The Closed Circle Is The Second Book Authored by The Distinguished Scholar of The Muslim
The Closed Circle Is The Second Book Authored by The Distinguished Scholar of The Muslim
The Closed Circle Is The Second Book Authored by The Distinguished Scholar of The Muslim
Vidino, New York, Columbia University Press, 2020, xii + 275 pp., $30.00/£25.00 (paper)
The Closed Circle is the second book authored by the distinguished scholar of the Muslim
University. In his previous book, The New Muslim Brotherhood in the West (Columbia
University Pres, 2010), Vidino discussed the presence of the Brotherhood in a number of
Western countries, the differences between the public statements it directed at Western audiences
and the materials and documents it addressed internally to its members, as well as the policy
responses of Western governments and leaders. In his new book, Vidino goes one step further
toward detailing the group’s membership and activities in the West by portraying former
Brotherhood members, tracing their life trajectories, the reasons for joining and leaving the
Brotherhood, and the consequences of their split from the organization. Based on detailed
interviews with these former members, this book offers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of
The first two chapters set the stage for the interviews by explaining what the Brotherhood
is in the West, and what are the reasons that lead individuals to join and then leave the group.
The first chapter explains the theological difficulty faced by the Brotherhood leaders when the
organization expanded from Egypt and the Middle East, where Muslims formed a majority and
the Brotherhood was sometimes persecuted by local regimes, to Western countries, where they
represented only a tiny minority that could nevertheless worship freely. Indeed, as Vidino argues,
the traditional distinction between dar al Islam (land of Islam) and dar al harb (land of war)
failed to adequately reflect Western realities. The West could not be considered dar al Islam
because it did not enforce sharia, but could neither be considered dar al harb because Muslims
were allowed to practice Islam freely and were not persecuted (5). To address this theological
conundrum, the Brotherhood constructed a new category and classified the West as dar al dawa
(land of preaching). This preaching is a central task that Brotherhood members assume.
Vidino distinguishes three types of Brotherhoods in the West and acknowledges the
difficulty of identifying the Brothers in different countries, since chapters might bear different
names, deny formal association with the Brotherhood, and keep their membership and activities
hidden from the media, the government and the general public. First are the highly secret
networks of Middle Eastern brothers who moved to the West to study, work or live; second, the
visible/public organizations that are Brotherhood spawns established and funded by individuals
of the secret networks; and third are the numerous organizations influenced by the Brotherhood
which adopt its ideology but have no clear operational ties to it (7). The second chapter, which
summarizes the reasons for joining and leaving the Brotherhood, distinguishes between new
recruits, targeted by the Brotherhood, and those coming from Brotherhood families and are
registered, and active member—that usually take years to complete. Leaving the Brotherhood
can result from disenchantment with the group’s leadership, inner workings or ideology.
The bulk of the book is represented by the seven chapters dedicated to former
Brotherhood members. They are the following: Kamal Helbawy, Ahmed Akkari, Perre Durrani,
Mohamed Louizi, Omero Marongiu, Pernilla Ouis, Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, and Mustafa
Saied. The mix is quite diverse, including one woman (Ouis) and former Brothers belonging to
various ethnic and racial groups, as well as socioeconomic milieus. They were born in Northern
Africa (Egypt, Morocco), the Middle East (Lebanon), India, or the West (Sweden, France, and
the United States). They joined the Brotherhood at different times, staying true to it for different
lengths of time. The interviews, which are summarized and distilled under similar headings,
reveal that some recruitment processes have been transplanted from the Middle East to the West
with very few changes. Similarities between the two regions further characterize the individual
decision to leave the group—prompted by lack of internal democracy, extensive nepotism, ethnic
bias, excessive secrecy, prioritization of politics over religion—with some of the reasons being
specific to the West. While the interviews do not constitute a representative sample, they provide
unprecedented insight into the inner workings of the Brotherhood in the West and of the reasons
for accepting, supporting, and leaving the group. Through his encounters with the former
Brothers, Vidino is able to tease a wealth of details about their aspirations, hopes, fears,
disappointments, doubts, frustrations, biases, and prejudices; the numerous and intricate
relationships and connections that kept them bound to the group; and their own views of what the
Rigorous in its structure but compassionate in its approach, rich in detail without being
overwhelming, insightful and elegantly written while also retaining scholarly precision, this book
echoes the written testimonials of other disenchanted former Brotherhood members that have
been published over the years and shows, like no other, that the personal can become political
(and religious) in unexpected ways and at unexpected times. Vidino’s unparalleled understanding
of the Muslim Brotherhood, and his long-term commitment to unravel its inner workings,
structure and discourse inconsistencies, represent a solid foundation for this new study and turn
The Closed Circle into a required reading for anyone with a desire to understand the Brotherhood
and what it stands for. The rich quotations drawn from the personal interviews he conducted with
the former Brothers add a unique personal dimension to an analysis that otherwise fulfils all
criteria of academic scholarship, and make this book an engaging reading suitable for a larger
audience not necessarily familiar with the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood in Western
countries.
Lstan@stfx.ca