This is the ninth study in the Muslim Brotherhood Encyclopedia, focusing on the phenomenon of defections within the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) from its establishment in 1928 to the ongoing wave of defections following the fall of their rule in Egypt in 2013. Through a comprehensive analysis of the facts and events surrounding these defections, this study seeks to forecast the future trajectories and potential outcomes of this partisan group. Notably, the study centers on the parent organization in Egypt and its main branches among Arab political Islamist movements. However, the findings suggest that the patterns of emergence, development, transformation, and decline observed in MB are broadly applicable to similar movements across the Arab and Islamic worlds.
MB Egypt, as a leading force among politico-religious movements, emerged under distinct conditions during the interwar period—a time characterized by the formation of new national states across the Arab and Islamic regions. During this era, national elites faced the dual challenge of achieving liberation from colonial rule and constructing cohesive national entities. Within this context, Egypt’s dual project of national liberation and state-building was widely regarded as having a higher likelihood of success compared to similar efforts in regions such as India, the Levant, and Iraq. This optimism stemmed from a shared sense of national identity, a perception of Egypt as a unified nation, and the absence of significant fears of fragmentation, despite its religious diversity and geographical expanse.
Nonetheless, differences in religious and national consciousness persisted among the Egyptian Islamic majority. These divergences gave rise to the establishment of a new organization—one that distinguished itself from traditional Islamic charitable organizations by positioning itself as a “group” rather than an “association” and distancing itself from political parties focused solely on anticolonial struggles. Despite this unique approach, MB and its activities garnered little attention upon its founding in 1928, remaining largely unnoticed until the 1940s. During this period, MB’s candidates faced significant electoral setbacks, primarily due to their strong ideological and political discord with the Wafd Party, which represented Egypt’s dominant nationalist movement at the time.
