Jordan Dissolves Muslim Brotherhood

Jordan’s King Abdullah II has ordered the dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood organization in the country. The decision was officially announced by Interior Minister Mazen Faraya.

The Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist movement, was founded in 1928 in Ismailia, Egypt, by Hassan El Banna. It functions as a religious, social, and political organization. Over the decades, the Brotherhood expanded its presence to several countries including Egypt, Sudan, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, and across North Africa.

In the mid-20th century, between the 1950s and 1960s, many of its members were imprisoned and subjected to harsh treatment, including detention in concentration camps.

The organization held political power in Egypt from 2012 to 2013 under President Mohamed Morsi, who was later removed from office and imprisoned following a military intervention led by then-General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Morsi died in June 2019 while still in custody.

Jordan’s government has stated that the decision to dissolve the Brotherhood was taken “for security reasons.”

The Muslim Brotherhood is known for its social programs and influence in various Islamic countries. Membership figures have varied over time, with estimates suggesting the group had approximately 500,000 members at its peak in the late 1940s. With its dismantling, there are concerns about who or what will fill the void. History has shown us that with the dissolution of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, more will pop up in its place to fill the void. The question becomes, when a replace organization fills the void, what it it look like.