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The Society of the Muslim Brothers (Arabic: جماعة الإخوان المسلمين, الإخوان المسلمون, the Muslim Brotherhood, transliterated: al-ʾIkḫwān al-Muslimūn) is one of the Arab world's oldest, most influential and one of the largest Islamic movements, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. Founded in Egypt in 1928[1] as a Pan-Islamic, religious, political, and social movement by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna,[2][3][4][5] by the end of World War II the Muslim Brotherhood had an estimated two million members.[6] Its ideas had gained supporters throughout the Arab world and influenced other Islamist groups with its "model of political activism combined with Islamic charity work".[7]
The Brotherhood's stated goal is to instill the Qur'an and Sunnah as the "sole reference point for ...ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community ... and state." The movement is known for engaging in political violence, claiming responsibility for the installation of Hamas.[8] Muslim Brotherhood members are suspected to have assassinated political opponents like Egyptian Prime MinisterMahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha.[7][8][9]
The Muslim Brotherhood started as a religious social organization; preaching Islam, teaching the illiterate, setting up hospitals and even launching commercial enterprises. As it continued to rise in influence, starting in 1936, it began to oppose British rule in Egypt.[10] Many Egyptian nationalists accuse the Muslim Brotherhood of violent killings during this period.[11] After the Arab defeat in the First Arab-Israeli war, the Egyptian government dissolved the organization and arrested its members.[10] It supported the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, but after an attempted assassination of Egypt's president it was once again banned and repressed.[12] The Muslim Brotherhood has been suppressed in other countries as well, most notably in Syria in 1982 during the Hama massacre.[13]
The Muslim Brotherhood is financed by contributions from its members, who are required to allocate a portion of their income to the movement. Some of these contributions are from members who work in Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich countries
The Brotherhood's credo was and is, "Allah is our objective; the Quran is our law, the Prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations."[15][16] The submission of the brotherhood's members under these credo accords to their absolute obedience to the muslim brotherhood's leadership.[17] The Brotherhood's English language website describes the principles of the Muslim Brotherhood as including firstly the introduction of the Islamic Sharia as "the basis for controlling the affairs of state and society" and secondly, work to unify "Islamic countries and states, mainly among the Arab states, and liberating them from foreign imperialism".[18]
According to a spokesman, the Muslim Brotherhood believe in reform, democracy, freedom of assembly, press, etc.
We believe that the political reform is the true and natural gateway for all other kinds of reform. We have announced our acceptance of democracy that acknowledges political pluralism, the peaceful rotation of power and the fact that the nation is the source of all powers. As we see it, political reform includes the termination of the state of emergency, restoring public freedoms, including the right to establish political parties, whatever their tendencies may be, and the freedom of the press, freedom of criticism and thought, freedom of peaceful demonstrations, freedom of assembly, etc. It also includes the dismantling of all exceptional courts and the annulment of all exceptional laws, establishing the independence of the judiciary, enabling the judiciary to fully and truly supervise general elections so as to ensure that they authentically express people's will, removing all obstacles that restrict the functioning of civil society organizations, etc.[19]
Its founder, Hassan Al-Banna, was influenced by Islamic reformers Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida, with the group itself being influenced by both Sufism[20][21] and Salafism.[22] In the group's belief, the Quran and Sunnah constitute a perfect way of life and social and political organization that God has set out for man. Islamic governments must be based on this system and eventually unified in a Caliphate. The Muslim Brotherhood's goal, as stated by Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna was to reclaim Islam's manifest destiny, an empire, stretching from Spain to Indonesia.[23] It preaches that Islam enjoins man to strive for social justice, the eradication of poverty and corruption, and political freedom to the extent allowed by the laws of Islam. The Brotherhood strongly opposes Western colonialism, and helped overthrow the pro-western monarchies in Egypt and other Muslim countries during the early 20th century.
