Editing Muslim Brotherhood (section)

==Beliefs==
{{Islamism sidebar|Movements}}
The Brotherhood's English-language website describes its principles as including firstly the introduction of the Islamic [[Sharia]] as "the basis for controlling the affairs of state and society" and secondly, working to unify "Islamic countries and states, mainly among the Arab states, and liberate them from foreign [[imperialism]]".<ref name="ikhwanweb1">{{cite web|url=https://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=813|title=The Principles of The Muslim Brotherhood – Ikhwanweb|website=ikhwanweb.com|access-date=5 May 2020|archive-date=29 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529200836/https://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=813|url-status=live}}</ref> The Brotherhood is heavily influenced by the [[Salafi movement#Evolution|early ''Salafiyya'']] movement and regularly advocates Salafi revivalist themes that address the contemporary challenges faced by [[Muslims]], calling for the establishment of an [[Islamic state]] through implementation of the ''[[Sharia|Shari'ah]]'' and [[Jihad]] against [[Kafir|disbelievers]]. Science and technology should be harnessed through Islamic means to revive the Islamic prowess and Jihad should be waged personally as well as communally to bring forth effective political transformations.<ref name="Sageman 2004 7" /> The Brotherhood share common creedal beliefs with other ''Salafiyya'' movements, such as i) strict [[Tawhid|monotheism]] with regard to Divine attributes, ii) purifying Islam from accretions and folk practices associated with Sufism, and iii) focusing on the moral integrity of individuals through ''[[Tazkiyah|Tazkiyya]].''<ref name="Lenz-Raymann 2014 80" /> [[Salafi movement#Salafi activists|Activist Salafis]] have a historical tradition of influential political activism across the various branches and affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.<ref>{{Cite news|date=25 July 2015|title=Salafism: Politics and the puritanical|url=https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2015/06/25/politics-and-the-puritanical|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002082341/https://amp.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2015/06/25/politics-and-the-puritanical|archive-date=2 October 2019|newspaper=The Economist}}</ref>

Its founder, [[Hassan Al-Banna]], was influenced by [[Pan-Islamism|pan-Islamic]] scholars [[Muhammad Abduh]] and [[Rashid Rida]] (who attacked the ''[[taqlid]]'' of the official ''`[[ulama]]'', and he insisted that only the Quran and the best-attested [[hadith]]s should be sources of the ''Sharia''),<ref name=ruthven-311/> with the group structure and approach being influenced by [[Sufism]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Paulo G.|last=Pinto|chapter=Sufism and the religious debate in Syria|title=Public Islam and the Common Good|page=184|volume=95|series=Social, economic, and political studies of the Middle East and Asia|editor-first1=Armando|editor-last1=Salvatore|editor-first2=Dale F.|editor-last2=Eickelman|location=[[Leiden]], Netherlands|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|year=2004|isbn=9789004136212}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Carl W.|last=Ernst|title=Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World|page=180|series=Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks|location=[[Chapel Hill, North Carolina|Chapel Hill]]|publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]]|year=2003|isbn=9780807875803}}</ref> However, Al-Banna avoided controversies over doctrine and would distance himself from the anti-Sufi dogmas of Rashid Rida. As a teen, Al-Banna had been initiated into the Hasafi branch of ''[[Shadhili]]yya'' order and was not hostile to various Sufi practices condemned as aspects of polytheism by Rida. While Al-Banna agreed with Rida on the need to purify religious practices of illegitimate [[Bidʻah|innovations]], he saw nothing wrong with visits to the graves of ''[[Wali|Awliyaa]]'' (saints) so long as one did not seek their intercession. He would later declare the Hasafiyya society as a precursor to the Muslim Brotherhood;<ref>{{Cite book|last=McHugo|first=John|title=A Concise History of the Arabs|publisher=[[The New Press]]|isbn=978-1-59558-950-7|location=New York|year=2013|page=136|quote=Al-Banna seems to have kept a certain distance from Rashid Rida. As a young man, he visited the tombs of shaykhs and was not hostile to some of the Sufi practices of which Rida would have disapproved... Hassan al-Banna was initiated into a branch of the Shadhiliyya, one of the most influential, when he was still in his teens.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Krämer|first=Gudrun|author-link=Gudrun Krämer|title=Makers of the Muslim World: Hassan al Banna|publisher=[[Oneworld Publications]]|year=2010|isbn=978-1-85168-430-4|location=London, England|pages=14–16, 23, 30|quote=The Hasafiyya was a local offshoot of the large and variegated Shadhiliyya order... In Ramadan 1341/1923 Hasan al-Banna was initiated into the Hasafiyya Brotherhood by Shaykh Hasanayn’s son and successor when the latter visited Damanhur, and benefited greatly from his teachings... Hasan al-Banna later declared the Hasafi Benevolent Society to be the nucleus or forerunner of the Society of the Muslim Brothers... al-Banna was aware of Rida’s hostility to "popular" Sufism, which, for him, included the Shadhiliyya order in general and the "grave-worshippers" (alquburiyyun) in particular, of whom al-Banna was one... Under the impact of reform Islam, and Rashid Rida more particularly, many aspects of Sufism had come under attack. Hasan al-Banna made no secret of his attachment to Sufism and certain practices, such as visiting graves.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Commins|first=David|title=The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia|publisher=I. B. Tauris|year=2006|isbn=1-84511-080-3|location=London|page=141}}</ref> while also acknowledging his debt to the ''[[Salafi movement|Salafiyya]]'' tradition.<ref name="Bellaigue">{{Cite book|last=De Bellaigue|first=Christopher|author-link=Christopher de Bellaigue|title=The Islamic Enlightenment: The Struggle Between Faith and Reason- 1798 to Modern Times|publisher=Liveright Publishing|year=2017|isbn=978-0-87140-373-5|location=New York|page=376|chapter=Chapter 6: Counter-Enlightenment}}</ref>

