The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) released new reports on the Muslim Brotherhood in 12 countries. The new reports detail the Sunni Islamist movement’s origins, history, violent activities, and government designations in: Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen.
In April, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was considering declaring the Muslim Brotherhood a Foreign Terrorist Organization for its encouragement and support of violence throughout the Middle East. While it purports to follow a non-violent form of Salafism, the Brotherhood has a clear track record of engaging in and supporting violence and terrorism. For example, the Brotherhood supports the violent policies and actions of its Palestinian offshoot, Hamas, and was linked to violence in Egypt after the fall of the Brotherhood-led government there in 2013.
Prior to rising to their respective leadership positions in ISIS and al-Qaeda, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Osama bin Laden, and Ayman al-Zawahiri belonged to the Brotherhood, whose belief system and aspirations for a global caliphate underpin both violent terror groups. The Brotherhood’s unofficial chief ideologue, Yusuf al-Qaradawi is banned not only in the U.S., but also by the U.K. and France because of his incitement of violence against Americans, women, Jews, and the LGBTQ community. The Brotherhood has been declared a terrorist organization by Bahrain, Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the UAE.
CEP has previously detailed the history and violent activities of Muslim Brotherhood chapters in Egypt, the Palestinian Territories, Iraq, Turkey, Qatar, and Sudan.