On the issue of women and gender the Muslim Brotherhood interprets Islam conservatively. Its founder called for "a campaign against ostentation in dress and loose behavior", "segregation of male and female students", a separate curriculum for girls, and "the prohibition of dancing and other such pastimes ... "[24]
The Muslim Brotherhood is a movement, not a political party, but members have created political parties in several countries, such as the Islamic Action Front in Jordan and Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank and the newly created Freedom and Justice Party in Egypt. These parties are staffed by Brotherhood members but kept independent from the Muslim Brotherhood to some degree, unlike Hizb ut-Tahrir which is highly centralized.[25]
There are breakaway groups from the movement, including the Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya and Al Takfir Wal Hijra.[26]Osama bin Laden criticized the Brotherhood, and accused it of betraying jihad and the ideals of Sayyid Qutb, an influential Brother member and author of Milestones.[27][28]
Organization
From the Transcripts[29] the following hierarchical Organisation structure can be derived:
- The Shura Council has the duties of planning, charting general policies and programs that achieve the goal of the Group. Its resolutions are binding to the Group and only the General Organisational Conference can modify or annul them and the Shura Office has also the right to modify or annul resolutions of the Executive Office. It follows the implementation of the Group policies and programs. It directs the Executive Office and it forms dedicated branch committees to assist in that.[30]
- Executive Office (Guidance Office) with its leader the General Masul (General Guide) and its members, both appointed by the Shura Office, has to follow up and guide the activities of the General Organisation. It submits a periodical report to the Shura Council about its work and of the activity of the domestic bodies and the general organisations. It distributes its duties to its members according to the internal by-laws.
It has the following divisions (not complete): – Executive leadership – Organizational office – Secretariat general – Educational office – Political office – Sisters office
The Muslim Brotherhood aimed to build a transnational organization, founding groups in Lebanon (in 1936), Syria (1937), and Transjordan (1946). It also recruited among the foreign students in Cairo where its headquarters became a center and meeting place for representatives from the whole Muslim world.[citation needed]
In each country there is a Branch committee with a Masul (leader) appointed by the General Executive leadership with essentially the same Branch-divisions as the Executive office has. To the duties of every branch belong fundraising, infiltrating and overtaking other Muslim organisations for the sake of uniting the Muslims to dedicate them to the general goals of the Muslim Brotherhood.
In Egypt
Main article: Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt
Founding
Hassan al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood in the city of Ismailia in March 1928 along with six workers of the Suez Canal Company, as a Pan-Islamic, religious, political, and social movement. The Suez Canal Company helped Banna build the mosque in Ismailia that would serve as the Brotherhood's headquarters, according to Richard Mitchell's The Society of Muslim Brothers.[31] According to al-Banna, contemporary Islam had lost its social dominance, because most Muslims had been corrupted by Western influences. Sharia law based on the Qur'an and the Sunnah were seen as laws passed down by God that should be applied to all parts of life, including the organization of the government and the handling of everyday problems.[citation needed]
Al-Banna was populist in his message of protecting workers against the tyranny of foreign and monopolist companies. It founded social institutions such as hospitals, pharmacies, schools, etc. Al-Banna held highly conservative views on issues such as women's rights, opposing equal rights for women, but supporting the establishment of justice towards women.[24] The Brotherhood grew rapidly going from 800 members in 1936, to 200,000 by 1938, 500,000 in 1948.
Post WWII
In November 1948, following several bombings and assassination attempts, the Egyptian government arrested 32 leaders of the Brotherhood's "secret apparatus" and banned the Brotherhood.[32] At this time the Brotherhood was estimated to have 2000 branches and 500,000 members or sympathizers.[33] In succeeding months Egypt's prime minister was assassinated by a Brotherhood member, and following that Al-Banna himself was assassinated in what is thought to be a cycle of retaliation.
In 1952, members of the Muslim Brotherhood were accused of taking part in the Cairo Fire that destroyed some "750 buildings" in downtown Cairo – mainly night clubs, theatres, hotels, and restaurants frequented by British and other foreigners.[34]
In 1952 Egypt's monarchy was overthrown by nationalist military officers supported by the Brotherhood. However the Brotherhood opposed the secularist constitution of the coup leaders and in 1954 some historians claim they attempted to assassinate Egypt's President (Gamal Abdel Nasser), and blame it on the "secret apparatus" of the Brotherhood (this attempt was unsuccessful). The Brotherhood was again banned and this time thousands of its members were imprisoned, many being tortured and held for years in prisons and concentration camps.
Since the 1970s the Egyptian Brotherhood has disavowed violence and sought to participate in Egyptian politics.[35] Imprisoned Brethren were released and the organization was tolerated to varying degrees with periodic arrests and crackdowns until the 2011 Revolution.