Al-Banna downplayed doctrinal differences between [[Madhhab|schools]] (acknowledging [[Shia Islam|Shi'ism]] as a valid "fifth school",<ref>{{cite web |last=Azuri |first=L. |title=Muslim Brotherhood Debates Its Position on the Shi'a |url=https://www.memri.org/reports/muslim-brotherhood-debates-its-position-shia |date=27 April 2009 |access-date=26 September 2020 |archive-date=1 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101143132/https://www.memri.org/reports/muslim-brotherhood-debates-its-position-shia |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Elad-Altman" /> while declaring [[Ahmadiyya]] and the Islam-related [[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼí]] and [[Druze]] religions to be ''[[takfir]]'') emphasizing the political importance of worldwide unity of the ''[[ummah]]''.<ref name="Elad-Altman">{{cite web|last1=Elad-Altman|first1=Israel|title=The Brotherhood and the Shiite Question|url=http://www.hudson.org/research/9850-the-brotherhood-and-the-shiite-question-|publisher=Hudson Institute|access-date=29 December 2016|archive-date=16 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716061035/https://www.hudson.org/research/9850-the-brotherhood-and-the-shiite-question-|url-status=live}}</ref> In the few occasions a mature Al-Banna did address theology, he espoused Salafi views by expressing his dislike of ''[[Kalam|Ilm al-Kalam]]'', [[Islamic philosophy|philosophy]], etc. and seeking his preference to draw directly from ''[[Quran|Qur'an]]'', ''[[Sunnah]]'' and ''[[Salaf]]''. However he would not openly side with [[Traditionalist theology (Islam)|Atharis]] against the [[Ash'ari]]s, instead lumping all the medieval theological debates as irrelevant. While his religious activism resembled [[Ibn Taymiyyah|Ibn Taymiyya]], Banna's approach to theological prioritisation was imparted through Sufi-inspired [[Al-Ghazali|Ghazalian]] expressions.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Law|first=Daniel|title=Radical Islam and the Revival of Medieval Theology|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2012|isbn=978-1-107-00964-6|location=New York|page=52}}</ref> After the creation of Muslim Brotherhood organisation, Al-Banna would not maintain formal affiliations with Sufi orders. While the Brothers acknowledged the validity of the true spiritual ''[[Sufism|Tasawwuf]]'', they would be critical of institutionalised [[Tariqa|Sufi orders]]; which in their view led to divisions amongst the [[Muslims]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Richard Paul|author-link=Richard P. Mitchell|title=The Society of the Muslim Brothers|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1993|isbn=9780195084375|pages=214–216}}</ref>

