The Islamic Group in Egypt: Conflicting Strategies

Summary

Given that the Egyptian Islamic Group represented the second tributary of the Egyptian jihadist movement during the reigns of Sadat and Mubarak, this study addresses the group’s experience by tracing its roots as a student movement in the early seventies that was politicized over time and turned into a movement having an intellectual and methodological framework opposing the ruling regime. The study also addresses the group’s Sharia and intellectual views, as well as its views on other Islamic groups; the components of its organizational structure, the security repression it was exposed to and prompted it to enter into an armed clash with the regime, the axes of the group’s military wing and its most prominent operations, the security strategy followed by the Mubarak regime in the face of the group, up to the initiative to stop violence and its results, and finally a brief evaluation of the group’s experience.