A website affiliated with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood has reported on an international conference held by the Brotherhood in Istanbul under the slogan “Muslim Brotherhood: The distinction of the idea and the continuity of the project” and with the participation of over 500 scholars, politicians and preachers from 20 different countries. According to the report:
Within the framework of the intellectual conference, which was held by the Muslim Brotherhood in Istanbul towards a new century of its age, the documents and papers of the conference affirmed the intellectual principles of the group as a basis for its launch in the next century.
In the official video trailer of the conference, posted on its Facebook page, the event was been described as the “largest intellectual conference the Muslim Brotherhood has seen in decades”. The conference was held on the threshold of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood and several papers were presented on the future of the MB, its challenges and risks, and its approach to reform and change. The conference closing statement further declared:
- That the nation [ummah] has to reach a deep understanding and consciousness of its rights and duties towards promoting change and reforms.
- That the peoples of the Islamic nation hold on to their right to be free of the grip of the tyrants and choosing their government by satisfying and agreed upon democratic means.
- That the Muslim Brotherhood sticks to its centrist [wasati] and peaceful principles which refuses any use of violence or extremist thought or behavior.
- The importance of providing intellectual answers to the current political situation.
- The importance of presenting a program for a contemporary Islamic state, and paying attention to the rehabilitation of political Islamic capabilities in accordance with the Muslim Brotherhood model.
- That the documents and papers presented in the conference looked at the influence of Hasan Al-Banna’s thinking on the Muslim Brotherhood and its model of operation.
The presentations of the following individuals were live-streamed on the Facebook page of the event:
- Talaat Fahmy, media spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt
- Abdel Majid Dayyeh, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan
- Azzam al-Ayoubi, Secretary-General of the Islamic Group (Muslim Brotherhood) in Lebanon
- Mohammed Ahmed al-Rashed, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Iraq
- Nawwaf al-Takrouri, chairman of The Association of Palestinian Scholars Abroad
- Ghazi al-Awawdeh, “Director Of The Center For Nation Studies”
- Mohammad Khair Musa, Palestinian scholar
- Zuhair Salim, Arab Orient Center for Arabic and Strategic Studies
- Mohammed Hikmet Walid, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria
- Hammam Saeed, former chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan
- Mahmoud Hussein, secretary-general of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt
Other participants at the conference included:
- Ibrahim Munir (UK resident and head of the Muslim Brotherhood’s International Organization)
- Mahmoud Elibiary, head of Risalat Al-Ikhwan ((Muslim Brotherhood Message), a Brotherhood publication based in London and supervised by Ibrahim Munir
- Mehmet Esin, Deputy Chairman of the Turkish HÜDA PAR, a front for Turkish Hezbollah (not the Lebanese group)
- Imad Hout, former member of the Lebanese parliament on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Lebanese branch (Al-Jama’a Al-Islamiyya)