Switzerland as a Hub for the Radical Islamic Muslim Brotherhood
While Islamists commit brutal murders in Germany or France, the Muslim Brotherhood in Switzerland is carrying out a silent march through the institutions. Their goal is to transform our Western society. Switzerland serves as a hub in Europe for this radical Islamic organization, which is banned in many Arab countries. The Swiss authorities are letting the Muslim Brotherhood have its way because they are criminally underestimating the danger it poses.
The latest terrorist attack in Berlin shows how Islamism can strike again and again. This also applies to Switzerland. After an Islamist stabbed three passersby in Winterthur at the end of May and shouted “Allahu akbar!” (Allah is greater!), the news portal “20 Minuten” interviewed Ahmed Ajil, a terrorism expert at the University of Lucerne, about the perpetrator. The Turkish-Swiss knife attacker was, in fact, not an isolated incident: As early as 2020, four suspected terrorists with ties to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State were arrested in Fribourg, and 70 trials involving 600 to 700 terrorism suspects were pending in Swiss courts.
Ahmed Ajil, who also worked as a criminal analyst at the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol), does indeed distance himself from the violence of the Islamic State (IS). But following the October 7 massacre, he spoke out against banning Hamas in Switzerland. “If we ban Hamas,” he said, “then we are effectively banning armed resistance against what the Palestinian civilian population has been enduring for decades.” Ajil confirmed this statement when asked.
The goal of long-term infiltration of the West …
According to recent investigations by European intelligence agencies, Hamas is not content with “resistance” or terrorism in Israel, but has also been planning attacks in Europe for years. In February 2023—eight months before October 7—the German Hamas cell received orders from Lebanon to smuggle weapons into Germany and prepare a large-scale terrorist attack there—similar in style to the massacre in Israel. According to investigators, the cell conducted reconnaissance of the U.S. military base at Ramstein, the Israeli Embassy in Berlin, and Tempelhofer Feld, a park in the capital.
Hamas was founded in 1987 as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. In Europe—and especially in Switzerland—the Muslim Brotherhood, on the other hand, relies on the doctrine of “Tamkeen” —“institutional anchoring” or “settlement”—through a multigenerational program. As early as 2001, during a raid on the home of Youssef Nada, then director of the Al-Taqwa Bank in Lugano, the document titled “The Project” was seized. It outlined a 100-year plan that experts view as an attempt to transform Western civilization from within by “sabotaging” its institutions.
“Legalistic Islamism” operates strictly within Western laws in order to undermine their foundations. Another key document, the“Explanatory Memorandum”of 1991, describes this work as the “great jihad to destroy Western civilization,” carried out by the “infidels” themselves.
Security experts therefore view the Muslim Brotherhood as a wolf in sheep’s clothing: Behind the facade of a “moderate Islam” operates a highly efficient “network of networks” that systematically turns the West’s democratic freedoms—and even progressive terminology such as “diversity, justice, and inclusivity”—against the West itself. The goal is not rapid overthrow, but rather the long-term “civilizational-jihadist” infiltration of all areas of society.
… and the screenplay works
There are no figures available for Switzerland, but this strategy is already taking hold in Germany. According to the Motra study, funded by the federal government and published last March, 45.1 percent of all Muslims under 40 in Germany are overt or latent Islamists—twice as many as five years ago. 23.8 percent of all Muslims in Germany consider “an Islamic theocracy to be the best form of government.” 25.1 percent stated: “The rules of the Quran are more important to me than the laws in Germany.” Even if such attitudes are difficult to measure and should therefore be viewed with caution, the trend is clear.
The Muslim Brotherhood acts as a “conveyor belt” for radicalization, laying an intellectual and ideological foundation for terrorist groups such as ISIS and providing the core narratives for the ultimate goal of establishing a global theocratic state governed by Sharia law.
This claim to absolute power is deeply rooted in the history of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hassan al-Banna founded the organization in Egypt in 1928. He viewed “Islam as a way of life”; the religion was meant to govern all aspects of life. After his shooting in broad daylight in 1949—a murder that was never solved but attributed to the then-Egyptian King Farouk—he became a martyr, and the Brotherhood spread to over 70 countries.
