History of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Ismailia, Egypt by Hassan al-Banna in March 1928 as an Islamist religious, political, and social movement. The group spread to other Muslim countries, but had its largest, or one of its largest, organizations in Egypt, where for many years it was the biggest, best-organized, and most disciplined political opposition force. This was despite government crackdowns in 1948, 1954, 1965, after plots, or alleged plots, of assassination and subversion were uncovered.

Following the 2011 Revolution the group was legalized, and in April 2011 it launched a civic political party called the Freedom and Justice Party (Egypt). Their party contested elections, including the 2012 presidential election when its candidate Mohamed Morsi became Egypt's first democratically elected president. One year later, however, following massive demonstrations, Morsi was overthrown by the military and arrested. As of 2014, the organization has been declared a terrorist group by Russia, Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia and is once again experiencing a severe crackdown.