The Muslim Brotherhood has been established in Europe more than 60 years ago. It is the result of three successive generations of activists and preachers. But the European influence of the Brotherhood has increased considerably since the mid-1990s. Thanks, in particular, to the accession to power of the former Emir of Qatar, Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, who sealed a strategic alliance with one of the Muslim Brotherhood’s masterminds, the infamous Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi…
The Muslim Brotherhood has been established in Europe more than 60 years ago. It is the result of three successive generations of activists and preachers. But the European influence of the Brotherhood has increased considerably since the mid-1990s. Thanks, in particular, to the accession to power of the former Emir of Qatar, Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, who sealed a strategic alliance with one of the Muslim Brotherhood’s masterminds, the infamous Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi…
Never has a Western document provoked such panic among the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood. The most inflamed see it as a “declaration of war” and threaten to take revenge. The most cunning adopt a low profile, fearing a ban on the Brotherhood.
On 23 August 1973, a muezzin called for the first time for prayer from a mosque in Bavaria: the brand-new Islamic centre located on the outskirts of Munich, in the middle of the woods. At that time, West Germany had only five mosques. The Munich one cost five million Marks.
Established in Germany since the late 1950s, the Muslim Brotherhood holds an almost total grip on Islamic places of worship and sociocultural associations. This is done through two branches of the Brotherhood : one is Arab, imported into Germany by a trio of leaders of the Tanzim al-Dawali (Saïd Ramadan, Ali Ghaleb Himmat and Youssef Nada), and the other Turkish, controlled by the Erbakan clan, one of the most influential families in the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Turkey.
Belgium has two main poles linked to the Muslim Bortherhood’s movement, around which a number of local associations and satellite organisations gravitate. But, the European capital is also coveted by several pan-European organisations of the Brotherhood whose main activity is lobbying the European institutions.
From the book “Qatar Papers”, written by Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, readers have mainly retained the financial importance of the projects developed by the gas emirate in Europe through the NGO Qatar Charity. And also the salary of 35,000 euros paid each month to Tariq Ramadan by Qatar Foundation, created by Sheikha Moza, the mother of Tamim ben Hamad Al Thani, 38 years old and the Emir of Qatar since 2013.
How did a Swiss of Egyptian origin manage to seduce so many young Muslims from the French suburbs since the 1990s? Tariq Ramadan certainly speaks well. Tall, slim, elegant, he has charisma, a charming smile. A speech perfectly adapted to its audience. But the main thing is not there. He is the grandson of Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
