[TheMercenary]

You have to keep thing simple for most Americans. 80% most likely could not find Iraq on a map of the Middle East. The Muslim Brotherhood is an old age organization of Egypt. It was the spark for many radical movements in the Middle East including Hamas.

"Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope."—Muslim Brotherhood

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1928 by Hasan al-Banna, a 22-year-old elementary school teacher. The Brotherhood asserted itself as an Islamic revivalist movement following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the caliphate system of government that had united Muslims for hundreds of years. Al-Banna emphasized the comprehensive nature of his faith. Islam was not only a religion, but a fundamental force in society and politics.

The Brotherhood grew as a popular movement over the years. It blamed the Egyptian government for being passive against "Zionists" and joined the Palestinian side in the war against Israel (1948). The Muslim Brothers also performed terrorist acts inside of Egypt, which led to a ban on the movement by the Egyptian government. A Muslim Brother assassinated the Prime Minister of Egypt, Mahmud Fahmi Nokrashi, on December 28, 1948. Al-Banna himself was killed by government agents in Cairo in February, 1949.

In 1954, Abdul Munim Abdul Rauf, a Brotherhood activist, attempted to assassinate the widely popular Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and was executed, along with five other Brothers. Four thousand Brothers were also arrested, and thousands more fled to Syria, Saudia Arabia, Jordan, and Lebanon.

Although officially banned by the Egyptian government since 1954, the Muslim Brothers have captured 17 seats in the Egyptian Parliament running as independents in recent years, in addition to holding important offices in professional organizations (syndicates) in Egypt.