For asalam Alum peace be upon you and welcome to ion Islam the show where we look at current affairs through an Islamic lens each week we evaluate a trending news story and we break it down from an Islamic perspective in February the Islamic World marks the 75th anniversary of the assassination of the
Islamic scholar thinker and activist Hassan alna the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood this week’s episode will explore the contributions alna made to Islamic revivalism his legacy in terms of both the Brotherhood and wider Islamic movements we look at the factors that led to his assassination first
Let’s take a closer look at the life of the man himself Sheikh Hassan alna Hassan Alana one of the most influential figures of the 20th century a man whose ideas continue to outlive him until this day but who was he exactly Banner was born on the 14th of
October 1906 in mahmuda a rural Nile Delta Town about an hour’s drive from Alexandria in Egypt his father Ahmed ABD Al Rahman Alana Alti was a shake and a mosque teacher and had a massive influence on shaping the spiritual beliefs of his young son who took great interest in studying Islam from his
Youth bner also began to be drawn into the growing nationalist political currents that were widespread at the time as Egyptian Society fought to throw off the Yoke of colonialist control and subjugation that had Egypt and much of the Muslim World in its grips at the tender age of 17 he moved
To Cairo to continue his Islamic Studies at the darul ulum Seminary and it was whil there that he learned the abolition of the Ottoman caliphate a development that deep moved him combined with the ever encroaching Menace of British cultural colonialism Banner began to see a spiritual sickness in Egyptian society
And began to publicly preach and call to Islam in the cafes and streets then in 1928 along with disgruntled workers from the SE Canal company Banner established the Muslim Brotherhood a fraternity for Muslims who were increasingly frustrated by the oppression they were facing at the time over the coming decades the
Brotherhood had grown to having over 500,000 members and its popularity had grown to other nations too but the growing popularity and activism of banner brought him into conflict with the Egyptian authorities who feared the Brotherhood was planning a coup the monarchy cracked down on the Brotherhood and albana was assassinated on the 12th
Of February 1949 at the age of 42 but leaving behind Legacy that has remained until this day joining us today in the studio to talk about this historic figure is a regular contributor to the show batul Sati sister batul is a political activist and commentator whose incisive analysis helps Layman and professionals
Alike navigate political Dynamics on a global scale we’re also honored to be joined by Dr Muhammad ganim a member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood uh their political party and he’s also a specialist in Islamic economics thank you to you both for joining us I would like to begin with you first Dr Muhammad
Who exactly was Hassan Al tell us more about his family and his ideological background please was like anybody else in the world he is a product of the society we understand Hassan Al by understand the society at the that time that time was faroq uh system the king
Farooq system and the country was corrupted was a dictatorship although there was a difference between far dictatorship and today’s dictatorship Hass Al from the background of qualified Shar scholar he want or he felt obliged to suit the situation in Egypt and you can’t suit this any society problem overnight and he had
The idea is to create a a close uh group and those group will be qualified enough to reach the other member of the society in order to solve the problem of the Egyptian Society at that time now Sister batul I’d like to uh come to you and of
Course uh and ask you a question about your views in particular with regards to the uh influence of Hassan Al when he established the Muslim Brotherhood what were the conditions that Muslims face particularly at that point in history right so we’re talking about the establishment of the Brotherhood uh a
Decade post World War I now World War I was a huge turning point in the region you’re talking about the essential demise of the Ottoman Empire of course that in no small part was precipitated due to the Arabs carrying out the Dirty Work of the West essentially um whil in
The meantime they were uh conspiring to carve up the whole region you know under the secret Sy Pico agreement so you know this was Britain and France um that essentially carved up that whole region um so that was the situation that was prevailing at that time Egypt was slightly different though because Egypt
Was already under the British colonial rule from since uh 1882 I believe so so it wasn’t officially under the ottoman rule um and it had its independence in that sense but then the British uh took over uh before that um but ultimately the situation of the Muslim umah was
That it was completely defeatist at that time um it rejected the colonialism um it felt a sense of Despair it felt enslaved uh it felt like ultimately its dignity had been stripped away from it right it wanted to do something about it it wanted to create change um and so
It’s it was an unfortunate State of Affairs but then this shows you the importance of um the emergence of a man like Hass Al and the movement of the uh Muslim Brotherhood because it’s defined as essentially uh the first movement of its kind it’s defined as the mother of
