Sweden Opens the File: The State Inquiry into Political Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood Question

Summary

Sweden has begun a state inquiry into "religious radicalisation with a focus on political Islam", and its terms of reference discuss the Muslim Brotherhood by name. The Government decided the terms of reference (Dir. 2026:53) on 16 June 2026 and announced the inquiry on 30 June (Kommittédirektiv 2026, 1; Government Offices of Sweden 2026a). It is registered as inquiry A 2026:01 under the Ministry of Employment. Magnus Ranstorp has served as special investigator since 1 September 2026, and a panel of nine experts and three specialists was appointed with effect from 20 October 2026; the final report is due by 30 November 2027 (Sveriges riksdag 2026a). The inquiry follows a separate inquiry into "parallel social structures", appointed on 3 July 2025, whose final report (SOU 2026:53) was submitted in August 2026 and announced on 2 September (SOU 2026:53; Government Offices of Sweden 2026b). This study sets out what the inquiry has been asked to do, what it is not, and what Ardent should track.

Key findings

1. An inquiry, not a designation. The remit is to map religious radicalisation with a focus on political Islam, analyse its consequences for institutions and democracy "including infiltration and undue or improper influence", and propose preventive measures (Government Offices of Sweden 2026a). It has no power to ban or list any organisation.
2. The Brotherhood is named in the terms of reference. The directive describes the Muslim Brotherhood as a Sunni religious and political movement founded in Egypt in 1928 that seeks a long-term transformation of society with sharia as the basis of law, and as "heterogeneous and decentralised" (Kommittédirektiv 2026, 8–9). It notes that "several reports describe links between the Muslim Brotherhood internationally and Sweden" (Kommittédirektiv 2026, 9).
3. It draws explicitly on European precedents. The directive cites the United Kingdom's 2014–15 Muslim Brotherhood Review, Austria's documentation centre on political Islam and France's May 2025 report, noting that the French report mentioned ramifications in other European countries including Sweden (Kommittédirektiv 2026, 9).
4. The panel is now in place. The Riksdag's committee record, last amended on 22 October 2026, lists the special investigator, a principal secretary from 1 September, a secretary from 14 September, and nine experts and three specialists from 20 October 2026 (Sveriges riksdag 2026a).
5. A companion inquiry has reported. The Inquiry on parallel social structures, conducted by Mathias Wahlsten, found structures "characterised by collectivist and patriarchal norms and power structures" and, in some cases, "systematic infiltration of public activities" by family-based criminal networks (Government Offices of Sweden 2026b). The government's release does not mention the Muslim Brotherhood or political Islam.
6. Political framing is sharp. The 30 June release is a joint statement by the Government and the parties supporting it, and it includes statements from the Moderate Party and the Christian Democrats. Richard Jomshof, a Sweden Democrats member of the Riksdag, spoke of Islamists establishing "parallel structures" and of "how Islamist networks are trying to infiltrate Swedish society" (Government Offices of Sweden 2026a). These are party statements, not findings.

Analysis

What is new

The Government's announcement of the parallel social structures inquiry did not name the Brotherhood (Government Offices of Sweden 2025; Ministry of Diaspora Affairs 2026). That inquiry was decided on 3 July 2025 (Dir. 2025:68); the English announcement dated 19 November 2025 is the one the Israeli report cites, which explains why that report dates it to November (SOU 2026:53; Government Offices of Sweden 2025). Dir. 2026:53 goes further: political Islam, and the Brotherhood specifically, are now the subject of a government-commissioned knowledge base. With the expert panel appointed from 20 October 2026, the inquiry now has its full advisory panel.

Scope and limits

The directive is framed through integration and social exclusion, and it was issued from the Ministry of Employment, not the Ministry of Justice. Its outputs are knowledge and preventive proposals, with a particular focus on children and young people (Kommittédirektiv 2026, 1, 15, 18–19). This resembles the British review of 2014–15 more than the US designation route: whatever it concludes, any legal consequence would need separate legislation or administrative action. The directive itself stresses that the movement varies "between countries, periods and ideological currents" (Kommittédirektiv 2026, 9), which will make any finding about Swedish organisations evidentially demanding.

Contested claims already in circulation

Outside material will press on the inquiry. In August 2026 Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs published a report on the Muslim Brotherhood in Sweden. It alleges that three Swedish umbrella bodies, Förenade Islamiska Föreningar i Sverige (FIFS), Islamiska förbundet i Sverige (IFiS) and Sveriges muslimska råd (SMR), present themselves as mainstream representatives while advancing Brotherhood ideology (Ministry of Diaspora Affairs 2026). The Swedish Defence Research Agency uses the variant name Förenade islamiska församlingar i Sverige for FIFS (FOI 2018). The same report notes that IFiS denies any organisational connection to the Brotherhood. These are allegations by a foreign government ministry; the research team has not tested them, has not sought responses from the organisations, and has found no Swedish official finding to the same effect.