Intellectual radicalization took place in the 1940s under the leadership of the chief ideologist Sayyid Qutb, who bridged the gap between Islam and terrorism by legitimizing offensive jihad as a form of physical warfare. Qutb was convinced that only Islam could eliminate all of society’s ills. Today, his works are presented—uncritically—in Swiss institutions such as the Islam Museum in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
This ideology was later cemented by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, whose program “Sharia and Life” on Al Jazeera reached up to 60 million viewers. He laid out clear rules: The man is the head of the family and may strike his wife in the event of “rebellion.” Homosexuality, he claimed, was a “perversion” that could be punished by death in order to “keep society pure.” Al-Qaradawi left no doubt about his goal of “converting Europe to Islam.” He praised Adolf Hitler as “divine punishment” for the Jews.
Switzerland and England as the most important European centers
Switzerland has served as a key safe haven for the Muslim Brotherhood since Saïd Ramadan’s arrival in 1961. At that time, the personal secretary and son-in-law of the founder, Hassan al-Banna, succeeded in portraying political Islam as a bulwark against communism, while intelligence agencies classified him as a “fascist type” and his organization as “conspiratorial.”
According to security experts, Switzerland is now—after England—the second-most important hub for the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. The organizations based here are dominated by certain clans: the Ramadans in Geneva, the Kermous in Neuchâtel and Vaud, and the Nadas and Himmats in Ticino and Zurich.
The Ramadan dynasty in Geneva is said to carry on the legacy of the founder, Hassan al-Banna, and heads the Islamic Center of Geneva. Al-Banna’s grandson, Tariq Ramadan, was a best-selling author who spread the ideas of the Muslim Brotherhood throughout Europe. But then, in 2024, the Geneva Cantonal Court found Ramadan guilty of raping and sexually assaulting a woman. The Federal Supreme Court upheld this verdict a year ago. (Last March, a criminal court in Paris also sentenced Ramadan to 18 years in prison and a lifetime ban from entering the country for raping three women.) Yet 12 months after the Federal Supreme Court’s ruling in Lausanne, the Swiss Islamist remains at large. One plaintiff said she had the impression that the “predator” was being “excessively protected” in Switzerland.
The Kermous clan, centered around Mohamed and Nadia Kermous in Neuchâtel and Vaud, has founded more than a dozen organizations intended to promote activism and pro-Qatari lobbying—including the Ligue des Musulmans de Suisse, which investigators say has close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Youssef Nada and Ali Ghaleb Himmat established offices in Lugano and Zurich that, according to information from security sources, serve as financial hubs for the Muslim Brotherhood. Himmat’s son, Youssef, now heads the pan-European youth organization Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organizations.
Members of one clan often serve on the board of another family’s organization. For example, Tariq Ramadan’s brother, Hani Ramadan, sits on the board of trustees of the Wakef-SuisseFoundation, which is headed by Mohamed Kermous—who, in turn, is married to the director of the Museum of Islam, serves on the boards of organizations affiliated with the Himmat family in Ticino, and is described by French intelligence as the “treasurer” within the Muslim Brotherhood network. The result is an opaque web of organizations.
Infiltration in Switzerland has long been a reality
Recent cases of “entrism”—that is, the covert infiltration of Western organizations—demonstrate just how deeply these networks have already penetrated Swiss institutions. Nida-Errahmen Ajmi, also known by her pseudonym Nidonite, was appointed Switzerland’s first Muslim military chaplain in 2024. What was celebrated as a victory for integration is seen by critics as an example of the growing influence of Islamist organizations, even within the state. This is because Ajmi’s father, the Geneva lawyer Ridha Ajmi, is, according to experts, a central figure in the Tunisian Muslim Brotherhood and once explicitly placed loyalty to the religious community (Umma) above the state’s legal order when he defended an alleged jihadist terrorist.