As [[Islamic Modernism|Islamic Modernist]] beliefs were co-opted by secularist rulers and official ''ulama'', the Brotherhood has become traditionalist and conservative, "being the only available outlet for those whose religious and cultural sensibilities had been outraged by the impact of Westernization".<ref name=ruthven-317>{{cite book|last1=Ruthven|first1=Malise|title=Islam in the World|url=https://archive.org/details/islaminworld0000ruth_b6b0|url-access=registration|date=1984|publisher=Penguin|page=[https://archive.org/details/islaminworld0000ruth_b6b0/page/317 317]|edition=first}}</ref> Al-Banna believed the [[Quran]] and [[Sunnah]] constitute a perfect way of life and social and political organization that [[Islamic concept of God|God]] has set out for man. [[Islamic state|Islamic governments]] must be based on this system and eventually unified in a [[Caliphate]]. The Muslim Brotherhood's goal, as stated by its founder al-Banna was to drive out British colonial and other Western influences, reclaim Islam's manifest destiny—an empire, stretching from Spain to Indonesia.<ref>{{cite book|last=Davidson|first=Lawrence|year=1998|title=Islamic Fundamentalism|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, Conn., USA|isbn=9781440829437|pages=97–98}}</ref> The Brotherhood preaches that Islam will bring social justice, the eradication of poverty, corruption and sinful behavior, and political freedom (to the extent allowed by the laws of Islam). Blended with methods of modern social sciences, some key thinkers of Brotherhood have also contemplated the Islamic perspective on bureaucratic effectiveness, mapping out solutions to problems of formalism and irresponsiveness to public concerns in public administration, which pertains to the pro-democratic tenets of Muslim Brotherhood.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Abdelrahman|first=Abdelrahman Ahmed|year=1995|title=An Islamic Perspective on Organizational Motivation|journal=The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences|volume=12|issue=2|pages=185–203|doi=10.35632/ajis.v12i2.2386}}</ref> Such variations of thoughts have also purportedly negated the realities of contemporary Muslim countries as their authors have proclaimed.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Abdelrahman|first=Abdelrahman Ahmed|date=Fall 1996|title=Administrative Efficiency and Effectiveness: An Islamic Perspective|journal=The Islamic Quarterly|volume=40: 3|pages=139–154}}</ref>

On the issue of women and gender the Muslim Brotherhood interprets Islam conservatively. Its founder called for "a campaign against ostentation in dress and loose behavior", "segregation of male and female students", a separate curriculum for girls, and "the prohibition of dancing and other such pastimes ... "<ref name="Women">{{cite book|chapter=Toward the Light|title=Five Tracts of Hasan Al-Banna|translator-first=Charles|translator-last=Wendell|publisher=Berkeley|year=1978|isbn=0-520-09584-7|page=26f}}</ref>

There have been breakaway groups from the movement, including the [[al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya]] and [[Takfir wal-Hijra]].<ref name=Pbs>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/special/sala.html|title=The Salafist Movement|publisher=[[Frontline (PBS)]]|access-date=5 September 2017|archive-date=28 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628202818/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/special/sala.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Prominent figures of the Brotherhood include [[Sayyid Qutb]], a highly influential thinker of Islamism, and the author of ''[[Ma'alim fi al-Tariq|Milestones]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mura |first=Andrea |year=2014 |title=The Inclusive Dynamics of Islamic Universalism: From the Vantage Point of Sayyid Qutb's Critical Philosophy |journal=Comparative Philosophy |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=29–54 |issn=2151-6014|doi=10.31979/2151-6014(2014).050106 |doi-access=free |url=http://research.gold.ac.uk/19375/1/Mura%20-%20The%20Inclusive%20Dynamics%20of%20Islamic%20Universalism.pdf }}</ref> [[Osama bin Laden]] criticized the Brotherhood, and accused it of betraying ''[[jihad]]'' and the ideals of Qutb.<ref name="Muslim Brotherhood vs Al Qaeda">{{cite web|url=http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=22699|title=Muslim Brotherhood vs Al Qaeda|date=19 January 2010|publisher=ikhwanweb.com|access-date=21 January 2010|archive-date=22 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122164014/http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=22699|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="MB Chief Criticism">{{cite web|url=http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/FeaturedDocs/nefambexecbureaurejectubltape1207.pdf|title="MB Chief Criticism" 30 December 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807010707/http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/FeaturedDocs/nefambexecbureaurejectubltape1207.pdf|archive-date=7 August 2010}}</ref>

