by Ahmed Charai

    The Islamist political party and movement has acted as a dynamo for radicalism and violence in the Middle East.

    On July 16, 2025, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2025 in the US Senate. This bill seeks to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)—a step long overdue and desperately needed.

    It is not an attack on Islam. It is not an attack on religion. It is a declaration against terror cloaked in religious rhetoric, against the ideological machine that has radicalized generations and drenched cities in blood from Cairo to Tel Aviv to New York.

    The Muslim Brotherhood, since its founding in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna, has never been merely a religious or charitable organization. It is a political project with a singular purpose: to install Islamist regimes across the world through a combination of propaganda, infiltration, and, when necessary, violent jihad. This is not hyperbole. This is documented history.

    The Muslim Brotherhood is the ideological forefather of Hamas, a group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and much of the international community. Hamas is not simply an affiliate—it is the Palestinian branch of the Brotherhood. Its charter explicitly states that it is “one of the wings of the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine.”

    Hamas is the group responsible for the October 7, 2023, massacre—a day that brought chilling echoes of 9/11. 1,200 Israelis were slaughtered and 240 hostages abducted in scenes so horrific that even seasoned war correspondents were shaken. This was not random. Rather, it was ideological—the doctrine of the Muslim Brotherhood in action.

    And what is that doctrine  It is a doctrine of hatred, rooted in rejection of the West, rejection of Jews, rejection of modernity and rejection of coexistence. It breeds not only organized militias but also lone wolves who act in its name—from the stabbing attacks in France and the London underground bombings to the Fort Hood shooter and the Boston Marathon bombers. The ideological fingerprints are always the same.

    Despite this, the Muslim Brotherhood has continued to present itself in the West as a political actor—a player in civil society. But behind closed doors and encrypted apps, its leaders promote jihad, antisemitism and subversion. The 2013 arrest of Mohamed Badie, the Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide in Egypt, revealed communications with Hamas leadership. Its affiliated organizations in Europe and North America have funneled support and cover for radical networks for decades.

    Israel is not the only one that suffers. Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have designated the Brotherhood as a terrorist entity or banned it altogether. These are not states known for bowing to Western pressure—they are responding to the threat they have faced directly. Egypt has endured decades of political assassinations, church bombings and police ambushes from Brotherhood operatives. The assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981 by an Islamist influenced by Brotherhood ideology was only the beginning.

    These governments understand that the Muslim Brotherhood is not a benign religious society. It is a doctrinal engine for every Islamist terror group that followed—Al Qaeda, ISIS and Boko Haram. They all draw on the Brotherhood’s foundational belief: that Islamic law must reign supreme and that violence is permissible to achieve this.

Some in Washington still hesitate, fearful that such a designation would be seen as “Islamophobic” or politically risky. But is it “Islamophobic” to protect innocent Muslims and non-Muslims alike from terror  Is it “Islamophobic” to stand against an ideology that has taken hostage not only governments, but entire populations and reform movements

    The Abraham Accords, launched in 2020 under President Donald Trump, showed what the Middle East could become: a region of peace, trade, mutual recognition and cooperation. But those accords are now under threat—not because Arab nations have lost interest in peace, but because they fear the violent backlash from Islamist factions aligned with the Brotherhood.

Several countries have expressed interest in joining the Accords. They are ready to build a new future, but they are afraid, not of American values, not of Israel, but of retribution from Muslim Brotherhood-inspired groups that have assassinated presidents, hijacked revolutions and silenced reformers. How many moderate voices in the Arab world have been gunned down or exiled for opposing Brotherhood ideology

    And now, here in the United States, there are American citizens too who live in fear—fear of speaking out, fear of being labeled, fear of “organized lynching” from online mobs and political activists who paint any criticism of the Brotherhood as bigotry. American legislators must not be intimidated into inaction. The cost of silence is measured in blood.

    We must confront this evil. We must name it. Designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization is not just a symbolic gesture—it has real consequences: freezing assets, blocking travel, stopping foreign support, exposing domestic proxies and empowering law enforcement to act.

    This is not a Republican issue. This is not a Democratic issue. This is an issue of national security, human rights and moral clarity.

    In a time when global terror is mutating and spreading faster than ever, the United States cannot afford to hide behind diplomatic niceties. It must lead. It must act. The truth is this: until we confront the ideological fountainhead, we will never stop the stream of violence.

    I urge Congress—every senator, every representative—to summon the courage to vote for the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Organization Designation Act of 2025. It is time to move from words to action, from fear to responsibility.

History is watching. Will America lead the way, or will it let this moment pass while more innocents fall.