-A new edition of the report measuring attitudes towards the group also unveiled

-Turkey’s Harici honors TRENDS with an award for its research efforts in countering extremism

As part of its Fifth Forum on Political Islam, TRENDS Research & Advisory announced the launch of the interactive map of the Muslim Brotherhood International Power Index and the latest edition of the report measuring attitudes toward the group. Both of these reveal a marked decline in the Muslim Brotherhood’s power and a noticeable drop in its popularity across digital platforms. In addition, Turkey’s Harici Media presented TRENDS Research & Advisory with an award in recognition of its ongoing global research efforts to counter extremism. Harici also partnered with TRENDS in its Fifth Annual Forum on Political Islam, held under the theme “Shared Patterns of Violence: Contemporary Approaches to Ideologically Driven Extremism.”

Power Index

The Index evaluates the Brotherhood’s power across five key dimensions: international organization, as well as political, economic, media, and societal influence. The report showed that the Muslim Brotherhood’s overall power dropped sharply from 64% in 2021 to 48% in 2023. This decline shifted the group from the “strong” category to “moderate strength,” reflecting the decline of its international and regional influence.

The report attributed this decline to several factors during 2022–2023, including: weak media, as the group’s new channels failed to regain credibility or professionalism; internal disputes, as ongoing fragmentation, particularly after the death of Ibrahim Munir, sparked leadership struggles between the London and Istanbul factions; and regional and international isolation, with rapprochement among key regional states undermining the group’s interests, while global measures continued to restrict its activities, including the expulsion of its affiliates from Islamic organizations in Europe.

Measuring Attitudes on Social Media

Complementing the Index, TRENDS released a report measuring attitudes towards the Muslim Brotherhood on X (formerly Twitter). The study analyzed 1.67 million tweets in 2023 using a SWOT analytical model (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), highlighting opportunities for dealing with the group’s presence on social media. The findings revealed that public attitudes toward the Muslim Brotherhood were largely negative, with an acceptance level of just 46%.

Hostile attitudes accounted for 81.8% of total engagement, compared to only 31.2% that reflected positive sentiment. Activity spiked in France in October 2023 amid controversy surrounding accusations of footballer Karim Benzema’s alleged links to the group.

The results reflect an apparent decline in the Muslim Brotherhood’s popularity, underscoring that its rhetoric no longer enjoys wide resonance and that it faces mounting challenges on the ground and in the digital sphere, once considered one of its strongest mobilization tools.

An Important Analytical Tool

Dr. Mohammed Al-Ali, CEO of TRENDS Research & Advisory, emphasized that the Index is “an important tool for understanding developments related to the Muslim Brotherhood internationally and for providing objective analysis of its influence across multiple domains.” He noted that publishing the Index in several languages reflects TRENDS’ commitment to raising global awareness of the group’s dangers and fostering international cooperation to counter its extremist ideas. Dr. Al-Ali added that TRENDS gives special priority to its Political Islam Studies Program, given the destructive nature of this current, which has positioned the Center as a leading international reference in this field.

Five Dimensions

Hamad Al-Hosani, Director of the Political Islam Department at TRENDS, explained that the Index measures the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence across five primary dimensions: international organization, political, economic, media, and societal. He added that the interactive map provides a simplified visualization of the results.

A Global First

Dr. Wael Saleh, Advisor on Political Islam and Extremism at TRENDS, stated that the Index introduces the first global model for measuring the strength and influence of religious movements. It combines quantitative and qualitative methodologies, supported by primary and secondary indicators that capture the most precise aspects of the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence across 50 countries spanning five continents. He stressed that the Index and Measure of Attitudes address the growing need for clear and early signals on current and future developments of the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence at the global level. He noted that the findings enable timely policy responses and provide reliable, objective answers about the group’s future trajectory and ability to achieve its goals.