Mubarak era
In the 2005 parliamentary elections, the Brotherhood's candidates, who had to run as independents because of their illegality as a political party, won 88 seats (20% of the total). (The legal opposition won only 14 seats.) This was despite electoral irregularities, including the arrest of hundreds of Brotherhood members. The Brotherhood became "in effect, the first opposition party of Egypt's modern era."[36]
Accounts differ over the Brotherhood's record in parliament. Initially there was widespread skepticism inside and outside Egypt towards the Muslim Brotherhood's commitment to democracy, along with fears of "severe restrictions on its freedom of opinion and belief" in both religious matters, and "social, political, economic and cultural affairs."[37]
But by 2007 a The New York Times journalist wrote: "While many secular critics fear that the brotherhood harbors a hidden Islamist agenda, so far the organization has posed a democratic political challenge to the regime, not a theological one.";[36] and another report praised the Muslim Brotherhood for an "unmatched record of attendance", forming a coalition to fight the extension of Egypt's emergency law, and generally attempting to transform "the Egyptian parliament into a real legislative body, as well as an institution that represents citizens and a mechanism that keeps government accountable".[36][38]
However, in December 2006, a campus demonstration by Muslim Brotherhood students in uniforms, demonstrating martial arts drills betrayed "the group's intent to plan for the creation of militia structures, and a return by the group to the era of 'secret cells,'" according to Jameel Theyabi.[39] Another report highlighted the Muslim Brotherhood's efforts in Parliament to combat what one member called the `current US-led war against Islamic culture and identity,' forcing the Minister of Culture (Farouk Hosny) to ban the publication of three novels on the ground they promoted blasphemy and unacceptable sexual practices.[40] In October 2007, the Muslim Brotherhood issued a detailed political platform. Amongst other things it called for a board of Muslim clerics to oversee the government, and limiting the office of the presidency to Muslim men. In the "Issues and Problems" chapter of the platform, it declared that a woman was not suited to be president because the post's religious and military duties "conflict with her nature, social and other humanitarian roles." While underlining "equality between men and women in terms of their human dignity," the document warned against "burdening women with duties against their nature or role in the family."[41]
Since 2005 Muslim Brotherhood members in Egypt have also become a significant movement online,[42] with some "cyberactivists" critical of the organization.[42][43]
Whether or not the Brotherhood would unconditionally or conditionally dissolve Egypt's 32-year peace treaty with Israel is disputed within the Brotherhood. While the deputy leader of the Brotherhood has said the Brotherhood would seek the dissolution of Egypt's 32-year peace treaty with Israel,[44] a Brotherhood spokesman said that the Brotherhood would respect the treaty as long as "Israel shows real progress on improving the lot of the Palestinians."[45]
The Brotherhood remains the largest opposition group in Egypt, advocating Islamic reform, democratic system and maintaining a vast network of support through Islamic charities working among poor Egyptians.[46] Ex-Knesset member and author Uri Avnery argued that the Muslim Brotherhood is above all 'an Arab and Egyptian party, deeply embedded in Egyptian history, more Arab and more Egyptian than fundamentalist.' They have never been fanatical, and throughout their history, the outstanding quality they exhibit is 'pragmatism' and adherence to their religious principles. They form "an old established party which has earned much respect with its steadfastness in the face of recurrent persecution, torture, mass arrests and occasional executions. Its leaders are untainted by the prevalent corruption, and admired for their commitment to social work."[47]
2011 revolution and after
Following the 2011 Egyptian revolution and fall of Hosni Mubarak, the group was legalized.[48] The Brotherhood supported the constitutional referendum in March 2011 which was also supported by the Egyptian army and opposed by Egyptian liberals.[49] On 30 April 2011, it launched a new party called the Freedom and Justice Party, which reportedly plans to "contest up to half the seats" in the Egyptian parliamentary election scheduled for September 2011.[50] The party "rejects the candidacy of women or Copts for Egypt's presidency", but not for cabinet positions.[51] Some splinter groups have appeared in the wake of the revolution.[52]
Over 30 million people voted (over 60 percent of the eligible voters) in the elections. Over a third of these people voted for the Freedom and Justice Party put forward by the Muslim Brotherhood. The party won 127 seats through the party list and 108 individual seats for a total of 235 seats. The parliament consists of 498 elected members, 10 appointed, for a total of 508 seats.[53]
