Translator’s Note

At that time, Egypt was witnessing a vile attempt to revive Pharaonic civilization. Efforts to erase the marks of Islam were under way in every sphere. It was at such a critical moment that the Muslim Brotherhood emerged in 1928. Carrying the movement’s banner, the greatest caller of the century, Imam Hasan al-Banna, came forward.

The history of the program and strategy with which the Muslim Brotherhood began its journey to establish Islam in the modern age is of the utmost importance for devoted workers engaged in the movement to establish the Dīn. No other Islamic movement of the modern age offers an example comparable to the steamroller of oppression and persecution driven over the Muslim Brotherhood. Alongside the men, its female leaders too suffered the most vile persecution and barbarity in history. Thousands of people were given the severest punishments without committing any crime, solely because they were relatives of Muslim Brotherhood members. Yet they passed the fiery test of faith. This history of the oppression and persecution endured by the Brotherhood will inspire us to renew and strengthen our own faith.

Above all, the reason I feel the need to translate this booklet is to find a comparative assessment of our movement alongside the Brotherhood’s activities and role in establishing the Dīn. The measures the Brotherhood adopted and implemented for social reform will truly astonish us.

We also need to reflect on how far ahead of—or perhaps how far behind—the Brotherhood’s movement we are compared with the momentum and acceptance it enjoyed in the first half of the twentieth century, roughly seventy years ago. In addition, we must become fully aware of the kinds of obstacles, impediments, oppression, and persecution an Islamic movement may face in the modern age, and of what resources, strength of faith, and insight are needed to confront them.

The late Khalil Ahmad Hamidi has presented a clear picture of the Brotherhood’s movement within a very brief compass. For sound reasons, it has been necessary to alter the booklet’s original title somewhat. If readers benefit even slightly from it, our labor will have been worthwhile. May it be a source of inspiration for everyone involved in the movement to establish the Dīn. Āmīn.

–Translator

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

The Situation Before the Movement

Immediately after the end of the First World War, Egypt fell into a severe political crisis. Various national and tribal problems began to emerge within the country. When the Turks, bearers of the banner of Turkish nationalism, announced the abolition of the caliphate system, their reform prompted a powerful surge of Arab nationalism and patriotism among the Arabs. Because of its own history, political status, the national position of al-Azhar, and various other factors, Egypt had gained leadership of the Arab world. For this reason, when the slogans of nationalism and patriotism arose in Egypt, their echoes were heard throughout the Arab countries. Various national movements began to spread their wings. The slogan of Saad Zaghloul (d. 1927)—

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(The Dīn belongs to Allah, and the country belongs to us all) was raised. The Wafd Party began its journey under the leadership of Mustafa Nahhas Pasha (d. 1964). Behind the façade of the national movement and using the abolition of the Turks’ caliphate as a pretext, atheism, Zoroastrianism, obscene ideas, and worship of the West were promoted; as a long-term and far-reaching consequence, an ideological conflict began. The reformists’ position was quite strong because they controlled the government as well as the news and publicity media. In contrast, the standard-bearers of the Islamic ideal were not merely weak; whatever strength they possessed was also deprived of self-reliance. Moreover, the mutual conflict and hostility among the political parties further corrupted the country’s environment. When the Wafd Party came to power, it set about damaging the image of the Dastur Party. Conversely, when the Dastur Party came to power, it created an issue out of purifying the country of the Wafd Party.

At that time, Ali Abd al-Raziq’s disgraceful book, Al-Islam wa Usul al-Hukm (Islam and the Principles of Governance), was published. Its central thesis was that religion has no connection with political and state affairs, and that Islam provides no scope for granting political rights through the caliphate system. Taha Hussein’s book, Fi al-Shi’r al-Jahili, was also a product of this conflict-ridden age; it cast doubt and suspicion even upon the Qur’an itself. Qasim Amin’s Tahrir al-Mar’a demanded a form of women’s freedom that Western women enjoyed without restriction. In the name of freedom of thought and expression, attacks were launched against Islam and all other religions. The weekly al-Siyasa was the mouthpiece of the reformists. It openly promoted reform, the revival of Pharaonic civilization, and the development of relations with the West. Influential Dastur Party leaders Adli Yakan, Abd al-Khaliq Tharwat, Ismail Sidqi, Muhammad Mahmud, and Lutfi al-Sayyid were its patrons, and they encouraged its attacks on Islam. But after the death of its powerful editor in 1926, it too closed permanently. Thereafter, in the world of newspapers, only the weekly al-Fatah of Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib survived. But its condition was such that, who could hear the songbird’s voice inside a music hall?

As I have mentioned, the position of the Dīn was weak and negative. In these circumstances, after Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (d. 1897), Muhammad Abduh consolidated his mission. Yet Shaykh Muhammad Abduh was completely unsuccessful in the political arena. Likewise, unlike his teacher Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, he was fearful of Europe. Apart from Sayyid Rashid Rida (d. 1933), none of his students emerged as a man of struggle. Although Rashid Rida’s field of activity was limited, and he supported Arab nationalism in the conflict between the Turks and the Arabs, after him even the necessary voice fell silent. Apart from Mustafa Sadiq al-Rafi‘i, there was no one prepared to come forward with self-reliance to confront this storm of materialism and deviation.

The situation became so deplorable that Pharaonic and Nimrodic slogans began to be taught not only in Egypt but in most Arab countries. Faisal bin Hussein, the foremost personality of the Prophet’s lineage, said:

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That is, the Arabs had become the Arabs of the age before Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and Moses, peace be upon him.

At Damascus University, the funeral of God was publicly carried out. In colleges and universities, mockery and ridicule of Islam and Muhammad, peace be upon him, continued unhindered. At political meetings, uttering the name of Islam became tantamount to inviting humiliation. In parks and gardens, devout Muslims even felt ashamed to pray. After matters had reached this point, the sense of truth’s dignity eventually rose in its full glory, and through a young man from Mahmudiyya, Allah accomplished what even the greatest scholars and shaykhs could not have accomplished. He was Imam Hasan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Hasan al-Banna: His Personality and Character

Hasan al-Banna was born in 1906 in Mahmudiyya into an Islamic family. His father, Shaykh Ahmad Abd al-Rahman al-Banna, was a watchmaker by profession but a great scholar. He possessed profound knowledge of Hadith and fiqh and was also a hafiz of the Qur’an. [Shaykh Ahmad Abd al-Rahman al-Banna authored many works containing commentaries on Hadith. He edited and published many classical works from a new perspective. He edited Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s Musnad in accordance with the chapters of fiqh. He cited the source, narrators, and chain of transmission for every hadith and wrote explanatory footnotes. The title of this work is Al-Fath al-Rabbani fi Tartib Musnad al-Imam Ahmad al-Shaybani, and the title of its commentary is Bulugh al-Amani min Asrar al-Fath al-Rabbani. Likewise, he wrote a classified and explanatory work on Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi’s Musnad entitled Minhaj al-Ma‘bud. He made Imam al-Shafi‘i’s Musnad and Sunan al-Bada’i al-Musnad accessible through compilation and editing from a new perspective. Abd al-Rahman al-Banna completed this academic work entirely through his own individual effort. He died in 1960.]

Abd al-Rahman al-Banna had his promising son memorize the Qur’an from childhood and directed his attention toward the study of religious knowledge. Alongside home instruction, Hasan al-Banna enrolled in the al-Diniyya School operated in Ismailia. Although the school was run under state supervision, special importance was given to religious education and cultivation. At the age of fourteen (1920), Hasan al-Banna enrolled in the Teachers’ Training School in Damanhur and, unlike his fellow students, was exceptionally devoted to living an Islamic life. He was then entrusted with teaching at an educational center. However, he went to Cairo for higher education and enrolled at Dar al-Ulum (now Cairo University). At that time, Dar al-Ulum was called the Lesser Azhar. Alongside modern science and knowledge, psychology, philosophy, logic, political science, sociology, and mathematics, he gave special attention to linguistics. His method of study was innovative. In 1927, Hasan al-Banna obtained his graduation degree from Dar al-Ulum. The Ministry of Education then appointed him as a teacher at the Amiriya Madrasa in Ismailia (a government school), and he took up the post. He was twenty-one at the time. In 1933, he was transferred from Ismailia to Cairo. From then on, he lived in Cairo. In 1946, he resigned from the Ministry of Education and devoted himself wholeheartedly to expanding the da‘wah and building the organization.

