La Confrérie des Frères musulmans

When a year after the fall of Slimou Barak, I arrived in Cairo, The Islamists had taken over Tahrir Square, quite a symbol. God was celebrated there, freedom and democracy. but also Bin Laden and the blind check Omar Abdelrahman, the person responsible for the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993. Signs of the Muslim Brotherhood were everywhere. Already a majority in the Assembly, their candidate, Mohamed Morsi, would soon be elected President of the Republic. But who are the Muslim Brotherhood? It was here in Egypt that in the late 1920s, They invented political Islam. After

the fall of fascism and the failure of communism, Do they embody the last universal and totalitarian ideology of the 20th century? Having democratically come to power in the wake of the Arab revolutions of 2011, in Egypt, but also in Tunisia and partially in Morocco, Are they compatible with democracy? To answer these questions, First of all, I had to go back over their story. I had gotten their headquarters to be brand new, opens its doors to me. A unique opportunity. I will meet the main representatives of the guidance office there, the Holy Drawing, composed of around

fifteen members, the governing body of the brotherhood. Mahmoud Roslan, the official spokesperson. Mohamed Mehdi Akef, one of the historical executives and the former supreme guide of the brotherhood. Mahmoud Hussein, or even the billionaire Hailat Al-Shater, number 2, the current strongman of the guidance office. In Gaza, I would also see Mahmoud Al-Zahar, one of the leaders of Hamas, the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood. And in Tunis, Rachid Ranouchi, the leader of the Enarda party, the Tunisian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. In 1924 the Ottoman Empire disappeared and with it the last Islamic caliphate, the territorial framework, political and

religious governed by Islamic law which for 14 centuries brought together the community of Muslims. The colonial empires are finishing dividing up its territory. In place of the Ottoman caliphate, nation-states are emerging whose destiny is being played out in London or Paris. During the 1920s, Egypt remains under the yoke of the British Empire, which still exercises control over the Suez Canal, politics and the military. Mahmoud Roslan, the official spokesperson of the brotherhood whom I meet at the guidance office at CAIR, explains to me how his movement was born from the need to free itself from Western

imperialism. Western ideas had begun to free themselves from Western imperialism. to invade the Muslim world, with secularism, secularism, the loss of moral values, etc. Especially in the higher classes of society. A gap began to open between the working classes and the elites. All these factors, whether they are political, social or cultural, have provoked a desire to rebuild Muslim countries on an Islamic basis. It is in this context, that of a dilution of the Arab-Muslim identity in Western modernity, that a young teacher created the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928. His name is Hassan Al-Banna. To learn more

about him, I ask Toufika Climandos. A French-Egyptian Islamologist, probably the best specialist on the Muslim Brotherhood. Hassan el-Banna was born in 1906 into a provincial petty bourgeois family in the Delta. And Hassan el-Banna will be both a watchmaker, a gentleman with deep admiration and also a lot of criticism of Sufism, a Salafist or a follower of the Salafist method. Salafis draw inspiration from the integrity and way of life of the Salafs. the first disciples of the prophet Mohammed. It is based on a fundamentalist reading of the Koran. As part of a political project, the method

is as follows. Starting from a single individual, it is possible to influence the whole society. His diagnosis is therefore that society is not entirely Muslim, Sharia must be re-implemented, First, we must reform the Muslim individual, tell him again that he must learn to fight for the core values of his society, which central values are all. Islamic and without Islam. After reforming the individual, The family must be reformed. After the family, We need to reform society. After the company, We must reform the state and then conquer the planet. The ambition is there from the beginning. Thanks

to his proselytism, preach, creation of schools, of mutual aid organizations or sports associations, The brotherhood is growing rapidly in the Arab world. Ten years after its creation, It has nearly two million followers in Egypt, twice the population of Cairo at the time. Imam al-Banna therefore wanted to make people understand the reality of Islam and preached in this sense. And from there, although he was only a single man, You should know that Egypt has 4000 villages. He personally visited 2000 of them to preach his word. Sometimes on foot, sometimes by train or on donkey back, he

was addressing people, educated them, and when night came, he slept in mosques. The development of the brotherhood as described by Mahmoud Roslan is most certainly mythologized. A legendary story that takes an almost Koranic form. Your Hassan al-Banna would be the new prophet. His example prompted his disciples, members of the Muslim Brotherhood, to disperse from Aswan to Alexandria, throughout Egypt. Their word is the same. then spread to Sudan, towards the Levant, to Libya, before spreading to the rest of the world, a generation later. So much so that the brothers are now present in 70 to 80

countries around the world. Restore the territorial framework, political and religious of the caliphate, before setting out to conquer the world, This is Alban's big project. But within this framework, What company does he actually offer? The answer lies in his 50-point manifesto, published in 1936, the political program of the brotherhood. He draws the outlines of a new totalitarianism, a theocracy governed by Islamic law, Sharia law. To forbid, to watch, punish, are the key words. This includes banning any mixing in society and imposing a morality police controlled by a single party, that of Al-Banna, that of the

