. Milestones (1964): Qutb's best-known book, which inspired the founders of groups including al-Qaeda. The UK review found Qutb's views have never been institutionally disowned. [BBC], [UKGOV §16]
  3. Takfir / takfirism: declaring other Muslims to be unbelievers or apostates and existing states to be un-Islamic, used to justify violence. The UK review links Qutb's promotion of this idea to later terrorist groups. [UKGOV §16]
  4. The vanguard: Qutb's idea that a self-appointed elite of "true believers" must lead the creation of an Islamic state. [UKGOV §16]
  5. Islamisation, step by step: the goal of reforming the individual, then society, then the state, ending in a caliphate under sharia law. [UKGOV §8, §39]

Slogans

  1. "Islam is the solution": the Muslim Brotherhood's best-known slogan, which turns complex policy questions into a single religious-political promise. Brotherhood leaders themselves called it "an emotional slogan", and Carnegie concluded that the Brotherhood's time in power in Egypt ended the "utopian idea" behind it. [BBC], [CEIP05], [CEIP14], [BROOK]
  2. "Jihad is its path…": the Hamas charter's motto reads: "Allah is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Koran its constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes." [HAMAS88 Art. 8]
  3. "No solution except through Jihad": the charter rejects negotiations, saying "initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time". Peace agreements like the Abraham Accords contradict this position. [HAMAS88 Art. 13]
  4. "Palestine is an Islamic Waqf": the charter's claim that no part of the land may ever be given up by any leader or state, which rules out compromise. [HAMAS88 Art. 11]

Narrative tactics

  1. Two messages for two audiences: the UK review found "significant differences between Muslim Brotherhood communications in English and Arabic". [UKGOV §39]
  2. Gradualism: preferring non-violent, incremental change "on the grounds of expediency" while being prepared to accept violence "where gradualism is ineffective". [UKGOV §17]
  3. Antisemitic conspiracy theories: the Hamas charter cites the forged "Protocols of the Elders of Zion". The UK review found that senior Muslim Brotherhood figures "routinely use virulent, anti-Semitic language". [HAMAS88 Art. 32], [UKGOV §16]
  4. Denial and victimhood narratives: for example, some leaders claimed the 9/11 attacks were "fabricated by the US" and that the "war on terrorism" was a pretext to attack Muslims. [UKGOV §16]
  5. "The West is hostile": literature that says Western society is inherently hostile to Muslims, so Muslims must keep their distance. This works against integration and coexistence. [UKGOV §34]

Designations (context)

  • UAE: listed the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation on 15 Nov 2014. [UAE]
  • Egypt and Saudi Arabia: CFR notes that Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have labelled the group a terrorist organisation. [CFR]

Balance note: CFR records that the Muslim Brotherhood formally renounced violence in the 1970s and that experts disagree about blanket designations. We report this for accuracy. Our criticism is of the organisation and its ideology, never of Muslims or Islam.