A London-based Saudi newspaper has reported that the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood is considering changing its slogan. According to the Al-Sharq al-Awsat report:
A news item, published in this paper, stated that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is considering changing its famous slogan ‘Islam is the solution’ as a precaution against obstacles that it might face from the government, especially as articles within the constitution emphasise the danger of practicing politics based on religion. The news item adds that the Muslim Brotherhood is currently looking into the idea of adopting other slogans instead of or as well as ‘Islam is the solution.’ According to the news item, the Muslim Brotherhood said that “this slogan caused there to be many legal and political reservations.” Muslim Brotherhood students at Egyptian universities had anticipated the MB’s official idea or to be more specific, the MB’s new position by using an alternative slogan, ‘we hope for the best for Egypt’ during the university student elections. They argued, as the news item indicates, that they coined that new slogan to alleviate security pressures. What was the position of the reformist figure in the Brotherhood leadership hierarchy, Essam al Eryan, towards this new youthful slogan? Al Eryan “decreed” that the new student slogan does not contradict the most cherished and sacred slogan of the Muslim Brotherhood, ‘Islam is the solution.’ He believes that the new slogan is part of a larger and more comprehensive slogan, namely, ‘Islam is the solution.’ It doesn’t stop there. The Brotherhood mediator amazed us even further by stating that “every stage requires a different slogan.” Al Eryan maintained that the slogan ‘Islam is the solution’ represents the identity of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood can be considered to be the “mother” organization of what is referred to in these pages as the Global Muslim Brotherhood which developed as Muslim Brothers fleeing Egypt settled in Europe and the United States, as well as other places, throughout the years. The global network has since eclipsed the Egyptian organization as evidenced by global Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi’s decision to turn down the leadership of the Egyptian organization when it was offered to him in 2004.