Muslim Brotherhood. Intrigued by the personality of the founding father of the Muslim Brotherhood, I am asking someone who knew him closely to find out more, his brother Gamal, whom I meet in his library in Cairo. What he tells me about educating the masses is very similar to the methods of indoctrination of revolutionary ideologies that we saw in the 20th century. Hassan al-Banna, God bless him, was my older brother. There was a strong and at the same time strange complicity between us. since my thinking was not always in agreement with that of the Muslim brothers. But

my brother Hassan was open-minded. He accepted me as I was with my own reservations, which particularly focused on the issue of women, of freedom and art. Since the beginning, The mission of the Muslim Brotherhood, It's about focusing on education. His slogan was Islam as a way of life This means that for Hassan al-Banna, Islam is not just a belief or an idea, but that Islam concerns all aspects of life and they must be organized by Islam. Is Islam the only source of the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood? Not quite. The brotherhood is also a product

of its time. Fascism, and particularly Nazism, left their mark on the first generation of Muslim Brotherhood, as historian Ladan Bourouman explains. Nazi propaganda really shaped the minds of these people and had a lot of influence. In Muslim countries, The Jew was never a powerful, devious plotter. This notion of conspiracy and occult power, who wants control of the world, It really comes from the big Nazi gang. And the mufti's links with the Nazis and his meeting with Hitler prove that there were indeed sustained relations, but also ideological, which unfortunately survive in the Middle East without people

even knowing where these stories come from. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Mohamed Amin al-Husseini, a close friend of Assan al-Banna, joined Hitler in Berlin in 1941. After forming Bosnian Muslim SS divisions, At the very end of the world conflict, he would urge Germany to continue the genocide of the Jews as far as Palestine. After the war, communist influence replaces that of Nazism. In the 1930s, the Muslim brothers are, even in the structure, in blind obedience to leaders, etc., They are fascists. These are truly fascist systems and structures. After World War II, with the fall of

Nazism and the rise of communism which was part of the allies, and communist propaganda, young people are very attracted to this revolutionary ideology, emancipatory. anticolonialists, etc. So Islamism offered the possibility of becoming a communist without becoming an atheist. In Egypt, The short-term goal of the Muslim Brotherhood is to overthrow King Farouk, who is seen as a puppet of the West. His corruption, His lavish lifestyle revolts the Muslim Brotherhood. He forms clandestine paramilitary groups ready to fight. Aware of the threat, The Egyptian monarch banned panfrying. In retaliation, This one assassinates the king's prime minister. A few

months later, February 12, 1949, It was the founder of the brotherhood, Hassan al-Banna, who was killed by the regime's secret police. With the death of their leader, The Muslim Brotherhood could have disappeared. This is when a new actor comes into play, who will put them back on the front of the stage, an officer of the Egyptian army, Lieutenant Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser. Gamal Abdel Nasser carried out his coup with the approval of the Muslim Brotherhood, since Gamal Abdel Nasser was a member of the brotherhood. At the head of a group of sedicious soldiers, the free

officers, supported by the Muslim Brotherhood, Nasser overthrew King Farouk and seized power in 1952. The fight against Western interference begins. It will end, four years later, to the nationalization of the Suez Canal. British influence in Egypt is over. Symbol of sacred union, The third anniversary of Hassan al-Banna's death brings together all the forces present around his tomb. Nasser integrates the Muslim Brotherhood into the revolutionary bodies resulting from the coup d'état, at the same time as he poaches his executives to weaken the Islamist organization. Mohamed Mediakef was one of them. One of the last great witnesses

of this era, Supreme Leader until 2010. This eminent member of the guidance office agreed to meet me at his home, in a residential suburb of Cairo. When Abdel Nasser created his political party, He invited me to be one of its founders. I refused because I am a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and I had a lot of work within the Brotherhood. And I think he didn't like the way I spoke to him. After that, how to say? He was watching me. The revolutionary command council was composed of half Muslim brothers. But after a while, a

conflict broke out between them over the issue of power, and their relationship deteriorated. The misunderstanding between the army and the brotherhood comes to light. Karnasser traded the project of the Islamic caliphate for Arab nationalism. If he was a Muslim brother, He is above all a military man. His ambition is to make Egypt the greatest regional power, a modern nation-state that incorporates Western secularism. I met the master of the Muslim mind, I asked for requests. I asked this. The first thing he said to me, It was necessary for Egypt to make the Pajab. And each of

us was walking down the street carrying a bag. Each of us was walking. If someone says this, I think everyone in their house is the only one who does this. He told me that I am responsible. I told him I had a daughter in the medical school, who wasn't carrying a pie. I didn't wear it, Why ? If you can't carry just one girl, who is your daughter, you are wrong. I want to take out 10 million wrongs in the country. The brothers feel betrayed. The conflict between us and Nasser continued until the so-called assassination

attempt on Abdel Nasser, in October, in Alexandria. On October 26, 1954, in Alexandria, while delivering a radio speech, Nasser is the target of an assassination attempt carried out by the Brotherhood. It is a comedy directed by Nasser. It was the perfect opportunity for him to get rid of all the brothers, to exclude them completely from the political scene, to establish his reign as an authoritarian dictator. So the brothers say that the attack, they never ordered it. and that it was a set-up by Nasser's police to have a pretext to crack down. Nasser's men who are

alive or who have testified say that the attack was real. I personally think, and I have excellent reasons to think so, I am sure I am not mistaken, in this case that the attack was organized by the brothers and that it was an order from the brothers. I am a man of life, So he staged this comedy where no harm came to him. And he began the oppression of the brothers, executing six of their leaders. Several dozen died from torture in prison. Thousands were imprisoned. Nasser ordered the dissolution of the Brotherhood and the seizure of

