The Special Apparatus (al-Niẓām al-Khāṣṣ): The Rise of Nationalist Militancy in the Ranks of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood

Ahmed Abou El Zalaf

doi:10.3390/rel13010077

Abstract

Existing scholarship has largely focused on the role of Sayyid Qutb’s ideas when analyzing the Muslim Brotherhood’s violent history. Perceiving Qutb’s ideas as paving the way for radical interpretations of jihad, many studies linked the Brotherhood’s violent history with this key ideologue. Yet, in so doing, many studies overlooked the importance of the Special Apparatus in shaping this violent history of the Brotherhood, long before Qutb joined the organization. Through an in-depth study of memoires and accounts penned by Brotherhood members and leaders, and a systematic study of British and American intelligence sources, I attempt to shed light on this understudied formation of the Brotherhood, the Special Apparatus. This paper looks at the development of anti-colonial militancy in Egypt, particularly the part played by the Brotherhood until 1954. It contends that political violence, in the context of British colonization, antedated the Brotherhood’s foundation, and was in some instances considered as a legitimate and even distinguished duty among anti-colonial factions. The application of violence was on no account a part of the Brotherhood’s core strategy, but the organization, nevertheless, established an armed and secret wing tasked with the fulfillment of what a segment of its members perceived as the duty of anti-colonial jihad.

Highlights

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
Egypt and the United Kingdom on al-Manshiyya square in Alexandria, a botched attempt was made on his life
By turning to anti-colonial violence following the end of World War II and by consenting to political violence as a legitimate means to achieve Egypt’s independence, the Brotherhood was encircled in a bitter struggle with the governments of the day

Summary

Introduction

Apparatus as a manifestation of the organization’s anti-colonial past It argues that while the Brotherhood became involved in a variety of violent political acts against British and Egyptian officials alike, this was not a distinctive feature of the Ikhwan, but represented the hallmark of an era characterized by sentiments of hostility to colonization. As I argue, lies one of the key differences between the two understandings of violence It is the aim of this article to offer a concise journey into the Apparatus’s history, ideas, and most importantly its actions as a militant wing in the context of anti-colonial and anti-establishment political opposition in the pre-revolutionary years. My contribution attempts to historicize the violence of the Brotherhood, tracing its early beginnings to the colonial era

Early Anti-Colonialism in the History of Egypt

The Nationalism of the Muslim Brotherhood

The Special Apparatus: A Vehicle for Anti-Colonial Jihad

The Special Apparatus: A Past of Anti-Colonial and Anti-Establishment

Conclusions