Hasan al-Banna was a greater da‘i than a scholar. The family environment and education Allah used to prepare him for the service He intended to accept through him helped shape him accordingly. In addition to his education at al-Azhar, the educational system of Dar al-Ulum was especially helpful in illuminating his qualities as a da‘i. The corrupt environment, the storm of atheism, and the failed efforts of Azharite intellectuals created powerful waves of anxiety and concern within him. Allah had granted him an exceptionally strong and fearless personality—one who remained composed even in severe adversity. He was not endowed only with political and social insight; he possessed all the qualities and abilities of a complete da‘i. Although he began his journey alone, he soon became the life force of a nation and transformed Islam’s leafless garden into a verdant field. Rather than irrigating and fertilizing this garden with water, he revived the Sunnah of nourishing it with blood. He also established a jama‘at of people devoted to purity and holiness, which moved with full vigor along the proposed path of junun.

The inspiration for da‘wah, reform, jihad, and benevolence with which Allah blessed Hasan al-Banna was evident in every aspect of his life. In March 1928, an organized structure was established in Ismailia under the name of the Muslim Brotherhood. But even before this, Hasan al-Banna’s life had demonstrated that this personality would exert influence not only over Egypt but over the entire Arab world.

Connection with the Islamic Da‘wah

When Hasan al-Banna was a student at the al-Rashad al-Diniyya school, he once saw, while passing along the river near Mahmudiyya, a sailboat moored by the riverbank with a naked wooden idol hanging from it. The sight greatly displeased him. He immediately went to the local police outpost and complained to the police officer about the idol. Influenced by the young student’s sense of faith, the officer promptly went to the boatman and removed the naked idol from the mast. At that time, the students of the al-Rashad al-Diniyya madrasa formed an organization called the Society for Moral and Literary Conduct, and Hasan al-Banna was elected its president. But how could this assembly fulfill the aspirations of this young da‘i? He established another organization outside the madrasa, called the Society for Preventing Prohibited Things. Through letters, this organization taught people to do good. If it received information that someone was engaged in a prohibited or wrongful act, or was neglecting an obligatory duty, it sent him an anonymous letter warning him of God and the Hereafter.

When Hasan al-Banna arrived at the Teachers’ Training School in Damanhur, he became acquainted with the shaykh of the Hisafiyya order. The disciples of the Hisafiyya held a gathering of remembrance after the evening prayer. Hasan al-Banna was influenced by this spiritual gathering, and it further strengthened his zeal for commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong. Providence thus arranged for his spiritual training. Although the Hisafiyya order was a Sufi chain, Hasan al-Banna took from it only spiritual nourishment. In his view, the call to the Dīn needed to be broad and expansive rather than confined to any particular method. It needed to be made the basis of acquiring knowledge, providing training, and jihad. Around that time, he also grew close to another Sufi merchant. This man took the school students to visit graves once every ten days and told them stories of the lives of righteous people. Their hearts softened and their eyes filled with tears, while zeal and inspiration to obey Allah and His Messenger welled up within them. Hasan al-Banna’s relationship with the Hisafi brothers gradually deepened. He gathered them together and established a circle called the Hisafiyya Benevolent Society, and he was elected its secretary. It had two objectives: first, calling people to develop excellent moral character and creating resistance against prohibited and reprehensible activities; second, resisting Christian missionaries who were promoting Christianity under the cover of medical services, development training, and orphanages. Hasan al-Banna was only fourteen years old at the time.

Early Efforts in Cairo

After enrolling at Dar al-Ulum in Cairo, he was unsettled by the external environment on the one hand and his inner feelings on the other. He subsequently joined the Society for Noble Character as a member; it was the only reformist organization in Cairo’s disastrous environment at the time. He attended its meetings regularly and conscientiously. But Cairo was rapidly sinking into moral collapse and Westernization, and in Hasan al-Banna’s view, merely delivering sermons in mosques could not remedy the situation. He thought that those who did not come to the mosque were in fact the ones most in need of preaching and admonition. They needed to develop within themselves thoughts of religious and moral reform. For this purpose, Hasan al-Banna formed a group from among the students of Dar al-Ulum and al-Azhar and encouraged them to give lessons and preaching in coffeehouses and public gatherings. As a member of this group, Hasan al-Banna himself went to coffeehouses and presented lessons from the Qur’an and Hadith. The shaykhs repeatedly mocked and slandered them over gambling, addiction to various beverages, and idle chatter. Nevertheless, the work successfully crossed the cities and ports and began to be implemented in the villages as well. A committee was formed from within this group to supervise the propagation and expansion of the Islamic da‘wah. During the summer vacation, the group became extraordinarily active, and cities and villages became its field of work. Hasan al-Banna and his companions gained two things from this method of da‘wah: self-reliance and practice in addressing the public.

But after the final revolution, the wave of atheism that began in Egypt and the way every impressionable young person was being drawn toward it rendered these limited and weak protests ineffective. Newspapers and magazines, literature, and books of various kinds began to be imported under the guise of freedom and democracy, with the express purpose of weakening religious consciousness and eradicating from people’s hearts respect and love for the Dīn. Thus, according to the demands of the advocates of freedom, the country would supposedly become genuinely filled with freedom of thought and action. In Hasan al-Banna’s view, the situation demanded major and comprehensive action. He therefore called upon the ulama and shaykhs to devote attention to this work and urged them to enter the field collectively and on an organized basis. He met Sayyid Rashid Rida, editor of the al-Manar journal, and established a relationship with Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib, owner of al-Maktaba al-Salafiyya. He expressed his inner pain and anguish to the renowned religious scholar of al-Azhar, Shaykh Uzayri. Shaykh Muhammad Khidr Husayn complained about the situation before the Shaykh of al-Azhar. He exchanged views with Fikri Wajdi, who at the time was one of Egypt’s leading intellectuals. Hasan al-Banna met each of them and called upon them to work for Islam with deep and devoted sincerity. His efforts caused a great stir in these circles, leading first to the publication of the weekly al-Fath and later to the establishment of the Society of Muslim Youth. Under Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib, al-Fath raised the call of jihad in the temple of atheistic thought, while the Society of Muslim Youth, under Dr. Abd al-Hamid Sa’id, declared its firm resolve to rescue the new generation from deviation. Hasan al-Banna not only joined the Society of Muslim Youth but was regarded as one of its founders. At the time, he was a final-year student at Dar al-Ulum. The subject assigned to him for his thesis was titled: What does he wish to do after completing his education, and what measures will he take for this purpose? Hasan al-Banna wrote in response:

“I want to become a da‘i and a trainer. During the day, I will spend most of the year training Egypt’s new generation, and at night and on holidays I will try to explain to their guardians the purpose of the Dīn. I will tell them where the sources of peace and prosperity lie and how happiness and joy in life can be attained. For this purpose, I will adopt every means within my ability: through speeches, discussions, and conversation; by writing books and booklets; and by traveling through towns and countryside. In short, I will seek help from every appealing means.”

This was the zeal of that young man, who, in the deep sea, did not have the firm desire merely to save his own garment; he also thought at the same time about saving the garments of others.

 Residence in Ismailia and the Establishment of the Organization

In 1927, Hasan al-Banna obtained his diploma from Dar al-Ulum. He was then appointed as a teacher at the Amiriya Madrasa in Ismailia. Ismailia was a British stronghold, and the Suez Canal was under the control of the British forces. The Suez Company, over which the British and French had established a concession, kept Egypt’s economic lifeblood under its control. The Muslims were divided into religious groups. Disillusioned with religious quarrels and disputes, the people turned toward taverns instead of mosques. In these circumstances, Hasan al-Banna selected three coffeehouses in Ismailia and inspired the people through speeches and discussions. He also awakened within them a sense of responsibility for establishing the Dīn.

