This past January, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) began ‘boycotting’ UK universities, taking action against the state government’s failure to designate the Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, as a terrorist organization. On January 9, the UAE cut scholarship funding for Emirati nationals studying in the UK as they refused to allow their students to be “radicalized” on campus. The UAE is also in informal political talks with Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing populist Reform UK Party and known Islamophobe. They invited Farage to Abu Dhabi to discuss their common interest in tackling the Muslim Brotherhood. Merely a few days later, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Treasury and State Department designated three branches of the Muslim Brotherhood operating in Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), due to their links to and support of terrorism in the region: “The Muslim Brotherhood has inspired, nurtured, and funded terrorist groups like Hamas, that are direct threats to the safety and security of the American people and our allies.” The Trump administration vows to end the Brotherhood’s vile pursuit of its “extreme version of Islam.”
The question is as follows: who is the Muslim Brotherhood and what is behind Trump’s recent decision?
The Muslim Brotherhood
Islamist Hasan al-Bannā’ founded the Society of the Muslim Brothers in 1928 in Ismā’īliya, Egypt. Al-Bannā’ and his followers were frustrated by the imposition of Western colonial rule in Egypt, which led to weak state infrastructure, poverty, and the social subordination of Egyptians. In response, the Muslim Brotherhood built its apparatus as a shadow state, filling the welfare gaps left by the Egyptian government. They gained domestic support through their extensive social and welfare provisions, including the construction of schools, hospitals, orphanages, and mosques. Ultimately, as the first Islamist movement of the twentieth century, they hoped to realize an Egypt governed by Islamic Sharia law. Although not originally part of al-Bannā’s view of the organization and beyond his control, violent military wings of the Brotherhood emerged during and after British colonial rule of Egypt, and later were accused of numerous violent attacks throughout Egypt’s contemporary period. The Brotherhood also provided support during the Arab Revolt, the first Arab-Israeli war, and the 1952 Egyptian revolution, which was led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. However, as the second president of Egypt from 1956 to 1970, Nasser heavily repressed the Brotherhood and blamed them for political assassinations. Since then, the Egyptian Brotherhood’s operations have remained outlawed, entering into mainstream politics only when Muslim Brotherhood member Mohamed Morsi won Egypt’s 2011 presidential elections, albeit for a very short period before being ousted.
The Brotherhood Branches
Today, the Muslim Brotherhood has several offshoots in other Muslim countries. Although they may have different political aspirations, they all seek to reinstate Islamic law. For reasons of violence, terrorism, extremism, and concern for religious minorities, the Muslim Brotherhood is banned in many countries, such as Egypt and Jordan. However, the Brotherhood maintains its standing as a legitimate political party in Lebanon and Turkey. In Turkey, it is a civic organization aligned with the Turkish ruling party, AKP. Regional actor Qatar also maintains their long-standing financial support for Muslim Brotherhood offshoots, often seen as a mechanism to grow its soft power in the region and support its preferred political outcomes. Qatar’s support of Mohamed Morsi demonstrates this mechanism, as well as their diplomatic ties and support for Hamas, one of their most controversial. Qatar’s neighbours, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who strongly and firmly express their discontent with Qatar’s ties to the Brotherhood, see the organization as a threat to their state authority, explaining the recent Emirati decisions regarding UK universities.
Viewed within the broader political climate, both the UAE and the Trump administration’s recent decisions may signal a shift in the global order. The recently designated FTO Muslim Brotherhood branches, whose influence and presence rarely concerned past US presidents, seem strikingly proximal to the UAE’s public condemnation of and backlash against the UK’s failure to make decisions in their favour. These events, in turn, further call into question Trump’s actions, hinting at the possibility of foreign influence in the region.
Edited by Lily Christopoulos
Disclaimer: This is an article written by a Staff Writer. Catalyst is a student-led platform that fosters engagement with global issues from a learning perspective. The opinions expressed above do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication.
Dala is in her third year at McGill, pursuing an Honours B.A in International Development Studies with a double minor in Political Science and World Islamic and Middle East Studies. She is particularly interested in the politics of the Middle East and North Africa, and immigration.