The Closed Circle: Joining and Leaving the Muslim Brotherhood in the West

Columbia Studies in Terrorism and Irregular Warfare

by Lorenzo Vidino

The Muslim Brotherhood in the West remains a mysterious entity. In The Closed Circle, Lorenzo Vidino offers an unprecedented inside view into how one of the world’s most influential Islamist groups operates. He marshals unique interviews with prominent former members and associates from Europe, the United Kingdom, and North America, shedding light on why and how people join and leave Western outfits of the Muslim Brotherhood.Drawing on these striking personal accounts, Vidino weaves together the experiences of individuals who participated in and later renounced Brotherhood groups. Their perspectives provide a wealth of new information about the Brotherhood’s secretive inner workings and the networks that connecting the small yet highly organized cluster of Brotherhood-influenced groups. The Closed Circle examines the tactics the Brotherhood uses to recruit and retain participants as well as how and why individuals make the difficult decision to leave. Through the stories of diverse former members, Vidino paints a portrait of a highly structured, tight-knit movement. His unprecedented access and understanding of the group’s activities and motivations has significant policy implications concerning Western Brotherhood organizations and also illuminates the underlying mechanisms found in a range of extremist groups.

286 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 31, 2020

Reviews

[Murtaza · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and intellectually sophisticated study of the Muslim Brotherhood in the West. It reads in part like a political document; I plan to write more about it later.

[Eloi Codina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book approaches a very uncomfortable topic for western countries: Islamism. Even though it's been over five decades since the first political-oriented islamist organizations were established in Europe (and in the US amd Canada), the awereness of their activity, intentions and existence are almost non-existent among the citizens.
The Muslin Brotherhood is the main example of what a political islamist institution can be, thanks to its long experience in Egypt and the whole Middle East prior to its expansion to Europe. The Brotherhood preaches a conservative vision of the Islam, following Hassan al-Bana's (the founder of the organization) and Qutb's (the father of the modern yihadism) doctrines, with the aim of expanding its vision and eventually establishing a conservative state ruled by the Sharia and Islam.
Lorenzo Vidino's research focusses on the MB in Europe, where the organization is trying to gain influence among the muslims and in the political arena despite having very few members. Their strategy combines a moderate public sphere and a radical secret one, all made possible with the milions they receive from Qatar and Turkey. The origin of the MB's funds has been critical, since they are related to yihadist movements and the MB itself is considered as a "terrorist organization" in some countries.
While there's little doubt about the violent approach the MB has used in some Middle East countries, it's just a slim part of the whole, and it's not fair to consider the group a terrorist one for their activities in Europe.
After all, the threat for our democracy, rights and values doesn't come from Islam, it does come from Islamism. And the Muslim Brotherhood's political capability is a real threat, with their ability to penetrate and introduce conservative dawas in the society, endangering the social cohesion and radicalizing young muslims.

[Adam Carberry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Required reading for work. An exhaustive analysis of the Muslim brotherhood in the west. Well evidenced and informative on the structure and regional variation, not rated higher as it is at times rather repetitive.

[N · Rating 5 out of 5]

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