In March 1928, a group of distinguished and conscious individuals from Ismailia gathered at Hasan al-Banna’s home. The six members of the group were, respectively, Hafiz Abd al-Hamid, Ahmad al-Hasri, Fuad Ibrahim, Abd al-Rahman Hasabullah, Ismail Izz, and Zaki al-Maghribi. These men had come with a firm resolve to work. After discussion and mutual consultation, they entrusted Hasan al-Banna with supervision, leadership, and guidance of the work. They also pledged to make every possible sacrifice and offer every possible offering for the protection of the Muslims. When the question arose of what to name this small organization, Hasan al-Banna immediately said, “We are all Muslim Brotherhood.” The name simply came from his mouth, and from then on the organization became known as the Muslim Brotherhood.

After the organization was founded, Hasan al-Banna remained in Ismailia for five years. Then, in 1933, he moved to Cairo. During its five years in Ismailia, the organization carried out its activities very quietly and cautiously. The mosque was the organization’s main center, and “Color the whole of life with the color of Islam”—this was the organization’s mission.

Besides Ismailia, Hasan al-Banna and his companions would go out to spread the da’wah among the inhabitants of the surrounding areas. On weekly holidays, their targets were the nearby localities. In addition, during annual holidays they would spread out to various distant regions. Dars training, discussions, and lectures were the means of spreading the da’wah. Certain shaykhs and envious individuals made Hasan al-Banna the target of condemnation and criticism. Yet even in these adverse circumstances, this silent flood continued to flow. Members of the organization delivered dars at public gatherings. Tawhid and the Hereafter were their subjects. The general condition of the country was reviewed through controversial issues. The people were made aware of internal and external evils. Most of those who responded to their da’wah were working people. In Hasan al-Banna’s words, there was no village or neighborhood that the organization’s workers had not reached. They spread the da’wah from mosque to mosque, from house to house, and by visiting rest houses.

The result of the work of these five years was that branches were established in Abu Suwayr, Port Said, and Bilbeis within two years. In the third year, a strong branch was also established in Suez. In the fourth year, ten branches were established. A school was opened for girls in Ismailia.

With Imam Hasan al-Banna’s move to Cairo, the da’wah activity entered a new phase. Until then, it had been an initial effort. But afterward, it rose to the status of a larger organization in the country. In other words, in Cairo the Ikhwan al-Muslimun came to be recognized as a complete movement.

The movement’s various stages

The first phase extended from 1933 to 1939. During this phase, the movement emerged in a complete form. The second phase continued from 1939 to 1945. During this phase, the da’wah entered the political arena openly. As a well-organized force, it became a source of concern in the government’s eyes. Thus, the clouds of trial descended over its head. The third phase covered the nine years from 1945 to July 1954. During this phase, on the one hand, the Ikhwan’s movement spread to every corner of Egypt; on the other hand, an extreme policy of repression was imposed upon it. It was during this phase that Imam Hasan al-Banna attained martyrdom. Professor Hasan al-Hudaybi was elected the movement’s new General Guide. Then a military revolution took place in the country. Thereafter, this phase came to an end when the revolutionary government declared the Ikhwan illegal and sentenced its leaders to death. A brief account of the activities of these three phases follows:

First phase: 1933 – 1939 CE

Silent reform

During the early years in Cairo, this da’wah continued, as before, quietly and discreetly. Lectures and discussions were held in mosque after mosque, supporters and collaborators were organized, various branches were established, and visits were made to cities and villages. One year later, in 1934 CE, while reporting on the annual activities in an article, Imam Hasan al-Banna said: The Ikhwan’s da’wah, aims, and objectives have spread to more than fifty cities and villages in Egypt. In each of these places, some kind of welfare scheme has been put into operation. For example, in Ismailia the Ikhwan built a mosque and established a club. Schools were opened for the training of boys under the name Hira and for girls under the name Umm al-Mu’minin. In Shubrakhit, a mosque and club, a school for children, and a technical institute were established. Boys who do not complete their education will be admitted to it. In this way, a textile and carpet-manufacturing factory was opened in Mahmudiyya. Alongside this, schools for memorizing and learning to recite the Holy Qur’an were established. A madrasa for memorization and recitation was also opened in Kahlia. In short, every branch from Awfu to Alexandria has launched one welfare scheme or another.

Contribution to the field of education and demands from the government for reform

The very character of the da’wah, together with the country’s ever-new problems, expanded the scope of the movement. Cultural and political matters also became integrated into its objectives. In the cultural sphere, the educational and training schemes launched by the Ikhwan not only gained acceptance among the people; the government, at the state level, could not help but become attracted to them as well. Prime Minister Muhammad Mahmud Pasha advised the Ikhwan to open schools even in those regions where the government had no schools. Hasan al-Banna drew his attention to the matter in a lengthy letter:

Egyptian society is facing the destruction of morality. Moral nobility, beauty, and glory have lamentably been shattered. Efforts are being made from every direction to weaken their foundations. The younger and older generations—in fact, virtually every individual—have become targets of destruction and have consequently become ripe for immediate reform. Various means must also be adopted for reform. The fundamental and basic approach is to reform the education system, introduce necessary changes in the state system, create the best opportunities and avenues for young people to make productive use of their leisure time, and suppress wrongdoing with a firm hand.

From Muhammad Mahmud Pasha until the outbreak of the Second World War, Imam Hasan al-Banna wrote, on behalf of the movement, to all the ministers whose cabinets were formed in the country. These letters presented proposals for internal reform. They advised improving the country’s condition socially, economically, and culturally. In addition, they demanded the implementation of Islamic Sharia. In the letter he wrote to Muhammad Mahmud Pasha, he described the condition of the Egyptian nation in detail and mentioned that Egypt was backward in terms of ignorance, poverty, disease, moral decline, and education. In the attention-drawing letter sent on his behalf to the prime minister, he wrote:

The remedy and solution to all this lie in the teachings of the Book of Allah. If it is argued that the English are in power in the country, that would be a completely groundless excuse. The English have no connection with our internal affairs. And if it is argued that millions of foreigners live here, that too will prove insignificant. We can convince them through discussion. They themselves will see how the laws and teachings of Islam safeguard their rights and protect their lives and property. We shall say the same to non-Muslims. They should study our history and see how we maintain justice and fairness in our dealings with them. The central problem is Egypt’s own leadership. They are unaware of Islam’s da’wah and spirit. What is necessary is for them to return to Islam’s own creed and beliefs and to its Sharia. The disease of atheism came to Egypt from Turkey. Therefore, we advise the government of Muhammad Mahmud Pasha to raise high the word of Islam in confronting it and make it the basis of its own customs and policies.

Da’wah to the Leaders of the Muslim World

The most important letter of the Ikhwan al-Muslimun was the one they wrote in 1936 to Egypt’s President Farouk, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Nahhas Pasha, and the leaders of the Arab and Muslim countries. The letter was titled “The Call of Light.” It still exists today in the form of a small, thirty-five-page booklet. Together, in an extremely concise yet eloquent style, they first shed light on the fundamental and elementary concepts of Islam and Islamic civilization. They also clearly stated that, despite the presence of such an excellent philosophy of life, adopting the Western way of life, culture, and social system would be extremely harmful. Following this initial discussion, they presented a comparative review of the Islamic and Western philosophies of life. The characteristics of both systems were described. Thus, the conclusion was reached that Islam ensures the progress of the Muslim ummah and a peaceful environment in every sphere, whether military administration, education and health, economic and social reform, or state laws and regulations. Finally, reform proposals were presented on fifty subjects. Of these, ten concerned political, judicial, and state policy and administration; thirty concerned social and educational matters; and ten concerned economic matters. In fact, these proposals were prepared through tremendous effort. A single glance at them makes it clear that their authors were not merely people possessing book knowledge; they also had practical experience gained through direct involvement with the country’s problems. Although more than thirty years have passed since the proposals were made, they would still appear equally relevant and fresh today. The letter concluded as follows:

We are prepared to devote all our labor, abilities, and resources to any government that is determined to dedicate itself to the advancement and welfare of the Muslim ummah. We shall respond spontaneously to each of its calls and remain ready to make every sacrifice and offer every personal loss.