all its assets so that the Brotherhood would cease to exist under his rule. In Cairo, The Muslim Brotherhood headquarters was set on fire by protesters following the failed assassination attempt on Colonel Nasser, whose main author, the blacksmith Mahmoud Abdel Latif, was arrested. Many other members of the secret society of the Muslim Brotherhood joined him behind bars. In the days following the attack, 500 Muslim brothers are arrested and thrown into prison. Among them is the brotherhood's leading intellectual. His name, Said Koutb, since the beginning of my investigation, I have heard this name everywhere, a name that

smells of sulfur. The works of this Islamist writer were still banned under Mubarak. He is a literary critic who has repeatedly made a name for himself with his brilliant writing, bright presentations. He comes from the liberal movement, I had to say secular Egyptian. At some point, in the 40s, he takes a stand on all sorts of social issues. And little by little, we feel him becoming more and more sensitive to the message that the ills of society can be cured by Islam. Let's say that there is his Islamist discourse little by little. Then he goes

to the United States. In 1948, Saïd Koutb left to study at a university in Colorado. He stayed there for almost two years. Scandalized by the Western way of life, the individualism and indecency of American women, he immerses himself in Islamic texts. When he returned to Egypt, Koudb joined the Muslim Brotherhood and quickly became its main intellectual figure. It radicalizes the thinking of the founder Hassan al-Banna and legitimizes offensive jihad to impose the reign of Islam. Libyan Noman Ben Othman is a former member of Al-Qaeda, close to Bin Laden in Afghanistan. After the September 11 attacks,

He left the jihadist organization and took refuge in London. This is the first time that anyone has made the connection between jihad and the very essence of Islam. If you read Said Qutb in its entirety, what i did, you will see that Islam, whether at the theoretical or theological level, cannot exist without jihad, that is, physical war. The reading proposed by Saïd Houb, that we must take on the idea, which is very contested by many doctors of the law, so it is a very particular reading of the Koran, that offensive jihad is legitimate. That as

long as the law... of God is not applied, humanity is unhappy, and therefore offensive jihad is valid as long as there is a corner of land on which sharia is not applied. And in doing so, we don't attack people, we release them. It is a jihad, it's liberation, It is the elimination of tyrants. And for him, Offensive jihad is the absolute rule as long as sharia does not reign on earth. First we must create avant-gardes, that is, groups like Al-Qaeda or others. Then jihad positions itself as a revolutionary power, which will change societies, create Islamic

states, establish Islamic caliphates, to finally conquer the whole world. Said Koutb is said to be the main inspiration for terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda, according to Noman Benotman. There is no doubt about it. Seyd Koutb influenced many individuals in Al-Qaeda. They didn't all meet him. But his teachings, his conferences, his interpretations, His concepts had immense reach. So yes, This group has been very, very influenced by Saïd Koutb. In 1965, to shut him up, Nasser throws Koutb and his supporters in prison. All are tortured. Koutb? who served ten years of forced labor, had just regained his

freedom. A showdown then takes place between the two men, the winner of which is not necessarily the one we think. Using both the carrot and the stick, The Reich is trying to rally the intellectual of the brotherhood. He offered him the position of Minister of Education. A near miss refused. It's the status quo. To get out of it, Nasser accused him of plotting a coup and dragged him before a military tribunal. After a parody of a trial, Peace coup condemned to death. But the game is not over yet. Lorais knows that the strongman of the

brotherhood can prove more powerful dead than alive. This is why he grants him a final way out, that shortly before his execution. Kutb's sister visits him in his cell. She assures him that if he appeals, he will have his life spared. My words will be stronger if I die, Kutb replied. Nasser had no choice but to have him executed. They ordered him to write a request for clemency. Koutb answered them. Here is the index. The index finger that testifies to the oneness of God. will never write a word begging for mercy from an unjust ruler.

Either I am justly condemned and I will accept the sentence, Either I am unjustly condemned and it will then be impossible for me to ask for mercy from a tyrant. The death sentence was therefore carried out. May the mercy of God be upon him. Saïd Koutb was hanged on August 29, 1966, after the publication of his book Milestones on the Road to Islam In it he declares the superiority of Muslim civilization over the West, and the need for Islam to rule over all humanity. Islam has a duty to uphold God's rule over the universe, he

writes. This reign can only be valid under the aegis of an Islamic regime, established by God, for the benefit of all men, without exception. Mohamed Mehdi Akef, who knew Saïd Koutb well, whose disciple he was, still claims to follow his example today. Glory to God! Said Koutb died in March. He went to his God, oppressed by what he had written milestone on the road. A very great book, in which there is nothing reprehensible. The book was published and sold in all Egyptian bookstores. But immediately after its publication, the book was banned. And Said Goubt, sentenced

to death. God ranks him among the righteous. Yes, Said Koubt is a great man. People love it. And his books have been translated into every language in the world. Thanks be to God. When he died a martyr, a death he himself wanted, Large demonstrations are taking place throughout the Muslim world to protest against the reis and to keep alive the revolutionary thought of Said Koubt. A thought that is still largely in the majority within the brotherhood and which will inspire all the groups of Islamist terrorism. I understood how the brotherhood was born in Egypt, how

it had become rooted in opposition to British colonialism, to King Farouk, then to Nasser. I remembered what Roslaine had told me. How did the brotherhood manage to love each other in such a short time in nearly 80 countries? It was the Palestinian question that would serve as both the driving force and the cement for the expansion of the Muslim Brotherhood. This would allow political Islam to bring together within a single ideology the most radical groups of Sunnism and Shiiteism. In 1953, after fighting in the first Arab-Israeli wars, Muslim Brotherhood Organizes Islamic Congress in Jerusalem which

