Dr. Zuhdi Jasser Warns: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Ideology Is the Root of Modern Islamist Extremism, and the U.S. Must Act

August 28, 2025

AHA Foundation and the CLARITy Coalition are urging Congress to recognize the Muslim Brotherhood as a terror threat, and they are advocating for Secretary of State Mario Rubio and U.S. legislators to take action against the organization. Among the leading voices is Dr. Zuhdi Jasser—physician, CLARITy cofounder, and relentless advocate for Muslim reform—who has long warned that the Brotherhood’s ideology is taking root in the United States. In this interview, he explains the importance of formally designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, and he chronicles what’s at stake if America fails to act.

AHA Foundation: You’ve been warning about the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence in the U.S. for years. Why is a formal terrorist designation so important now?

Zuhdi Jasser: Since 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood has promoted an ideology of Islamist radicalization that foments hate and violence against Jews, Christians, Hindus, women, and even Muslims who dissent. Decades before al-Qaeda formed, the 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, was indoctrinated at Muslim Brotherhood camps. Today, we are seeing the consequences of that ideology in groups like Hamas, which carried out the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre—the worst single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, killing or abducting at least 53 U.S. citizens. A formal terrorist designation now is critical to block funding, impose sanctions, and prevent the Muslim Brotherhood from exploiting loopholes in U.S. law. As a physician and as a Muslim, I have long known that to prevent metastases of a global malignancy, you need to excise and treat the primary tumor. This is why so many of us at the CLARITy Coalition have long called for the designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terror group in order to create the permanent legal framework we’ve unfortunately lacked.

“Decades before al-Qaeda formed, the 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, was indoctrinated at Muslim Brotherhood camps. Today, we are seeing the consequences of that ideology in groups like Hamas, which carried out the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre—the worst single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, killing or abducting at least 53 U.S. citizens.”

AHA Foundation: What do you say to critics who argue that the Brotherhood is a primarily political or social movement or that it doesn’t exist in the United States?

Zuhdi Jasser: The Muslim Brotherhood’s cover is its subterfuge and deceit. Just because some metastases of the primary malignancy can operate “legally” under the protections of “free speech” does not absolve the violent jihadist movement from a terror designation. Its leaders have always tried to present themselves as civic-minded or “political.” After all, they are essentially a political party with an “Islamic state” theocratic platform. In the end, they remain radical incubators of violent Islamist extremism. 

The National Counterterrorism Center explicitly links Hamas to the Muslim Brotherhood, and government exhibits in the largest terrorism-financing trial in U.S. history—the Holy Land Foundation trial—showed the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, a U.S.-based organization, was part of the Muslim Brotherhood’s “Palestine Committee.” To this day, CAIR remains an unindicted co-conspirator in the terror-financial case.

Apologists can call the Muslim Brotherhood “social” or “political,” but the record shows the group is a global organization providing material support, training, political resources, and communications to extremist branches around the world, including in the United States.

“Apologists can call the Muslim Brotherhood ‘social’ or ‘political,’ but the record shows the group is a global organization providing material support, training, political resources, and communications to extremist branches around the world, including in the United States.”

AHA Foundation: How has the Muslim Brotherhood impacted American Muslim communities and public discourse?

Zuhdi Jasser: The Muslim Brotherhood has poisoned the well for American Muslims by inserting itself as a gatekeeper, through front groups like CAIR, while silencing reform-minded Muslims who reject Islamist ideology. Instead of fostering integration and pluralism, the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence has created polarization, a narrative of victimhood, and the normalization of apologetics for terrorism. Through this, they have also fomented identity politics and the racialization of their Islamist ideology. At its root, the ideology foments a virulent anti-Americanism and separatism. That has deeply hurt American Muslims who want to thrive as equal citizens without being pulled into the Muslim Brotherhood’s global political project.

AHA Foundation: What would a designation mean for U.S. policy, both domestically and internationally?

Zuhdi Jasser: Domestically, a designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization means freezing assets, prohibiting transactions, and making Muslim Brotherhood members inadmissible for visas or residency. It sends a clear message that Islamist movements tied to Hamas or similar entities cannot operate freely under the guise of charity or civil rights. Internationally, it aligns the U.S. with allies like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, who—despite their own authoritarian flaws—recognized the Muslim Brotherhood’s destabilizing role years ago. A designation not only strengthens U.S. national security but it also supports allies who share Western values and face an Islamist threat. It closes gaps exploited by Islamist networks operating across at least 30 countries.

“A designation not only strengthens U.S. national security but it also supports allies who share Western values and face an Islamist threat. It closes gaps exploited by Islamist networks operating across at least 30 countries.”

AHA Foundation: What role can reform-minded Muslims and ex-Muslims play in countering the Brotherhood’s narrative?

Zuhdi Jasser: As our CLARITy Coalition illustrates every day, Muslims, ex-Muslims, and free thinkers of all faiths and ethnicities are essential to defeating the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood thrives on claiming to speak for “all Muslims.” Reform-minded Muslims and ex-Muslims shatter that monopoly. We provide the alternative narrative: that Islam and Muslim identity do not require political radicalism or support for terrorism. Their voices help inoculate communities against the Muslim Brotherhood’s propaganda and show young Muslims, especially, that there is another path besides theocracy available to them, grounded in pluralism, human rights, and democracy.

AHA Foundation: You’ve testified before Congress on this issue. What has changed since then, and what still needs to happen?

Zuhdi Jasser: Over the past generation, theObama and Biden administrations have appeased Islamists, and that has not only worsened the threat, but it’s emboldened Islamists. What has changed is urgency. On Oct. 7, Hamas, an explicit branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, showed the world the cost of tolerating Islamist extremism. The result was a global defense of those horrors by the Red-Green Axis across the West, planted by Muslim Brotherhood metastases and sympathizers. The Oct. 7 atrocity catalyzed Congress and the Trump administration to move beyond symbolic resolutions and toward real legislation and action. Secretary of State Mario Rubio has said that he is moving forward to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. U.S. lawmakers have also introduced legislation to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. What still needs to happen is passage and enforcement. Bills, like S.2293 and H.R.4937, which designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terror group, are comprehensive, bipartisan, and bicameral. They embed the Muslim Brotherhood into existing terrorism frameworks and require annual reporting on its global branches. If enacted, this would finally give us the tools to dismantle the Muslim Brotherhood’s infrastructure, both abroad and at home.

*The views in this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of AHA Foundation*

Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser is the president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy based in Phoenix, Ariz.. He is a former U.S. Navy lieutenant commander and author of A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Patriot’s Fight to Save his Faith. He was a U.S. Senate appointee to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom from 2012-16. He co-founded the Muslim Reform Movement and CLARITy Coalition, challenging Islamists and advocating for an Islam of moderation. He can be reached on X @DrZuhdiJasser