Today, a local Imam (Muslim religious leader) visited us. We discussed this controversial topic. We also addressed how the messages of the Quran have been wrongly used to support radicalism. The issue is layered with sensitive cultural elements.  In the eyes of the government, the head of Egypt’s extreme Islamist movement is the Muslim Brotherhood.  It is a social and political group founded in Egypt in 1928 when the country was still under British rule. 

Despite mounting Western influences, its original goal was to promote traditional Islamic Sharia law.  Initially, the efforts were peaceful, focusing on education and charitable work.  However, by the late 1930s, the Brotherhood formed a military wing. This wing was regularly accused of espionage, sabotage, and extreme terrorism.  Over time they became extremely organized, well-funded, and powerful.  Until recently, it had an estimated 2.5 million adherents in Egypt alone and thousands more worldwide.

The Egyptian government tried several times to eliminate the Brotherhood.  The Brotherhood survived every attempted crackdown by throwing their weight behind various political leaders. Sometimes, they emerged stronger than ever.  After the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, the Brotherhood was legalized, and in 2012 its presidential candidate, Mohamed Morsi, won the election. 

But the victory was short-lived.  Within a year, moderate Egyptians began protesting his constitutional changes, which they likened to a coup.  In 2013, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi took power and immediately started dismantling the Brotherhood. He arrested its highest-ranking leaders, expelled its supporters, seized its assets, and labeled it a terrorist organization.  Sisi’s campaign is backed by Al Asher, the most respected religious institution in the Muslim world.  In 2020 alone, 36% of the fatwas (religious edicts) issued praised Siri’s response to radical Islamists.