A funding decision shows how cautiously Swedish authorities have acted. In December 2025 the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) declined Islamic Relief Sweden's applications for new partnership funding after an opinion from the Centre for Preventing Violent Extremism, citing a precautionary principle; Sida said nothing indicated that the organisation's activities or board were anti-democratic or violent (Expressen 2026; Islamic Relief Sverige 2026). Islamic Relief Sweden said the decision rested on information it considers incorrect and disputes the Centre's assessment (Islamic Relief Sverige 2026). The Israeli report describes Islamic Relief as a Brotherhood organisation; that is its characterisation alone (Ministry of Diaspora Affairs 2026).

A constitutional complaint to the Riksdag, KU-anmälan 2025/26:52, alleges that Magnus Ranstorp, then a member of Sida's board, corresponded with the minister for international development cooperation about Islamic Relief before the decision (Sveriges riksdag 2026b). This is an allegation in a complaint, not a finding. It matters because Ranstorp now leads the inquiry.

Evidence trail

To track: interim outputs or hearings; the Committee on the Constitution's handling of KU-anmälan 2025/26:52; the government's response to SOU 2026:53 (English summary at pp. 35–49); any Swedish Security Service reference to the Brotherhood in its next annual assessment.

References

Expressen. 2026. "Från en miljard till 0 kronor i bidrag för islamiska biståndsorganisationen." 20 January 2026. https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/sverige/fran-en-miljard-till-0-kronor-i-bidrag-for-islamiska-bistandsorganisationen/.

FOI (Totalförsvarets forskningsinstitut). 2018. Muslimska brödraskapet: en kunskapsöversikt. FOI-R--4608--SE. Stockholm: FOI. https://www.foi.se/rest-api/report/FOI-R--4608--SE.

Government Offices of Sweden. 2025. "Government Appoints Inquiry on Parallel Social Structures." 19 November 2025. https://www.government.se/articles/2025/11/government-appoints-inquiry-on-parallel-social-structures/.

Government Offices of Sweden. 2026a. "Inquiry into Religious Radicalisation to Focus on Political Islam and Infiltration in Swedish Society." Press release, 30 June 2026. https://www.government.se/press-releases/2026/06/inquiry-into-religious-radicalisation-to-focus-on-political-islam-and-infiltration-in-swedish-society/.

Government Offices of Sweden. 2026b. "Parallel Social Structures Affect Integration and Social Exclusion." Press release, 2 September 2026. https://www.government.se/press-releases/2026/09/parallel-social-structures-affect-integration-and-social-exclusion/.

Islamic Relief Sverige. 2026. "Besvikelse över Sidas avslag på partnerskapsansökan." Press release, Mynewsdesk. https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/islamic-relief-sverige/pressreleases/besvikelse-oever-sidas-avslag-paa-partnerskapsansoekan-3427025.

Kommittédirektiv. 2026. Religiös radikalisering med fokus på politisk islam: konsekvenser för demokratin, integration och utanförskap. Dir. 2026:53. Stockholm: Regeringskansliet, 16 June 2026. https://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/749c0cb3d75549579c18879aaad4821e/religios-radikalisering-med-fokus-pa-politisk-islam--konsekvenser-for-demokratin-integration-och-utanforskap-dir.-2026_53.pdf.

Ministry of Diaspora Affairs (Israel). 2026. The Muslim Brotherhood in Sweden. Research report, August 2026. Accessed 3 November 2026. https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/reports/muslim_brotherhood_in_sweden/en/Research_Reports_Muslim%20Brotherhood_Sweden_Ministry%20of%20Diaspora%20Affairs%20August%202026.pdf.

SOU 2026:53. 2026. Parallella samhällsstrukturer: ett kunskapsunderlag för förbättrad integration och minskat utanförskap. Statens offentliga utredningar. Stockholm, August 2026. https://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/9cfe59cb64b94b9eb76f4e80bf4c9387/parallella-samhallsstrukturer_ett-kunskapsunderlag-for-forbattrad-integration-och-minskat-utanforskap-sou-2026_53.pdf.

Sveriges riksdag. 2026a. "Utredningen om religiös radikalisering med fokus på politisk islam: konsekvenser för demokratin, integration och utanförskap (A 2026:01)." Kommittéberättelse, last amended 22 October 2026. https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/kommitteberattelse/utredningen-om-religios-radikalisering-med-fokus_heb2a01/.

Sveriges riksdag. 2026b. "Granskning av biståndsministerns styrning av Sida." KU-anmälan 2025/26:52. https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/ku-anmalan/granskning-av-bistandsministerns-styrning-av-sida_hda1dnr2026/.