In 1938, a letter was written to the president of Egypt. It mentioned the complaint that the political parties had created disorder throughout the country. Letters on the same subject were also written to Amir Umar Tusun and Amir Muhammad Ali Tawfiq.

The Ikhwan held that all the political parties existing at that time were self-constituted and not representative of the people. This, therefore, was the golden opportunity for all patriotic individuals to unite around the correct Islamic objective and implement it with all their strength and sincere efforts. In 1938, a lengthy memorandum was also submitted to the Minister of Justice, Ahmad Khasaba Pasha, in which it was asserted that non-Islamic laws and regulations had been tested for fifty years but had proved an utter failure. Now let Islamic Sharia be put to the test. The letter also presented acknowledged testimony from Westerners themselves regarding the usefulness and superiority of Islamic law.

When Mustafa al-Nahhas Pasha assumed the office of prime minister in 1938, the Ikhwan also submitted a memorandum to him. It was demanded that Egypt’s foreign policy should be firmly based on the fundamental principle of friendship with Islamic countries, with the establishment of Islamic unity as its objective. In 1939, another letter was written to al-Nahhas Pasha, advising that the lives of the members of the Wafd Party under his leadership should be inspired by the true ideals of Islam. It further advised that the Wafd Party should formulate its aims and objectives in the light of Islamic principles. This manifesto proposed reforming the principles governing legislators, removing the distinction between ordinary and Sharia courts, and implementing Islamic Sharia in all courts. It also presented an outline for reforming the education system. Its proposals included providing military training to every healthy citizen, resisting wrongdoing, changing economic policy, curbing the tendency to imitate Europe, and correcting the deterioration of government customs and practices. The central theme of all these letters was the establishment of an Islamic society and Islamic government in Egypt. In the Arab countries, these letters were highly effective in awakening the feelings of people committed to Islamic ideals.

The Ikhwan did not stop at writing letters. Rather, it used every effective means and method available to advise and persuade the Egyptian ruling class. In 1963, Hasan al-Banna met with al-Nahhas Pasha. At that time, Naseem Pasha was prime minister. The Ikhwan had demanded that religious education be introduced among Egyptian teachers by the government of Naseem Pasha. Hasan al-Banna also briefed al-Nahhas Pasha in detail about this demand and, because he was a prominent politician of the country, obtained his support for it. Al-Nahhas Pasha was so influenced by Hasan al-Banna that he himself regarded him—that is, Hasan al-Banna—as a guide and adviser to the Wafd Party.

Non-Muslim states’ regarding the Ikhwan’s principled position

In accordance with the efforts made by the Ikhwan to guide the state along the right path, it is essential to know that, by then, whatever governments had successively come to power in Egypt—whether those of the Dustur Party, the Wafd Party, or the Azad Party—the Ikhwan had supported none of them; rather, it had always kept its distance from them. The purpose behind this policy of the Ikhwan was as follows:

“No good can ever be expected from a government established directly upon un-Islamic principles. They are not worthy of any cooperation or support.”

Although the ruling group is Muslim and does not openly deny Islam, the Ikhwan demands reform and correction from every government and continues to appeal for the implementation of a complete Islamic legal system in the country. At the same time, they themselves follow it. They have never adopted the path of terrorism or the use of force. Rather, whenever a government acknowledges that it will sincerely accept their demands, they too do not hesitate to support it.

Collective Da‘wah

At this stage, the final and most important activity was that the Ikhwan’s mission emerged as a far-reaching, comprehensive, and complete da‘wah. In 1938, the fifth conference was held in Cairo, where Imam Hasan al-Banna delivered a lengthy speech. In it, he presented the Ikhwan’s objectives and program in detail, with a full explanation and analysis. Indicating the breadth of his da‘wah, he said:

The Ikhwan al-Muslimun is an ancient da‘wah, because the Ikhwan calls people to return to the roots of Islam and invites them to the original sources of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger. It is a path of Sunnism, because the Ikhwan strives to follow the pure Sunnah in all conduct, practices, and acts of worship. It is Sufism, because in the Ikhwan’s outlook the foundations of goodness are self-purification, purity of heart, continuous action, independence from dependence on creation, love of Allah, and cooperation in the path of goodness. It is a political party, because the Ikhwan, on the one hand, demands reform from the government in domestic and foreign affairs, and on the other hand trains the nation in self-identity and self-respect. It is a military organization, because the Ikhwan places great emphasis on physical training and forms sports teams. It is a cultural association, because the Ikhwan’s club is in reality a school of instruction and refinement, and an institution for illuminating the intellect and spirit. It is an economic company, because Islam provides guidance for earning wealth within a particular framework, and the Ikhwan establishes commercial and economic companies to strengthen the national economy in accordance with Islamic teachings. It is a social philosophy, because the Ikhwan focuses on all the ailments of society, considers their remedy, and strives to free the nation from them. (Condensed)

Islam regarding the Ikhwan’s thought

In this speech, Hasan al-Banna provided extensive insight into his party’s aims and objectives, principles and program, its perspective on national problems, and its policy regarding other Muslim states. This speech was later adopted as the party’s fundamental principles. Therefore, I consider it necessary to describe some important aspects of the speech.

“Some people regard Islam as confined solely to outward acts of worship. If they perform them themselves or someone else carries them out, they consider that sufficient. Some consider Islam to be nothing more than refined conduct and complete spirituality. To them, Islam means remaining completely distant from all the ugliness of material life. Some people do not advance beyond pleasing slogans about Islam’s practical and militant aspect. Others regard Islam as something inherited and imitated, whose struggle in life contains neither sacrifice nor benefit. For this reason, they do not interfere in matters concerning Islam or matters related to it. You may hear such talk from those colored by European civilization and culture. There are several other groups of the same nature, each holding a particular view of Islam. Our belief is that the teachings and laws of Islam relate to both worldly and spiritual life. Those who think that Islam’s teachings are confined to the spiritual aspect of life or to personal worship, with no connection to other spheres of life, are immersed in grave error. Islam is the name of belief and creed, just as it is the name of worship. It is the name of homeland, nation, religion, system of government, spirituality, and practical action. Islam is the name of the Qur’an on the one hand and the sword on the other. The Qur’an discusses all these matters and recognizes them as the fundamental subjects of Islam.” (Condensed)

While highlighting the distinctive features of the Ikhwan’s da‘wah, Hasan al-Banna stated that some of these features, which would not be found among contemporary parties, were:

1. Free from jurisprudential disputes

2. Independent of influential circles

3. Remaining distant from political parties

4. Following the principle of gradual progression in its working method

5. Productive practical work free from publicity

6. Rapid spread of the da‘wah in cities and villages

Objectives and working principles

The objectives and working principles have been summarized as follows: The sole objective and demand of the Ikhwan’s struggle is to familiarize the new generation of Muslims so thoroughly with the true and correct teachings of Islam that they follow Islam completely in every sphere of life. To achieve this objective, the working principles they adopted may be summarized as follows:

To change public opinion and train the standard-bearers and supporters of the da‘wah according to Islamic teachings, so that they remain closely connected to Islam and become examples for others in obeying and following Islam.

Presenting the qualities and characteristics of an ideal da‘i to the organization’s workers, Hasan al-Banna said:

When three hundred people have been developed among you, each of whom is strong in faith and creed spiritually, adorned with the ornaments of knowledge and civilization and culture in thought and understanding, and physically healthy and fully trained militarily, then you may ask me to cross the vast expanse of the sea with you. We will float through the emptiness of the sky and fight all forces of falsehood. At that time, God willing, I will have no hesitation whatsoever in undertaking this task.

The accusation of terrorism and lust for power, and its answer

In responding to some objections and doubts raised by opponents, he stated: A group asks us whether the state and power are also included in the activities of the Ikhwan al-Muslimun. As you believe, the Ikhwan al-Muslimun fully follows Islamic boundaries in all its steps and plans. Since it believes in Islam, it recognizes the state as equally important as propagation and admonition. The third caliph of Islam, the revered Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), said:

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“Allah restrains through government and power those matters that cannot be restrained by the Qur’an alone.”

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, regarded power as one of the strongholds of Islam, and in the books of jurisprudence too, power has been counted among the creeds and fundamentals, not among the branches.

