Egyptian media is reporting that a “dissident Muslim Brotherhood faction” has plans to promote civil disobedience in Egypt in order to foster political change. According to a report in Al-Masry Al-Youm:
A dissident Muslim Brotherhood faction intends to take to the streets in civilian disobedience in a move to press for political change, sources said. The unnamed front says it is actively lobbying Brotherhood members, political powers, and citizens. The front called upon the group’s Guidance Bureau and parliamentary candidates to join its activities. A senior figure in the faction, Hyatham Khalil, said the group seeks to promote civilian disobedience as an established social pattern. The group also strives to enlighten Egyptians on their rights, educate them about peaceful opposition, and extricate them from their current state of indifference and fear. Khalil emphasized civilian disobedience was used by Gandhi for liberating India and by South African leaders in confronting apartheid.
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.