Sheikh Shaker Elsayed
MAS Secretary General

After fifty-two years since he was assassinated, and seventy-three years after he established the twentieth century’s largest and most powerful Islamic movement: the Muslim Brothers, it is still difficult to write about a great Muslim giant like the late Imam Hassan El Banna. On the one hand, we find a lot of misconceptions about the man and the movement, mostly due to a rigorous campaign of misinformation by both his foes, domestic and foreign, and the competition of other, yet Islamic movements. On the other hand, there is a massive amount of information that makes it very difficult to decide as to what to include and what to leave out. In this article, therefore, I preferred to let the Imam’s own words and work speak to us about his thoughts, beliefs, and vision for both the movement and the Muslim Ummah. After all, there is nothing more powerful in reflecting the true character of anyone than his own words and work.

Self-Awareness
o define Imam Hassan El Banna as he saw himself, I am going to use his answer to a Western journalist who asked him: “Tell me who are you?” The Imam responded: “I am a tourist who is seeking the truth, and a human who is searching for the meaning of his humanity amongst people, and a citizen who wants dignity, freedom, stability, and a good life for his nation, in the shade of the Upright Islam. I am a selfless person who, as he found the secret for his existence, called out: ‘My prayers, my sacrifice, my living and my dieing are all devoted to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. He has no partner. This is what I have been commanded, and I am the first of Muslims’. This is who I am, who are you?” At a younger age, when he had his interview for college admission, his interviewer asked him if he had memorized any Arabic poems. At about sixteen years old, he had memorized more than twenty-two thousands of verses. The interviewer then asked him: “What is the most single one that you liked the most?” He picked a couple of verses from the famous Arab poet, Turfah Ibn Abd, in which he said: “When people call, (in distress), who is the youth, (for the crisis), I (immediately) understood that I am the one meant. I neither sat down nor was I indifferent.” A tourist seeking the truth, a human, a patriot, a Muslim who discovered the secret and the purpose for his existence, and a dedicated religious person who put all of his life and beyond for the sake of fulfilling his Lord’s expectations. That is who he was according to him. His entire life would, therefore, be structured around those values, as young as a middle school student, and as old as he lived.

His Family
Hassan El Banna grew up in a humble family that lived a very simple life. His family lived on the banks of the River Nile in a small town called Al Mahmoudeyah, in the Governorate of Beheerah, in the northern parts of Egypt. His father Shaikh Ahmed Abdul Rahman El Banna spent his days working in watch repair through which he sustained his family. He spent the rest of his time studying the Sunnah of the Messenger (Peace Be Upon Him), and discussing his studies with friends and scholars in his store and at home. Being Al Azhar scholar himself, Sheikh Ahmed Abdurahman El Banna’s home had a sizable Islamic library. He was known for his decency, generosity, humility and gracious manners.

His Father’s Reflections
Sheikh Ahmed A El Banna spoke about the childhood of his son’ Imam Hassan El Banna, saying: “Termedhi, the Hadeeth collector, reported on the authority of Ayyoub Bin Mousa, through his father, and his grandfather, that the Messenger of Allah (Peace Be Unto Him) said: ‘No father has provided his child with a better trait than good manners.’ I wished since I had married”, continued the father: “that Allah would give me a righteous son that I would raise up on good manners to be a good offspring, a recurrent good work and a lasting influence. Allah responded to my prayer, granted my wish, and gave me a righteous son. I called him Hassan El Banna.”

A Protected Son
He added: “Allah has always protected my son since young age with His divine care from all what could have harmed him. One night, a snake approached him while he was asleep. I asked Allah to protect him from its harm, and it went away. In another occasion, the ceiling of our first house in Mahmoudeyah fell over him in ruin and was very close to kill him and his brother Abdul Rahman, but Allah protected them both by keeping the ceiling hanging over the stair well. Both were shorter than the stairs’ height. Hassan stayed under the ceiling until the rubbles were removed and Allah honored his brother through him, and both of them came out safe by the grace of Allah.” In another incident, his father relates: “Dogs barked at him so hard that he threw himself, (out of fear), in the village’s small channel, the Rasheedeyah Channel, which was brewing with the Nile’s high flooding waters. The Channel through him on the bank, and a lady picked him up. Allah had saved him from drowning.”

