The end of the Muslim Brotherhood

Ziad A. Akl
7 Min Read

Ziad AklI have no problem admitting how much the Muslim Brotherhood annoys me. There is absolutely nothing that I admire about this group. I hate their fascist intentions, I disrespect their manipulative politics, their constant lying appalls me and I am offended by how much they distort a peaceful religion like Islam.

The mere presence of Muslim Brotherhood members in all decision-making positions in Egypt represents how the revolution was diverted from its original course. The Muslim Brotherhood is indeed the post-revolutionary cancer that eats away at Egypt’s past, present, and future.

But like so many others, there was a time when I respected this group or movement or brethren or underground organisation or whatever else you want to call them. In fact, there was a time where I stood next to Muslim Brotherhood activists against the atrocities of the Mubarak regime.

There was a time where I would listen carefully to the ideas, propositions and alternatives offered by the Muslim Brotherhood as part of a national Egyptian opposition. Sometimes I think that this time when cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood was actually possible was simply a matter of lack of knowledge about the movement. Thankfully or unfortunately (ironically, both work just fine), the past 2 years have revealed the Muslim Brotherhood in a manner that never happened before.

To me and to many others that I have met, read or spoken to, the rationale is quite clear and simple: as long as the Muslim Brotherhood remains in power, there is absolutely no chance that real development or progress will ever take place in Egypt.

The dilemma is no longer how to get rid of the old regime; rather it is how to stop this new regime before it drags this country further down into oblivion. The Muslim Brotherhood’s authoritarianism, oppression and violence is more harmful to Egypt at this specific time that any other leadership we could have conceived of.

This absurd political reality that we live in makes you wonder: when will all this end? How can we get rid of this fascist system that rests on religious manipulation, vulgar pragmatism and naked private interest? How and when will we see the end of the Muslim Brotherhood?

The first tool we have to end the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule over Egypt is actually presented to us by the Brotherhood itself. Over the past 2 years and specifically since Morsi took office, the Brotherhood has managed to destroy all the myths that were being told about the capabilities and the capacity of the group.

We were told that Muslim Brotherhood leaders are pious men who will rule in God’s name and uphold the principles of holy religion. But as soon as we saw all the blood being spilled on the streets of Egypt, and all the violence that Brotherhood militias are ready to engage in, we realised that there is absolutely no piety in whatever the Muslim Brotherhood is doing.

We were also told the Muslim Brotherhood has this sophisticated and efficient system of social solidarity where social services will reach citizens wherever they are. But with the disappearance of flour, petrol and even medicines, we realised that this system of social services was nothing but sheer propaganda.

We were also told that the Muslim Brotherhood is full of experienced politicians who would be able to calm down the acute political conflict Egypt has been going through since the revolution. Of course a single look at the performance of President Morsi would tell you how false this assumption was.

In short, the Muslim Brotherhood is deconstructing the powerful image they have created for themselves over the years. The performance of the Muslim Brotherhood so far proves that they were only capable of filling the political and social vacuum left by the state, but they certainly cannot be the state.

The end of the Muslim Brotherhood comes closer with each day they continue with their failure in administration, their broken promises, and their deceitful statements. If by some miracle the Brotherhood remains ruling Egypt for 3 more years until a new presidential election is due, their chances of winning this election without fraud will be very thin. The Brotherhood, after this performance, will either lose the presidential elections or forge them in order to stay in power. The Brotherhood is indeed its own worst enemy.

But the end of the Muslim Brotherhood could come much sooner than we think. The widespread protests in all of Egypt signal a general state of dissatisfaction that the Brotherhood fails time and time again to resolve. As soon as all the collective action in different cities is coordinated, as soon as Egypt rises in defense of human dignity and basic rights, as soon as the Brotherhood decides that it has nothing but violence to respond to those protests; as soon as all that happens (which doesn’t seem to be very far-fetched at this moment) the end of the Muslim Brotherhood will be announced after a bloody experience in office.

The end of the Muslim Brotherhood is coming; if it is not brought about by the people then it will be brought by the Brotherhood itself. This nightmare is bound to be over soon.

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Ziad A. Akl is a political analyst and sociologist. He is a senior researcher at the Egyptian Studies Unit in Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.
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