Muslim Brotherhood

This is perhaps the world's biggest Muslim political organization, with an international scope and a main base in Egypt. Its goal is to establish the Koran as the "sole reference point for ... ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community ... and state." Founded early in the 20th century, the Muslim Brotherhood went through a violent cycle when it confronted and tried to overthrow the Egyptian government. Later in 20th century, the Muslim Brotherhood abjured violence for the political process and managed to receive 20 percent of the vote in an Egyptian election. Hosni Mubarak promptly banned the group and put many of its leaders in jail.

While the group has foregone violence, the Muslim Bortherhood's goals remain fairly radical. It seeks to regenerate the Muslim caliphate, stretching from Spain to Indonesia. Its leaders believe that the West is an exhausted culture because "it is deprived of those life-giving values, which enabled it to be the leader of mankind," according to As Sayyid Qutb in his 1963 book, Milestones, (Ma'alim fi al-Tariq).

The Muslim Brotherhood has built political parties in various countries, staffed by Brotherhood members but independent of the main group. Its goals are supposedly enunciated in several Arabic documents and include one in Europe called the "Project" and another called the "General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America," which sets forth a "Civilization-Jihadist Process" to undermine both America and Europe. According to Wikipedia, the Muslim Brotherhood deals in five-year action plans. Goals, derived from transcripts include the following:

* Reinstatement of the caliphate and reunite the "dar el Islam"

* Strengthening the internal structure

* Administrative discipline

* Recruitment and settlement of the Dawa'a (lectures and speeches about Islam)

* Energizing the organisation's work

* Energizing political work fronts (e.g., in civil political organizations)

Because the Muslim Brotherhood is such a large organization and has come under repeated attacks, there is a good chance that it has been thoroughly penetrated by Western intelligence. If the Muslim Brotherhood emerges as the leading contender for reforming society in Egypt and perhaps Tunisia, this may suit Western powers, given the leverage they may have obtained over the group.

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