“My son’s childhood was not a usual one”, his father continues, “Since he was a child his intelligence was obvious. He started to ask about the universe, its maker, the moon and its creator. I noticed his intelligence early in his childhood. I sent him to memorize the Qur’an, and taught him the Sunnah and raised him on good manners.” He adds: “When I sent him to the ‘Teachers’ High School’ in Damanhour, he showed amazing achievements. As he was growing up, he led a righteous, ascetic, and a worshiper’s life. He was first of his class throughout his education. He was ahead of his peers in school, as he applied and was accepted at the ‘Higher Teachers’ College: Dar Aluloum’, four years earlier than his peers. He went to Cairo with no brothers or friends, and stayed in the House of Allah, i.e. the Mosque of Al Azhar. When he graduated in the ‘College of Dar Aluloum, he was first of his class in the Diploma exam. The Ministry of Education offered him a scholarship opportunity in Europe, but he refused for something Allah had designed. He was appointed as an elementary school teacher in Al Ismaieliah School, on the West bank of the Suez Canal, where the Da’awah was born where he established his thoughts and his Group; “The Muslim Brothers’ Group.”

Special Effects
Hassan El Banna grew up in an Islamically conservative home, a simple, but good, elementary and junior high schools, and the neighborhood Mosque. In all three places, he found the references and the scholars, in the persons of his father, his teachers and the classes of the Mosque. He used to attend, and at times participate, in his father’s scholarly discussions and study groups with other scholars. These meetings left indelible impressions on his thought, vision and more importantly his character. Besides his ability to memorize poems, he memorized the Qur’an at a young age. That gave him a very special power. He grew up to fear no one other than his creator. He was known for being very articulate as he gave sermons in Mosques at a young age. Studying education in particular gave him special skills that helped him formulate his message, articulate it, and convince thousands of listeners at a time of the righteousness of his goals and the sincerity of his heart. He was equally able to convince both highly educated intellectuals and lay people.

The Country’s Atmosphere
As El Banna moved to Cairo for higher education, the country and the Muslim world were going through turmoil. Egypt was boiling under the raging popular sentiments against the British occupation. The Muslim world had undergone two consecutive political surgeries during the 1st World War that resulted in the re-mapping of the Muslim World countries, and soon after the total collapse of the Ottoman Caliphate (Empire). This latter event influenced most of the thoughts and vision of Imam Hassan El Banna for both Egypt and the Muslim World. Empowered by his Sufi training with the Hasafeyeh Group, the scholarly education he mastered at home and in the college, and the Ismaileyah experience with the occupation’s manipulation and exploitation of the Egyptian labor, Hassan El Banna was very well prepared to make his next move: forming a Kamiah to address these issues on behalf of the nation and the Muslim World. Dr. El Qaradawy gives us the circumstances surrounding the arrival of Imam El Banna to Cairo: “Imam El Banna’s arrival to Cairo coincided with Political and intellectual boiling that changed the 1920s in Egypt. He looked at this situation with the eye of a simple religious villager. He concluded that the serious problem were the political conflict of political parties, the Wafd, the Ahrar, the endless loud political arguments which resulted in divisions after the 1919 revolution, the call for atheism and promiscuity that surrounded the Muslim World, and the attack on established norms and beliefs. These phenomena were supported by the Ata-Turk revolution in Turkey. These were also orchestrated by the so-called ‘Intellectual and social liberation movement’ of Egypt, then, the un-Islamic trends inside the Egyptian universities. These trends derived its inspirations from the idea that the University cannot be fully secular unless it revolts against religion and fights the norms based on religion. In addition to the above, the atheists, the liberals of the private intellectuals ‘saloons’, the organizations, the magazines, the books and the newspapers worked hard to promote the ideas that aimed at weakening the influence of religion in public life.”