=== Stance on democracy, civil rights and secularism ===
According to Deputy of the Chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood, Dr. Mohamed El-Sayed Habib, the Muslim Brotherhood believes in implementing various political reforms for enabling [[freedom of assembly]], [[Freedom of the press|press freedoms]], [[democracy]], [[Pluralism (political philosophy)|political pluralism]], [[peaceful transition of power]], etc.

<blockquote>We believe that the political reform is the true and natural gateway for all other kinds of reform. We have announced our acceptance of democracy that acknowledges political pluralism, the peaceful rotation of power and the fact that the nation is the source of all powers. As we see it, political reform includes the termination of the state of emergency, restoring public freedoms, including the right to establish political parties, whatever their tendencies may be, and the freedom of the press, freedom of criticism and thought, freedom of peaceful demonstrations, freedom of assembly, etc. It also includes the dismantling of all exceptional courts and the annulment of all exceptional laws, establishing the independence of the judiciary, enabling the judiciary to fully and truly supervise general elections so as to ensure that they authentically express people's will, removing all obstacles that restrict the functioning of civil society organizations, etc.<ref name="Ikhwan Web">{{cite web|url=http://www.ikhwanweb.com/faq.php|title=interview w/Dr. Mohamed El-Sayed Habib|publisher=Ikhwan Web|access-date=28 November 2012|archive-date=28 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228143735/http://www.ikhwanweb.com/faq.php|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

However, the Brotherhood is opposed to [[secularism]] and seeks the implementation of [[Sharia|Shari'a]] (Islamic law) as the basis of [[Egyptian Civil Code|Egyptian legal system]] and insists on complying the political system with Islamic legal precepts. When asked whether the Muslim Brotherhood seeks to establish a religious [[theocracy]]; the same spokesperson replied:
<blockquote>This concern stems from a wrong understanding of the nature of [[Islam]]. To those who speak about a [[religious state]], in the same ecclesiastical meaning given to it in Europe in the Middle Ages, when the church had hegemony over a State's authorities, we wish to say that the issue here is completely different. The Muslim Brotherhood has gone through the latest legislative elections on the basis of a clear-cut program under the slogan "Islam is the Solution", given the fact that Islam, as Imam el-Banna said, is a comprehensive program that encompasses all aspects of life: it is a state and a country, a government and people, ethics and power, mercy and justice, culture and law, science and justice, resources and wealth, defense and advocacy, an army and an idea, a true belief and correct acts of worship.<ref name="Ikhwan Web"/></blockquote>

===Mottos===
The Brotherhood's "most frequently used slogan" (according to the BBC) is "Islam is the Solution" (الإسلام هو الحل).<ref name=profile-bbc>{{cite web|title=Profile: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-12313405|date=25 December 2013|publisher=BBC|access-date=3 April 2014|archive-date=1 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601082524/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-12313405|url-status=live}}</ref> According to academic Khalil Yusuf, its motto "was traditionally" "Believers are but Brothers."<ref>{{cite web|last=Yusuf|first=Khalil|date=27 January 2014|url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20140127-does-the-muslim-brotherhood-still-have-a-role-to-play-in-egypts-revolutionary-politics/|title=Does the Muslim Brotherhood still have a role to play in Egypt's revolutionary politics?|website=Middle East Monitor|access-date=11 October 2017|archive-date=11 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011172935/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20140127-does-the-muslim-brotherhood-still-have-a-role-to-play-in-egypts-revolutionary-politics/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Hasan Al-Banna presented the reform programme of the Muslim Brothers as one that sought to encompass every sphere of life; defining the movement as:
<blockquote>a ''[[Salafi movement|Salafiyya]]'' message, a Sunni way, a [[Sufism|Sufi]] truth, a political organization, an athletic group, a cultural-educational union, an economic company, and a social idea<ref>{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Richard Paul|author-link=Richard P. Mitchell|title=The Society of the Muslim Brothers|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1993|isbn=9780195084375|pages=14}}</ref></blockquote>