Most people ask whether the Ikhwan al-Muslimun uses force to achieve its objectives. Yet the Ikhwan does not even wish to contemplate what is understood by a terrorist revolution. Under no circumstances does it rely on this method, nor does it desire to benefit from or profit by it. In this way, it clearly tells every government of Egypt that if the situation remains as it is and the experts do not consider any method of remedying it, then its inevitable consequence will emerge in the form of an extremist revolution. But this does not mean that the Ikhwan will carry out such a revolution or that its da‘wah will produce such a result. Rather, it will occur as the consequence of pressure from circumstances, the demands of events, and retreat from reform. (Condensed)

At this stage, the Ikhwan also began publishing several weekly and monthly periodicals. The weekly Al-Ta‘aruf and Al-Shi‘a and the monthly Al-Manar were published during this period. After some time, alongside Islamic journalism in Egypt, the practice of sending da‘wah teams abroad was initiated and contacts were established with other Arab countries. Subsequently, Ikhwan branches were established in those countries on the basis of available opportunities and mutual relations, attaining the status of permanent centers.

Second stage ((1939 – – 1945))

The beginning of the trial

This stage lasted six years. During these years, the world was engulfed in the gunpowder of the World War. At that time, the Ikhwan’s movement became the target of extreme oppression and persecution. Previously, the movement had been ignored as a reformist and religious effort. But when its da‘wah began addressing every sphere of life itself and demanded political and constitutional reform alongside intellectual and collective revolution, the ruling group began to furrow its brow in concern. At this stage, despite countless trials by fire, remarkable progress was achieved in both dimensions of the movement.

The reason for its progress and rise in the subsequent stage was that university teachers and students, inspired by the Ikhwan’s struggle and constructive work, joined its meetings. In particular, people from various professions associated with Fuad al-Awwal and Al-Azhar Universities also began joining in groups. Merchants, industrialists, engineers, doctors, teachers, lawyers—in short, people from various classes—joined it. On the one hand, the party’s economic activities expanded increasingly; on the other, various advances were made in education, culture, and physical training. Branches were established in remote areas of the country, and disciplined planning was introduced among them. In short, this party emerged as a powerful organization within the country and continued to become a thorn in the eyes of its opponents.

It was the time of the World War. Local governments, of their own accord and at the prompting of imperialist powers, began following the political parties; chaotic laws and regulations were introduced in the country, and clashes began between the government and the parties. At this stage, eight cabinets were formed in succession: the cabinets of Ali Maher, Hussein Sabri, Hussein Sirri, Mustafa al-Nahhas, Ahmad Maher, al-Nuqrashi Pasha, Ismail Sidqi, and once again al-Nuqrashi Pasha. During the administrations of Ali Maher and Hussein Sabri, the Ikhwan continued its da‘wah activities and the work of enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong through the newspapers, as usual. Indeed, when Ali Maher proposed keeping Egypt out of the war, the Ikhwan unconditionally supported this proposal.

The instigator of the trial

After Hussein Sirri Pasha came to power, extreme persecution and oppression descended upon the Ikhwan. The rapid progress of the Ikhwan’s da‘wah was obstructing the interests of the British. The policy of the Ikhwan mentioned by Hasan al-Banna at the fifth conference (described earlier) was sufficient to convince the British that this movement would become a mountain of obstruction for them throughout the Arab world.

Adli Yakan’s Constitutional Party and Mustafa al-Nahhas’s Wafd Party undoubtedly sought Egypt’s independence. But both parties were nationalist, and their appealing vision was confined only to the Nile Valley. The Ikhwan’s da‘wah, however, was free from all such bonds. The Ikhwan had always carried the banner of national unity. It also supported Arab unity, while Islamic unity was its mission. They did not judge national or Arab unity from the perspective held by nationalists or national-worshippers. Rather, they carried the banner of this unity solely for the purpose of Islam’s rise and expansion. Hasan al-Banna stated at the aforementioned conference that Islam does not advocate geographical boundaries or bonds of blood and lineage. Islam regards all Muslims as one nation and all Islamic countries as one country, even though geographically they may be far apart. The unity of the Islamic lands cannot be divided. Oppression against any one part of them sets in motion a tide of oppression against the entire body. For this reason, the Ikhwan al-Muslimun regard Islamic unity as extremely sacred and worthy of honor. Regarding the Caliphate, he described the Ikhwan’s view as being that the Ikhwan al-Muslimun regard the Caliphate as a symbol of Islamic unity and a beacon of friendship and profound ties among the various Muslim nations. They also attach the greatest importance to the concept of the Caliphate and efforts to restore it.

Addressing the European states, he said: The Ikhwan al-Muslimun regard as tyrannical those governments that oppress or have oppressed the Islamic states; these aggressive powers must be resisted by force.

On this basis, the Ikhwan raised its voice for the independence of Palestine, the independence of Algeria, and the independence of all those Islamic countries over which the vile shadow of imperialism has spread. It was for this purpose that they encouraged the Muslim nation toward jihad.

This view of the Ikhwan al-Muslimun was intolerable to the British. Pressure was brought to bear on Hussein Sirri Pasha by the British Embassy and the British Commander-in-Chief. As a result, Hussein Sirri’s government first closed the Ikhwan’s weekly organs, At-Ta‘aruf and Ash-Shi‘a, and its monthly magazine, Al-Manar. It then imposed a ban on the publication of any kind of literature. The Ikhwan’s press was sealed. The movement’s leaders were dispersed to various places. Imam Hasan al-Banna was sent from Cairo to Qena, and his assistant, Ahmad al-Sukkari, was sent to Damietta. When the government’s vile measures were brought before the Egyptian Parliament, the government was compelled to permit the return of these two honored men. But then, launching another fierce attack, the government arrested Imam Hasan al-Banna and the Ikhwan’s secretary, only to release them later. This persecution and oppression drew ordinary people’s attention toward the movement, and the number of its members and supporters increased abnormally.

Al-Nahhas Pasha’s Double-Edged Policy

After Hussein Sirri Pasha, Mustafa al-Nahhas Pasha’s cabinet was formed. Mustafa al-Nahhas Pasha adopted a double-edged policy toward the Ikhwan. Imam Hasan al-Banna wished to contest the parliamentary election from the Ismailia constituency. But, seeing that the situation was becoming unfavorable, al-Nahhas Pasha requested Hasan al-Banna to withdraw from the election. Imam al-Banna accepted al-Nahhas Pasha’s request, and, adopting a conciliatory policy toward the Ikhwan, he granted him permission to hold conferences. He reinstated the newspapers and lifted the restrictions on the press. But this was merely a temporary maneuver. Before long, al-Nahhas Pasha too set aside the demands of the democrats and adopted the objective of suppressing the Ikhwan. All its branches and sub-branches, except the Ikhwan’s central office, were closed. Restrictions were imposed on conferences, rallies, publicity activities, and every kind of activity. In the words of the Ikhwan’s historian, Muhammad Shawqi Zaki:

The Ikhwan confronted the government’s persecution and oppression with the utmost patience and steadfastness. Indeed, al-Nahhas Pasha’s government itself had to face difficult circumstances. No sooner had relations between the Ikhwan and al-Nahhas’s government begun to return to normal than the government released them, and they became active once again. But afterward the government deprived them of freedom of speech. Thereafter, they made patience, forbearance, and hope their habitual practice.

In short, despite these formidable obstacles and adversities, the Ikhwan continued in various ways to fulfill its duty of advising and educating the government. Finally, in 1944, al-Nahhas’s cabinet was dissolved.

The Ikhwan’s Participation in the Elections

After al-Nahhas Pasha came Ahmad Maher. In accordance with his own ideas and outlook, he too adopted persecution as a policy. At its 1941 conference, the Ikhwan decided that it would participate in the elections and put forward the organization’s most qualified individuals in order to establish the superiority of Islamic ideals.

During the period of al-Nahhas’s ministry, Hasan al-Banna had wished to participate in the election, but al-Nahhas Pasha’s double-edged policy had stood in the way, and Imam al-Banna had reasonably refrained from the election. During Ahmad Maher’s time, the Ikhwan announced that it would participate in the elections at any cost. But neither Ahmad Maher’s government nor the commanders of the British army were pleased with this.