Private Frustrations
El Banna expressed his reaction to these phenomena, like that of some of his contemporaries, in the following statement: “No one knows but Allah, how many nights we used to spend examining the situation of the Muslim Ummah, and what it had reached in all aspects of its life. We used to analyze the diseases and the possible remedies. The impact of our pain, for what we had reached (of misery), overflowed and, indeed, made us cry. We used to wonder when we found ourselves very busy with this serious business, while others were roaming the streets between cafes and nightclubs. And if you had asked one of these people about their indulgence in these useless and wasteful activities of theirs, he would say that he was killing time. Does not this poor person know that killing time means killing oneself! For time is life itself. We used to wonder about these people, the intellectuals in particular. We thought that they are the ones who should carry that banner and the responsibility. We used to say to each other: ‘isn’t this a disease of the diseases of the Ummah? May be it is the most dangerous one; that it does not think of its disease, and it does not work for a cure to cure itself. For this we do work. And to reform that corruption we dedicated ourselves. Our condolence, thanks to Allah, that Allah has made us amongst those who call unto Him, and work for His Sake”

El Banna, therefore, was among the few of the few who cared enough to the degree that he cried as he met with other friends and colleagues in a case of apparent helplessness. This energy was, later, turned into a positive force for change. What can we do? They used to ask themselves. Can we do anything? Can we stand against the superpowers of the world? Can we bring about any change in the lives of our people, our nation or our Ummah? If so, what can we do? Such questions kept lingering in his mind and soul, and he kept discussing these issues with close friends. He took it further to Al Azhar, the most prestigious Islamic learning institute. He met with Al Azhar scholars, and came back home empty-handed! This became a constant process of frustration with both the foreign forces working against his ideals of an Islamic world he dreamt of, and the domestic forces of despair, helplessness, and surrendering to these forces. El Banna, however, dealt with these forces with an idealist’s vision and a realist’s plan. He combined the dreams and the vision to address the realities and the feelings of people around him.

The Muslim Brothers’ Islam!
El Banna explained to his followers the various popular misconceptions about Islam, in his “Fifth Convention Message” as follows: “Allow me, respected audience, to use this term; ‘The Muslim Brothers’ Islam.’ I do not mean that the Muslim Brothers have a new Islam that is different from that which was brought by Messenger of Allah (pbuh) from His Lord. Instead, what I mean is that many Muslims, across the ages, attributed to Islam descriptions, attributes, limits, and designs from their own, and used its flexibility and broadness in a harmful way, despite the fact that these were only for a divine wisdom. They differed greatly over the meaning of Islam. Several impressions and concepts of Islam were created in the souls of its own followers. These impressions and concepts might have been close or far away from Islam as it was first represented by the Messenger of Allah (Peace Be Upon Him) and His companions in its perfect example. Some people confine Islam to the worship system. If they did that, or saw someone doing this worship, they are content for what they see, and they count this as the core of Islam. And this is the popular understanding of Islam according to many Muslims. Some people see Islam as no more than good manners and overflowing spirituality, and the philosophical food for the spirit and the mind that takes them away from the dirt of the dark oppressive matter. Among people are those for whom Islam is limited to the admiration of the practical aspects of Islam. They do not look beyond these aspects, nor do they like thinking about anything else other than those aspects. Some see Islam as a collection of inherited beliefs, and the useless traditional practices that bring no advancements. This type of people is resentful to Islam and what relates to it. You find this phenomenon very clearly in those who have been foreign/ Western-educated, without being given the opportunity to experience Islamic facts. They did not know anything about Islam to start with. Or they may know it in a deformed fashion, through their interaction with Muslims who did not represent Islam well.”

In explaining what he called “The Muslim Brothers’ Islam” he pointed out the following: “(1) We believe that the rules and teachings of Islam are so comprehensive that they encompass the affairs of people in this life and in the Hereafter. Those who think that these teachings address the worship aspects or the spiritual aspects alone are wrong in their thinking. Islam is faith and worship, a country and a citizenship, a religion and a state. It is spirituality and hard work. It is a Qur’an and a sword. The Glorious Qur’an speaks to al of that and considers it of Islam’s core and its essence. It calls upon man to excel in it all. This is what the verses points out to: ‘And seek with that, which Allah has provided you, the (reward of) the Hereafter, and do not forget your share of this life, and do good as Allah has done good to you.’” He continued to quote several verses from the Qur’an that reflect the comprehensive encompassing nature of Islam to show how Islam covers all aspects of human life. He continues: “(2) Besides this, the Muslim Brothers believe that the foundation of Islamic teachings and its sources are the Book of Allah, i.e. the Holy Qur’an, and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), to which, if the Ummah is committed, it can never go astray. Many of the ideas and the sciences/knowledge that came in touch with Islam and was colored with its color, carry also the color of the times in which they were developed, and the peoples who were contemporaries of these times. Therefore, Islamic systems, to which the Ummah should be directed, must be derived from these pure sources, the primary simple. We should understand Islam as the companions of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and the first following righteous generation, may Allah bless them all, understood it. We must stop at these divine limits so that we do not restrict ourselves with something that Allah did not restrict us with, or compel out times to an unfit color. Islam is the religion for the entire humanity. (3) Besides that also, the Muslim Brothers believe that Islam as a world religion has encompassed all aspects of human life, for all peoples and nations, and for all times and ages. It came too complete and superior to address the detailed particles of this life, especially in things that relate only to purely worldly things. It offers the general rules in every aspect of these affairs, and guides people to the practical way to implement (this guidance) and to go within its limits.”

