Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is on the defensive, its struggles reverberating throughout Islamist movements that the secretive organization has spawned world-wide.
The Brotherhood engaged in assassinations and bombings in the past, and one of its ideologues, Sayyid Qutb, developed a radical theology that still motivates jihadi groups such as al Qaeda. Since the 1970s, however, the Egyptian Brotherhood renounced violence and rejected Mr. Qutb's more fiery theories. It has focused instead on building an Islamic society from the bottom up, through proselytizing, social work and political activism.
In such an environment, the Brotherhood's strategy has long been to run heavily publicized parallel social services. But the Brotherhood's social-services pitch doesn't always match reality, in part because of the campaign against its financing. On a recent evening visit to the two Brotherhood clinics, no doctor or patients could be seen. The clinics themselves turned out to be tiny rooms tucked into corners of Brotherhood offices. Behind the flimsy curtains, they contained little more than a cupboard full of pills, rickety furniture and a blood-pressure gauge.
"In the beginning, the Brotherhood had a lot of popularity -- people thought they'd achieve something. But once they got into parliament, they've become just like everyone else."
