North Carolina–based Islamic scholar Hisham Sarsour addressed US legislative efforts to ban the Muslim Brotherhood during a December 15, 2025 lecture at the Islamic Association of Raleigh, pushing back against claims that the group maintains a long-term plan to undermine American institutions.
Sarsour focused on the 1991 document titled “Explanatory Note to the Strategic Objective of the Muslim Brotherhood in North America,” which was cited by Senator Ted Cruz in support of legislation to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
According to Sarsour, the memorandum was authored by a “naive” member of the Brotherhood, Mohammed Akram, and should not be treated as a serious or authoritative blueprint. He claimed that individuals familiar with both the Muslim Brotherhood and the US government viewed the document as a “laughing matter.”
Sarsour further argued that only “Zionists and their supporters” interpreted the memo as credible, and he criticized US policy decisions related to the Brotherhood. He asserted that Donald Trump designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization only in certain Arab countries, alleging this was done to appease Cruz, whom he derisively described as aligned with pro-Israel interests.