Hasan al-Banna was nominated from the Ismailia electoral constituency. This gave ordinary people, for the first time in the history of Egyptian elections, the opportunity to work for a candidate of their choice. Nearly sixty campaign centers were established in the urban area. Posters on the walls, public processions, and students from schools and colleges—all bearing the banner of the Islamic revival—were filled with campaigning for Hasan al-Banna. Hasan al-Banna’s victory was certain. But, to please the British and ensure the victory of the Constitutional Party’s candidate, the Egyptian government used every weapon against Hasan al-Banna. Vehicles of the British forces openly worked on behalf of the opposing candidate. Military officers transferred Egyptian employees of the military camps in large numbers to various places outside the constituency. Every tactic of deception, fraud, pressure, despair, and terror was employed. Nevertheless, Hasan al-Banna won an overwhelming victory.

Finally, on the basis of fabricated objections and complaints, the election was declared invalid and a second election was arranged. This time the army increased its activities severalfold. Hamrasyli Pasha, the British governor of Sinai, expelled Hasan al-Banna’s supporters from the electoral constituencies of Sinai and al-Arish, and brought workers from other camps to cast enough fraudulent votes to turn Hasan al-Banna’s assured victory into defeat. Although this occurred in Hasan al-Banna’s case, the same treatment was meted out to the Ikhwan’s other candidates. None of the candidates was allowed to see victory.

The First Ministry of Pasha al-Nuqrashi

Ahmad Maher Pasha joined the Allied Powers and declared war against Germany and Italy. The Ikhwan strongly opposed this decision. It also sent Ahmad Maher a written statement of its arguments against the decision. The Egyptian people too expressed intense indignation at the declaration, and the country’s situation became increasingly troubled. In these circumstances, when Ahmad Maher was killed by a Christian’s bullet, Mahmoud Fahmi al-Nuqrashi Pasha was appointed prime minister. Hasan al-Banna, the Ikhwan’s secretary-general, and several central leaders were nevertheless arrested on charges of Ahmad Maher’s assassination. The evidence presented for this charge was that, during the investigation, the Christian assailant stated that before Ahmad Maher declared war, he should have sought the advice of the country’s intellectual and thoughtful circles. Among them, the Christian also mentioned Hasan al-Banna’s name. The Ikhwan challenged the arrests in court, and the court ordered their release. Immediately after his release, Hasan al-Banna met al-Nuqrashi Pasha and expressed profound grief over Ahmad Maher’s assassination. He also requested permission from al-Nuqrashi Pasha to work freely. But he rejected the request. Until the end of the World War (1945), al-Nuqrashi Pasha’s policy toward the Ikhwan was mixed. There was severity, but many matters were also viewed leniently. If permission was granted for a gathering, its cost would soon be exacted with interest. Amid this tug-of-war, the World War suddenly ended, and the situation assumed a different form.

The Third Phase((1945––1948))

The Movement’s Rise and Outcome

This was the most significant phase of the Ikhwan’s movement. During this period, the movement emerged in full form and faced an outcome that came to be regarded as a matter of immense concern for all Islamic movements in the world. First, we shall present a brief account of the activities of this era that the Ikhwan movement carried out in various fields.

On 8 September 1945, a session of the Ikhwan’s General Council was held, in which all the Ikhwan’s members participated. At this session, extensive amendments were made to the Ikhwan’s constitution, and it was presented in a complete and expanded form as its objectives and working policy. Most of these amendments reflected the intent of Imam Hasan al-Banna’s speech delivered at the fifth conference in 1938. Through the bay‘ah (oath), the organization’s commitment to obey its amir and murshid was renewed. Listening and obedience in matters of ma‘ruf were deemed essential under all circumstances. Complete reliance upon Hasan al-Banna was maintained in every respect. He was elected murshid for life. The right of dismissal and alteration was granted only to the Founders’ Council.

Internal strength and firm morale further expanded the movement’s influence. Within a year, the movement reached the highest levels of advancement in spiritual, material, and military training. According to a report by the Times of London, the Ikhwan’s membership among workers alone increased from three hundred thousand to six hundred thousand. According to Hasan al-Banna’s account, five hundred thousand of the number reported by the Times were representatives of the Ikhwan. These five hundred thousand representatives reflected the thoughts, hopes, and aspirations of seventy million Arabs and three hundred million Muslims throughout the world. According to a memorandum from the Ikhwan’s deputy murshid submitted to the Council of State, in 1948 the number of active members of the Ikhwan in Egypt alone was five hundred thousand. In addition, the number of well-wishers was several times greater. In Egypt alone, it had nearly six thousand branches.

Branches of the Ikhwan were also established outside Egypt. In Syria, a branch of the Ikhwan had been established in 1937 under the leadership of Mustafa al-Siba‘i (may Allah have mercy on him). Branches were established in other countries under the central organization as well. In 1946, conferences of the Ikhwan were held in Palestine, in Jordan around the same time, and in Sudan that same year, with representatives from Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine participating. In October 1946, during the Hajj season, a delegation led by Hasan al-Banna went to Makkah and met with prominent pilgrims and Islamic thinkers from around the world. In 1947, the seeds of this da‘wah were also sown in Iraq, where it emerged under various names. Its mainstream was led by Shaykh Muhammad Mahmud al-Sawwaf. The Ikhwan’s delegations also participated in conferences in Western countries and in international conferences.

The Daily Newspaper Launched

On 5 May 1946, the Ikhwan launched a daily newspaper called Ikhwan al-Muslimun. This courageous Islamic newspaper appeared for the first time in the world of journalism. Until then, jahiliyyah had maintained an unchallenged dominance over Egyptian journalism for twenty years. This daily spread not only throughout Egypt but also across the other Arab countries, and gradually became popular. With great fearlessness, it exposed the secrets of British colonialism and instilled fear among the colonial circles.

Commercial Company System

The Ikhwan also expanded the economic company system to various places, and it began to yield extraordinary profits. Its acceptance among the working class increased. Military training was consolidated on a firm foundation. In addition, various military groups were formed. During this period, education and culture also advanced considerably.

Confronting the English

On the one hand, the organization became stronger and reached the stage of advancement, a general picture of which we have presented above. On the other hand, the group entered the political arena courageously. As soon as the World War ended, the Ikhwan demanded that the English fulfill the promise they had made to the Egyptians during the war. That promise was to grant independence. Hasan al-Banna met with Mahmud Fahmi al-Naqrashi Pasha and appealed to him either to establish national rights and prepare to give meaning to the dream of the Nile Valley’s stability and unity, or to leave the nation free so that it could fulfill its hopes and aspirations through jihad. At that time, the Egyptian nation was immersed in a precarious situation. In their view, this was the opportune moment to break free from the chains of the British Empire. Hasan al-Banna was the nation’s leader. He raised the demand for independence with full vigor and led the independence movement. Alarmed, Naqrashi Pasha sent a memorandum to the British government. But instead of openly recognizing the demand for independence, the British government sent a diplomatic reply. This verbal exchange could not persuade the Ikhwan. Joining the Ikhwan’s movement, the people and students held massive demonstrations against the English, and the bloody incident known in Egyptian history as the Violent Incident took place. Because of these protest rallies and the consequences arising from them, Naqrashi Pasha had to resign from the ministry. Isma’il Sidqi Pasha assumed the ministry. The Ikhwan continued demanding the withdrawal of the English, and meetings and rallies continued. The Ikhwan’s representatives spread throughout the villages and remote areas of Egypt, raising the voice of independence. The Ikhwan’s newspapers further inflamed this fire. Calls to declare jihad against the English were heard from every direction. With Isma’il Sidqi Pasha’s arrival, the protest rallies grew even more intense. All the Ikhwan’s strength was devoted to the movement for achieving independence.

In these circumstances, Hasan al-Banna called a meeting of all the parties so that a National Board could be formed. It would unite and organize the people, enabling the entire nation to advance with one voice toward achieving independence. But sadly, the political parties pretended not to hear. The Nasad Party’s nationalism produced no momentum; neither Sa’d Zaghlul Pasha’s slogan, “The homeland belongs to all,” achieved anything, nor did the Wafd Party’s democratic demand advance in the service of the people.

