In early January, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) withdrew scholarship funding opportunities for its citizens at all UK and Irish universities that had previously been offered. This was done in response to what they say to be a rising Muslim Brotherhood influence and promotion of political Islam in university Islamic societies. There is no evidence that any society in Trinity is connected to the Muslim Brotherhood. The University Times reached out to the TCD Muslim Students Association (MSA) to address this.
The Muslim Brotherhood is a transnational political organisation designated as a terrorist organisation by 14 states, three of which are Western countries – all of which proscribed the group last month: the United States of America, Argentina, and Ecuador. In May 2025, Emmanuel Macron ordered proposals to counter Muslim Brotherhood and political Islamic influence in France. In a 2015 report from the House of Commons in the UK, their goals — according to their founder and first spiritual leader Hassan al-Banna — include “the religious reformation of individual Muslims, the progressive moral purification of Muslim societies, and their eventual political unification in a caliphate under sharia law”. They believe “secularisation and westernisation were at the root of all contemporary problems of Arab and Muslim societies”. Hamas labels themselves as the Palestinian section of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Muslim Brotherhood recognises them as thus. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organisation by the EU and the UK, as well various other Western states.
In Ireland broadly, there have been allegations of Muslim Brotherhood connections by Hussain Halawa and Dr Ali Selim – two leading figures in the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland (ICCI). In 2021, the European Conservatives and Reformists Group published a report detailing Halawa and Selim’s connections to the organisation. Hussain Halawa, whose son was released as a political prisoner in Egypt in 2017, is the current general secretary of the European Council for Fatwa and Research — an organisation which aims to spread ideologies close to those of the Muslim Brotherhood. Dr Ali Selim was also mentioned in the report due to his public views defending female circumcision, though they do not detail any connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The University Times reached out to the MSA, to comment on the decision by the UAE to stop issuing scholarships to Trinity. A spokesperson said the following:
“I have no idea why [the UAE government] did that. I won’t comment on the political direction of the UAE or what their goals are, but it’s just completely unfounded. The idea of Muslim Brotherhood or terrorist links is completely unfounded and just unfathomable.”
“Personally, I don’t know anyone that’s been affected by [their decision]. More than likely there are [Emirati students] in the society, but as far as our practice or what we do, it hasn’t affected us at all.”
“I haven’t heard anyone buying the idea of terrorist links. I like to think we have a good public perception. We are an open society but also a small society. As far as our committee knows, there hasn’t been any effect on our perception whatsoever.”
“We don’t engage with politics whatsoever, but the general consensus is that terrorism is bad. It’s as simple as that. The Muslim Brotherhood is viewed in the news and media as a terrorist organisation, so based on that we view them as bad. But it’s not a point of discussion [at the society]. We don’t deal with politics, but the general consensus is that terrorism is bad and that applies to the Muslim Brotherhood and any organisation that tends to be extremist or terrorist.”
Through this investigation, the claims from the TCD MSA were confirmed. They receive no external funding aside from small local businesses like Bite Box, and although some of their past speakers have been seen as controversial, there is no evidence that the society has any links or connections to the Muslim Brotherhood or that it promotes extremist views.
“We don’t expect our members to do anything. We encourage them to live through Islam, we encourage them to do good deeds, we host talks about how to engage with your faith and how to be better Muslims, but we don’t expect our members to do anything. We maintain the Islamic principle that everyone is a sinner and we have no right to judge sinners.”
“We have no expectations on our members to be perfect Muslims. We promote, we encourage, we have no expectations.”
“You cannot understate [our community engagement]. It is at the heart of everything we do, because community breathes faith.”
“Obviously, we host classes on how to engage with your faith better, how to pray, how to engage with the Quran better, how to reduce practices that you shouldn’t be doing. Do we police them? No. Do we aim that everyone at the end of their four years at college be perfect Muslims? No. We aim to be a beacon or a lighthouse for Muslims.”
“We don’t judge anyone. You do what you do, we give the option to you and you’re still a member of our community at the end of the day.”
