Inside the Brotherhood 1st Edition

by Hazem Kandil (Author)

36 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0745682914

ISBN-10: 074568291X

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This is the first in-depth study of the relationship between the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and its own members. Drawing on years of participant observation, extensive interviews, previously inaccessible organizational documents, and dozens of memoirs and writings, the book provides an intimate portrayal of the recruitment and socialization of Brothers, the evolution of their intricate social networks, and the construction of the peculiar ideology that shapes their everyday practices. Drawing on his original research, Kandil reinterprets the Brotherhood’s slow rise and rapid downfall from power in Egypt, and compares it to the Islamist subsidiaries it created and the varieties it inspired around the world.

This timely book will be of great interest to students and scholars of the politics of the Middle East and to anyone who wants to understand the dramatic events unfolding in Egypt and elsewhere in the wake of the Arab uprisings.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Kandil's overall portrait offers an impressive but bleak dissection that debunks the wishful thinking of many liberals who imagined the Brotherhood as a left-wing counterweight to Egypt's generals"
International Affairs

"The overall thrust of the book presents an interesting and plausible account of recent historical events in Egypt. But the real value of the work lies not in its ideological drive but in the richness of its empirical data and the rare glimpse of this well-known but little-understood religio-political movement 'from the inside'."
Middle East Monitor

"A deeply intimate portrait of an organisation rightly known as "the mother of all Islamist movements."
Morning Star

"Hazem Kandil has written a fascinating, highly intimate account of the internal practices of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Kandil takes the reader inside the organization to reveal detailed information about everything from recruitment practices to social network formation to construction of an organizational worldview. Inside the Brotherhood is essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand the Muslim Brotherhood's political rise and fall in Egypt."
Lisa Blaydes, Stanford University

"Hazem Kandil has written an original and challenging interpretation of the organisation and ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood enriched by unique access to members and functions. The subordination of policy and strategy to piety and proselytization helps to explain the Brotherhood's twists and turns at crucial points in modern Egyptian history, and their rise and fall since 2011, as well as the messianic reaction to their defeat and suppression."
Sami Zubaida, Birkbeck, University of London

"By probing what it means to be a Muslim Brother, exploring how the Brotherhood organization is structured, and placing religion at the center of the movement's amorphous ideology, Hazem Kandil offers helpful new interpretations even when going over familiar ground. The resulting picture is not always flattering, but it helps shed light on the group's sometimes puzzling behavior."
Nathan Brown, George Washington University

'Fascinating and lively.'
Foreign Affairs

"Hazem Kandil's Inside the Brotherhood, as its title suggests, contributes remarkably to our understanding of the inner ideological commitments and organisational dynamics of the brotherhood through its examination of MB instructions, dozens of memoirs by MB members and years of observing and participating in its activities and social networks."
LSE Review of Books

"Kandil's book is able to provide an in-depth, elaborate analysis of the contours of the recruitment and socialisation process as well as the re(construction) of networks."
Political Studies Review

About the Author

Hazem Kandil is University Lecturer in Political Sociology and Fellow of St. Catherine’s College, Cambridge.

Product details

Publisher : Polity; 1st edition (November 17, 2014)

Language: : English

Hardcover : 240 pages

ISBN-10 : 074568291X

ISBN-13 : 978-0745682914

Item Weight : 1.05 pounds

Dimensions : 6.3 x 0.94 x 9.3 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,177,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

#1,384 in Islam (Books)

#3,015 in Christian Institutions & Organizations (Books)

#4,771 in African Politics

Customer Reviews:
36 ratings

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4 out of 5
36 global ratings

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Soru Takahashi
Worth a read but with shortcomings
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2017
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I would recommend this book, or at least the first half, as it offers some very interesting insights into the inner workings of the Brotherhood (the second half is essentially about how the organisation's political ineptitude lead to its downfall, but this has well documented elsewhere). That having been said, there are a couple of caveats:

1. The book is very repetitive. The Brotherhood operates on the basis of an anti-intellectual philosophy and does not accept critical thinking - this message is hammered again and again from page 1, and after about 20 pages, I felt I had got the idea and started skimming.
2. Connected with the above, the author is overwhelmingly negative about the Brotherhood. Part of this may have to do with the fact that most of his contemporary sources appear to be people who got fed up and left, and, not being an expert on the organisation, I have no real reason to dispute those sources or the author's analysis. However, it's hard not to read the book and wonder if the author didn't purposely set out to write something critical of the Brotherhood, and chose the anecdotes and stories that fit his view. There seems to be precious little thought on why exactly a large number of people are attracted and loyal to the Brotherhood - is it a big Escape from Freedom? Are the people all stupid? I found this aspect a bit wanting.

