Based on interviews and discourse of the Muslim Brotherhood members, this book offers a comprehensive overview of the ways in which their historical heritage is appropriated and continued beyond the movement's internal tensions and pretension to represent the Islamic orthodoxy.

Scholars have long debated the intentions of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East. Some claim the organization supports terrorism, while others believe it is a positive force for democratization. Though the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe has attracted less attention, many feel they understand the group just as well. They assume it is closely tied to its Middle Eastern counterpart, with detractors regarding it to be a suspicious, secretive, and centrally-led organization increasing the alienation of Europe's Muslims. Sympathizers, on the other hand, see it as a moderate, westernized, and fully-integrated force for good. This volume complicates both these views, with experts providing richer and more impartial perspectives on the critical issues relating to Europe's Muslim Brotherhood. It follows the growth and operation of these organizations within different European contexts and captures their highly specific relationship with non-Muslim media and authority figures.

This study focuses on the history of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe, its impact and the controversies that have surrounded it. Covering the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Scandinavia, it deals with topics including: the strategies the Brotherhood has adopted to become integrated into European society, secularisation, etc.; the controversy the Brotherhood has provoked and the suspicions it has aroused in countries such as Great Britain and especially France; and with the ideological background of the Brotherhood, focusing on Egypt.

Introduction 1 1 Muslims in the Balkans: A Special Report 10 2 Turkey Fundamentally Divided: Beleaguered Secularists and Modernising Islamists 35 3 Morocco Undecided: After the reforms, democracy? 62 4 Stalemate in Egypt: In Search of the Real Brothers 81 5 Steering with One Hand Tied Behind Our Back: Some Suggestions for Moving Forward 101 Literature 131 About the Authors 136 Acknowledgements 137.

The Muslim Brotherhood is the oldest and most important international Islamist group. Aside from strong organizations in Egypt, Jordan, Syria—where it provides the main opposition—and its Palestinian offshoot Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip, the Brotherhood has become active in Europe and North America.

The Muslim Brotherhood is often represented in mainstream media as a theocratic organisation that preaches Qur'an-based violence and is out to grab power in the West. As this book shows, such representations are wrought with prejudice and oversimplification; the organisation is in reality much more dynamic and diverse. Its goals, ideology and influence have never been static and vary greatly amongst its descendants in both Europe and the Middle East. Joas Wagemakers introduces the reader to this fascinating organisation and the major ideological and historical developments that it has gone through since its emergence in 1928.

1. Multiple faces of Islam, R. Hrair Dekmejian

Based on extensive bibliographical research, field studies and specific contributions of scholars, this volume provides a useful overall review of the presence of Islam in Europe.

In both Europe and North America, organizations tracing their origins back to the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist movements have rapidly evolved into multifunctional, richly funded organizations. They now compete to become the major representatives of Western Muslim communities and government interlocutors. Some analysts and policy makers see these organizations as positive forces encouraging integration. Others treat them as modern-day Trojan horses that feign moderation while radicalizing Western Muslims. Lorenzo Vidino brokers a third and more informed view. Having completed more than a decade of research on political Islam in the West, Vidino is keenly qualified to analyze a movement that is as controversial as it is unknown. Conducting in-depth interviews on four continents and sourcing documents in ten languages, Vidino shares the history, methods, views, and goals of the Western Brothers, as well as their phenomenal growth. He then flips the perspective, examining the response to these groups by Western governments, concentrating specifically on Great Britain, Germany, and the United States. Highly informed and thoughtfully presented, Vidino's work sheds light on a critical juncture in Muslim-Western relations and the role Islam plays for a variety of uprooted individuals.