unites all the tendencies of political Islam against the existence of the Hebrew state. Among the guests, there is the founder of the Fedaines of Islam, which is an organization of Shiite obedience, violent, which was founded in the aftermath of World War II in Iran by a tiny minority of activists who want an Islamic government. I think he was invited by the Muslim Brotherhood. His name is Nawab Safavi. It is curious to see that the anti-Semitism of modern Islamist movements always finds a root, if I dare say, German. And Nawab Safavi went through secular schools, German,

techniques, in Iran, in the war years. Iranian intellectual now in exile, Ramin Parham recalls what Safawi's role was. at the 1953 conference. Him, he comes and before this Arab and Muslim assembly, reverses the data of the problem and makes the Palestinian question not a national Arab question, but an Islamic question. It now concerns... The entire Muslim community, at that time, This is truly a new discourse, This is truly something extraordinary that he does. He Islamizes the discourse. From then on, the question of Israel is no longer a matter of bad neighborliness, It is sacrilege. For

if the whole region is considered Islamic, Israel can only be perceived as a foreign body. An obstacle to the accomplishment of the great project of the brotherhood, the restoration of the caliphate. In 1954, One year after the Jerusalem conference, Safaoui is invited to Cairo by the Muslim Brotherhood. We invited Nawab Safawi, the leader of the fedayeen of Islam. At that time, The Muslim Brotherhood wanted to get closer to other branches of Islam. Unlike the Sunnis, Shiite Iranians only recognize the descendants of his cousin Ali as successors to the prophet. despite this theological antagonism. The Fedayeen

of Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood share the same ideology, to the point that they merged their organizations. The Fedayeen of Islam will now be called in Iran Ahwan al-Muslimin the Muslim Brotherhood. Back in Iran, Safawi attempts to assassinate the Shah's prime minister. He is arrested, he was executed in 1955. But the underground group he created survives him. A few years later, His supporters will find their new leader in Ayatollah Khomeini. And this is the first time that someone who has the status of an Ayatollah, which has traditional religious legitimacy, will establish contacts and collaboration with

people who are considered... dangerous eccentrics by the entire Shiite clergy, that is to say the fedeins of Islam. And from there they set off, step by step, the elements that will lead to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The influence of the fedahine of Islam on Ayatollah Khomeini is considerable. And when the Islamic revolution took place in 1979, It is the ideas of the brotherhood that find themselves in power. First and foremost? Those of Said Kout. These writings have a very great influence. Because in the tradition of Shiite religious thought, There is no category for confronting

modern ideologies. Politics is not part of theology. SO, They all began to translate Roth's works in the 1970s. What Said Roub had done, is that from now on with him, with his new speech, it is no longer the Arab and Muslim East which is lagging behind the Christian and Judeo-Christian West, It is the West that is lagging behind the Arab-Muslim East. So it's not up to us to catch up, It's up to them to catch up with us. It solves a lot of problems. What was the Muslim Brotherhood's election slogan? Al-Islam hoval hal which means

in Arabic Islam is the solution In Khomeini's speeches, Western modernity adopted by the Shah of Iran produces only archaism and decadence. While civilization, real progress, only Islam can bring it. A literal interpretation of Saïd Koutb's theses. The things that the king did and the state did to all the jihadists, we want to fix them and, instead of the king, a government of Islamic order. Rotb's intellectual influence was very great on the generation of Islamists who made the Islamic revolution in Iran. And besides, as soon as they took power, One of their first reflexes was to

make a stamp with the image of Sayyed Rotb in Iran. We have seen how the Brotherhood is at the root of the Islamic revolution in Iran. What would be the impact of this revolution on the entire region? dominated by Sunni Islam? I was soon to understand, as this stamp bearing the image of the murderer Danwar el-Sadat indicates, also printed by Iran, that without the Islamic revolution, The assassination of the Egyptian president would not have taken place. On October 6, 1981, two years after the Iranian revolution, while Sadat, who succeeded Nasser ten years earlier, attends a

military parade, Four Islamists infiltrated into the army machine-gun the presidential tribune while shouting Death to the Pharaoh! The attack left seven victims, including the Egyptian president. What the Islamists blame Anwar el-Sadat for, This is the peace treaty he signed in 1979 with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, in front of the White House. By signing peace with Israel, Sadat signed his death warrant. The Muslim Brotherhood is demanding the head of the felonious president. Mahmoud Hussein. Another member of the guidance office whom I interviewed at the brotherhood's headquarters explained to me that the Muslim brothers felt betrayed

by Sadat, who had nevertheless favored them at the beginning of his reign. With the rise of the Egyptian opposition, whether it is the brothers or all the other Egyptian currents opposed to this agreement, Sadat began to change his policy. The brothers refused this agreement and they made it known. Officially, The Muslim Brotherhood has renounced violence. These are therefore the new organizations that are now called Salafists, born in their midst in the mid-70s, who will be responsible for the assassination of the Egyptian president. The result was that a group from Gamma and Islamiyah and Al-Jihad executed