The above caveats regardless, I would recommend the book, because I feel that the first part is worth a read for anybody interested in the history of this very important organisation. At the end of the day, it is worth the ten bucks or so. However, I would certainly say that it should not be the only book one reads on the subject.
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Webster person
Unique
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2016
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One of the few books about the Brotherhood that portray them in the correct light because of all the insider interviews that author conducted. It is truly great research.
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Tarek Salah Kamel
Knocking down the myth of Divine Intervention
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2015
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Hazem presents an elaborate insight into the core pillar of Islamism as crafted by the Muslim Brotherhood in the beginning of last century: Religious Determinism .. Or the belief of the Divine Intervention to the Godly cultivated community of Brothers and Sisters ... He shows - in a deep and thoroughly researched logic - how this pillar is deeply entrenched in their mindset really from the internal life of Brothers and Sisters ...

Ironically, he explained, how the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood group has always guaranteed their failure at each junction of political conflict in their whole history .. The book is irrefutable in its logic and the evidences it provides are critical alarming signals to the minds and hearts of the Muslim Brotherhood members, who - unfortunately -are not expected to value intellectuals and read their work with open minds and hearts as they have always not done!!
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Dominique La Garde
Required Reading for any USA Military Planer or Congressman
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2015
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This book should be required reading for every USA military planner and war monger Congressman. It provides an in depth look at the motivation of the Muslim Brotherhood which is the root of most of the Islamist movement today including the Islamic State. Also suggest you read Qutb and his views. If you do this shivers should go and down your spine. Kandil makes it clear that we are involved in divine manifest destiny and that the Takfir actions of IS arte not "crazy" as US propagandists claim but instead are fueled by strong belief in the "purity" of Islam and the power that generates. The Western presence only fuels the prophecy.
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Kindle Customer
A very readable account of the workings of a much ...
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2015
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A very readable account of the workings of a much maligned and demonized organization that promotes 'Islamic nationalism'. In the Indian context, one sees similarities with RSS, that appeals to the youth in the name of 'cultural (Hindu) nationalism'. Youth of a certain socio-economic class and intellectual awareness are attracted to them, but when it comes to serious thought leaders, both have few supporters. Both have come to the rescue of people in times of natural calamities, but have always been viewed with suspicion about their true agenda.
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Mohamed Ibrahim
The best ever in this subject!
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2015
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The best ever in this subject. It is in deed inside the brotherhood!
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MAG
Like one of the commentators mentioned
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 11, 2014
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Hazem Kandil takes his readers inside the secretive movement, explaining its logic and detailing how the Brotherhood views itself, non-members and the world. The brilliance of this book is that it goes beyond the examination of the structure of the group, and delves into a study of the daily practices of its members. In linking them, this two-level analysis serves to demystify the Brotherhood's inability to provide an alternative to the ruling regime in Egypt -- this is unmatched by other studies on the group. Like one of the commentators mentioned, the book is quite relevant for students of political sociology -- especially ones focused on ideological movements.

In a nutshell, the book serves as a manual for this esoteric group.I highly recommend it for readers who are interested in Egypt and/or the transnational phenomena of Islamism.
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Sally Wilton
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 19, 2015
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I was very interested in reading this book for several reasons. First I lived in egypt for 2 years after the revolution that overthrew Mubarek and during the period when the Muslim brotherhood were fighting elections for the parliament and further to win the presidency. I am fairl well informed, having read hundreds of articles, followed new programmes, watched elections, I even by chance met the very Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi who is now in jail in Tora prison awaiting either execution or winning an appeal. The charges against him and the MB are that they are a banned terrorist organisation and that they use violent actions to terrorise people. The other charges are long and complex and relate to Hamas, Gaza, freeing people from jail who were Islamists etc etc (One must understand that they could be charges for the very purpose of suppressing opposition and are not approved of by Amnesty International.) I was therefore thrilled to have this book to enable me to understand further the inside knowledge and information that Professor Hazem Kandil has been able to garner translating much from Arabic into English for us to understand. The main thing I particularly wanted to know is 'Are the Muslim Brotherhood terrorists?' 'Are the Muslim brotherhood committed to violence? I searched through this book with a fine tooth comb to understand this important truth.

