Muslim Brotherhood

The Muslim Brotherhood is the longest running radical Islamic group in the Middle East, supports Hamas, and has advocated Jihad as well as the spread of Sharia Law. The organization which grew to encompass over 70 countries including Syria, Sudan, and other Arab countries, was founded in Egypt by Hasan al-Banna in 1928 and has been joined by many high-profile Islamic terrorist including the founder of modern day jihad; Sayyid Qutb, Al-Qaeda leader; Osama Bin Laden, and Egyptian terrorist mastermind and second in command of Al-Qaeda; Ayman Al-Zawahiri.

Although the Brotherhood was disbanded in 1954^{[Citation Needed]} after a botched attempt to assassinate Egyptian President Abdul Nasser, it remains operating, although less militantly. It has given rise to new more violent militias including Hamas, Gama’a al-Islamiya, and Islamic Jihad.

Despite being illegal under Egyptian law, the Muslim Brotherhood has gained success in Egypt’s parliamentary elections, winning 20 percent of the assembly's seats in 2005.

Goals

The Muslim Brotherhoods’ original goal was to found a total Islamic state which was not influenced by Western countries and would fellow strictly the teachings of the Koran. The organization has also been a leader indicting terrorism and propaganda against Israel and Jews. The Muslim Brotherhood's theme is:

Allah is our objective. "The messenger is our leader. Quran is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope."

Frank Gaffney wrote:

• ...from the Brotherhood’s inception in Egypt in 1928, it has been a revolutionary organization committed to the imposition worldwide of a totalitarian, supremacist Islamic doctrine they call Shariah." Muslim Brotherhood’s bait-and-switch - Egypt’s presidential election is a stealthy prelude to Shariah

In 2004, the FBI seized documents relating to the plan to overthrow America titled, “An Explanatory Memorandum: On the General Strategic Goal for the Group.”

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The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within...

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Controversy within Obama Administration

• The director of national intelligence, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James Clapper, stunned the committee by describing Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood -- the organization that has co-opted pro-democracy protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square -- as "a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has decried al-Qaida as a perversion of Islam. ... They have pursued social ends, a betterment of the political order in Egypt."
• FBI Director Robert Mueller contradicted the DNI by observing, "Elements of the Muslim Brotherhood here and overseas have supported terrorism."