Sadat. Of course, The Muslim Brotherhood took absolutely no part in this operation, because most of our executives were in prison or abroad. The leader of the Salafist groups, the blind check Omar Abdelrahman. issue a fatwa condemning him to death while another organization prepares the revolution on the Iranian model. And so Iran has been truly inspiring. Because this is where Iran shows that a handful of determined revolutionaries, united by their faith in the political theology of Islam, can take power. And hence these small, slightly more radical and more violent organizations. which were born within the Muslim

Brotherhood. But the revolution will not take place. Hosni Mubarak, who formed his government after Sadat's death, are carrying out a vast raid on Islamist circles. Their organizations are destroyed and their leaders imprisoned. The Salafists responsible for the assassination and the attempted assassination of Pouch are being brought before the courts. One question remains. Despite their denial, Did the Muslim Brotherhood participate in the assassination of President Sadat? Difficult to answer, as well as to see clearly in the Islamist nebula that they have engendered. Al-Jihad, the organization that carried out the assassination of the Egyptian president, is led

by Ayman al-Zawahiri. Broken by torture, he acts as the spokesperson for the accused. He challenges military power and its Western allies in a threatening and prophetic diatribe. Ayman al-Zawahiri, the very one who, after bin Laden's death in May 2011, becomes number one of Al-Qaeda. I know Ayman al-Zawahiri personally. When we, students, joined the brothers, he came to pray with us at the mosque. He was an extremely polite student, from a large family, a completely innocent character, to the point that I never imagined seeing him carry a weapon or practice violence. Afterwards, I was surprised to

see him again at the Sadat trial. And then, after his release and his trip to Afghanistan, I learned that he had become a leader of Al-Qaeda. It surprised me a lot. The figure of Aïman al-Zawahiri could attest that there is a more than ideological link between the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda. To be sure, I am reconstructing his journey after his release in 1984. Having served only three years in prison, his direct involvement could not be proven, Stawahiri goes to Afghanistan to take part in the jihad against the USSR. He is welcomed by Abdullah Azam, a

genuine internationalist who organized the stay of Arab fighters in Afghanistan. Azam is the missing link between the Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda, because this Palestinian, member of the Muslim Brotherhood, is the true and little-known founder of the jihadist organization. If the brotherhood today condemns the attacks of September 11, 2001, She still considers Abdullah Azam as one of her own. Abdullah Azam is originally Palestinian. A Palestinian who emigrated to Jordan and practiced jihad against the Zionists who had invaded his land. It is the right of every man to seek to liberate his country. Afterwards, when he went to

Afghanistan, It must be remembered that the Soviet Union invaded a Muslim land. So he went to liberate the Muslim land of Afghanistan from the communist Russian colonization which imposed disbelief by force. Therefore, I think that we cannot blame him for the legitimacy of his actions. and all the buyers are dead. These are now the Jews and Christians who are taking over humanity. The Americans, the English, and others. And behind them, the fingers of the world. Through Abdullah Azam, Ayman al-Zawahiri meets Osama bin Laden. The three men, who subscribe to the idea of a revolutionary vanguard

laying the foundations for the Islamization of the world. It is soon an internationalist organization that he names Al-Qaeda. I don't know, in fine, whether Al-Qaeda was supported by the Muslim Brotherhood. On the other hand, I have proof that the founders of Al-Qaeda and the ideas that underpin its actions come directly from the brotherhood. That said, even if the men and the goals are identical, the strategy is different. The Muslim Brotherhood follows its own logic in its quest for power, which consists of a long implantation, legitimizing their leadership among the populations. During the 80s in Egypt,

the brotherhood is gradually rising from its ashes. It is authorized as an association, but its partly political constitution is still prohibited. In the absence of any real room for maneuver on Egyptian soil, It is developing in many countries of the former caliphate, like Sudan, Tunisia and Algeria. The plan is to take power wherever possible, in order to conquer the entire Muslim world. In 1989, Algerian Muslim brothers Abassi Madami and Ali Belaj create the FIS. The Islamic Salvation Front, which won the legislative elections in 1991, when these are cancelled, civil war breaks out. She will be

close to 200,000 dead. The religion of Islam means that this religion should be determined according to religion. In Tunisia, A series of bomb and acid attacks on tourist targets attempted to destabilize the government between 1986 and 1987. Enarda, the Tunisian branch of the brotherhood, is suspected of having organized this violence. Its leader Rachid Ranouchi narrowly escaped a death sentence. I'm going to Tunis to meet him. After 20 years of exile, Ranouchi is today at the heart of the power resulting from the revolution of spring 2011. He receives me at the new headquarters of Enarda. In

1987, Ranouchi had to flee Tunisia. He then found refuge in Algiers with his son, before returning to exile when the civil war began. We had to find another country of residence. We then left for Sudan. Hassan el-Tourabi was one of our friends. In the 70s, The Sudanese Islamist movement is the one that has most influenced the Tunisian Islamist movement. But I did not reside more than a month in Sudan. I then moved to England. Seizing power in a Muslim country is only one part of the Brotherhood's strategy. Because to reach the supreme goal, the global

caliphate, It is also about establishing itself in European democracies and gaining strength there with a view to the long-term Islamization of the world. It is a huge task and a position to be in in the long term for the realization of the integrity of the project of rebirth of an Islamic State dominating the planet, or an Islamic caliphate dominating the planet, and it's a very long-term vision, They are pragmatists. They know very well that the Islamic State or the caliphate will not reunite the Muslim world in two or three years. That said, I inform you,

since I stay on this point, that the supreme guide, the current Mohamed Badia, still said that the era of restoration of the caliphate had become near. The brotherhood, which creates bridgeheads in the West thanks to its associative network, is rapidly gaining ground among Muslim minorities in America and Europe. So, the UOIF, the Union of Islamic Organizations of France created in 1983 and on which around sixty associations depend, organizes a large gathering every year which brings together more than 100,000 faithful. 30 years after its creation, The UOIF became the first representative body of Muslims in France.

