The MB was formed in 1928 by Hasan al-Banna to return the world to a perceived "Islamic Golden Age", free of colonial influence. In its nearly 100 years of existence it has spread across the world and birthed countless offshoot organisations.
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Erdogan’s “reforms” are geared toward the MB’s utopic vision. Creating a police state, removing evolution from curricula, and promoting Islamic supremacy through historical revisionism (e.g. “America was discovered by Muslims”, “Shakespeare was a Muslim named Sheikh Pir”, etc).
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However, Erdogan’s Turkey is not yet what the MB originally envisioned, as it still retains “deviant” elements like consumerism, secular spaces, and curiosities like Adnan Oktar’s horrifying sex-cult of Islamic Barbie Dolls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bH21w2R0hc …
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A more accurate representation of the MB’s aims would be ultra-conservative Sudan under the MB affiliate, National Islamic Front. This was a place of curfews, “re-education”, summary executions, ethnic cleansing, slavery, and torture.
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Women accused of rape were battered to death with rocks, in public, by their own families, while strangers cheered. Sudanese children were encouraged to become suicide bombers, and on state TV jihadis were ceremonially wedded to women dressed up as houris (heavenly virgins)
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Another e.g. of an MB offshoot with absolute power is Jamaat-e-Islami in 1970s Bangladesh. This oversaw the Bangladesh Genocide, during which imams advocated rape & murder of non-Muslims, leading to the torture & deaths of millions – utterly eclipsing the atrocities of even ISIS.
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Reactions of Western govts to groups like MB & J-e-I have varied. In 2014, David Cameron opened an investigation into the UK arm of the MB, which caused it to relocate to more liberal Austria. However, the MB retains influence in the UK through the Muslim Association of Britain.
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On the other hand, in 2016, a mosque less than a mile from me invited J-e-I firebrand Muhammad Hanif Qureshi to speak. This is a man who praised the murder of Punjabi governor Salmaan Tafseer, who wished to relax blasphemy laws. The invitation was approved by the UK Home Office.
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Clearly, Western governments offer the MB and its offshoots freedoms that they would never grant to AQ or IS, and this makes the more outwardly respectable groups far more dangerous than the jihadis.
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In conclusion: the MB is the grandfather of much of today’s Islamism, a puppeteer of jihadis & dictators alike, a many-headed hydra seeking to devour civilisation from a myriad different ways. It may not burn people alive in 1080p, but this is precisely why it should be watched.
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