yes it appears the MB were village guys who are naively religious and that their policies consisted almost only of praying on Fridays and probably every other day x5 to invoke Allah to make a miracle for Egypt. This is sad, countries need actual action, not just praying and for that MB must be one of the daftest organisations to get into power. However the concerns regarding them being terrorist appears unfounded throughout the whole book. I could find no reference to them blowing up places, aligning themselves with Al Qaida or IS. Hazem Kandil should be questioned in the event of any report being made to name MB as a terrorist organisation if the UK wants to uphold its record of complete fairness.
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Sussman
A study of the association between the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and its own affiliates
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 17, 2014
Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )
The author Hazem Kandil is the Cambridge University Lecturer in Political Sociology and Fellow of St Catharine's College. His areas of interest are power relations in revolution and war, focusing on the Middle East, Western Europe, and North America.

Islamism is a term that seems to be used widely in general usage and within the context of this book. It's a term that refers to political Islam as a set of ideologies holding that "Islam should guide social and political as well as personal life". "Islamism" is a controversial neologism whose meaning sometimes varies. To my complete ignorance this is term I have not come across before, and thought it best to look-up and to try best explain its meaning, as it refers to the narrative at hand.

The founding of the Muslim Brotherhood in Ismailiyah in Egypt around 1928 by Hassan al Banna was possibly the first, largest and most significant modern Islamic political/religious organization. With the maxim "the Qur'an is our constitution," it wanted Islamic renewal through preaching and by supplementing its ethos through basic civic services including schools, masjids, and workshops. There was also the need to encourage and promote the use of Sharia Law in Egyptian society.

This book is comprehensive study of the association between the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and its own affiliates. The research that has gone into this work has taken years to gather through observation, interviews, looking through previously isolated organizational papers, and writings, the book provides a representation of the enlistment and socialization of Brothers, the development of their complex societal networks, and the creation of their `brand' ideology that forms their daily practices.

The author shows why an attempt to compare the Brotherhood to secular social movements or other types of religious activism is a misnomer, and seeks instead to decipher the group's unique mind set. The author gives his understanding of the Brotherhood's slow rise and rapid downfall from power in Egypt, and compares it to the `Islamist franchises' it created and the variations it enthused around the world.

This text will be of interest to students and scholars of the politics of the Middle East. It should also be of interest to anyone who wants to comprehend the intense events currently transpiring in Egypt and elsewhere in the wake of the Arab uprisings.
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Richard Murphy
A timely study of this Muslim group
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2015
Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has existed as an opposition group for over 80 years but came to global prominence in 2013 when, after the Arab Spring, they came to power. Their regime was a catastrophic failure and was overthrown by the army in a popular coup.

This book looks at their origin and philosophy, and explains how they left themselves utterly unable to govern.

It explains their anti-intellectual stance (preferring deeds over words), their reliance on martyr stories and ultimately their faith that, having put Muslim principles in place, the practicalities would follow. This contrasts strongly with Iran, where the success of the religious groups owes much to their willingness to apply ruthlessly practical politics.

Based on detailed interviews with members and others, it tries to be a fair representation of the individuals, without glossing over some of the less savoury cult-like behaviour.

When explaining why the events unfolded as they did, the comments assume some knowledge of the events themselves (certainly more than I had).

For anyone interested in the people behind the news headlines that we see in the UK about the Middle East, this is a useful read.
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Darren Simons
Well researched, difficult to read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2015
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This is clearly a very well researched book into the Muslim Brotherhood, but having got to the end of it I felt it could have been far better written. At the start the author makes it clear the book is not intended as a judgement on the Muslim Brotherhood - he succeeds in this, although perhaps at the cost of only highlighting the positive. This constant battle between what should and should not be in the book was a theme which spoilt it somewhat for me.

On the positive side, I felt the explanation of the key concepts of the Brotherhood, notably in terms of social structure, were very good, but too much time was spent referring to references which made it difficult to follow. More could have been spent talking through the history as well... it certainly is covered, but not in a way that is engaging to the reader.

Overall this was a frustrating book to read - it's well worth reading if you want to learn about the Muslim Brotherhood, but be prepared for a bumpy ride
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