All of the islamist uh movements that emerged since then so someone like Shahid Hass Al he felt the uh responsibility of Islam on his shoulders he believed that uh Islam uh can really provide a solution to all the problems and that actually uh the Quran is the Constitution that should be ruling in
Society so that was kind of the ideology uh that he had especially when we’re talking about an occupation we’re talking about a British and French occupation that was unwanted that was uh essentially rejected by the people that was uh inherently uh violent so uh someone like sought to mobilize the umah
Now the Muslim umah the seeds of Islam was strong uh within the umah but it didn’t per se have a level of awareness it didn’t have a level of Insight a level of Direction so it really kind of needed that direction so someone like sh
H and the party that he uh created uh came on board and it began to develop uh political social and cultural institutions uh within the society that could really focus on removing those elements of uh hopelessness uh and infusing the Islamic Spirit uh bringing about action and getting rid of that
Deus mentality so some of the Practical actions that someone like Shah Hass took was he got involved in National Action from day one you know so he Mass mobilized protests you know on the streets uh against the uh colonial rule uh demonstrations he set up the uh Muslim Youth Association in uh 1927
Which by their own admission is basically looking to promote morality in society to enjoying good and forbid evil which is a a very important uh tenant within the Islamic faith and actually that was uh the seed that led to the formation of the Brotherhood uh the year
Later in in 1928 um and in 1933 I believe you had the uh Muslim uh sisters version of uh the Brotherhood organization and also uh a key feature of the Brotherhood was also to to bring about this kind of ideological revolution in society so um they had
Their own newspapers the first uh the first article that they published was called salta da um you know the quarter da um sorry a DA Allah yes it was the court of Da that’s that was the name of the first article that they published in Alat newspaper and in fact the last
Article that they published uh I believe was in uh 1947 in the Daily Newspaper so they had their own newspaper that they would publish in uh every single day and that was the last works of Shahed Hass um and the article was titled between um resistance between resilience and
Tribulations um and that was a month actually before the party itself was dissolved by the uh british-backed monarchy and one year before U you know sh Hass himself was assassinated sure and uh of course he has been a hugely inspiring figure to other people Dr Muhammad but how about
The man himself Hassan Al B who were the influences that inspired him in his life and works well I’ve heard some in that time was but he wasn’t really influence influenced by him uh he was rather influenced by the Shar he was a very clever person he was
Qualified in Shar and he were memorizing the Quran and his life was completely surrounded by Shar and he find the the the way the only way to change the situation in Egypt to the better is by try to follow Shar but again to follow Shar you need some closed circle from
Those closed Circle we convey the Shar rules and this close member to convey it to the rest of the society and once the society understand the Shar Rule and try to practice it all the problem was solved this is what his opinion and this is what he started from fascinating to
Hear that perspective there doctor now of course as we’ve been discussing Hassan Al Ben’s greatest Legacy was the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood we look deeper now into the history of the movement its achievements and the Mark it’s left on the world the Muslim Brotherhood was established in
1928 as a reaction to the fall of the Ottoman Empire British colonial rule of Ottoman territory and the looming occupation of Palestine considered the second holiest land land in the world to Muslims sensitivities towards British colonial rule crystallized in the form of an Islamic political movement concerned with the well-being of his
Nation who has been left neglected and exploited by the British occupiers Hassan Alana Islamic scholar and school teacher spread the ideas of a pan-islamic faith-based social movement at its core it looked after the vulnerable in society by providing ing much needed Social Services like educational programs that taught the
Illiterate setting up hospitals and businesses and aim to end British colonial Reign and in its place establish a state run by Sharia law although he did not have the resources to make this a reality it was an idea that enveloped him through Grassroots activism he organized local groups and
Began rallying support for a new movement the Muslim Brotherhood the radical ideals of making the Quran the country’s Constitution spread like wildfire across Egypt this was made possible by the pre-existing deeply rooted Islamic faith and practices of the Egyptian people as the Brotherhood spread rapidly throughout Sudan Syria Palestine Lebanon and North
Africa in Egypt the movement launched protests against the ruling WAFF party an armed element of the group took to more violent Acts including bombing and political assassination to achieve their aims which by this stage had deviated from its Founders will Hassan Al banaana was assassinated 20 years after the formation of the
