What's with the "Muslim Brotherhood" thing? This morning early

[shraby]

I heard one of the talking heads say that the organizations is a small contingent of people, not much to worry about because of the small size. During the day the organization got bigger and bigger until they were contenders to take over if Mubarak left. They setting up the fear factor?
I've never seen a group grow in size and stature in the course of one day before with all the talking heads warning about them.

I just googled and found this on Wikipedia, there is more if anyone is interested:

"The Muslim Brotherhood is banned in Egypt, and members have been arrested for their participation in it.<7> As a means of circumventing the ban, supporters run for office as independents.<8>

Outside Egypt, the group's political activity has been described as evolving away from modernism and reformism towards a more traditional, "rightist conservative secularist" stance. For example, the Muslim Brotherhood party in Kuwait opposes suffrage for women.<9> The Brotherhood condemned terrorism and the 9/11 attacks,<10><11> but whether or not it has ties to terrorism is a matter of dispute.<12> Its position on violence has also caused disputes within the movement, with advocates of violence at times breaking away to form groups such as the Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (The Islamic Group) and Al Takfir Wal Hijra (Excommunication and Migration).

[WolverineDG]

1. they're not such a small contingent of people

if the army has to ride on the tourist train to luxor. there were some sights I couldn't see when in Egypt in 2003 because you needed an Army escort to get there. :(

dg

[JVS]

2. Didn't they merge with another group to become Thrivent Financial?

No, that's Lutheran Brotherhood that I'm thinking of

[leftstreet]

3. ...

:spank: :rofl:

[EFerrari]

6. I think that's a different boy band.

[AnnieBW]

4. Ayman Zawahiri's Old Posse

Zawahiri, UBL's right hand man, is an Egyptian. A pediatrician, if you can believe that. They weren't bloody enough for him, though.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Yes, some in our media are setting the meme

that this will be Iran II.

The people rejected them in 1953 when Nasser took over. Enough remember them. They will have Members of Parliament right now they have 80 or so... (yes they are banned but ran under other party banners) but they are a far right, religious splinter group.

[riderinthestorm]

7. Sayyid Qutb was Egyptian and part of the MB, Ayman Zawahiri (Bin Ladin's #2) is greatly influenced

by him, Ayman Zawahir is also a member of MB.

The history, philosophy and radical Islamist positions of this group aren't to be dismissed lightly. I know they have laid low for a while and thus are off most terrorist watch groups, but I believe they are as fundamentalist as ever and would be dangerous if unleashed as a political force in Egyptian society and given any political power.

I urge you to google Sayyid Qutb and learn more about the Islamist movement, and the Muslim Brotherhood's long standing position within it, and why they were banned in Egypt. Like Saddam Hussein, Mubarak was correct in banning extremist religious groups within Egypt. The MB is one of those.

[iamtechus]

8. They are the boogeymen coming to take over.

Unless control is turned over to US puppet dictators in Egypt and elsewhere.

It used to be communists but muslims have recently taken over the boogeyman function.

[alittlelark]

9. Similar to the 'Christian Identity' movement....

all friendly terms for dangerous fanatical fundamentalism.

My mom is one... I have the inside scoop.

[hlthe2b]

10. They have been contained by Mubarak, but are an issue

MB are organized and have been able to exploit public good will on occasion, due to the lack of governmental intervention for services and outright corruption-- one example was after the '92 Cairo earthquake when Mubarak's government was fairly non-responsive, yet MB was door to door offering essential aid which may have included Saudi $$). I think attempts to equate them directly as Al Qaida type boogeymen is a bit exaggerated. Nonetheless, I would not like to see them rise to power in Egypt or elsewhere in the Region.

[Sinistrous]

11. "6000 Freed from Egyptian Jails"

Ref: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x304383

I wonder how many were sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood.

[Igel]

12. The problem with the MB is defining it.

As with many organizations, they have a public face and probably a private face. After all, they're banned: They've published tracts that show they've moderated--or were they published in order to appear to have moderated--their beliefs. Their actual meaning is debated. In Russian it was fairly common to read that the Soviets wanted peace and democracy, utterances widely translated and extolled among some in the West, but the rhetoric that "peace" was only possible under a Marxist world order and "democracy" couldn't be allowed to interfere with the dictatorship of the proletariat was often excluded. If you want to know a speaker's intent you have to understand the words as he intends them, not as the listener wants them to be defined.

The MB is banned in Egypt, meaning that they're highly unlikely to have a publicly available membership roster. They're likely to have had a core membership and to have infiltrated where their power base is, mosques. They're also likely to have a fairly large cohort of sympathizers and even more fellow travellers. And in this kind of situation, they're going to want to exaggerate their numbers.

The Ikhwan, the Brotherhood, is also likely to be fairly fuzzy around the edges even beyond what the last paragraph suggests. Again, no membership roster. So all afine groups can be rolled into the Brotherhood at a moment's notice--only to be expelled at a moment's notice when it's convenient for either side. Common enemies and the need to work together for common goals can overwhelm the differences between them and other groups until the enemies are gone and the goals to be worked on aren't common.

[OHdem10]

13. A little bit of History of Brotherhood. The BrotherHood is Fundamentalist

and follows more Conservative Islamic Teachings. It was
the first Radical Movement in ME. Sometime after the
fall of the Shah they were quite a large movement--
had a Militant Wing as well as Social Services Wing.

Bin Ladin's right hand man (CEO) Al Zawiri was important
player in Muslim Brotherhood's Militant Wing, making two
attempts on Mubarak's Life. Spent time in Jail and
joined up with Bin Laden. In the 90s, Mubarak saw the
Fundamentalism rising and the beginnings of terrorism.
The Militant Wing of the Brotherhood were banned from the
country or "disappeared". For a while the Social Service
Wing had to work underground. In more recent times Murbarak
had permitted the Service Wing to come above ground so
to speak. I am sure they were under the watchful eye of
the Egyptian Government. They Profess peace and condemn
terrorism. Some Reporters and Terror specialists say they
are not the "boogey men" but they also remind us. They are
Fundamentalists. As I understand it, the reason they are
often spoken of: Sadly, in Egypt this is the only orgranization
of any size or experience. It is feared they might exploit
the situation and get themselves into power.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. They're pretty big - "Egypt's oldest and largest Islamist organisation" : BBC Profile

Today, though officially banned and subject to frequent repression, the Ikhwan lead public opposition to the ruling National Democratic Party of President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981.

While the Ikhwan say that they support democratic principles, one of their stated aims is to create a state ruled by Islamic law, or Sharia. Their most famous slogan, used worldwide, is: "Islam is the solution".
...
Successive leaders formed alliances with the Wafd party in 1984, and with the Labour and Liberal parties in 1987, becoming the main opposition force in Egypt. In 2000, the Ikhwan won 17 seats in the People's Assembly.

Five years later, the group achieved its best election result to date, with independent candidates allied to it winning 20% of the seats.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12313405