Unclear Future of 'Muslim Brotherhood' in Afghanistan After Taliban’s Return

Following the arrival of the "Taliban" movement to the palace of government in Afghanistan, the "Muslim Brotherhood" in Kabul praised the transfer of power to the movement in a peaceful manner "without bloodshed or destruction of public institutions."

The statement of "Afghan Reform Society", which represents the "Muslim Brotherhood" in Afghanistan, August 17, 2021, praised the "good and Islamic treatment of the Taliban movement", and hoped that this would continue in the future.

It called for "the necessity of a peaceful and reasonable transition of power," and demanded "the participation of the various political, civil and national groups in the administration of the country."

A day later, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt congratulated on August 18, 2021, the “Afghan people,” not the Taliban, “for their victory and the liberation of their land.”

It expressed its support for the meetings between the Afghan political forces and parties "to agree on the system and the government that is acceptable to the people of all categories."

The International Union of Muslim Scholars congratulated the "Afghan people" and "their leadership, especially in the Taliban movement" for "these steps and for this new phase that has begun in Afghanistan."

Historically, the Muslim Brotherhood preceded the emergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, which made their relationship somewhat complicated.

Prior to 2001, the Taliban dealt with the Brotherhood as an enemy separating disbelief and faith. It described the group's members as more dangerous to Islam than the communists, and it used to attack its members and close their associations.

Despite the Brotherhood's rejection of the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, which uprooted the Taliban regime, relations continued to cool down due to news of the internal Brotherhood's support for the "Reform Society" for the first president to cooperate with Washington, Hamid Karzai.

The Afghan Ministry of Justice, under Karzai's rule, granted the Brotherhood an official license to establish the "Reform Society" in 2002, angering the Taliban.

However, after losing power for years, the Taliban began to change its position on the Muslim Brotherhood and opened a wide door to the relationship with the "Afghan Society for Reform."

This appeared in the Taliban leaders’ visit to the Islamic preacher Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who is close to the Brotherhood, on October 6, 2020.

He had previously visited Afghanistan during the Taliban's rule on February 26, 2001, as part of Islamic delegations to persuade them to stop destroying two ancient statues of "Buddha", but the movement rejected this request.

Following the recent meeting of the Taliban delegation with Al-Qaradawi 2020, the Taliban praised Sheikh Al-Qaradawi and described him as "the godfather of the Muslim Brotherhood."

The Taliban delegation in the Qatari capital, Doha, also visited Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas", which is affiliated with the Brotherhood, which confirms the new positive attitude of the Taliban towards the Brotherhood.

 

Sisi's Concern

In this context, the media of the President of the Egyptian regime, Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, seemed worried about any rapprochement that might occur between the Brotherhood and the Taliban, and therefore took the position of the instigator from the beginning, and rumored that the Egyptian Brotherhood would move to Afghanistan with the return of the Taliban to rule.

Media professionals claimed that Afghanistan will become a new headquarters for Egyptian opponents abroad, especially the Muslim Brotherhood.

The media, Ibrahim Issa, claimed that the Brotherhood will head to Afghanistan within months, perhaps weeks, and Kabul, under the auspices of countries that support the Brotherhood and the Taliban, will turn into a headquarters for the "new global organization."

In an interesting paradox, the broadcaster close to the Egyptian security services, Ahmed Moussa, hosted the Taliban spokesman, Muhammad Naim, on August 16, 2021, through his program on the local Egyptian satellite channel, “Echo of the Country.”

Moussa was keen on Naim's question about the possibility of the Taliban allowing the hosting of the Muslim Brotherhood's members, while the movement's spokesman replied, "We will not allow anyone to enter Afghanistan if he causes harm."

But it seems that the security authorities who asked Moussa to conduct the dialogue did not like this answer and this prompted the satellite channel to delete the entire dialogue from its official website, at a later time.

When the July 3, 2013 coup took place in Egypt, Afghans demonstrated in Kabul and other cities rejecting the army’s overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi.

The Muslim Brotherhood in Afghanistan launched a conference called "Afghan Solidarity with Legitimacy in Egypt", which was attended by former Afghan Prime Minister Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai.

