How the Muslim Brotherhood use charity associations and NGOs

NGOs and community associations are considered one of the most important pillars on which the Muslim Brotherhood has depended since its foundation in 1920s until the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi on 3 July 2013.

These associations played a key role in recruiting the new elements of the group and used also the mobilization in the election process conducted by the Muslim Brotherhood, either at the level of local elections, parliamentary or presidential.

The group has been able to consolidate through these associations, which were located mainly in the regions and the poor areas, with more than 1,000 charitable societies distributed country  wide.

So the Muslim Brotherhood was able to employ NGOs and community associations to serve its political objectives, based on three main roles: the preaching works, social and charitable role, as well as the political role, which is widely manifested during the periods of the various elections.

First: Missions of the Brotherhood as-related with  NGOs and community associations 

1. 1. Preaching works of the Brotherhood-related NGOs and community associations: these associations have had the major role in spreading the group’s ideas and ideology under the umbrella of proselytizing (preaching – Da’wah).

The Da’wah has taken place through these associations-linked to mosques. Da’wah is expected to be a tool of the social growth of the new generation of the youth Brotherhood members. In the mosques the group forces its members to listen to religion lectures and read holy Quran as well as other activities.

2. Social and Charitable Role: The NGOs and community associations related to the Brotherhood exploited the neediness and poverty of a lot of people to provide some services as well as building clinics, schools, projects for the hard living women, in addition to pay money and annual pilgrimage for some people.

The Brotherhood misuse these activities and practices to take the role of the state and the government. This role helped the group to influence in these Low-class people. The social role of the Muslim Brotherhood’s associations has expanded to include high-classes by establishing investment hospitals and international schools.

3. The political Role of the NGOs and community associations is the strategic reason behind establishing such these associations. As the Proselytizing, Social and Charitable Roles is just the group’s tactic to gain more popularity and get closer to the grassroots in order to win the votes in the various elections, which was achieved widely in the parliamentary elections 2011 and the 2012 presidential elections.

Ministry of Social Solidarity in Egypt announced in the end of 2015, that it closed more than 1000 Brotherhood-linked associations; this confirms the growing social network of the Muslim Brotherhood with hundreds of charitable associations.

Ansar Al-sonna one of these associations belonged to the Brotherhood, has more than 200 branches around the country with 1750 mosques, 203 Quran schools, 31 preaching institutions, 27 hospitals, 3 schools and elderly Care.

The official authorities took several decisions that resulted in the prohibition of associations belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood. The first decision was the statement of the Cairo Court on September 23, 2013 which banned all activities of the Muslim Brotherhood, confiscating its funds. This was followed by a decision to ban the associations of the group and the reservation of all its funds. The Minister of Social Solidarity, Ghada Wali, indicated that it was decided that the funds and propertiest of the societies would be transferred to the Fund of the community associations.

It can be argued that a number of incentives have led the state to take decisions to ban the group in general and to ban its NGOs in particular:

Second, motivations of banning the Brotherhood and its NGOs

• The removal of the group from public work
• Preventing the Brotherhood from funding violence
• Drying up the financial resources of the group
• Cutting the links between the group and the needy

After the state begins to reduce the role of these charities associations there are many questions must be answered, including the mechanisms of social compensation of those associations.