According to the Anti-Defamation League, several former Brotherhood officials from the organization's 15-member Guidance Council assumed key roles within the new party, and used their positions in the FJP to reiterate the Brotherhood's long-standing hostility toward Zionism and support for other organizations that oppose Zionism.[54]
The Muslim Brotherhood's candidate for Egypt's 2012 presidential election was Mohamed Morsi. The Egyptian cleric Safwat Higazi spoke at the announcement rally for the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate Morsi and expressed his hope and belief that Morsi would liberate Gaza, restore the Caliphate of the "United States of the Arabs" with Jerusalem as its capital, and that "our cry shall be: 'Millions of martyrs march towards Jerusalem.'"[55] Morsi himself did not echo these statements, and later promised to stand for peaceful relations with Israel.[56]
In the First Egyptian elections after Mubarak, the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Morsi, won the election with 51.73% of the vote – over his competitor Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under Mubarak's rule.[57]
On the verdict that was announced for the former president Hosni Mubarak on 2 June 2012, a life sentence for complicity in the killings of protesters, the party made outspoken comments about it being too light, and actively engaged in action as a response. The sentences announced that Mubarak and his interior minister, as well as the latter's six assistants would be acquitted of similar charges. In a separate corruption case, however, the former president and his two sons, as well as Egypt's tycoon for business Hussein Selem were all found free of charges-non-guilty.
With the announcement followed mass scale of protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square, questioning the integrity of the Judge Ahmed Refaat, to the trial that seemed crucial and meaningful to the history of people of Egypt. The demonstrations also denounced the presence of one presidential elections runoff Ahmed Shafiq. Shafiq was one of the high-profile governmental member during the period of President Mubarak, positioning himself as counter force to the spirit of the revolution that operates as a driving force in current Egyptian society. The result of trials and roaring response from the public have motivated actions from the party as well. Muslim Brotherhood's presidential finalist Mohamed Morsi met Hamdeen Sabbahi, Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh and Khaled Ali-who are the former presidential candidates- on Monday to discuss the verdict and the upcoming presidential election runoff.[58]
As the event is regarded as a major event for Egypt, one of the initiating countries of the Arab Revolution in the region, the party finds itself deeply involved and set to be ready. A spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood's presidential candidate Muhammad Morsi expressed concern by saying that "The punishment is mild considering the crimes he committed against his homeland for over 30 years". Such announcement is made, also to note the affect of the verdict on the elections. Also he mentioned that "The Egyptians will insist on electing a president that would renew the trial and avenge the blood of the martyrs,", warning that another revolution can happen in Egypt following the sentence.[59]
In late November 2012, offices of the Muslim Brotherhood were burned in response to Mohamed Morsi's move to outlaw challenges to his presidential authority.[60]
On 3 July 2013 Mohamed Morsi was arrested and detained by the military following a period of widespread protests of millions of Egyptian citizens[61][62][63] demanding the resignation of Morsi due to his failure to unite the country or lead effectively. Thousands protested demanding the continuation of Morsi as Egypt's president.[64] Clashes between the protests resulted in at least 500 deaths to date.[64]
General leaders
- Founder & first G. leader: (1928–1949) Hassan al Banna
- 2nd G.L. : (1949–1972) Hassan al-Hudaybi
- 3rd G.L. : (1972–1986) Umar al-Tilmisani
- 4th G.L. : (1986–1996) Muhammad Hamid Abu al-Nasr
- 5th G.L. : (1996–2002) Mustafa Mashhur
- 6th G.L. : (2002–2004) Ma'mun al-Hudaybi
- 7th G.L. : (2004–2010) Mohammed Mahdi Akef
- 8th G.L. : (16 January 2010 – present) Mohammed Badie[citation needed]
In West Asia
Bahrain
In Bahrain, the Muslim Brotherhood is represented by the Al Eslah Society and its political wing, the Al-Menbar Islamic Society. Following parliamentary elections in 2002, Al Menbar became the largest joint party with eight seats in the forty seat Chamber of Deputies. Prominent members of Al Menbar include Dr Salah Abdulrahman, Dr. Salah Al Jowder, and outspoken MP Mohammed Khalid. The party has generally backed government sponsored legislation on economic issues, but has sought a clampdown on pop concerts, sorcery and soothsayers. It has strongly opposed the government's accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the grounds that this would give Muslim citizens the right to change religion, when in the party's view they should be "beheaded".[65]
In March 2009, the Shi'a group The Islamic Enlightenment Society held its annual conference with the announced aim of diffusing tension between Muslim branches. The society invited national Sunni and Shi'a scholars to participate. Bahraini independent Salafi religious scholars Sheikh Salah Al Jowder and Sheikh Rashid Al Muraikhi, and Shi'a clerics Sheikh Isa Qasim and Abdulla Al Ghoraifi spoke about the importance of sectarian cooperation. Additional seminars were held throughout the year.[66]
