Editing Muslim Brotherhood (section)

====Entry into politics (1936–1939)====

As its influence grew, it opposed British rule in Egypt starting in 1936.<ref name=brill>{{citation|last=Delanoue|first=G.|title=al-Ik̲h̲wānal-Muslimūn|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]}}</ref>

al-Banna had been in contact with [[Amin al-Husseini]] since 1927.<ref>{{cite book|last=El-Awaisi |first=Abd Al-Fattah Muhammad |year=1998 |title=The Muslim Brothers and the Palestine Question. 1928–1947 |publisher=Tauris Academic Studies|page=28}}</ref>

A central concern for the early Muslim Brotherhood was its pro-Arab activism for the Arab-Zionist conflict in Palestine, which in 1936–1939 culminated in the [[1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine|great Arab revolt]].<ref name=GershoniJankowski_223-224>{{cite book|last1=Gershoni |first1=Israel |last2=Jankowski|first2=James |year=2010 |title=Confronting Fascism in Egypt. Dictatorship versus Democracy in the 1930s |publisher=Stanford University|pages=223–224}}</ref> While absent before the outbreak of the revolt,<ref name=Berridge_p78>{{Cite book|last=Berridge|first=W. J. |title=Islamism in the Modern World. A Historical Approach |publisher=Bloomsburry |year=2018|page=78}}</ref> the Brotherhood now began to make use of aggressive anti-Jewish rhetorics which also targeted the [[Jews in Egypt|Jewish community in Egypt]].<ref name=GershoniJankowski_223-224/> The official weekly of the Brotherhood, [[Al Nadhir|''al-Nadhir'']], published a series of articles titled "The Danger of Jews", warning of alleged Jewish plots against Islam like [[Freemasonry]] or [[Marxism]].<ref name=Mellor_107>{{cite book |last=Mellor |first=Noha |year=2017 |title=Voice of the Muslim Brotherhood. Da'wa, Discourse, and Political Communication |publisher=Taylor & Francis|page=107}}</ref> In 1938 ''al-Nadhir'' demanded from Egypt's Jews to either adopt an openly anti-Zionist stance or to face "hostility". It also criticized the prominent role of Jews in Egypt's society and their prominence in journalism, commercial spheres and the entertainment industry. ''al-Nadhir'' even called for a boycott and their expulsion, "for they have corrupted Egypt and its population."<ref name=GershoniJankowski_223-224/> In another instance the Jews were referred to as a "societal cancer".<ref name=Berridge_p78/> The Brotherhood eventually distributed a list of Jewish business owners and called for their boycott,<ref>{{cite book|last=El-Awaisi |first=Abd Al-Fattah Muhammad |year=1998 |title=The Muslim Brothers and the Palestine Question. 1928–1947 |publisher=Tauris Academic Studies|pages=74–75}}</ref> claiming that they supported the Zionists.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mellor |first=Noha |year=2017 |title=Voice of the Muslim Brotherhood. Da'wa, Discourse, and Political Communication |publisher=Taylor & Francis|page=108}}</ref> Such conflations of Jews and Zionists were common.<ref name=Mellor_107/><ref>{{cite book|last=El-Awaisi |first=Abd Al-Fattah Muhammad |year=1998 |title=The Muslim Brothers and the Palestine Question. 1928–1947 |publisher=Tauris Academic Studies|page=8}}</ref>

In the years preceding World War II the Muslim Brothers grew connections with [[Nazi Germany]], maintained via the [[:de:Deutsches Nachrichtenbüro|Deutsches Nachrichtenbüro]] in Cairo and Amin al-Husseini,<ref name=Frampton_51-52>{{cite book |last=Frampton |first=Martyn |year=2018 |title=The Muslim Brotherhood and the West. A History of Enmity and Engagement |publisher=Harvard University|pages=51–52}}</ref> who himself received funds from the [[Abwehr]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Nicosia |first=Francis R. |title=Nazi Germany and the Arab World|year=2014 |publisher=Harvard University |pages=108–110}}</ref> Being interested in strengthening a militant anti-British organization, Germany may have funded the Brotherhood as early as 1934. One later British source claimed that in 1936 alone, Germany transferred over £5.000.<ref name=Frampton_51-52/> al-Banna and other members of the Brotherhood voiced admiration for aspects of [[Nazism|Nazi ideology]], including its militarism and its centralization [[Adolf Hitler's cult of personality|revolving around a charismatic leader]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gershoni |first1=Israel |last2=Jankowski|first2=James |year=2010 |title=Confronting Fascism in Egypt. Dictatorship versus Democracy in the 1930s |publisher=Stanford University|page=211}}</ref> but opposed others like its racial policies and ethnic nationalism.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gershoni |first1=Israel |last2=Jankowski|first2=James |year=2010 |title=Confronting Fascism in Egypt. Dictatorship versus Democracy in the 1930s |publisher=Stanford University|pages=216–219}}</ref> The outbreak of the war ended the relationship between Germany and the Muslim Brothers.<ref name=GershoniJankowski_213>{{cite book|last1=Gershoni |first1=Israel |last2=Jankowski|first2=James |year=2010 |title=Confronting Fascism in Egypt. Dictatorship versus Democracy in the 1930s |publisher=Stanford University|page=213}}</ref> al-Banna denied that he had ever received German funding.<ref>{{cite book |last=Frampton |first=Martyn |year=2018 |title=The Muslim Brotherhood and the West. A History of Enmity and Engagement |publisher=Harvard University|page=52}}</ref> [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Italian]] funding of the Brotherhood is unlikely, as the latter vehemently opposed the [[Italian Libya|Italian occupation of Libya]].<ref name=GershoniJankowski_213/>