Patient Extremism: The Many Faces of the Muslim Brotherhood

Introduction
In the 1988 charter that announced its existence, Hamas introduced itself as “one of the wings of the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine.” The charter then informs the reader that the Brotherhood “is a universal organization that constitutes the largest Islamic movement in modern times.”1 That is no idle boast. The Brotherhood has scores of national branches across the globe. Among those branches, Hamas stands out for its unbroken record of violence and its readiness to massacre men, women, and children, as it did in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Yet the ideas that animate Hamas are not unique; they are part of the Brotherhood’s common heritage. These ideas have also spread far beyond the Brotherhood, animating al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and many other lethal organizations.