Prominent parties participated in demonstrations in support of the Egyptian Brotherhood, including the "Islamic Call Group" led by Abd Rab al-Rasoul Sayyaf, the "Islamic Party", and "Advisor to former President Karzai for religious affairs, and other groups.

 

The Taliban will Change

A source close to the Muslim Brotherhood expects that the Taliban movement will change its dealings with the group, as it changed its dealings with everyone, and even forgave its opponents who fought with the previous Afghan government.

This source announced to Al-Estiklal that the previous Taliban dispute with the Brotherhood will have a share of this change, pointing to the possibility that the Taliban themselves will change, saying: "It can approach the Brotherhood more intellectually and at the level of practice."

It asserts that "both groups aim to establish a ruling on the rules of Islam as they understand it, but the main point of contention is flexibility and extremism, but the Taliban's extremism can be acceptable in the more conservative Afghan society than the more open Egyptian society."

Regarding the possibility of opposition members of the Brotherhood moving abroad to Afghanistan, the source, who preferred not to be named, believes that "the transfer of immigrants to Afghanistan is not currently possible, because there is no restriction on them in Turkey, and thousands of Egyptians are moving freely even after stopping the programs of 4 media professionals."

It asserts that Turkey is now the best option, noting that "the opposition's satellite channels continue, and the rest of the Egyptians who have businesses and investments continue their work."

It says, "I don't think that at least any of the Brotherhood is thinking of moving to Afghanistan now, especially since the Taliban is at the stage of testing the pulse with the international community."

 

Brotherhood in Afghanistan

In June 2002, 30 Afghan figures belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood announced the establishment of a political entity representing the Brotherhood in Afghanistan, under the name "Afghan Association for Reform and Social Development".

The association was officially established in the Timni district of the capital, Kabul, and included 35 branches in the Afghan provinces.

On its website, "Islah Online", the association refers to several departments and tasks that it undertakes: the Department of Skills Development, educating the community about the objectives of colonialism, spreading good and preventing evil, fighting intolerance, and selecting individuals for the skills development program, in addition to the departments of media, charitable work, social services, women's and youth work, professional syndicates, writing and translation.

The Brotherhood inside Afghanistan owns large charitable, educational, media, medical and economic institutions, and most of the projects implemented by the group are offered free of charge.

The Afghan Reform Society also focused on the field of charitable work, launching the Humanitarian Aid Society, which carries out humanitarian tasks such as orphan care, care for widows and regular aid to the poor.

It worked to provide free medical services at nominal prices, through clinics and hospitals affiliated with the association, in which a large cadre of doctors worked.

The funds for these activities all come from the donations of wealthy merchants and businessmen, the donations of members of the group, and the large economic institutions owned by the Brotherhood inside Afghanistan.

Because of the importance of education in the Afghan Bedouin society, the Brotherhood established 12 schools from primary to secondary, and 4 institutes for girls' education and the graduation of female teachers.

It also built 8 schools to teach Islamic sciences, and seven institutes specialized in teacher training, such as the Islah Institute for the Preparation and Qualification of Female Teachers, which was established in 2008 and focuses on teaching Arabic and Islamic studies.

As well as the "Model Reform Institute", which was established in 2006 in the city of Jalalabad, and "Dar Al Uloom al-Islamiya", which was established in 2008 next to the "Al-Falah" School for Girls in 2009 in Jalalabad, which specialized in preparing leading cadres in the intellectual, scientific, and professional fields, with nominal fees.

Because of British, then communist, and then American colonialism over Afghanistan and the attempts to change the identity of the people, especially after the 2001 invasion of Washington, the Afghan Brotherhood sought to establish media platforms that would raise awareness.

The Brotherhood was the first to establish an Afghan satellite channel called “Al-Islah” channel, and it also has the “Sawt Al-Islah” radio station, since 2008.

The association published magazines such as the weekly "Islah Melli", which is published in Pashto and Persian, "Gwan" magazine in Pashto, and the magazine "Risala al-Islah" (fortnightly).

The Brotherhood in Afghanistan also launched the monthly "Marefa" magazine in Persian, and "Risala al-Islah", of which 100,000 copies are printed, attracting important Afghani pens, and having a great influence on the local street.