Politics or piety? Why the Muslim Brotherhood engages in social service provision (Amr Darrag, Brookings)

Steven Brooke provides an informative and well-researched overview of the Egyptian regime crackdown on social service and educational organizations perceived as affiliated with, or in a position to raise the profile of, the Muslim Brotherhood. His examination seems intended to explore three distinct questions. First, whether the social movement (haraka) or the political party (hizb) is to be privileged by the Brotherhood in the future. Second, whether the appeal of the Brotherhood’s approach will diminish in favour of the Salafist-jihadist model; and a third, albeit related, question of whether the crackdown on the movement’s social service provision will increase the potential for violence.

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