Reuters has published an article titled “Sisters In The Vanguard As Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Battles To Survive ” which looks at the current activities of the “Muslim Sisterhood.” The article begins:
December 15, 2014 (Reuters) – In homes and streets around Egypt, women are keeping alive a group the authorities are determined to crush. They teach Muslim Brotherhood values to children, organize its protests, preserve its networks, and take an ever more prominent role in politics.
The Brotherhood has been in retreat since the army overthrew elected Islamist President Mohammed Mursi in July 2013, launching a crackdown that has seen it banned as a terrorist group and thousands of its members jailed.
With most Brotherhood leaders in jail or exile, women who have long lived in their shadow have been thrust into the vanguard of the organization’s battle for survival.
Long accustomed to a supportive role focused on education and social work, the experience of the past 17 months, however bitter, has imbued the female members of the Muslim Brotherhood, known as Muslim Sisters, with new confidence.
In a patriarchal and conservative movement, it is unclear how far they can go, but for many, there is no turning back.
“Our experience has shown that we can lead. We might make mistakes but we fix them and move on and that’s better than standing on the sidelines,” said Heba, a Muslim Sister in Egypt’s second city of Alexandria. “We won’t go back.”
Read the rest here.
In October 2012, the GMBDW discussed an article titled “The Muslim Sister” which looked at the women’s section of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
In July 2011, we reported that the Muslim Sisterhood had held its first conference in 60 years.