Donald Trump has ordered a ban on specific chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood in the US – Sara Hernández Díez asks whether the UK should do something similar
A closed branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Amman, Jordan, which banned the group (Image: Getty)
Would banning the Muslim Brotherhood be enough to curb its influence? This is a question that is weighing on Parliamentarians, former ministers and experts. The issue was at the heart of TRENDS’ sixth annual Political Islam Forum, which talked about the networks linked to political Islam, their funding and the tools they use to maintain a presence across Europe.
The debate comes amid growing political pressure on the British government. Opposition groups are pushing the government to do more about the impact of Muslim Brotherhood activities on social cohesion. There are clear questions to be answered but the government has little more than trite rote responses about monitoring all potential extremist groups.
The evolution of political Islam, particularly its relationship with violent extremism, is something that Europe is waking up to. I believe that there needs to be a more serious discussion in the UK about possible legislative responses and cooperation between allies.
Of course, there is a fundamental distinction that needs to be maintained: Islam and Islamism are not the same. The former belongs to the religious, spiritual and cultural sphere; the latter uses religion to pursue political power and influence. The distinction is necessary to prevent an ideological movement from presenting itself as the representative of European Muslims and indoctrinating them into extremism.
A core point still remains though. Individuals and institutions associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and political Islam have operated in the UK for decades thanks to a worrying lack of interest or care from successive governments. There are blind spots in the charity and education sectors that must be pointed out and closed, with tighter scrutiny of funding and tax privileges granted to charities.
If we do ban the Brotherhood, a move which has growing support in Westminster, what happens next? The Brotherhood has deep hooks into Britain. What happens after a ban? Proscribing an organisation may not be enough if the tools through which its ideas are disseminated remain available. It has a network of non-affiliated organisations, former staff and sympathisers, an infrastructure and funding system that doesn’t belong to one simple organisational structure.
How would Britain stop the circulation of its messaging in an age of artificial intelligence, which can dramatically increase the production and circulation of content.
We must then turn to prevention. Education, critical thinking and digital literacy are vital skills to prevent people being sucked into propaganda networks and false narratives. Muslims themselves are among the principal victims of extremism – either through violence or through deliberate social isolation by those grooming them.
The Global Brotherhood Power Index 2025 provided a broader picture of the Brotherhood’s global power. Europe accounts for 17% of the Brotherhood, behind the Americas at 24.8%, Asia at 22.5% and Africa at 20.2%. Hamad Al Hosani, a TRENDS researcher, described flexible structures capable of operating through community institutions.
The central question therefore remains the one posed at the outset – would a ban be enough? Proscription can target an organisation, but funding, affiliated groups, education and new digital tools make it far harder to curb the wider influence of political Islam.