Party in 1949 and soon after the Brotherhood retreated underground due to governmental crackdowns six of its leaders were try tried and executed for treason and many others were imprisoned in the 1960s and ’70s the brotherhood’s activities remained largely clandestine however the organization officially renounced violence in the 1980s the Muslim
Brotherhood experienced a renewal as part of the general upsurge of religious activity in Islamic countries most notably as a result of the Islamic revolution in Iran with hos Mubarak forced to step down as president in 2011 the way was cleared for the Muslim brotherhood’s open participation in Egyptian politics and they were finally
Elected as Egypt’s government sadly this was shortlived with the coup of 2013 leading members of the Brotherhood were imprisoned vilified suppressed and supporters even sentenced to death later that year the Muslim Brotherhood was officially designated ated a terrorist organization in Egypt despite the crackdowns the Muslim Brotherhood cannot be erased from the
History of the region and remain relevant in their most active offshoot group harat al- Al islamia in Palestine most commonly known as Hamas now Dr Muhammad if we can pick it up with yourself what sort of opposition did alna face particularly from authorities in his native Egypt
Well to cut the story short is always dictatorship doesn’t like people to influence the political situation dictatorship built uh a situation which he the only person can conduct the policies and make the most beneficial of the social and economic system and that he was influenced by that and that itself the
Dictatorship never benefit any society they elad Society in order for the dictator to uh use the sources of resources of the country to make the rest of the country uh sleep deep in ignorance and by that time Egypt was completely not completely a huge uh percentage was ignorance in particular
In religious although there was AAR and there is a lot of people memorizing the Quan but the spirit inside them was very weak to follow the Shar rules and Hass Al had the energy on him to renew what is being left in Egyptian Society to follow Sharia rules and that
Was considered by the dictatorship a movement against him that was the struggle between anybody at that time looking to solve any problem of the Egyptian society and the dictatorship and that was was the struggle between the system at that time and Hassan and his movement and his
Follower now uh B I’d like to return back to yourself and see the influence that Hassan Al B had on other movements across the Islamic World in particular we can look for example at the Islamic revolution in uh Iran and many of the senior figures within that Revolution
Crediting bner for some of the ideological or philosophical Inspirations uh with regards to their own successes right so if we’re talking in terms of influence um the first notable point to make is first Egypt as a country right so Egypt is a large country uh it’s got a large population
Uh Egypt was one of those entities that actually wasn’t carved up under Sy Pico so it wasn’t inherently under ottoman rule at that period uh of time um if you look at the country it also has like the real components of a country you know we’re talking about Legacy we’re talking
About civilization we’re talking about history you know when someone thinks of Egypt they think of a center of Education they think of alar they think of uh literature you know they think of humanities you know you think of those great uh Arab and you know Muslim
Intellectuals uh a lot of them come from Egypt so if you were to compare that with some of the other countries uh in the region especially those uh that came out of the Ottoman Empire and then into uh British uh Colonial and French rule um they didn’t necessarily carry that
Same weight and that same influence and so nor would you expect um a kind of party of this kind or a kind of movement of that kind to emerge from there you know for example if you consider a country like Lebanon you know it was
Like a baby it was newly formed it was literally carved out of Syria for example so naturally You’ expect a Egypt to have that influence on the surrounding region and the way I would characterize Egypt it was like almost like that that center of gravity uh in
The region so so that was expected but ultimately and the reality as it transpired was that um they weren’t able to bring about this substantial change of Shifting the status quo and getting rid of the British backed monarchy because it’s not just a wish that you
Have in mind right um when we look at political action and bringing about a kind of revolutionary substantial change that requ understanding in depth the conditions of society that recognizes it’s it’s almost like a political science of its kind you know you’re not going to get that through Reading Islamic uh literature
For example um that is a science of its own and so you have to understand the conditions of society and how you can apply uh Islam to that directly so the way that I would characterize a movement like Muslim like the Muslim Brotherhood is they took the reformist approach
Rather than the transformist approach you know so they focused on the partial issues they focused on let’s correcting uh behaviors in society let’s focus on correcting uh Norms or rules or ideas for example so um we should um you know open up Charities for example we should
Support those who are impoverished or we should um you know shut down centers or pubs where they sell alcohol for example or nightclubs for instance um this was the kind of trajectory that they were going in whereas if you look at an entity like the Islamic Republic of Iran
