Ikhwanweb :: The Muslim Brotherhood Official English Website

The next Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood

Mohammed Mehdi Akef, the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, has just announced that he will not seek a second term and will step down within a few months. This announcement by the 81 year old Akef creates an extremely interesting and important moment in the history of the Brotherhood. The change in leadership has potentially wide-ranging implications for moderate Islamist movements throughout the Middle East..

An interview with Kori Schake on her new book

A few days ago was the release of Shadow blogger Kori Schake’s new book, Managing American Hegemony: Essays on Power in a Time of Dominance. To her great credit, Kori is too modest to use this blog to plug her own book. I, dear reader, cannot be accused of the same. Kori’s book is an insightful, thoughtful series of essays on a very relevant topic -- the future of the U.S. global leadership. Or in Kori’s words:..

PIPA: Muslims still don’t like al-Qaeda or the U.S.

The University of Maryland’s Project on International Policy Attitudes headed by Steve Kull has just released the results of its latest survey of Muslim public opinion. The survey was carried out between July and September 2008 in eight countries, including Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories. The main findings should not be surprising: ..

How did the Gaza war affect Palestinian public opinion?

I’ve just seen the first public opinion survey carried out in the West Bank and Gaza since the war, and the results are about what you’d expect: Hamas has gained politically and Fatah has declined. Since I haven’t seen it reported anywhere yet, here are the main findings of the survey carried out by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center between January 29-31:..

How badly did Gaza poison the well?

I would argue that the Gaza crisis did impose significant costs on the new administration, and will make its task much more difficult in the early going. Few in the region seem prepared to grant Obama a fresh start, with the horrific conditions in Gaza still drawing great attention and outrage. But at the same time, if the Obama administration seizes the opportunity to really change the Bush approach -- in ways consistent with its own campaign rhetoric on regional engagement -- then it..

The VP Debate: Dishonest Foreign Policies

Hamas evolved out of the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni movement that came into being decades before the Iranian revolution and that has had no significant ties with Iran. From Hamas’ founding in the early 1980s until just a few years ago, this Palestinian Islamist group’s primary outside funding came from Saudi Arabia and other Arab monarchies in the Gulf region that have traditionally been hostile to Iran. Since the U.S-led international sanctions against the Hamas-led branch of the Pal..

The Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Regime

Ever since the Muslim Brotherhood won nearly 20% of the vote and 88 seats in the fall 2005 parliamentary elections, the Egyptian regime has launched a sustained campaign of repression against the group...

The List: How to Steal an Election Without Breaking a Sweat

Real-world example: During the 2005 Egyptian parliamentary elections, judges at individual polling stations made seemingly arbitrary decisions about whether to allow outside monitoring. The result? Some stations were monitored and some were not. Monitors were beaten by police in one southern city, and eight were arrested and released elsewhere. Those who were granted access recorded a litany of violations. ..

Letters: Engaging the Muslim Brotherhood

Lynch advises Akef to “watch what you say.” I may have to partially agree with him on that. Although Akef’s aim is winning the hearts of many Muslims with a war of words, diverting them from radicalism, I believe that winning peace in the world is a higher moral objective. The Brotherhood is playing a unique role in the world today. It acts as a safety valve—and sometimes the valve needs to release excess pressure to avoid explosion. ..

MB responds to Marc Lynch’s Memo Published in Foreign Policy

In his memo, Lynch urges Akef to “use your political capital” and remain committed to democratic processes. But I feel that our commitment to democracy should not be the real concern of Western intellectuals and policymakers; Our belief in democratic processes is ideological, not tactical. The real concern should be the negative impact of government crackdowns on moderates and the entire democratic process in the Middle East...

FP contributor gets results (sort of) from Muslim Brotherhood

The FP Memo is one of my favorite sections of the magazine. One of the coolest things about Memos is that, from what people tell us, they often get read by their intended recipients. ..

Memo to the MB: How to talk to America?

If you are sincere about seeking meaningful dialogue with the west, then you must tackle this debate now, while it’s hot. But repeating the same third slogans isn’t going to cut it. Demonstrate that, despite many policy differences, you share two fundamental goals with the United States: democracy in Arab countries and curtailing the influence if al Qaeda. If you truly want to persuade Americans and other Arabs and Muslims of the value of engaging with you, here’s how to do it: ..

The United States talks to Islamists. So what?

I know we’re supposed to be frightened by Jay Solomon’s recent story in the Wall Street Journal about how the U.S. State Department has been reaching out to Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood—in Solomon’s telling, "the decades-old political movement active across the Middle East whose leaders have inspired the terrorist groups Hamas and al Qaeda"—but I’m actually encouraged by the news. ..