The Muslim Community Organization: The Brotherhood’s Arm Under German Security Surveillance

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With the release of annual reports by German intelligence, a well-known affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood is back in the spotlight, highlighting the threat it poses.

In recent weeks, reports by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution—Germany’s domestic intelligence agency—in several federal states, most notably North Rhine-Westphalia, the country’s most populous region, have reiterated that the German Muslim Community is the most prominent and dangerous Islamist organization in the country.

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What do the reports reveal?

According to the reports, until 2018, the organization operated under the name “Islamic Community Organization” before changing it to the German Muslim Community.

The organization represents the most central and influential platform for Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Germany.

One of its aims is to present itself to politicians, authorities, and civil society partners as a representative of a supposedly moderate, global Islam.

However, intelligence services note that the group follows a deliberate strategy to influence Germany’s political and social landscape based on Brotherhood ideology.

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It uses a strategy of concealment, avoiding public declarations of affiliation with the Brotherhood or any statements contrary to the constitution.

Yet, numerous documented interactions between senior members of the German Muslim Community and well-known Brotherhood leaders abroad suggest that the organization is indeed part of the global Muslim Brotherhood network.

More broadly, the organization oversees a number of mosque associations and coordinates with over 100 other Islamic groups across Germany.

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Foundation and Activities

In 1958, the Muslim Brotherhood established its most significant entity in Germany: the Islamic Community Organization, born from the remains of the Islamic Center Construction Committee in Munich. The name was changed in 2018 to German Muslim Community, likely in an effort to distance itself from its Brotherhood roots.

It has been led by key Brotherhood figures, such as Said Ramadan (1958–1968) and Mohamed Mahdi Akef (1984–1987), a former Supreme Guide and also the imam of the Munich Islamic Center.

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To this day, the Munich Islamic Center maintains ties to the Brotherhood, even though the German Muslim Community has since moved its headquarters to Cologne, in western Germany.

According to German reports, around 50 smaller organizations currently work in cooperation with the German Muslim Community, alongside dozens of mosque prayer rooms and affiliated associations.

Given the significant threat it poses, the group remains under close surveillance by the Protection of the Constitution in all 16 German federal states.

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