Introduction
On March 11, 2022, the Muslim Brotherhood’s “Mekameleen” TV broadcasted a TV show with Dr. Yasser Al-Najjar, an Egyptian researcher affiliated with the group and residing in Turkey. The episode was about “Muslims joining the war between Ukraine and Russia from the Islamic law’s perspective.” Al-Najjar considered this permissible on condition that they “raise the word of God and inflict harm on the infidels on both sides (…)”.
Undoubtedly, this proposition represents a departure from the familiar discourse of the Muslim Brotherhood and its ideologues, accustomed to the principle of „taqiyya“, which per-meates the group’s declared and hidden practices. On the ground, the Muslim Brotherhood and its European affiliates took advantage of the Russian invasion of Ukrainian lands to restore its luster, which began to fade due to the exposure it is now suffering from in most European countries, and the painful blows it received in the MENA region. Not to mention the rampant conflict situation between the two wings of the organization in London and Istanbul.
In this article, we discuss the position of the Muslim Brotherhood on the war between Russia and Ukraine through several axes: First, through a historical review of the group’s posi-tion on the Western and post-Soviet perceptions. Then examine the nature of the Muslim Brotherhood’s presence in Russia and Ukraine. Finally, determining the reasons for the group’s current positioning and the desired goals of engaging in this conflict.
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