The Fourth Ordeal: A History of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, 1968–2018

A history of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt from the late 1960s to 2018, The Fourth Ordeal is based on over one-hundred and forty first-person interviews with Brotherhood leaders, rank-and-file members and dissidents, and a wide reading of memoires written by its key decision-makers. Tracing the group's re-emergence as an important political player on the Egyptian political scene during the early seventies, Victor J. Willi explores the Brotherhood's one-year experiment with power, the military coup of July 2013, and further, when the Brotherhood leadership were imprisoned and exiled during the period following its 'fourth ordeal'. Unique in that it contains Willi's first-hand accounts of some of the events described therein, this is a study with unprecedented access to Brotherhood members across all organizational levels. The Fourth Ordeal tells the history of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt from the late 1960s until 2018. Based on over 140 first-hand interviews with leaders, rank-and-file members and dissidents, as well as a wide range of original written sources, the story traces the Brotherhood's re-emergence and rise following the collapse of Nasser's Arab nationalism, all the way to its short-lived experiment with power and the subsequent period of imprisonment, persecution and exile. Unique in terms of its source base, this book provides readers with unprecedented insight into the Brotherhood's internal politics during fifty years of its history. Contents 19 Plates, Figures and Tables 22 Acknowledgements 24 Note on Transliterations and References 26 Note on Sources 27 Chronology of Events 29 Dramatis Personae 43 List of Abbreviations 50 Prologue 51 Introduction 57 1 The Society of the Muslim Brothers 67 2 The Second Founding (1968–1981) 100 3 The Rise of the Vanguard (1981–1991) 150 4 Brotherhood Incorporated (1991–2001) 191 5 Struggle for Leadership (2001–2011) 229 6 Revolution, Rise and Fall (2011–2013) 280 7 The Beginning of the Fourth Ordeal (2013–2018) 355 Conclusion 438 Epilogue 445 Glossary 448 Bibliography 452 Index 485