Religion and violence

The Muslim Brotherhood movement arose from the ideas of a charismatic personality with great organisational skills, Hassan al-Banna^[1] . In March 1928, in a society under British colonial rule, this teacher brought together a group of companions to whom he preached a sermon. This initiative resulted in a mass movement which expanded throughout Egypt and then to the majority Muslim world beyond. It became the matrix of 'political Islam'. Its leaders promoted preaching and militant engagement with ordinary people, artisans and workers (even though they found themselves. in the latter case, in competition with the forces of the political left). They opposed the great landowners, intellectuals, and the elite who sent their children to English speaking or French speaking schools. They were mobilised to reject everything that came from outside, in this case from Western Europe, concerning economic and legal matters as well as cultural aspects.

The general ideological positioning of the Muslim Brotherhood movement was to eliminate all distinctions between the political and the religious arena.: “The Qu'ran is our constitution” was their main slogan. But this did not prevent tactical arrangements in their general actions. Three powers were in competition in Egypt: the Government, the Palace, and the British. After Farouk^[2] Hassan became King, al-Banna decided to align himself with the Palace, hoping it would offer protection and guarantee permission for their activities. He also approached the British, eschewing armed opposition, and persuaded them not to hinder their activities, notably in schools. These decisions resulted in some tension within the movement, to the extent that some of the leaders wanted to have immediate recourse to violence to achieve their aims.

The trajectory of the Muslim Brotherhood can be divided into four periods :

- The years 1930 to 1940:Efforts were essentially devoted to the spreading of the message, to social or educational activities and to the organisation of the movement. The 'brothers' were put into categories: assistants, associates, activists and fighters. In effect, there was a secret armed organisation: “The Youth of Mohammed”. Some left the movement to commit political assassinations, which led to a first wave of repression in 1948-1949.

- The years 1950-1960: After having fought the Zionists in Palestine and participated in the overthrow of the monarchy in 1952-53, the Muslim Brotherhood were faced with the choice of working with Nasser or opposing him. They opted for the second solution and were therefore made the victims of repression. It was in the course of this period that a figure emerged who represented a radical ideological pathway, that of Sayyid Qutb , himself influenced by the Indo-Pakistani scholar Abul A 'la Maududi^[3] .

- The years 1970-1990: After the death of Nasser, President Sadat^[5] worked to re-integrate the Muslim Brotherhood into the social and political arena, liberating the leaders of the movement. However, his economic policies and, above all, the signing of the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel made him a traitor, even an apostate, in the eyes of the Muslim Brotherhood. They were divided over this opportunity to resort to violence and three groups completely devoted to their emirs were created outside the movement: Al-Jihad, behind the assassination of Sadat; Al-Tahrir al-Islami [“Islamic liberation”]; Al Janaat al-Muslimin [The Muslim grouping”]. These jihadist groups attacked Egyptians and foreigners (especially tourists), and provoked many campaigns of repression against them.

- The years 2000-2010: Opposed to violent action against the regime, the Muslim Brotherhood were tolerated to the extent of being able to get some of their candidates elected under the label of 'independents' in union and political elections. Equally, they operated openly in the social and educational arena. When President Mubarak^[6] was ousted from power, they decided to form a political party, Freedom and Justice. This party won the legislative elections and then the Presidency, but it was dissolved after the overthrow of Mohammed Morsi^[7] on 3 July 2013.