The Egyptian Evolution Of The Muslim Brotherhood & The Fundamentalist Genesis

The Darkened Hour

In 1922, Egypt had gained it's independence from British Colonials rule and the Ottoman Empire was next. The country led by it's despot ruler, King Farouq, had begun to falter thru the leader's hedonism and affluent expenses which led most of Egyptian society living below the poverty level. Hassan al-Banna, a schoolteacher, began to organize a group of fellow Islamic scholars, it was called the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928. The goal of al-Banna and the group was simple. Usurp British colonel rule from Egypt and establish a sharia based government led by the Quran and sunnah. By 1952, a coup de tat commenced by the Free Officers Movement led by Muhamad Neguib and Gamel Abdel Nasser. Nasser would become Egypt's second president, one that lasted just 14 years. The Brotherhood suffered under his tenure-ship. One influential figure from the Brotherhood would have a responding effect thru the Arab world, Sayyid Qutb who authored some works that would be influential in radical Islamic fundamentalism even to the present day,
With Nasser's passing in 1970, Anwar Sadat became the third Egyptian president and was rather opposite in handling the Islamists. The Brotherhood, whom many were jailed under Nasser, were released. More radical splinter groups were born, opposed to the Brotherhood's wish to work with the secular Egyptian government. These radical groups wanted to live up to Sayyid Qutb's ideology of an Islamic caliphate by removing the secular Arab government and institute a religious one. By orchestrating to assassinate Anwar Sadat himself and force the loyalists out and institute an Islamic government. By 1981, Sadat was killed by members of the Egyptian army who were loyal to Al-Jihad and Gamma Islammiyah the splinter groups. The plan for the Islamic radicalization of Egyptian government however failed. it would take years for the Muslim Brotherhood to rebound and become a legitimate part of Egyptian politics but in 2012, it finally achieved the goal of Hassan al-Banna.