For years, the affiliation between the UOIF and the Muslim Brotherhood was known and assumed. Today, UOIF officials no longer recognize these links. Have they stopped? Not so sure. In 2012, The speakers who were invited to its annual meeting from different countries were all members or sympathizers of the brotherhood, due to recent anti-Semitic statements. One of their greatest religious references, Egyptian Muslim Brother Youssouf al-Karadaoui. was not allowed to go there. 12 years ago, in this same UOIF gathering, he had come to dictate his political recommendations to the Muslims of France. The goal? To exert as much

influence as possible on French legislation and ultimately convert Europe to Islam. They can have a huge impact on elections. And if we don't have a candidate, Who are we going to choose from these parties? We need to study the parties and know what they present in their programs. By cross-referencing several sources, I tried to link the different representations of the brotherhood to the associative network abroad. by distinguishing between recognized links and unofficial links, with the guidance office in the center. The diagram I came up with gave me an idea of the complexity and density of

the network. But how does it work? Who sets the course and the objectives? Since always, The brotherhood maintains the greatest secrecy regarding its structure and the appointment of its representatives. Raël Attal-Chater is today the strong man of the brotherhood. Member of the guidance office, This atypical billionaire embodies the new generation. Tipped to be the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate in Egypt's presidential elections, He was invalidated in favor of Mohamed Morsi for having served several prison sentences due to his activism. When I meet him in his old campaign headquarters, He claims that each branch of the organization abroad

would be autonomous. The vision of the Muslim Brotherhood is represented in dozens of countries. But there is no organizational link between us, even though we are all ideologically linked to each other. In summary, there is a common basis between us, a global ideological framework. But each group is free to apply it in its own way in its own country. According to Noman Benotman, on the contrary, the organization is extremely centralized. During the ten years he was a member of al-Qaeda, He met several representatives of the brotherhood abroad. He claims that no decision, no appointment would

take place without the green light from the guidance office in Egypt, the politburo of the brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood, even today, do not officially recognize the existence of their organization at the global level. It's quite strange, actually. Even in Egypt, they say no, it doesn't exist, it's a fantasy But of course we know it exists. Besides, between 1992 and 1996, while bin Laden and Zawahiri were residing in Sudan under his protection, The powerful Muslim Brotherhood leader Hassan al-Turabi had openly questioned Egyptian hegemony over the office of guidance. Turabi was against the idea of the guidance

office located in Egypt and which is responsible for managing the affairs of the Muslim brothers throughout the world. He was against that. He often joked that the Supreme Leader, since the establishment of this office, dozens and dozens of years ago, is Egyptian. He said, it doesn't make any sense, Why should it be systematically Egyptian? Imagine that a member of the Muslim Brotherhood is a real genius, but that he is Kuwaiti. Why deny him this opportunity? Muslim brothers, I now know the origin, the ideology and goals they have set for themselves. But I still wonder what

is the source of their longevity, of their expansion and popularity which allowed them to win the presidential elections of June 24, 2012 in Egypt. She may be in their dispensary in Cairo. The charitable network they set up allowed them to slowly distil, but surely, their ideology. Because in fact, They were the only ones who took care of the underprivileged, largely neglected by the corrupt power of King Farouk, then from the army. Attached to a mosque, The Choubra dispensary is part of one of the 500 charitable associations in the Egyptian capital, managed by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Atem Ataya, a departmental leader of the brotherhood, is the treasurer. Since its founding by Imam Hassan El Banna, The members of the brotherhood come from the villages, hamlets and modest neighborhoods. It is through this diffusion, as close as possible to small communities, that the Muslim Brotherhood has gained such popularity, before and after the revolution of January 25, 2011. Atteia opens the doors of the dispensary to us. An exceptional favor. The television cameras, what is more foreign, not being allowed to film inside. I understand that from the beginning, Social assistance and charitable associations are the main

assets of the brotherhood, if they fulfill a religious obligation called sadaka They are also a means of re-Islamizing and clienteling the targeted populations. The legal world is an obligation of Islam. I think it's safe to say that it's better to be poor in Pakistan than poor in India, to give an example that is not Egyptian. Egyptian society is a very poor society, but so far there are no people dying of hunger, Maybe it will come one day. And we don't starve there because, among others, the associative network, Muslim or Coptic charitable networks are extremely developed.

