{"id":73913,"date":"2010-09-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-15T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2010\/09\/15\/muslim-networks-and-movements-in-western-europe-muslim-brotherhood-and-jamaat-i-islami\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:13:40","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:13:40","slug":"muslim-networks-and-movements-in-western-europe-muslim-brotherhood-and-jamaat-i-islami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2010\/09\/15\/muslim-networks-and-movements-in-western-europe-muslim-brotherhood-and-jamaat-i-islami\/","title":{"rendered":"Muslim Brotherhood and Jama\u2019at-i Islami"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Muslim Brotherhood and Jama\u2019at-i Islami are separate movements that tend to draw the bulk of their members from different ethnic groups (Arabs and South Asians, respectively). Nevertheless, both groups are rooted in a political ideology, frequently described as \u201cIslamist,\u201d that calls for the establishment of a distinctly Islamic system\u00a0of government.<\/p>\n\n

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Hassan al-Banna, the schoolteacher who founded the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 1928. Credit: AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n\n

The Muslim Brotherhood is without question the world\u2019s most influential modern Islamist organization. Founded in Egypt in 1928 by schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna, the group advocates the embrace of Islam as a way to promote both personal development and broader social reform. Initially a religious and social organization, the Muslim Brotherhood quickly became politicized. Its ideology, which calls for establishing Islamic states based on shari\u2019a<\/em> (or Islamic) law, became the basis for virtually all Islamist movements. The group\u2019s standard slogan, \u201cIslam is the solution,\u201d expresses the movement\u2019s emphasis on the systematic application of Islam to all facets of life.<\/p>\n\n

Soon after it was founded, the Muslim Brotherhood spread beyond the confines of Egypt, eventually establishing branches in nearly every country in the Arab world. In addition, it also provided the ideological basis for a number of other prominent Islamist movements outside the Arab world, including the Pakistan-based group Jama\u2019at-i Islami, broadly translated as \u201cIslamic society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

By the 1950s, the secular nationalist regime of Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt came to view the politicized Islam of the Muslim Brotherhood as a major threat to the security of the Egyptian state, and suspected members of the group were imprisoned and in some cases tortured. In the decades that followed, governments in other countries where the movement had a following, including Syria, Iraq and Tunisia, began similar crackdowns on the Muslim Brotherhood, prompting many members of the group to seek refuge in France, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and other places in Europe.<\/p>\n\n

Expansion in Europe<\/h2>\n\n

By the 1980s, many of the emigrants who had taken the Muslim Brotherhood to Europe realized that they would not be returning to their countries of origin, at least in the near future, and they began to work in various European states to create more permanent organizations inspired by the movement. The Muslim Brotherhood\u2019s earliest adherents in Europe had remained close to the original ideological goals and organizational structure of the movement in the Middle East, but later European groups sought to adapt the movement\u2019s agenda and priorities for new generations of Muslims born and raised in Europe.<\/p>\n\n

Snapshot: Muslim Brotherhood and Jama\u2019at-i Islami<\/h3>
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Origin<\/strong>\nThe Muslim Brotherhood was founded by schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928 in Egypt. Jama\u2019at-i Islami was established in 1941 in what was then British India by journalist Abu Ala Mawdudi, who was inspired by al-Banna\u2019s ideas.<\/p>\n

Stated Purpose\/Goals <\/strong>\nBoth groups originally sought to establish legal and political systems based on Islamic law. Today, European offshoots of the groups promote Islam as a comprehensive way of life and encourage Muslims to participate in the broader society in order\nto advance Islamic causes.<\/p>\n

Method\/Activities<\/strong>\nNational affiliates of both movements engage in a range of activities, including organizing events focused on social and political issues of interest to Muslims.<\/p>\n

Representative Organizations\/Key Figures <\/strong><\/p>\n