Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), face unprecedented challenges after prominent members and mid- and low-level cadres tendered resignations from the party during the last week of December. On Dec. 28, about 400 members, including veteran members and founding leaders, resigned from the party. Other resignations followed as the Consultative (Shura) Council of the IAF attacked defectors and refused to admit that the 70-year-old group is going through a serious crisis.

The Brotherhood's predicament began in 2013 when members — mostly from the East Bank of the kingdom — launched on Oct. 5, 2013, what became known as the Zamzam Initiative. They called for massive structural reforms while demanding disengagement from the international body of the Muslim Brotherhood — established in Egypt in March 1928 — and participation in the country’s political life.

The Brotherhood had boycotted legislative elections in Jordan, the most recent in 2013, in protest of the election law, which they saw as working against them. In addition, Zamzam participants accused the current leadership of the Brotherhood of intransigence and of loyalties that go beyond the borders of the kingdom. When their initiative was rebuffed, their leaders were ousted from the Brotherhood, but they remained in the IAF until they joined others in resigning on Dec. 28. Now those behind Zamzam are considering establishing their own political party.

In March 2015, another faction — led by former general overseer Abdul Majeed Thneibat — defected and applied for a license under the name of the Muslim Brotherhood Society (MBS). The government approved their request and said that the Brotherhood had never officially registered with the government, casting doubts over its legality. Attempts by the MBS to claim the group’s material assets, including its properties, were later rejected by court.