Inspired by Tunisia, these young people lit a virtual brush fire on Jan. 25.

But according to Egyptian analysts and many young leaders of the revolution, it was the Muslim Brotherhood that quietly sustained the real fires of protest until they engulfed Egypt in an all-out revolution that would topple the corrupt and brutal 30-year reign of Hosni Mubarak.

The question now looms: What role will the Muslim Brotherhood — by far the largest and most-organized opposition group in Egypt — play in shaping the country’s future? And how might the movement’s international chapters contribute as protests spread to Jordan, Algeria, Libya and elsewhere?

Through two weeks of reporting in Tahrir Square and inside the Muslim Brotherhood, GlobalPost in partnership with PBS FRONTLINE journeyed behind the lines to gain rare access inside the Brotherhood’s largely invisible but pivotal role in the Egyptian revolution.

GlobalPost and FRONTLINE learned that the Muslim Brotherhood’s old guard was at first dismissive about the protest movement and admitted it was slow to listen to its youth wing about a digital-age revolution taking shape.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/egypt/110220/inside-the-muslim-brotherhood