In 2010, the U.S. government sponsored the visit of Al-Jowder, described as a prominent Sunni cleric, to the United States for a three-week interfaith dialogue program in several cities.[67][68]
Syria
Main article: Muslim Brotherhood of Syria
The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria was founded in the 1930s (according to lexicorient.com) or in 1945, a year before independence from France, (according to journalist Robin Wright). In the first decade or so of independence it was part of the legal opposition, and in the 1961 parliamentary elections it won ten seats (5.8% of the house). But after the 1963 coup that brought the Baath Party to power it was banned.[69] It played a major role in the mainly Sunni-based movement that opposed the secularist, pan-ArabistBaath party. This conflict developed into an armed struggle that continued until culminating in the Hama uprising of 1982, when the rebellion was crushed by the military.[70]
Membership in the Syrian Brotherhood became a capital offence in Syria in 1980 (under Emergency Law 49, which was revoked in 2011), but the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Palestinian group, Hamas, was located in the Syria's capital Damascus, where it was given Syrian government support. This has been cited as an example of the lack of international centralisation or even coordination of the Muslim Brotherhood.[71]
The Brotherhood is said to have "resurrected itself" and become "dominant group" in the opposition during the Syrian civil war against the Assad regime according to the Washington Post newspaper.[72] Syrian President Bashar Assad welcomed the fall of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and remarked "Arab identity is back on the right track after the fall from power of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which had used religion for its own political gain. The Muslim Brotherhood and those who are like them take advantage of religion and use it as a mask. They consider that when you don’t stand with them politically, then you are not standing with God.”[73]
Jordan
The Jordanian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood was formed in 1942, and is a strong factor in Jordanian politics. While most political parties and movements were banned for a long time in Jordan such as Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Brotherhood was exempted and allowed to operate by the Jordanian monarchy. The Jordanian Brotherhood has formed its own political party, the Islamic Action Front, which has the largest number of seats of any party in the Jordanian parliament.[74]
The Muslim Brotherhood is playing an active role in the unrest in several Arab countries in January 2011. For example, at a rally held outside the Egyptian Embassy in Amman on Saturday, 29 January 2011 with some 100 participants, Hammam Saeed, head of the Muslim Brotherhood of Jordan and a close ally of the Hamas's Damascus-based leader, Khaled Meshaal, said: "Egypt's unrest will spread across the Mideast and Arabs will topple leaders allied with the United States." However, he did not specifically name Jordanian King Abdullah II.[75] The Muslim brotherhood is rightfully or wrongfully feared by several commentators in the west, however it is not known how many seats in a democratic government the brotherhood will gain in any of the aforementioned countries.
Iran
Although Iran is a predominately Shia Muslim country and the Muslim Brotherhood is Sunni in doctrine, Olga Davidson and Mohammad Mahallati claim the Brotherhood has had influence among Shia in Iran.[76]Navab Safavi, who founded Fada'iyan-e Islam, (also Fedayeen of Islam, or Fadayan-e Islam), an Iranian Islamic organization active in Iran in the 1940s and 1950s, "was highly impressed by the Muslim Brotherhood.[77] From 1945 to 1951 the Fadain assassinated several high level Iranian personalities and officials who they believed to be un-Islamic. They included anti-clerical writer Ahmad Kasravi, Premier Haj Ali Razmara, former Premier Abdolhossein Hazhir, and Education and Culture Minister Ahmad Zangeneh.[78]
At that time Navab Safavi now based in the UK where associates and allies of Ayatollah Khomeini who went on to become a figure in the Iranian Revolution of 1979.[78] Khomeini and other religious figures in Iran worked to establish Islamic unity and downplay Shia-Sunni differences.[citation needed]
Iraq
The Iraqi Islamic Party was formed in 1960 as the Iraqi branch of the Brotherhood,[79] but was banned from 1961 during the nationalist rule of Abd al-Karim Qasim. As government repression hardened under the Baath Party from February 1963, the group was forced to continue underground. After the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003, the Islamic Party has reemerged as one of the main advocates of the country's Sunni community. The Islamic Party has been sharply critical of the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, but participates in the political process.[80] Its leader is Iraqi Vice-President Tariq Al-Hashimi.
