Muslim Brotherhood

[CrowBat]

Well... can't talk about MBs at such levels. Only observe that in the case of Egypt, even members of the Brotherhood eventually turned against it - and supported Sisi's (Saudi-sponsored) coup - because of their conclusion that the MB-run gov went 'too far', i.e. 'applied terror against own population'.

That most of them (members of MB that turned against the MB) eventually landed in various of Sisi's prisons is a different story, of course...

[davidbfpo]

Crowbat,

That story is nearly as good as that by ex-Jihadists whose violence had ended, with individuals bound by a signed agreement with the Egyptian state (via Internal Security agencies) to refrain from political activity. When the overthrow of the Mubarek regime began they were asking can we join in or not? Apparently their leadership IIRC stated "stay at home".

One wonders what happened to them afterwards, let alone with Sisi takng power.

[CrowBat]

In the Middle East, most of such stories end in some prison. That's the core problem with that part of the world.

[davidbfpo]

An article from The Hudson Institute, which I understand is conservative in outlook and by Mokhtar Awad (from GWU and other places).

The author earlier on writes:

...it is important to carefully examine the relationship between one of the oldest Islamist movements in the world and violence over the past four years, and what ideological revisions have taken place. This paper will focus more on the latter, specifically related to a recent book authored by a group of Muslim Brotherhood and allied Islamist scholars, which was sanctioned by the then leadership of the organization inside Egypt, titled The Jurisprudence of Popular Resistance to the Coup. The book provides a critical insight into how some scholars have successfully attempted to reconcile the group’s methodology with violence.

It ends citing the book's author:

The Muslim Brotherhood inside [Egypt] has revised itself since the beginning of 2014. It is a reformist organization that believes in the constitutional approach, gradualist reform, and participated in many elections, and so on. Then after that, the Muslim Brotherhood changed to [adopt] revolutionary thought. This change did not come overnight. This is a change that [is based] on much literature [produced] inside the group, meetings, and workshops. The revolutionary transformation is now in every Muslim Brotherhood household, in every Brotherhood Shu’ba (local branch), and no can, whomever they may be, extinguish this revolutionary thought. This is the transformation. The Muslim Brothers have indeed changed.

Link:https://www.hudson.org/research/1378...im-brotherhood

[davidbfpo]

A book review in the FT of a new book 'The Muslim Brotherhood and the West: A History of Emnity and Engagement' by Martyn Frampton, Harvard University Press and one sentence:

His book fills a crucial gap in the literature and will be essential reading not just for scholars, but for anyone seeking to understand the ever-problematic relationship between religion and politics in today’s Middle East.

Link:https://www.ft.com/content/0fa5736e-...b-2958fde95e5e

No reviews yet on:https://www.amazon.com/Muslim-Brothe...artyn+frampton

No in the UK:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Muslim-Brot...artyn+frampton

[davidbfpo]

A belated discovery of an article by Sir John Jenkins, a retired UK diplomat and co-author of an official review of the Muslim Brotherhood - that was not published. Here is a sample passage:

But I cannot think of a single example where Western diplomatic or any other sort of engagement has produced any change in the position of any political Islamist. Deniable channels of communication may sometimes be wise, for example when we have kidnappings to resolve or to ensure the physical security of diplomats (both of which we had to do in Gaza when I was HM Consul General in Jerusalem).
I’ve seen this movie before. People sometimes say that we need to identify moderates inside such organisations and detach them by engagement from their more extreme colleagues. Again, I can’t think of a single example where this has actually happened. So-called moderates rarely represent the core of any Islamist operation. In conflict they are dominated by their armed wings. And in any case, most Islamist groups from the Muslim Brotherhood onwards have a history of expelling, not accommodating, reformists.

Link:https://www.conservativehome.com/pla...islamists.html

[jcustis]

That is an excellent find David, for a number of reasons.