Is the Muslim Brotherhood a "terrorist organization"?

UPDATE: I am deeply honored and grateful to Allah that Ikhwanweb has chosen to publish this blogpost on their site. Raabinna barak feehum!


In a word...NO!!! That's the short version. In a somewhat deeper evaluation, one need only read the profound works of our beloved Imam Shaheed Hassan Al Banna to know there wasn't a violent or terroristic bone in his body. In fact, his writing is so filled with love, compassion and non-violence, it makes me wonder if all those naysayers (liars) out there are talking about the same man as I!

In doing research for this post, I googled the words..."is the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization". The results came back and garbage--dare I say filth--abounded. All of it lies. But amazingly there was one bright spot on the bottom of page 1 (wonder of wonders), and you can read it here. Although the article is a year old, much credit is due to the authors, Joshua Stacher, who is an adjunct history lecturer at the American University in Cairo and Samer Shehata, who is assistant professor at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University. Not only have they painted the Ikhwan in a favorable light, they had the foresight to call upon the US government to do exactly what it is doing now in 2008, and that is engage themselves in dialogue with the Brotherhood, whether the Mubarak regime approves or not!

On a side note, even their description of the Brotherhood's Cairo headquarters brought tears to my eyes. The simplicity of their offices coincides with the humility of their message, and further elucidates that the Ikhwan are not out for money, glory, power--or blood. They simply want the right to live in an Islamic country, governed by a rule that the citizenry have voted on democratically.

It is not the "fault" of the Muslim Brotherhood that so many constituents (perhaps the majority?) would welcome life under an Islamic form of government as espoused by their writings and practiced by their members. If implemented according to the teachings of Allah in the Quran, the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad, and the contemporary guidelines of Imam Shaheed Hassan Al Banna, Egyptians could do no worse than life under the present regime. In fact, lives would be much improved. Or have too many forgotten the golden ages of life under Islamic rule, or have too few failed to study not just Islam's illustrious history but the writings of Imam Shaheed as well?

The Ikwhan preach a tolerant form of Islam. Non-violent, charitable, equitable and nonthreatening, except to the corrupt and law-breaking powers that be. Living conditions are so repressive and constrained now in Egypt that it is fast becoming a powder keg. When your average Egyptian can no longer afford to buy bread for his or her family, yet alone be safe in the insanity that has taken over the bread lines themselves, it's seriously time for a change. Far better to back the Brotherhood's solutions for the myriad of crises facing Egypt today, than allow truly terroristic factions to gain ground among the disgruntled populace. This is the real danger in the Ikhwan today--that they will continue to be persecuted, arrested, have their businesses closed and assets frozen, tried illegally, maimed and murdered until finally, the fear factor among Egyptians will drive average citizens underground to look look for quicker (read violent) solutions.

Has history taught us nothing? When conditions deteriorate to the point parents can no longer feed their children, a violent eruption follows. As the colloquial Egyptian proverb warns...bite my heart but don't bite my bread!

Better to let the Ikhwan run! Hasbun Allah wa ni'am al wakil.