This is certainly one of their strong points and explains than their popularity. But this is also a strong point of the Salafists. In truth, The Mubarak regime had neglected many of its roles. The social roles that should have been taken care of by the governments that have succeeded one another over the last 60 years. Over the past 10 years, Egyptian society could no longer function without the support of charitable associations. They were the main support of poor families in Egypt. The latter could no longer survive without the assistance of the associations. The Brotherhood did not

limit its influence to the Egyptian population. From the late 70s, To thwart Western humanitarian organizations on the ground, The Muslim Brotherhood has expanded its vocation of mutual aid by creating vast international organizations. Unlike the French Doctors of Doctors Without Borders, they focus their actions on the UMA, the Muslim community. They are piloted by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. and the Gulf countries. To hear some of the speeches given at fundraisers, as here by the blind check Omar Abdelrahman, we understand that for some of these associations, The goals sought are as much political as charitable. The Islamic

Relief Worldwide, created by two Egyptian Muslim brothers and based in London, is accused of inviting very radical personalities to his fundraisers and of having maintained in 2006 Links with Hamas, considered terrorists by the United States and the European Union. One of the founders of the charity, This is sick, became an advisor to Mohamed Morsi when the latter was elected president of Egypt. Officially, The brotherhood claims to have no connection with her. I will still ask Mahmoud Hussein the question. Does the Islamic relief belong to the Muslim Brotherhood? No, There is no relationship between this organization

and us. But when I question Athem Atteya, a grassroots activist, his answer is quite different. As regards international organisations, we have Islamic Relief, based in London, and some other associations based abroad. It is also through social assistance that the Muslim Brotherhood has gained popularity in Gaza. The Israeli occupation, from 1967 to 2005, It was very painful for the people of Gaza. For over 50 years, The Muslim Brotherhood established itself there, providing assistance to a poor population, that they have educated to hate the Jewish state. In 1987, the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood, led from Gaza by Sheikh

Ahmad Yassin, took the name Hamas. Islamic resistance. They will gradually move to armed struggle, then to terrorism. Mahmoud al-Zahar, one of its leaders, receives me at his home in Gaza, among armed men, his praetorian guard. He assures me that the Israeli occupation is the only cause of the violence. In 1987, We took the name of Islamic Resistance Movement to fight the occupation. Jihad comes from the word djud, which means effort. This means that an effort must be made to resist the occupation by all means. Among these means, There are peaceful means. The proof, is that

Hamas peacefully resisted the occupation throughout the first intifada, which began in 1987 and lasted until 2000. After that, the Palestinian people were forced to use weapons, due to the failure of peaceful means, such as steps, the demonstrations, the sittings, the strikes. To achieve his goal, Hamas took up arms, without it being possible to say that these are military activities. When you say that we are training children to violence and hatred, this is not true. Besides, you too, in European states, you have what is called civic education. What do you want to do for the Jehouns

who killed Dad? What do you want to do for them? I want to kill them! No, as you said! We can't, We want them eliminated from our country. We want them eliminated from our country, Of course ! Yes, but we want them eliminated from our country. I don't want them to not meet, nor by words, nor by radios, nor by the songs! When I eliminated myself from the earth, I couldn't say no to anyone. It is not only in the children's programs of the Hamas channel that these hate speeches against Jews are made. Speeches that

go far beyond territorial battles or religious competition. They are also held by representatives of the Guidance Office in Cairo. How can we understand this obsession? For the Muslim brothers, The Hebrew state represents the flagship of the West, but not only. Peppered with conspiracy theories and racism, anti-Semitism is a powerful unifier that finds a wide echo among the population. Jusuf al-Karadawi, star preacher of the Qatari Al channel Jazeera. Arsulouhom, arsulouhaoulai abnail qirada wal khanazir ila nari jahannam, ila nari jahannam ala ajnihati qazaifil qassam. Safwa Tigazi, the most famous preacher of the brotherhood in Egypt. One extreme

will tell you that Islam is fundamentally anti-Jewish. This is false. In the 1920s, Anti-Semitism does not exist in Egypt. The Muslim world has often been much more hospitable to Jewish populations than might be expected. Western world. After, The other extreme is to say that anti-Semitism is not a constant in Muslim history and that it is developing and becoming more radical at the time when the Palestinian question is emerging. So as soon as there is a satisfactory solution to the Palestinian question, Palestinian question, it will disappear. This position also seems too simplistic to me. The development

of Iranian anti-Semitism can be dated back to the 1930s in the Arab world, but it will not disappear, he acquired his own life. In 2007, Hamas won the elections. After getting rid of the nationalist enemy brother, Yasser Arafat's Fatah, he took possession of the Gaza Strip. Only Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the other organization originating from the Muslim Brotherhood and financed by Iran, is allowed to stay there. Khaled Al-Bach, a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, agrees to meet me in the hotel room I am staying in Gaza. He claims to be part of both the Brotherhood

and the Islamic revolution in Iran. First of all, The Islamic Jihad movement is an extension of the Muslim Brotherhood movement. As for Iran, After the victory of the Islamic revolution in the 70s of the last century, there was the beginning of a great Islamic expansion, starting from the fact that someone had been able to defeat a state and an Islamic state, to drive out colonialism and change the way of life in Iran. In the mind of a Muslim brother, Peace with Israel is not an option. Only a more or less long-term truce can be envisaged.

