Designating the Muslim Brotherhood Is Only the Beginning

12/10/2025

By Trey Dimsdale, AHA Foundation President

There is no clearer indictment of the Muslim Brotherhood’s mission than the words of its own founders and leaders. 

As Yusuf al-Qaradawi described it on Qatari television in 2007, “The peaceful conquest has foundations in this religion, and therefore, I expect that Islam will conquer Europe without resorting to the sword or fighting. It will do so by means of da’wa and ideology.” And more than a generation earlier, Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna articulated what became the motto of the organization as, “Allah is our goal, the Koran is our constitution, the Prophet is our leader, jihad is our way, and death in the path of Allah is our highest aspiration.” 

With a clear statement of Islamist goals animated by anti-Western sentiments, it is difficult to understand why it took until November 2025 for the U.S. President to act to designate the organization as a global terrorist organization. I am profoundly grateful that President Trump signed an executive order effectively doing so, but the corrosive presence of Muslim Brotherhood-legacy organizations has been tolerated for far too long in the West. It could have been curbed by successive presidents or Congress many years before. Unfortunately, it was not. 

This action follows closely on the heels of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s designation of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as terrorist organizations, thereby limiting the ability of these organizations to do business in Texas and barring them from the purchase of land. The more restrictions that the nation can place on Islamists, the better. 

For decades, the Muslim Brotherhood has remained unchecked as it has built a sprawling network of legacy organizations across the West that foment antisemitism, undermine democratic norms, and funnel money to violent extremists.

This designation is a good start for providing the tools that are needed to contain the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood’s network. This is especially important as antisemitism has surged around the world, and, surprisingly, in the West on both the left and the right. 

Islamist-driven antisemitism, like that promoted in direct and indirect ways by Muslim Brotherhood-legacy organizations, is particularly pernicious. Marxist-driven antisemitism is evil and dangerous, but in many ways has remained at least somewhat contained globally. It hasn’t spilled out into violence in the way. It is the province of intellectuals and academics, who rarely drive trucks through European Christmas markets or bomb synagogues. The Islamist-driven variety has never shied away from violence, but has lacked the moral vocabulary of social justice and the cultural acumen to make inroads in the West. Now they have merged. Islamists have inspired violence, and Marxists have modeled “respectability” within institutions of influence. 

AHA Foundation is working hard to oppose the moral bankruptcy of antisemitism and the authoritarian aspirations of Islamism. A part of our advocacy is supporting the passage of the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act (S.2293 / H.R.4397) advanced by Senator Ted Cruz, among others. An executive order can easily be discarded by a future president, but an act of Congress would provide a more durable means of providing resources for battling the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence. 

President Trump’s executive order on the matter is a welcome first step for empowering organizations like ours to combat the dangerous, toxic ideas introduced into the West by Islamists from around the world. But pressure must continue to mount against these groups for the sake of the safety and security of our communities and the future of our democracy.