Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood or ‘Ikhwanul Muslimeen’ or MB is an ideology imagining the establishment of Political Islam i.e. Islamic Caliphate in the world. However, many Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt banned the MB. But still, MB is present in almost every country of the world where the number of Muslims is ‘sizeable’.
Although since its foundation in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood was able to sit in power in Egypt only once. That is in the year 2012. But, after the same year, the then President of MB, Muhammad Morsi, had to resign. Today the Muslim Brotherhood receives the most support from Turkey and Qatar. Meanwhile, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Syria not only ban Ikhwan but also describe Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
Further, the Muslim Brotherhood with different names is present in almost every country with a good population of Muslims. Turkey is the new refuge of the Muslim Brotherhood after the ban in Egypt. And, the AKP party of Turkish President Rajab Tayyip Erdogan is believed to be the Muslim Brotherhood. He often carries the mark of ‘Raba’ in his rallies, which represents the four objectives of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Making the mark of ‘Raba’ by showing the four fingers of the hand only shows that either you are in Muslim Brotherhood or with it. In 2013, Muhammad Morsi’s government was overthrown by the Egyptian people and military. Several demonstrations were organized in India in support of Morsi. The demonstration was organized by Jamie Islami and its student wing Students Islamic Organization of India ( SIO). During this, the people of Jamaat and SIO also raised the mark of ‘Raba’, which makes it clear that Jamaat supports Islamic India and the SIO Muslim Brotherhood in India.
Additionally, the Muslim Brotherhood exists as AKP in Turkey, Al – Menbar in Bahrain, Islamic ( Iranian Call and Reform Organization) in Iran. Furthermore, under the chairmanship of former Vice President of Iraq, Tariq al-Hashimi in Iraq it exists as the Iraqi Islamic Party. In Israel it exists as separate factions with its real name, in Palestine, the MB remained strong until the time of Muhammad Morsi’s government in Egypt. However, MB still influences the Gaza Strip.
Moreover, the Muslim Brotherhood is very strong in semi-monarchical Jordan. The government did not renew the Muslim Brotherhood as a political party in Jordan last year in 2020. But, until then it has won a major election. Yussuf al – Qaradawi, who fled Egypt, was the biggest religious leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, lives in Qatar. Also, the former ruler of Qatar, Hammad bin Khalifa Alsani ( Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani), has given a lot of financial help to the Muslim Brotherhood. And, today his son and Sheikh Tamim bin Hammad of Qatar are also carrying this tradition. Apart from this, it is present in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates. Many believe that the Islamic group of Pakistan and Bangladesh is also the Muslim Brotherhood.
On comparing the statistics available on Twitter or social media, then the official handle of the Muslim Brotherhood i.e. ‘Ikhwanul Muslimeen’ @ Ikhwanweb, most followers are from Egypt. But, Egypt banned the Muslim Brotherhood. Based on minimal data, Ikhwan has 362 followers in Egypt. 303 followers in Bangladesh, and at least 151 followers in India. This number may appear low, but according to data science, it means that many people are following with a guarantee. And, this number can also be quite high. In the context of India, it becomes important that based on minimal data, Ikhwan has followers who are from India.
Not only this, analysis based on common followers shows that out of a minimum of 151 handles that follow Ikhwan from India, 42 handles also follow Jamaate Islamic India. This accounts for at least 27.81% of the total Indian handles that follow Ikhwan. Similarly, there are at least 34 handles that follow Jamaat Islami’s student organization Students Islamic Organization of India (SIO) who follow Ikhwan. That is, according to this, at least 22.51% of the Indian followers of Ikhwan i.e. Muslim Brotherhood are such handles who also follow the SIO and want to know its activities. It may also be a coincidence that 4 handles of India follow Ikhwan and the Popular Front of India at the same time.
As a matter of fact, India is bound to have the maximum number of followers of the SIO. But, the second most followers are from Pakistan and the third most followers are from Bangladesh.
The obvious fact of Ikhwanul Muslimeen having a high number of followers in Bangladesh is that the Muslim population is there in the majority. As well as the Muslim Brotherhood, i.e Bangladesh representatives of Ikhwan, are in the mainstream politics of Islamic Bangladesh. Jamaat Islami has tried a lot for many decades to come to power in Bangladesh with the help of bigotry. but, luckily they were never successful.
Yet, it is well known that it would not be an exaggeration to call Bangladesh Jamate Islami the Muslim Brotherhood of Bangladesh. Moreover, both the official handles of Bangladesh Jamate Islami and its student wing Bangladesh Chhatra Shibir, both follow Ikhwan. Additionally, it is important to know that during the recent Durga Puja in Bangladesh, Islamic Bangladesh was involved in the breaking of the Hindu pandal and the violence.
News 18 October 2021 Published a news report in which it was said that Jamaat Islami and Muslim Brotherhood worked together to mislead Muslim youth in the Kashmir Valley. Both these groups played a role in radicalizing the youth by diverting them from the Sufi path. Khabar’s writer Manoj Gupta gave much shocking information. “The influence of Jamaat-e-Islami in Jammu and Kashmir is a major factor in facilitating the terror group in the region.
