FEMYSO (Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations) is a group representing over 30 Muslim youth organizations across 20 European countries. FEMYSO is a member of the European Students' Union, which considers it the de facto voice of Muslim youth in Europe.

Smear campaign
FEMYSO has been the target of a smear campaign, aimed at linking the group with the Muslim Brotherhood. FEMYSO has categorically denied any such links. In 2023 it was revealed that the campaign, commissioned and financed by the United Arab Emirates, was orchestrated by a Swiss company named "Alp Services" specializing in "dark PR", damaging and often destroying the reputation of hundreds of prominent European Muslims by spreading baseless rumours.

Baden-Württemberg Constitution Protection Report 2022

On June 22, 2023, Interior Minister Thomas Strobl, together with the President of the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Beate Bube, presented the Baden-Württemberg Constitution Protection Report 2022.

This report highlights the link between Femyso and the Muslim Brotherhood:

The umbrella organization for the youth work of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is the "Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organizations" (FEMYSO) in Brussels, which operates in close cooperation with national Muslim student and youth associations, serving as a broad talent pool for the European MB. However, most members of such organizations are likely unaware of the personnel connections with the MB.

Deutsche Muslimische Gemeinschaft e.V. (DMG)

The DMG, based in Berlin, is the largest and most influential organization of MB supporters in the Federal Republic. It pursues a strategy of influencing the political and societal spheres in Germany and Europe, aligning itself with MB ideology.

Front organization of the MB in Germany

The DMG emerged from the initiative "Mosque Construction Commission e.V." founded in Munich in 1958. Soon, the "Muslim Brothers," led by Said Ramadan (1926–1995), son-in-law of Hassan al-Banna, took over the leadership and opened the "Islamic Center Munich e.V." (IZM). Since its founding, the organization has undergone several name changes: in 1962 to "Islamic Community of Southern Germany e.V.," in 1982 to "Islamic Community in Germany e.V." (IGD), and most recently in 2018 to "Deutsche Muslimische Gemeinschaft e.V." (DMG). Both the name change and the relocation of the association's headquarters from Cologne to Berlin at the end of 2019 aim to give the DMG a new image as a moderate representative of German Muslims. It no longer wants to be associated with the IGD, which is known to be unconstitutional. From Munich and later from Cologne, the predecessor organization of the DMG spread its ideology and created a nationwide network of "Islamic Centers," institutes, and mosques. In addition to its official coordinating function, the current DMG seeks to make its subordinate organizations more independent, creating association structures that are difficult to decipher, aiming to obscure their actual connection to the DMG.

As a founding member of CEM (Council of European Muslims) and FIOE (Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe), the DMG is also integrated into a Europe-wide network of MB structures. The former president of the DMG, Ibrahim EL-ZAYAT, was a co-founder and long-time chairman of FEMYSO.
He was even referred to as the "Chief of the Muslim Brothers in Germany" by the former "Supreme Leader" of the Egyptian MB, Mohammed Mahdi AKEF, who himself had been an imam at IZM in Germany for many years. Samir FALAH, the former head of the "Annur Mosque" in Karlsruhe, succeeded EL-ZAYAT as the leader of the DMG and is now the current president of CEM/FIOE. The current president of the DMG, Khallad SWAID, was previously the chairman of FEMYSO.

However, the DMG categorically denies any connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and emphasizes that it is undergoing an extensive and self-critical transformation process. It selectively addresses critical issues while disregarding other problematic aspects. For example, it praised the MB ideologist and long-time chairman of ECFR (European Council for Fatwa and Research), Yusuf al-Qaradawi, as one of the most competent Islamic scholars. Although the DMG distanced itself from al-Qaradawi's anti-Semitic, homophobic, and endorsement of violence positions, it did not distance itself from al-Qaradawi's MB-typical understanding of Islam and his Islamist agenda for Europe. This supposed internal reform process proves to be merely an outward image campaign.

References

External links
 

European student organizations
Groups of students' unions
Islamic youth organizations