Seeing the dispirited attitude of his political opponents, Hasan al-Banna stepped forward himself and advised Sidqi Pasha to abandon debate and negotiations with the British government and choose the path of jihad directly. But the Ikhwan, seeing the government as a British stooge, subjected it to severe criticism and condemnation. They accused the government of betraying the country and befriending the imperialists. The Ikhwan’s newspapers wrote plainly that the government had adopted a lenient policy toward the colonial companies, had become incapable of solving the unemployment problem, and had turned away from jihad under English pressure. The newspapers also fiercely condemned the negotiations with the English; they used aggressive language against Sidqi Pasha and published inflammatory reports about the British colony, causing the people’s emotions to flare up. At this time, the Ikhwan presented a memorandum to King Farouk. It stated that Sidqi Pasha’s ministry was incapable of fulfilling the national demands. The Ikhwan’s central office instructed every branch to sever all economic, cultural, and social relations with the English.

Sidqi Pasha’s Repressive Campaign

Disoriented, Sidqi Pasha attacked the Ikhwan. He arrested countless people. Publication of the daily Ikhwan al-Muslimun was suspended. The Deputy General Guide was also arrested. (The General Guide, Hasan al-Banna, had gone to perform Hajj with a delegation at that time.) The Ikhwan responded to this policy of repression with nationwide protests and condemnations. Clashes occurred in Cairo and Alexandria. Using this as a pretext, the homes of Ikhwan members were surrounded and searched with extreme brutality. Even the women of the households were not spared humiliation. Widespread harassment and intimidation were carried out. Some Ikhwan members employed in government offices were dismissed, while many were transferred to distant places. This caused intense lamentation throughout Egypt, and Sidqi Pasha was forced to resign from power.

Naqrashi Pasha’s Second Term in Office

On 10 December 1946, Naqrashi Pasha was appointed prime minister for the second time. The circumstances demanded that this time a wealthy man be given the reins of this battlefield. Mahmud Fahmi Naqrashi Pasha, president of the Sa’d Party, had been examining the matter and put it to use at the appropriate time. On the day Naqrashi Pasha assumed this great responsibility, an article by Imam Hasan al-Banna was published in the newspapers. Its central message was that the new government should choose the shortest path: it should respect the hopes and aspirations of the nation, end the charade of negotiations with the British, and resolve the country’s independence problem through jihad. Through a lengthy series of writings, Hasan al-Banna drew attention to the government’s foolish policy. Harassing the country’s devoted citizens, locking their educational institutions, throwing them into prison, and pursuing them in various ways—especially at a time when the oppression of the enemies imposing their domination by force in the country was increasing severalfold—what was this if not folly! But instead of allowing this criticism to awaken his conscience, Naqrashi Pasha turned it into a civil war with the Ikhwan. The issue of Palestine made this war even more bitter. The Ikhwan was closely involved in this campaign. On the one hand, this issue became a touchstone of their advancement and influence; on the other, it became a cause of their popularity and fame in Egypt and beyond. On 12 December 1947, the Ikhwan held a massive protest march, which set out from al-Azhar. Hasan al-Banna himself led it. Riding in a car, he announced directions along the route through a loudspeaker. On 6 May 1948, a session of the Ikhwan’s Foundation Council was held. It demanded of the Egyptian government and all Arab states that jihad be declared against Israel and every possible effort be made to protect Palestine.

The Height of Repression and Persecution

On 15 May 1948, Arab armies entered Palestine under the supervision of the Arab League, and war began against the Jews. The bravery, courage, and self-sacrifice displayed by the Ikhwan’s volunteers in this war deserve to be described in detail separately. Jewish newspapers in America and Britain raised a clamour over this and regarded it as the destruction of Israel’s National Home.

In this situation, Naqrashi Pasha yielded. Farouk became agitated by the growing influence of these clerics. Several foreign embassies held a conference at Fayid (the Egyptian base of the British forces) and unanimously demanded that Naqrashi Pasha declare the Ikhwan illegal. Naqrashi Pasha, meanwhile, was troubled by the matter. In order to win the satisfaction of his own masters, he too declared the Ikhwan illegal on 8 December 1948 under Article 63 of the Military Ordinance.

This was one of the great follies of his life. Thereafter, such an abnormal situation arose that he even forgot repentance. Oppression spread throughout Egypt. All the organization’s centers and offices were placed under government control. Thousands of educated young men were thrown into prison and subjected to various forms of torture that make one shudder to hear of them. Naqrashi Pasha himself was killed by a young man. After that, Ibrahim ‘Abd al-Hadi Pasha took the seat of prime minister. He truly filled the void left by him. He did not refrain from doing anything to the standard-bearers of the faith that would have been difficult even for a non-Muslim to do.

Hasan al-Banna’s Prophecy

Allah had blessed Imam Hasan al-Banna with the insight of a believer. He was a da’i. He knew every stage of the da’wah. He had to confront all the obstacles along this path.

He had a profound awareness of the Prophet’s teaching: “The path to Paradise passes through pain and hardship.” Long before the Second World War, when there was not the slightest sign of persecution or trial by fire, he wrote in one of his articles:

I want to tell you that your da’wah has not yet reached most people. When this da’wah and its aims and objectives become clear to them, they will pursue you. They will attack you with fierce hostility. At that time, you will have to advance through extreme crisis. Various kinds of obstacles will stand in your way. Only then will you truly be counted among the ranks of the standard-bearers of the da’wah. The people’s ignorance of true Islam will become a thorn in your path. Government-aligned ulama and shaykhs will point accusing fingers at your Islam and question your jihad. The leading and influential people of society will not tolerate you. Every government will resist you without hesitation. They will impose restrictions on your activities. The brigands will oppose you with every spear. The lamp of your da’wah will be extinguished. Immoral and weak governments will assist these brigands against you and pose as the patrons of the very forces that advance against you to inflict oppression and persecution. Another group will create a storm of doubts, suspicions, and false accusations against you and search for various faults within you. In addition, they will present your activities in a distorted manner before the people. They will turn it into an expression of their own pride in power and authority. They will extend their hands toward the power of wealth. Without doubt, all this will arise as a trial for you. You will be expelled from your homes. You will be deprived of the environment of your homeland. Your offices will be confiscated. Your homes may be searched. Yet Allah has promised you that, in the end, He will help the mujahidin and honor the righteous workers with their reward.

The Martyrdom of Imam al-Banna’s Martyrdom

After the Ikhwan al-Muslimun was declared illegal, thousands of its members were arrested. But their leader, Imam Hasan al-Banna, was not arrested. The oppressors had devised another plan against him. He was administratively prevented from leaving Egypt. Even within the country, restrictions were imposed on his movement without government permission. When he sought permission to move to a sugarcane farm, that sugarcane field too was placed under surveillance. Then, on the evening of 12 February 1949, this embodiment of truth and beauty, this mountain of faith and self-confidence, bearer of the torch of the faith and caller to the path of iman, was publicly martyred in front of the central office of the Shubban al-Muslimin. Meanwhile, a wave of joy swept through the homes of the English. Responsibility for the murder was placed on the Sa’d Party, bearers of the banner “The homeland belongs to all.” Yet eyewitnesses even recorded the number of the car—1979—in which the attackers arrived and in which they fled after firing the shots. It was later revealed that the car belonged to Lieutenant Mahmud ‘Abd al-Majid, head of the Criminal Crimes Branch. Despite the occurrence of such a public martyrdom three years earlier, the perpetrators of this sacred murder were not apprehended. After the military revolution of 23 July 1952, eleven defendants involved in the conspiracy were arrested. Among them was Mahmud ‘Abd al-Majid, who had later risen from lieutenant to lieutenant colonel. Major Muhammad al-Jayyar told the identifying witness of the car’s number that Banna’s killer was free and would remain free. Whoever obstructed him could measure his own neck. “You have wives and families; why are you eager to make them orphans?” Also among them were Muhammad Hasan, King Farouk’s personal attendant, and the driver of Sergeant Major Muhammad Mahfuz’s car.

