Originally published New Study Explores the History of the Muslim Brotherhood in America as Congress Weighs Terror Designation on by https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/counterterrorism/new-study-explores-the-history-of-the-muslim-brotherhood-in-america-as-congress-weighs-terror-designation/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-study-explores-the-history-of-the-muslim-brotherhood-in-america-as-congress-weighs-terror-designation at Homeland Security
As Congress weighs a bill that could designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, a newly released research paper sheds light on a history that’s long been misunderstood, underexplored, or outright denied.
Dr. Lorenzo Vidino, Director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, has published The Muslim Brotherhood in America: A Brief History, an account of how the oldest and most influential Islamist movement established a foothold in the United States, decades before it became a subject of political controversy.
The timing of the study is notable. The Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025, a bipartisan legislation led by Sen. Ted Cruz and Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart and Jared Moskowitz seeks to classify the Brotherhood as a terrorist entity, in a bill making its way through Congress, a move that would carry major legal and diplomatic ramifications.
Vidino’s study doesn’t take a political stance on the designation issue, but instead it documents, using a wide range of open sources and firsthand accounts, the Brotherhood’s actual development on American soil.
According to the paper, the Muslim Brotherhood’s presence in the U.S. dates back to the late 1950s. The movement’s expansion was not chaotic or informal. Vidino’s research, which builds on 25 years of scholarship and includes court documents, internal publications, and interviews with former members, shows a structured and well-organized presence. The early members focused heavily on student networks and intellectual circles, and some were sent directly by the Brotherhood abroad.
From these early roots, the Brotherhood in America grew. Vidino highlights the role of groups such as the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and later the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) as key institutions linked to Brotherhood ideology, if not always to its formal hierarchy. The strategy, according to Vidino’s interpretation of Brotherhood documents, was to influence Muslim communities from within, particularly by shaping leadership, narratives, and engagement with policymakers.
Notably, the report points out that while the Brotherhood’s U.S. offshoots largely avoided violence, their intellectual framework aligned with the movement’s core vision: the eventual realization of a society governed by Islamic principles.
Many of the organizations founded or influenced by the Brotherhood decades ago remain active today. Some play visible roles in civil society and policy advocacy. Vidino’s study doesn’t assert these organizations pose a security threat in their current form, but it does argue that their ideological origins matter, especially as discussions around extremism, religious identity, and political Islam continue to evolve.
“It is also fair to say that its presence has historically been substantial and well-organized,
even compared to European countries like France and the United Kingdom, where
the Brotherhood has a significant footprint.” Vidino notes.
With the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025 under consideration, understanding what the group actually has done, and not simply what it has been accused of, is essential.
You can read the full report, The Muslim Brotherhood in America: A Brief History, by Dr. Lorenzo Vidino, here.
Originally published New Study Explores the History of the Muslim Brotherhood in America as Congress Weighs Terror Designation on by https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/counterterrorism/new-study-explores-the-history-of-the-muslim-brotherhood-in-america-as-congress-weighs-terror-designation/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-study-explores-the-history-of-the-muslim-brotherhood-in-america-as-congress-weighs-terror-designation at Homeland Security
Originally published Homeland Security