Youssef Ibram, an imam at a mosque in Volketswil, has previously advocated stoning for women who commit adultery. The mosque belongs to the Association of Islamic Organizations in Zurich (VIOZ), which advocates for democracy, the rule of law, and equality. The VIOZ vigorously denies any connection to the Muslim Brotherhood. Nevertheless, it promoted events featuring the Islamologist Amir Zaidan, who, according to a ruling by the Wiesbaden Administrative Court, stated: “I am not officially a member, but I represent the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood.” As a member of a religious council, Zaidan was involved in a ruling that determined how far a woman is allowed to travel from her home: no more than 81 kilometers—the distance an average camel travels in a day.
Arben Ademi, the founder of the perfume manufacturer Gisada, was not only the main sponsor of FC Basel but, according to a report by the Federal Criminal Police, is said to have supported the radical Quran-distribution campaign “Lies!” with “significant sums of money.” Although Ademi denied any extremist ideology, investigations by the Federal Criminal Police revealed that the German organization “Die wahre Religion” (The True Religion), the sponsor of “Lies!”, supported radical preachers and facilitated recruitment for the Islamic State. The organization was banned in Germany; in Switzerland, “Lies!” remained active.
Khaldoun Dia-Eddine teaches at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), serves on the advisory board of the Center for Islamic Studies at the University of Fribourg, and is vice president of the Federation of Islamic Umbrella Organizations in Switzerland. However, he also served on the boards of organizations led by convicted leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, such as Ali Ghaleb Himmat, and headed the Geneva branch of the Kuwaiti Islamic aid organization IICO. According to various intelligence agencies, this organization has ties to Hamas. At the same time, Eddine regularly serves as a point of contact for federal authorities and trains police officers on the ban on face coverings.
Billions from Qatar for Educational Projects and Lobbying in the West
The “entrism” strategy is heavily supported by Qatar. The “Qatar Papers” revealed that the emirate is investing millions in Swiss projects, such as the Museum of Islam and the Wakef Foundation. Worldwide, Qatar is investing billions in educational and lobbying projects in the West. Critics see this as an attempt to create a favorable environment for Islamist movements. The funds are virtually unlimited, and the time horizon is long-term—the Brotherhood does not think in terms of quarters, but in terms of centuries.
To shield its plans from opposition, the Muslim Brotherhood adapts its tactics to Western discourse. Criticism is systematically branded as “Islamophobia”—for example, in the annual “European Islamophobia Report,” which is funded by the EU and the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The term is a rhetorical weapon used to nip any substantive criticism of radical Islam and its proponents in the bud and to lead European politicians to believe that Muslim integration is a success. In reality, however, it is merely a clever tactical maneuver on the part of the Islamists.
We need oversight instead of a naive “laissez-faire” policy
Western observers tend to misunderstand political Islam as a purely religious phenomenon. But it is an all-encompassing political system. Security experts compare the Muslim Brotherhood’s strategy to a termite infestation: they eat away at the load-bearing wood from the inside out, while the residents believe the building is still intact—until it collapses under its own weight.
Countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kenya, and the United Arab Emirates have recognized this and have long since banned the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. This is not the case in Switzerland, and there is no general ban on the “Brotherhood” in other European countries either.
That is reckless and naive. It is imperative that the Muslim Brotherhood be held accountable for its financing, that its front organizations be consistently banned, and that candidates for positions in sensitive areas—such as the military and Fedpol—be rigorously screened for ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. This does not constitute discrimination; rather, it is the necessary self-defense of our Western democracy. For a state governed by the rule of law that turns a blind eye to the networks operating behind the scenes ultimately loses the ability to protect its citizens.
A more detailed version of this text appeared in *Schweizer Monat*: “The Invisible Siege: How the Muslim Brotherhood Is Spreading in Switzerland” – *Schweizer Monat*
Thomas Zweifel is a strategy consultant and author
Another article on this topic: Why the Muslim Brotherhood Is a Threat to Israel and Europe – FokusIsrael
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