The concept of society and life as well as the manner of ruling followed by JEI (Jamaat-e-Islami) is contrary to the Sufi values attached to the people of Kashmir. The Jamaat is directly taking ‘inspiration’ from the Muslim Brotherhood to live from. The news, written based on intelligence sources, said, “JEI (Jamaat-e-Islami) experts regularly engage prominent members of the Turkey-based MB ( Muslim Brotherhood), to monitor the day-to-day activities of the people and the government. Get his advice and guidance on various issues including roles.
If these claims are true, then looking at the common pattern of followers on Twitter, it seems that people who follow Jamaat-e-Islami and Muslim Brotherhood may be similar ideologies. We can consider this not only for Jamaat-e-Islami but also for its student organization Students Islamic Organization (SIO).
Another major news website ‘ India Tribune’ published news on the 2nd of last month. This news helps to understand the pattern. “With the blessings of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), the Qatar-Turkey-Pakistan (QTPI) nexus is becoming a new hub for radical Islamists, ” read a report by an independent research organization DisInfo Lab. A new report of Disinfolab states that the MB is armed with fake news. And, two media weapons, Al Jazeera and TRT World launched a campaign against India targeting New Delhi’s economic interests. A few days back, they launched the hashtag #BoycottIndianProducts on Twitter. And is running ever since. This nexus tried to give it a color from the unfortunate incident in Assam which was condemnable. The trigger was the only excuse. Let us tell you that in Assam Police shot a Muslim Bengali. After the incident, a cameraman was jumping on his chest.
The video went viral and there was a lot of debate all over the world. Further, India Tribune states in this news from the report of Disinfo Lab that Turkey is shooting multiple targets with one arrow. One is to make Saudi Arabia also worthless so that the power of the Sunni world comes to it. There are economic sides to this as well. That’s why the Muslim Brotherhood, sitting from Turkey, is also targeting France. Turkey is holding exhibitions on Halal trade. Turkey wants to become the center of the market for Halal goods popular among Sunni Muslims. At present, Malaysia is leading the business of India Jamaat-e-Islami 14 March 2014 to a then president Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umri Asked for reference. It appealed to Saudi Arabia to reconsider the ban on the Muslim Brotherhood.
Jamaat-e-Islami considers the death of late former Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi in prison as murder. He also accords martyr status to Mursi. After the news of Morsi’s death in prison. Jamaat-e-Islami along with all its organizations also staged a vigorous demonstration in front of the Egyptian Embassy in New Delhi. The Jamaat organized condolence meetings on the death of Mursi. In this condolence meeting of 22 June 2019, Zafarul Islam Khan and former chairman of Delhi Minorities Commission, Muhammad Zafar were there. Also, the then Vice President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. Fawaz Shaheen, then National Secretary of Students Islamic Organization attended the condolence. And, Dr. Rizwan Rafiqi, Secretary of the New Delhi’s Islamic Academy Trust were also present. While addressing, condemned the Also regime of Egypt. Called Muhammad Mursi a martyr.
One more Facebook post reveals that the SIO is calling upon the youth to not forget the Muslim Brotherhood leader Muhammad Mursi.
It cannot be a coincidence that the Jamaat-e-Islami of India was mourning the dismissal of Muhammad Morsi’s government of the Muslim Brotherhood. Similarly, demonstrations were held in Pakistan and Bangladesh’s Jamaat-e-Islami.
( The following photo is under copyright)
In 2013, the then President of Egypt, Muhammad Morsi, the first elected Muslim Brotherhood, visited Delhi. Maulana Jalaluddin Umri, the then president of Jamaat-e-Islami, met at the Egyptian Embassy in Delhi. It was on the call of the President. This news is also present on the official website of Jamaat.
When Muhammad Mursi changed the constitution of the country, Jamaat-e-Islami was the leading organization that congratulated Mursi. Everybody knows that Mursi had Wahhabized the secular nature of Egypt.
Even today Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has not forgotten Muhammad Mursi. The current president, Syed Saadatullah Hussaini, posted on Facebook that a prayer has been organized in the Tamil Nadu mosque in the memory of Mursi.
Conclusion
The agreement is even more visible between Turkey and the Jamaat-e-Islami. Jamaat-e-Islami never opposed the arrest of Fethullah Gulen, the world’s most famous Sufi ideologue. India’s Jamaat-e-Islami also kept silent on the recently debated human rights activist Usman Kavala. While everyone knows that most of the journalists and human rights activists in the world are in prisons in Turkey. When the Ali government in Egypt arrests and imprisons the people of Ikhwan, the concern that Jamaat-e-Islami Hind at that time does not seem to be concerned about human rights in Gulen, Kavala, or Turkey.
Since we can estimate the sentiments from the trend of social media. Also, things seen in the ideological methodology are is important. It is also important how deep is the agreement is between Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Pakistan, and Bangladesh in global affairs. And, support for Turkish President Rajab Tayyip Erdogan.
