Muslim Brotherhood - a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing By Avi kaner
The Muslim Brotherhood extremist group was formed in Egypt in 1929. Nearly 100 years later, it is officially designated a terrorist organization by many of our allies in the Middle East. It is active in over 70 countries, with its tentacles reaching far beyond the Middle East, across North Africa, Europe, Asia, and the United States. The organization’s ultimate goal is to take over nations, topple existing governments, and subjugate the populations to its extremist religious ideologies.
The challenge is to separate legitimate social, educational and advocacy from the overall mission of the Muslim Brotherhood. Its mission is to bring political change consistent with its extremist ideology through Jihad. It supports segregation of men and women, separate education for girls, and a ban on dancing. It opposes secularism and seeks to replace judicial courts with religious ones.
It operates as a wolf in sheep's clothing in the West using innocuous names like Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe with satellite branches across European countries. In the United States, a proposed Congressional bill in 2015 identified the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) as a Muslim Brotherhood entity.
Just one year ago, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was a featured speaker at CAIR’s Los Angeles chapter 25th anniversary celebration. Two years earlier, she gave her “some people did something” speech, referring to 9/11, at a CAIR conference. 87% of her campaign contributions come from outside Minnesota, with the greatest percentage from California.
According to German reports, Muslim Brotherhood activists have been infiltrating institutions including universities. The large number of refugees create a breeding ground for Muslim Brothehood extremism. The Islamic Community of Germany (IGD) is classified as a Muslim Brothehood front by the German Domestic Intelligence Agency. In a welcome move, the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD) recently stripped a global Muslim Brotherhood figure of his posts.
There is a role for religious organizations across the world to inspire and bring hope to the people. Tolerance and coexistence must take root, instead of the Muslim Brothehood’s extremist ideologies. Countries across the Middle East have realized that and are successfully achieving that objective. It’s time for countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas to do the same.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Avi Kaner is the Principal of Samawal Foundations. You can follow him on Twitter @AviKaner