More than a month has passed since the supporters of deposed Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi began their sit-in at Rabia al-Adawiya mosque. The Muslim Brotherhood succeeded in repositioning themselves once again as victims in the international public eye. They have also managed to infect the Western media ironically with the “conspiracy theory” virus to explain the popular movement that overthrew Morsi and ended the Brotherhood’s rule.

These are skills that the organization has mastered for decades, but the Muslim Brotherhood’s leadership has begun realizing that it is fighting a losing battle. They realized that it was necessary for them to resort to yet another skill in which they excel: their ability to make deals to get themselves out of this existential dilemma with the least possible amount of damage and save what remains of the Muslim Brotherhood’s prospects in Egypt and the world. At the same time, these leaderships are careful to hide from their supporters the frustration caused by this defeat. Toward this end, they are infusing them with bravado and bluster meant to ensure the continuity of their sit-ins and marches, harassing the new regime, and disrupting the lives of ordinary citizens. The more disruption and damage the better their negotiating power would be.

In Egyptian villages, women generally wear black, a fitting color when offering condolences for the loss of loved ones. If the deceased is particularly young, the visiting mourner may even participate in group wailing in a show of compassion and affection. Many of former President Mohammed Morsi’s supporters taking part in the rally at Rabia al-Adawiya come from distant provinces. They are semi-isolated from the outside world and only receive messages that reach them from the podium which resounds with talk about the divine support and imminent victory for Islam. They are told of the throngs arriving from all over the world — by sea and land — to reinstate their president. Their leaders tell them that millions of Egyptian are rising in support of their cause, and about the anger felt by the vast majority against the army’s generals and “coup” leaders.

Most importantly, these messages talk about the apparition of prophets, messengers and angels descending upon the sit-in. The divine messengers promise that the imminent defeat of the “coup” is near for those who show patience and willingness to sacrifice. They also speak of Morsi — the awaited caliph — returning to establish an Islamic caliphate that would spread God’s word to the whole world. It would dominate both the East and West, restoring the glory of Andalusia, thus fulfilling the promise made by Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Many of those supporters have remained unaware that tens of millions of people took to the streets demanding removal of Morsi and to sanction Army commander Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s fight against terrorism. They are not warned that a large swath of Egyptians would no longer tolerate their sit-in, seeing the presence of armed sit-ins and demonstrations in the heart of the country’s capital to be an imminent threat to national security.