Hassan Balaoui, a historian of the Palestinian national movement, member of FATA, and the son of a founder of the brotherhood in Palestine, explains to me that the Muslim Brotherhood is part of a temporality. different from ours. That is to say, they, they have their own concept. For Islamists in general, Israel represents a kind of new crusade. The Crusades lasted for 200 years, for two centuries, and during these two centuries, Islamist leaders such as Saladin did, from time to time, truces. And for the Islamists, the notion of time, It is... Why be in a hurry? So

we can conclude a truce, or a truce, or an agreement, or any call she wants, one year, two years, three years, fifty years. Twenty years ago, The Soviet Union was a great state. Today, There is no more Soviet Union. America is a great state now. I'm sure that one day, there will be no more America. In fifty years, maybe before, maybe after. The factors change. There are things that are constant and things that evolve. What is constant, it is the right. And what evolves, These are the balance of power and the change of States. 60

years ago, Israel was not Israel. Today, There is Israel. But I don't know if in 20 years, in 100 years, he will still be there or not. Khaled Al-Bach is right. The balance of power can change at any moment. And the Arab revolutions of spring 2011 clearly changed it. If they didn't see them coming, taking the train of revolutions along the way, The Muslim Brotherhood was the main beneficiary, because of their popularity, of their probity and because they represented the best organized political force. Thanks to popular elections, They swept to victory at the ballot box

wherever the wind of freedom blew. In Egypt... in Tunisia and more discreetly in Morocco, in an Islamic world which has already largely introduced articles of Sharia, Islamic law, in its legislation. Now that they are in charge, What will they do with their power? They have a reputation for being both idealistic and pragmatic. So can they evolve, For example, on the issue of women and freedom of expression? to be better accepted on the international scene? Can they break with the doctrine of their founder Hassan al-Banna, who took Sharia law and a morality police controlled by a

single party? In Tunisia, The revolution brought to power the coalition dominated by Enarda's Muslim Brotherhood, directed by Rachid Ranouchi. The Muslim Brotherhood owes its electoral success to this. has decades of opposition to the Ben Ali dictatorship. But according to Ranouchi, Their popularity comes mainly from their political project, establish sharia law. Islam represents a unifying ground for all Tunisians. All parties, whether they are Islamists or secularists, converge to say that Islam is a national identity for the Tunisian state. A point of view that is not shared... Emna Menif, a democratic and secular activist. She claims that

the Muslim Brotherhood has perverted religion by using Islam for political ends. There is a very serious confusion being made between Islam, and I'm not talking about moderate Islam, because Islam is inherently moderate, and it is an Islamist movement which uses religion for political purposes, to aims of power, and who have a vision of power and the State which is in contradiction, not only with modernity and with the evolution of humanity, but also who are... in total opposition to the values, the true values of the Muslim religion. And we absolutely do not need them to teach

us the true values of our religion. After their electoral successes, The Islamist movements have, in a way, divided up the tasks. To the Muslim Brothers, the imposition of sharia law through legislative reforms. To the Salafists, financed by the Gulf countries. Street unrest and violence against freedom of expression, women, intellectuals, the media. But actually, What is the difference between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis today? There is no great difference between the doctrines. We, the muslim brothers, from the beginning, We said that we had to build the human being on an Islamic basis. But also the

family, society and government. According to Mohamed Nour, spokesman for a Salafist party, the difference is just as slight. For the Salafists, the priority is the education of its members and preaching, long before the network and the political party. It is a current of thought, much more than a structured organization. In the end, the supreme goal for the Muslim Brotherhood, Salafists or any Islamist movement, is to realize Islamist thought on a global level. At the Menouba of Tunis, the rector of the university, opposed to the wearing of the full veil in his faculty, was repeatedly assaulted

with indifference from the public authorities. Today, It is on realities that we contest Ennahda and that we can highlight its double talk. And so we have a duty to denounce it and make it public and reveal where it is leading Tunisia. In Egypt, in order to perpetuate their power, The Muslim Brotherhood must show its credentials to the West and bring back tourists. A vital necessity for this country. The vocabulary has therefore been reviewed and corrected. We no longer speak of the Islamic caliphate, but from the Arab United States. Why do we accept your European Union

terminology, when we could call it the European caliphate? Today, We are talking about relations between countries that have the same nature and that must be compatible with the world in which we live. Like the socialist international, the European Union, ASEAN, the G8 or the G20. Are they or are they not groups that have the same worldview? It is therefore normal that we come together in the same way when there are countries that share the same Islamic references. But during the meetings between the two rounds which brought Mohamed Morsi to the presidency of the Republic, I

had noticed that the language was less hushed. The dream of the land of Khilafah is coming true, by the permission of God, at the hands of Doctor Mohamed Morsi and his brothers, his community and his team. We have seen the great dream that we all dream, the United Arab Emirates. This is the city of the Empire. This is the city of the Empire. Not the Cahire, not Mecca, not Medina. This is Ivory Coast, if God wills. And our star will be on the Odysseus. The doctors went. On the Odyssey. The doctors went. After the spring

of revolutions, Arab countries, just like the brotherhood, are at a crossroads. Will the Muslim Brotherhood pursue the dream of reconstituting the caliphate to the ultimate goal of a global Islamic state? Or, in the face of political realities and economic difficulties, will they evolve towards pragmatism and democratic values? The fight between secularists and Islamists which is coming to light in the new context of a fledgling democracy, is just beginning. Perhaps the secularists will eventually prevail. As I speak, the dynamic is on the Islamist side, and it is still too early to make predictions. At any rate,

at the end of this investigation, The impression that the brotherhood left on me is like the welcome that Mohamed Mehdi gave me in Kef, despite his sense of hospitality. Not really reassuring. See the Muslim brothers in Egypt and outside Egypt. Did anyone manage to muffle their voices? Has anyone managed to defeat them? Look at the Muslim world, the populations of the Islamic world, their poverty, the oppression of their leaders. They keep their religion, their beliefs, their values, facing America, facing the European Union, against the Zionists and all the plotters against Islam. Thanks be to God.

Thank you for this meeting. And I hope that God will help you to carry our message to the whole world. And we ask God for us and for you to stay healthy.