El Banna’s Definition of “The Muslim Brothers”
After explaining the comprehensive nature of their understanding of Islam, the Imam gives his own brief summary of the definition of the Jama’ah and its mission: “You can say that “The Muslim Brothers” is:

1) A Da‘awah Salafiyah; (A Traditionally Sourced and Based). They call (people) to take Islam back to/from its pure sources, i.e., the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh).

2) A Sunni Method: Because they, i.e. The Muslim Brothers, commit themselves to implement the purified Sunnah in everything, especially in belief and worship, as much as they can.

3) A Sufi Reality: Because they know that the foundation of goodness is the purity of the soul, the cleansing of the heart, the constant work, the abstinence (from the indulgence) of people, love for the sake of Allah, and the joining (of others) for goodness.

4) A Political Organization: Because they demand the reform of the domestic governance, reviewing the foundation of the relationship of the Ummah (Muslim Nation) with other nations, and raising the people on the basis of dignity and honor, and the pride in their (Islamic) identity to the farthest limit.

5) An Athletic Group: Because they take good care of their bodies, and know that the ‘strong believer is better than the weak believer’, and the Prophet (pbuh) says: ‘Your body has a due right on you’. They also know that all the Islamic duties cannot be performed except with a good healthy body. Prayer, fasting, alms and pilgrimage requires a body that can withstand the duties of earning the living and the struggle for that purpose. They also pay attention to the forming of their teams in a way that is superior to some specialized athletics clubs.

6) A Scientific, Educational, and Cultural Association: Because Islam makes knowledge seeking a fundamental duty on every Muslim, male and female, and because the Brothers’ clubs are, in reality, schools for educating and culturing, and institutions for training the body, the soul and the mind.

7) A Business Corporation: Because Islam cares for fund raising, and earning it in the proper way. The Prophet of Allah (pbuh) says: ‘Good money is best in the hands of a good man.’ He also says: ‘Whosoever sleeps tired of hand work, he sleeps forgiven’, ‘Allah loves the handy man.’

8) A Social (Service) Idea: Because they care for the Muslim society’s diseases, and they try to reach the proper remedies to cure the Ummah from such diseases.”

Conclusion
El Banna had developed lots of views regarding women issues, education, economic reform, political reform, Islam and the West, the concept of Jihad, liberating the Muslim Ummah, and many others. Such a short article could have never covered all or even some these issues. To understand Hassan El Banna, however, especially by Western academicians and researchers, one must caution against the theoretical analysis of his opinions outside his own context. Hassan El Banna dos not need me, or anyone for that matter, to explain or defend his positions, for he was articulate and accurate enough to get his point across as clear as anyone would. I found it personally very enlightening and rewarding to study his life, his work, and his movement. I found his words as the strongest argument for any case he presents. Nevertheless, I also found, amongst his followers, one who followed him only after his assassination, Sayed Qutub, to be equally articulate, strong, and committed. I’ll let Sayed Qutub conclude this article with his words of condolences. He wrote: “Hassan El Banna passes on to be next to his Lord. He passes away as the foundation of the structure is complete. He passes on as his assassination comes in the manner planned for him: A new process of the building processes, a process of deeper foundation, strengthening of the walls. Not a thousand sermons and one sermon, not a thousand message of the beloved lost martyr would have ignited the Da’awah in the souls of the Brothers, as did the droplets of his pure shed blood… Our words continues to be like wax dolls, until die for their sake, the spirit flows into them and life is prescribed for them.”