European Eye on Radicalization would like to invite you to participate in our next webinar.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s position within the Islamist universe is the subject of an intense academic debate, especially since the 1970s when the Brotherhood publicly abjured violence and began claiming it supported democracy. Broadly speaking, one side sees these evolutions as meaningful, making the organization a bulwark against violent jihadism by giving Islamists a peaceful channel to pursue their political goals. The other side, as well as doubting the sincerity of these changes sees the Brotherhood even in this allegedly reformed state as a gateway to violence because it normalizes and spreads extremist ideas and concepts, and in some cases Brotherhood networks have been connected to terrorists.
The complexity of the debate was highlighted in late September with the death of Yusuf al-Qaradawi, perhaps the most influential Sunni Muslim theologian and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. In discussing Al-Qaradawi’s legacy, one is dealing with a man who by the early 2000s had issued fatwas against sex segregation in universities and condemned theocratic states run by the clergy while supporting the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. AlQaradawi’s fatwas also tended to inflame already tense situations: in Libya, Al-Qaradawi said Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi should be killed and in Syria a deeply sectarian ruling in 2013 encouraged a flow of Sunni foreign fighters, who subsequently joined groups like Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
Another Muslim Brotherhood preacher in France was accused for spreading hate speech and discrimination through his religious discourses. The French Interior Minister issued an expulsion order against Hassan Iquissen, a Muslim Brotherhood preacher, accusing him of “proselytizing speech interspersed with remarks inciting hatred and discrimination.” While some people tend to think that the freedom of speech and expression must be guaranteed in such cases, others believe that spreading of hate, discrimination, and violence should not
be permitted under the cover of the freedom of speech.
The webinar will attempt to assess the impact of radical preachments of the Muslim Brotherhood preachers, and the risk that MB discourse poses to the safety and security of countries. The webinar will take place on November 2nd at 11:30 CET.
The event will last about an hour, with panelists presenting for 10 to 15 minutes followed by a question-and-answer session with our audience that is largely comprised of analysts, journalists, and practitioners.
Our panelists will be comprised of:
– Dr. Sara Brzuszkiewicz, Researcher in the field of terrorism and radicalization.
– Sigrid Hermann, Independent writer on Islamist organizations and structure
analyst of Islamist movements.
– John Rosomando, Researcher on Defense Policy and Intelligence.
