Egyptian journalist Abdelrahim Ali argues that Europe’s true crisis with Islamism began with the arrival of the third generation of Muslim Brotherhood cohorts during the 1980s and 1990s. Until that time, Islam and Muslims were not seen as a burden or a problem within European societies or governments, particularly in France.

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As quoted by the Egyptian news outlet Al-Bawaba News, Ali states:
“Ordinary Muslims had been coming to Europe for over a century—as merchants, scholars, and students—benefiting from the experience, sharing knowledge, and either returning home or integrating into their new societies.”
However, the real crisis began, he says, with the arrival of Islamist political movements, whose doctrine holds that every Muslim should strive to establish an Islamic state wherever they live.

The Brotherhood viewed European countries as prizes to be converted to Islam, with the ultimate goal of gradually taking control and ruling them, in line with the six-stage process taught by the group’s founder, Hassan Al-Banna:

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1. The Muslim individual
2. The Muslim family
3. The Muslim society
4. The Islamic government
5. The Islamic Caliphate
6. Global leadership (“Mastery of the world”)

This final stage reflects Al-Banna’s ambition of global dominance, envisioning that after forming Islamic governments and reviving the caliphate, the movement would one day rule the world.

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Ali notes that Brotherhood founders—Hassan Al-Banna, Hassan Al-Hudaybi, Sayyid Qutb, and Fathi Yakan—instilled these ideas through intensive indoctrination programs, embedding them deeply in the minds of members and sympathizers. These ideas became, in effect, a new “Brotherhood Quran,” diverging from mainstream Islamic teachings.

The Brotherhood’s methodology, according to Ali, relies on:

• Recruitment and formation of familial cells,
• Undermining secular and civil institutions, such as unions and student associations,
• Replacing national solidarity with religious fraternity, where allegiance is based on religion, sect, and eventually exclusive loyalty to the Brotherhood’s ideology.

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Democracy, in their view, is not a system of values based on freedoms—of thought, belief, and expression—but rather a tool to gain power, a one-time-use bridge to the other side.

Ultimately, the Brotherhood‘s strategy includes the use of violence, spreading chaos, or forming opportunistic alliances—even “with the devil”—depending on the balance of power in the targeted country.

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