Brotherhood’s exploitation of women: Australia’s National Women’s Advisory Council

Shaimaa Yahya

The Brotherhood has not lost sight of women’s role in advocating extremism, giving the “Sisterhood” an opportunity to participate socially, but with the goal of attracting new members and raising a new generation on the group’s literature.

In this regard, the Brotherhood-affiliated Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) announced the inauguration of the National Women’s Advisory Council during its 13th general assembly meeting. Researcher Hala Ameer was the first woman to join the new women’s advisory council, which will deal with women’s affairs.

The ANIC, headed by Shady Alsuleiman, is a center for publishing fatwas. It is administered by Australian Grand Mufti Ibrahim Abu Mohamed and has 250 imams.

Exploiting women

The Brotherhood has always sought to attract women, given their main role in society. The group has used women to spread its ideology and solidify its principles in the youth they raise, as it is women who are primarily responsible for the new generations. Through this method, about 15% of Australian Muslims are now inclined toward the Brotherhood ideology.

In his treatise “The Muslim Woman”, Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna revealed his true attitude towards women, including how he despised their roles in life and did not recognize their equality with men regarding rights and duties.

“Women do not need to navigate in different languages, and they do not need special technical studies. You will soon learn that women belong to the household first and foremost. Women do not need to navigate the study of rights and laws; they only need to learn what the common people need. Teach women what they need pursuant to their mission and the job that God has created them for: housekeeping and childcare,” Banna wrote.

The Brotherhood also took advantage of the weakness of institutions that support women’s issues, playing on their inability to deal with women’s issues and their lack of sufficient awareness.

At the same time, the Brotherhood exploited the ability of women to move and recruit more easily than men. Therefore, the presence of a large group of women in the Brotherhood has been one of the reasons for the group’s survival, and they represent the backbone of the organization.

ANIC has tried to show its interest in women as a model for dealing with Muslim issues in all of its societal groups, penetrating Muslim women’s circles and presenting itself as concerned with their issues, in a new attempt to empower women within Australian social life.

Parallel entities

The Brotherhood has tried in various ways to form “parallel entities” in order to pressure decision-makers to meet the group’s demands. It then worked to crystallize itself as a group seeking to spread Islamic reformism.

Egypt’s Dar al-Iftaa stated in a report in 2019 that the Brotherhood is pursuing a policy of spreading into Western societies by forming affiliated parallel entities, seeking to control the West intellectually by penetrating cultural and political institutions and then manipulating decision-makers.