Also, in the north of Iraq there are several Islamic movements inspired by or part of the Muslim Brotherhood network. The Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) holds seats in the Kurdish parliament, and is the main political force outside the dominance of the two main secularist parties, the PUK and KDP.[81]
Palestine
'Abd al-Rahman al-Banna, the brother of the Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna, went to the British Mandate for Palestine and established the Muslim Brotherhood there in 1935. Al-Hajj Amin al-Husseini, eventually appointed by the British as Grand Mufti of Jerusalem in hopes of accommodating him, was the leader of the group in Palestine.[82] Another important leader associated with the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine was 'Izz al-Din al-Qassam, an inspiration to Islamists because he had been the first to lead an armed resistance in the name of Palestine against the British in 1935.[83] In 1945, the group established a branch in Jerusalem, and by 1947 twenty-five more branches had sprung up, in towns such as Jaffa, Lod, Haifa, Nablus, and Tulkarm, which total membership between 12,000 to 20,000.
Brotherhood members fought alongside the Arab armies during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, and, after Israel's creation, the ensuing Palestinian refugee crisis encouraged more Palestinian Muslims to join the group. After the war, in the West Bank, the group's activity was mainly social and religious, not political, so it had relatively good relations with Jordan, which was in control of the West Bank after 1950. In contrast, the group frequently clashed with the Egyptian regime that controlled the Gaza Strip until 1967.[84]
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Brotherhood's goal was "the upbringing of an Islamic generation" through the restructuring of society and religious education, rather than opposition to Israel, and so it lost popularity to insurgent movements and the presence of Hizb ut-Tahrir.[85] Eventually, however, the Brotherhood was strengthened by several factors:
- The creation of al-Mujamma' al-Islami, the Islamic Center in 1973 by Shaykh Ahmad Yasin had a centralizing effect that encapsulated all religious organizations.
- The Muslim Brotherhood Society in Jordan and Palestine was created from a merger of the branches in the West Bank and Gaza and Jordan.
- Palestinian disillusion with the Palestinian militant groups caused them to become more open to alternatives.
- The Islamic Revolution in Iran offered inspiration to Palestinians. The Brotherhood was able to increase its efforts in Palestine and avoid being dismantled like militant groups because it did not focus on the occupation. While militant groups were being dismantled, the Brotherhood filled the void.[86]
After the 1967 Six Day War, Israel may have looked to cultivate political Islam as a counterweight to Fatah, the main secular Palestinian nationalist political organization.[87][88] Between 1967 and 1987, the year Hamas was founded, the number of mosques in Gaza tripled from 200 to 600, and the Muslim Brotherhood named the period between 1975 and 1987 a phase of 'social institution building.'[89] During that time, the Brotherhood established associations, used zakat (alms giving) for aid to poor Palestinians, promoted schools, provided students with loans, used waqf (religious endowments) to lease property and employ people, and established mosques. Likewise, antagonistic and sometimes violent opposition to Fatah, the Palestine Liberation Organization and other secular nationalist groups increased dramatically in the streets and on university campuses.[87]
After the Intifada, Hamas was established.[86] The Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, founded in 1987 in Gaza, is a wing of the Brotherhood,[90] formed out of Brotherhood-affiliated charities and social institutions that had gained a strong foothold among the local population. During the First Intifada (1987–93), Hamas militarized and transformed into one of the strongest Palestinian militant groups.
The Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007 was the first time since the Sudanese coup of 1989 that brought Omar al-Bashir to power, that a Muslim Brotherhood group ruled a significant geographic territory.[91].[14]
