Kuwait, 1991: After the Sabah ruling family escaped the Saddam invasion, Shia and Sunni Islamists, including the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), took charge of providing public services and resisting the Iraqi military—effectively becoming American allies. The Kuwaiti MB denounced their mother organization for standing against the U.S.-led war to evict Iraq from Kuwait. They sent a delegation to Washington only to be rebuffed by then Senator George Mitchell who told them that the U.S. deals only with the Sabah family. They established a political arm, the Islamic Constitutional Movement, which has operated as a de-facto political party, although Kuwaiti Constitution does not allow for parties (in the name of preventing divisiveness). Today, different Sunni and Shia Islamists make a plurality of the Kuwaiti Parliament. They clash amongst themselves on social and sectarian issues but sometimes join forces to gain concessions from the ruling family.
Algeria, 1992: After the cancellation of the free election that was won by the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) a civil war ensued. HIMS, a small Algerian MB group, did not take sides in the conflict but criticized FIS for demagoguery and the security forces for brutality. Later HIMS participated in governments but then split; one faction continues to be part of the government.
Jordan, 1993: The MB forms Islamic Action Front (IAF), now the largest opposition legal party. The king manipulates the electoral process, which the IAF tolerated until 2010, when they decided to boycott the election. Seeking to head off the Tunisian-Egyptian political tsunami, the king dismissed his government and admitted that there were mistakes. But he appointed an old guard ally to lead the dialogue with the opposition, which thinks the king overture is not satisfactory.
Yemen, 1994: The Islamist Reform Party, rooted in MB movement, joined the North Yemen military in a successful bid to unify the north and south of the country. Detesting the Saleh politics of marginalization and increased reliance on his clan, the Reform Party joined forces with the southern opposition against the ruling party. Then the Reform Party joins demonstrators encouraged by the success of the Tunisian revolution. On February 2, 2011, the president announced he will not run again nor will he name his son to succeed him. The Reform Party announced the continuation of their drive for comprehensive political reform. Protesters called February 4, 2011 “Friday of Rage”.
Iraq, 2003: The Sunni MB joined pro-Iran Shia groups al-Dawa and the Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq as well as ethnic and religious Kurds in a de-facto alliance with the U.S. to remove Saddam Hussein from power. The Shias briefly fought other Shias led by Muqtada al-Sadr. The Muslim Brotherhood formed the Islamic Party, which thus far suffered on factional split led by Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi.
Palestine, 2006: A plurality of Palestinians voted for Hamas, the political branch of the MB, to express dissatisfaction with the failing peace process and the worsening of quality of life in the Occupied Territories. Fatah, entrenched in the West Bank, conspired with Israel to deny Hamas the exercise of power after allowing them to run in the election. Hamas could not overpower Fatah in the West Bank but routed them in Gaza. They ran a government and withstood the subsequent Western boycott and suffocating Israeli siege. Two years later, Hamas survived the Israeli bombardment of Gazan civilian targets that destroyed all infrastructure and 14% of the strip. Hamas emerged cautious in its rhetoric, insisting on resistance but willing to accept a two-state solution.
Lebanon, 2006: The MB branch, the Islamic Group, is active in Sunni areas, especially the stronghold of Tarablus in the north. Despite a small following, they are an important player in the country’s fractured sectarian democracy. The group moved closer to Hizbullah during and after the impressive performance of the latter in the war with Israel. The confrontation between the Shia Hizbullah and the Sunni Future bloc (led by the former PM), split the MB. The founder, Islamic thinker Fathi Yaken, aligned with Hizbullah while the bulk of the MB remained closer to Future bloc.
Tunisia, 2010: Islamists were nearly absent in the unrest that began in December 17, 2010 and forced the former dictator Ben Ali from office on January 14, 2011. On January 30, 2011, founder of Ennahda Movement (the most progressive MB-like group), returns to his country after 21 years in exile. In 1988 he approved the ban on polygamy as a valid Islamic ijtihad (reinterpretation). Thousands of supporters welcomed him. His first statement was that his group will not contest the coming presidential election and he will not run for any political seat.
Egypt, 2011: The MB (where the movement was founded in 1928) holds on joining the mass protests that began in January 25 until the following Friday, January 28, 2011. The revolt has many voices, of which the MB is the largest organization. Diversity characterizes the Muslim Brothers themselves who essentially represent a social movement akin to the Turkish Gulen Movement, with the exception that Gulen is apolitical and emphasizes intercultural and interfaith relations while the MB is political and tends to be less open. Due to waves of repression, they have not developed a specific political program catering to a certain constituency. Their appeal used to be limited to the educated middle class, but now workers and some upper class Egyptians support them. The effective policies of the NDP precluded the emergence of rivals with self-initiating, mass following.
Sudan, 2011: The Islamist al-Bashir government has allowed a referendum on South Sudan secession. The country will split peacefully after decades of civil war. The ruling Islamists had taken over power in 1989 under Hasan al-Turabi’s leadership who split from the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood, a marginal group in Sudan’s politics.
Syria, 2011: Syria today is simmering; there have been spontaneous demonstrations since January 14; the government has been intervening in Facebook and Twitter communications. The MB is the largest opposition group, but it is banned. Membership in the MB is punishable by death, though the law is not enforced. This law was promulgated after the failed 1982 insurrection by a militant group of the MB in the city of Hama. The regime then (led by the father of the current president) bombed the city, killing thousands and forcing many members of the group to flee to other Arab and Western countries.
Libya, 2011: The MB is a banned underground organization. Qaddafi attacks them regularly on state television. He has also criticized the Tunisian people for their revolt against Ben Ali.
Morocco, 2011: The largest social group in the country, the Islamist Justice and Equality Movement, is denied a legal status. Al-Tajdid (a MB-like group) has formed a political party under the authoritarian monarchy of Muhammad the Fifth and is represented in the parliament. The political system includes two Egyptian NDP-like parties dependent on state patronage, with other parties allowed to operate in a limited space.
Saudi Arabia, 2011: The MB took a conscious decision not to organize in the kingdom, whose merchants fund many MB affiliated social and religious activities. But there are some intellectuals with MB leaning. But the Basic Law of 1992 bans political parties on account that they produce un-Islamic divisive politics. King Abdulla h criticized the Egyptian protesters.
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