The long story behind Muslim Brotherhood funding

Mahmud Rushdi

The Muslim Brotherhood expanded its business activities in a noticeable manner, before the Egyptian government designated it as a “terrorist” organization.

The same business activities stirred up debate, especially as far as the sources of Brotherhood funding were concerned.

The Brotherhood’s party had spacious offices in almost all Egyptian provinces. The group also offered electoral bribes to voters before and during parliamentary elections, including money and food.

The same group had its own militias, enlisting their services at times of need. The group had a fleet of luxury cars and supermarket chains.

This made questions about the sources of Brotherhood funding very legitimate and logical.

Some researchers find it hard to determine the sources of funding of this Islamist organization, given the fact that most of this funding comes through secret channels. This was particularly true after the late revolutionary leader Gamal Abdel Nasser dissolved the group in 1954 and confiscated its assets.

The Brotherhood was more than just an educational religious organization operating inside Arab and European states. It ran several voluntary and civil societies in the same states. It also ran Islamic organizations in the United States.

The Brotherhood succeeded in creating a huge financing network in all countries after decades of hard work. This network depended on traditional tools, such as the collection of donations and getting regular subscription from members. It also had its untraditional financing methods, including money laundering and support from businessmen living in other countries. These sources of funding continued to operate, even after the group was outlawed in Egypt and the noose was tightened around its financing.

Formation seeds

The Brotherhood worked to create its own economic and business empire since its founding at the hands of Hassan al-Banna. The establishment of a shareholding company for schools was the first step in this regard. The company qualified the group for financial support from the Ministry of Education.

Al-Banna also depended on the monthly subscription paid by his group members. Members had to pay the subscription (3% of their monthly incomes), along with contributions to the Brotherhood charity fund if they had extra money to pay.

In its early stages, the Brotherhood depended mainly on member subscriptions, donations and gifts from wealthy merchants.

This helped the organization to expand its business activities. It founded nine companies as well as several schools.

When the Brotherhood was dissolved in 1954, it invented new financing methods. It started investing the money it collected in this regard at the beginning of the 1970s, when Nasser died and his successor Anwar al-Sadat took over.

Sadat followed an open-door economic policy. This opened the door wide for the growth of the Brotherhood’s business activities. Brotherhood businessmen found the new policy a good chance for them to enlarge their organization’s business empire.

This diversified the funding sources of the organization. Below are the sources the Brotherhood depended on for financing:

1 – Member subscriptions

Most of the members of the Muslim Brotherhood belong to the middle class. These members have to pay 8% of their monthly income in subscription for membership in the group. This means that the Brotherhood’s more than half a million members have to pay approximately 100 Egyptian pounds each every month. This brings the monthly income of the organization to more than 185 million pounds. The members of the International Organization of the Muslim Brotherhood pay subscriptions too.

2 – Donations by individuals and institutions

This is an important source of Brotherhood funding. Funding in this channel comes from Brotherhood sympathizers in Europe or from Egyptians and Arabs in other countries. These Brotherhood members or sympathizers pay between 7 and 9% of their income to the organization every month.

This brought around 605 million Egyptian pounds to the Muslim Brotherhood every month. This money was used in paying the salaries of the supreme guide of the organization and its leaders.

3 – Charity

There are 3,000 Islamic centers in Europe. These centers are also funding centers for the Brotherhood. Supporters and sympathizers pay charity in these centers, money that goes directly to the coffers of the Brotherhood.

4 – Foreign aid

A large chunk of Brotherhood funding comes from foreign governments. Qatar and Turkey are the largest financiers of the organization. This was quite clear after the January 2011 revolution in Egypt and also the June 2013 revolution which brought down the Brotherhood regime.

5 – Investment projects

The Brotherhood invested its money since the early 1970s by establishing a large number of companies, both inside and outside Egypt. The group also received support from business tycoons and merchants, which at the end fortified the group’s finances.