It’s an example of one that took about um a transformative approach it’s this idea that we have to completely shift the unjust status quo on the ground this constitution this this Western backed monarchy that was put in this position of power and its uh secular Constitution
Needs to be removed we need to be governed and we need to live under uh the rules of sharia of course and and this was something that was only achieved through the people it was like the masses called for that change and and and the people were the vehicle
Through which imami managed to establish the Islamic revolution which which is a crucial point so here we we want to make a distinction between what like the ideological thinking of the Muslim Brotherhood was and its direction and its trajectory versus uh on the ground uh what it was able to achieve now when
We go to about 1948 um this was a very sensitive and pivotal moment in history as well so you the first pivotal moment we said was the end of World War I the demise of the Ottoman Empire British colonial and French colonial rule um ascending and then the second most
Pivotal point is uh basically at the end of World War II where you have the British colonial yoke that is essentially resending and you have America Rising onto the Helm of leadership and America actually supporting uh The Liberation movements on the ground because you had this struggle and this conflict for that next
Decade um between uh Britain and primarily Britain and uh America vying for power in that region and that transfer of power so for example in a country like Iraq uh you saw how you know Malik Fel was deposed and you had the revolution of Abdul Karim kasim
Likewise in Egypt um you had Malik Faruk who was deposed and you had someone like Jamal Abdul nasar Rising uh to power so the establishment of this kind of secular uh Republic um and if we analyze a movement like the Brotherhood it was uh spreading throughout the region you
Had uh similar organizations uh that were being formed that had the same weights essentially as the Muslim Brotherhood in countries like Iraq in Jordan for example in Syria its branches essentially um although the the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood was such that it was more decentralized than centralized so in countries like Iraq
They had more of a kind of Independence as as opposed to directly having to answer the Egyptian leadership and and I think what something that’s interesting here as well is you know you’ve mentioned for example uh the Iranians Imam hini and one thing he’s always focused on has been Unity between
Muslims and if we can just very quickly we don’t have a lot of time on the show but discuss uh what Muslims can maybe learn from Hassan Al benna and his approach about how Muslims should should unite against a common enemy in particular when you see what’s happening
To our brothers and sisters in Palestine at the moment absolutely so there were three key themes that uh sh Hass focused on specifically when it comes to the Palestinian struggle for Liberation the first was that he centralized the Palestinian cause as ultimately the cause of the umah you know this idea
That um don’t think of Palestine as a nationalistic cause as the borders as per constructed by the superpowers themselves and the colonialists this is an Islamic Duty it’s an Islamic responsibility for every single Muslim to consider the burden on their own shoulders and he made this very clear
The second uh point was the unconditional support for the Palestinian Liberation cause and he did not distinguish on the basis of anything you know this was very very clear that every single one of those Palestinians fighting for their land and that constitutes Muslims of all denominations Christians and Jews right the indigenous
People of the land we need to give them our unconditional support and the third point that he stressed upon is that we need to boycott those entities that are responsible essentially uh for a sponsoring ing um the Israeli occupation entity now it’s very important that we mentioned that um H established this
Party in the 20s so we’re talking about prior 1948 you know we’re talking about when the balle Declaration was the kind of Baseline so to speak and he emphasized that you know this Zionist project is a project that’s just not limited to Palestine you know by their
Own admission it’s from the Nile to the Euphrates every single one of the Arabs has to see it as an existential threat and issue because the idea is that they want to expand this Beyond and it’s inherently expansionist so if I can quote one of Shah Hass Al’s quotes
Regarding Palestine um he says in 1939 the blood that stained the land of Palestine the thousands of Martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the highest Islamic ideal and the Ala mosque the sanctity of which was violated all of these call upon you oh Muslim brother and sister to sacrifice
For the sake of God the soul and money he gave you so that you may be worthy of the name of Islam essentially so this is no difference to what the isbl calling today what the Islamic Republic is calling for what other movements calling for and how relevant it is today in 2024
That we see the exact same or even worse oppression happening and Muslims should be responding uh to this call Sister B thank you again so much as always for joining us and Dr Muhammad as well uh and thank you to you at home for watching we hope that you will join us
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