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For years, national security experts and freedom activists have raised concerns about the Muslim Brotherhood’s presence in the United States. However, they have often been unfairly labeled as “hatemongers” and “Islamophobes.”
Now, a well-known former Brotherhood activist has validated these concerns. Should he also be dismissed as a “hatemonger” and “Islamophobe”?
In a June 6, 2024, interview, Sami al-Arian, a former Palestinian Islamic Jihad organizer, stated that “there was a Muslim Brotherhood movement in America… whose early beginnings were in the late 1960’s.” Asked if it was “registered officially,” al-Arian responded, “No, no. This turned into a problem later on.” Nevertheless, he said, “the Muslim Brotherhood movement existed in America. It consisted of people who were Muslim Brotherhood members in their countries and came to the U.S. to study, or people who studied there.”
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Al-Arian was a part of it all: “I officially joined the movement… Ideologically, I considered myself part of this, but I officially joined in 1978.” He immediately encountered friction within the movement: “In 1978, there was a clear and major dispute in the organization, between people who settled in America and wanted to open the movement, and turn it into a local movement…They called it ‘localization of the dawa.’ They had a dispute with people who wanted to keep it clandestine.”
Keep in mind that organizations involved in completely legal and transparent activities do not need to operate secretly.
This indicates that the Brotherhood was engaged in activities that were not legal and transparent. Al-Arian further clarifies this by stating that those who wanted to make the U.S. Brotherhood a public movement with localized outreach did not plan to return to their home countries, while those intending to return preferred to keep the group hidden to avoid trouble upon returning to Muslim countries where governments opposed the Brotherhood’s efforts to enforce Sharia law.
Al-Arian states that those who favored “the localization” plotted a coup, but were foiled: “a Sudanese brother was coming [to America] and he was very familiar with professional unions. He foiled the coup and showed very impressive leadership skills so he was immediately elected to be the leader. He developed a major plan for the future. That was in…
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