Listen to a brief account of the staged drama arranged to martyr this man radiant with truth:

On 12 February 1949, Professor Nagi, a member of the Executive Council of the Shubban al-Muslimin Association, sent Professor Muhammad al-Laysi, president of the association’s Young Men’s branch, to Hasan al-Banna with the message that Hasan al-Banna should meet him that evening at the association’s office, where he could be informed of the government’s new decision concerning the Ikhwan al-Muslimun—a decision that was extremely important and satisfactory. The message also stated that his relative, Ibrahim ‘Abd al-Hadi Pasha (the prime minister), had entrusted him with informing Hasan al-Banna of these decisions. Accordingly, Professor Muhammad al-Laysi went to Imam Hasan al-Banna’s home and gave him the details of the message. But the insight of this believing man was not deceived or misled by this enticing message. Rather, he immediately grasped the depth of the matter. After hearing the message, Hasan al-Banna said:

Their intentions are bad. They did not want any kind of understanding with me; rather, I have just learned that the man whose agricultural farm I wanted to go and stay at has also been arrested. Not even the slightest humanity was shown toward his old age. Nevertheless, for Professor Nagi’s satisfaction, I will attend.

Imam Hasan al-Banna arrived at the office of the Society of Muslim Youth at the appointed time. Regarding the matter he had discussed with Professor Nagi, Hasan al-Banna said that nothing significant had taken place. After the discussion, Hasan al-Banna called for a taxi. His son-in-law, Advocate Abdul Karim Mansur, who currently resides in Saudi Arabia, was also with him during this meeting. Professor Muhammad al-Laisi went out to accompany Hasan al-Banna to the taxi. But from behind, an attendant called Professor Laisi, saying that someone wished to speak with him on the telephone. Professor Laisi put Hasan al-Banna and his companion into the taxi and, on returning, had not yet reached the telephone when the sound of gunfire was heard outside. Without answering the telephone, he immediately went outside to find the source of the sound. He saw a young man standing on the road in front of the office. The young man was tall and slightly thin. He was wearing a long coat, had his face wrapped in a white handkerchief, and was holding a pistol. Professor Laisi shouted for him to be apprehended. But the young man fired at Professor Laisi as well. Fortunately, the shot missed its target. When Laisi pursued him to catch him, he fired again, and Laisi narrowly escaped both shots fired in succession. In the meantime, the young man stepped off the road and moved away in another direction. Another man was waiting for him. The two of them fled on a black motorcycle. As soon as Imam Hasan al-Banna was shot, he quickly got out of the taxi and entered the office of the Society of Muslim Youth, saying, “I have been murdered, I have been murdered.” Laisi arrived immediately afterward. The telephone was still waiting for him. Major Muhammad al-Jazzar, an officer of the Political Branch of the Intelligence Police, was speaking with him. As soon as Laisi picked up the telephone, he informed Major al-Jazzar that Hasan al-Banna had just been shot with murderous intent in front of the society’s office. Al-Jazzar then asked whether he was dead or still alive. At that very moment, Hasan al-Banna had already left for the hospital. Laisi later came to the hospital to see him. As Hasan al-Banna lay on his deathbed, the testimony of faith was continuously being recited from his lips. Some time later, a young man came to the hospital and said, “I was standing near the place where the attackers’ car had been parked.” The car’s number was 9979. This was the young man who was later threatened that his child would be left an orphan.

After Hasan al-Banna attained martyrdom, an atmosphere of panic and grim silence prevailed in the city. But the fire of revenge had not yet been kindled. The hospital was surrounded. The aged father of the solitary martyr, Shaykh Abd al-Rahman Ahmad al-Banna, performed the funeral prayer alone. The veiled women of his household carried the body to its final resting place, and no servant of Allah was permitted to mourn or lament.

After the martyrdom of Imam Hasan al-Banna, the entire Nile Valley was shaken by turmoil, arrests, and disorder. The Ikhwan were subjected to harassment and persecution everywhere. By staging a lengthy courtroom drama, they were declared rebels.

Fourth Stage: 1949 –1954 CE

New Murshid New Zeal

The situation changed once again. Seven months later, on 25 July 1949, Ibrahim Abd al-Hadi Pasha was forced to step down. Hussein Sirri Pasha formed a coalition cabinet, whose responsibility was merely to oversee the elections. This brought the Ikhwan some relief. The Wafd Party won the election, and the Ikhwan’s assistance contributed to this success. On 12 February 1950, Nahhas Pasha took the reins of power. At this time, the Ikhwan gained partial freedom. Those whom people had thought were finished now shook off the dust and stood upright once again. Their pens became active again, and their newspapers were published anew. Hasan ibn Ismail al-Hudaybi was elected their new Murshid General. Previously, he had been the legal adviser to the Supreme Court. Under the leadership of their new Murshid General, the Ikhwan al-Muslimun devoted themselves to establishing and strengthening new organizations in their various branches. On 15 December 1950, the government restored some of the Ikhwan’s properties. This decision was made on the basis of an order from the Council of State, which stated that the decision to declare the Ikhwan al-Muslimun illegal had been entirely wrong. That decision had not been subject to the martial-law administrator. Thereafter, the Ikhwan immediately set their affairs in order, returned to the stage of history, and became an important power.

Palace Conspiracy’s Beginning

The government of Mustafa Nahhas Pasha remained in office until October 1951. After Nahhas Pasha was removed, the mutual consultations between Qasr al-Abdin and the English gave birth to a palace conspiracy, and the cabinet changed four times within nine months. The people were demanding an unconditional severance of relations with the English. This demand grew stronger day by day, but the British forces were unwilling to leave, far from unconditionally, even under conditions. A wall had been built between the people, the palace, and the British forces. Whenever a cabinet was formed and bowed before the people’s demands, the palace overthrew it through the power of British tanks. And if the palace’s wishes were fulfilled, the people’s protests and demonstrations became a message of its downfall. Thus, from 23 to 26 May 1952, a military coup took place in the country, changing the course of its history. Its account has been given earlier.

Declaration of the British Treaty’s Abrogation Announced

The government of Mustafa Nahhas Pasha remained established until October 1951. The crowning program of Nahhas Pasha’s ministry during this period was his declaration, through Parliament and in response to popular demands, annulling the treaty concluded between Egypt and Britain in 1936. Under that treaty, Egypt had allowed Britain to establish military camps, while Britain and France had established joint concessions over the Suez Canal. Nahhas Pasha declared in Parliament that Egypt itself had made this treaty with Britain in 1936, and that Egypt itself was now declaring it annulled. This declaration stirred the hearts of the people, but unrest descended upon the palace and the British forces.

Participation in the War of Independence by the Ikhwan

Nahhas Pasha wanted to argue with the British leadership so that a precedent for the withdrawal of their troops could be established. But the British leadership avoided this. The people were compelled, and the war of independence began. The Nahhas government also joined the people. The mujahideen threw themselves into the struggle for the independence of their beloved homeland. The Suez area became a battlefield. The volunteers of the Ikhwan al-Muslimun participated extensively in this war and displayed astonishing feats of bravery and sacrifice. The Ikhwan established military training camps in colleges, and students from all parties began receiving military training under the Ikhwan’s supervision without hindrance. This left the English forces stunned. Indeed, the high command of the English forces repeatedly broadcast from the radio station that anyone who brought back Shaykh Muhammad Farghali’s severed head would receive a reward of five thousand pounds. Shaykh Farghali was a member of the Ikhwan’s Shura Council. In this war, with the help of guerrilla forces, he dealt the English forces a crushing defeat. (Jamal Abd al-Nasser was one of those who sentenced Ikhwan leaders to death toward the end of 1954; Shaykh Muhammad Farghali was among them.) The Wafd government was so impressed by the courage, strategy, sacrifice, and spirit of jihad of the Ikhwan mujahideen that it summoned the Ikhwan leaders to consult with them about placing command of the war entirely in the hands of Ikhwan volunteers. But on the day before this proposal, the palace dismissed the Wafd government. The Wafd government had reached an agreement with the Ikhwan that it would impose no restrictions on the Ikhwan’s political activities. Although this same government had previously tried to prevent the Ikhwan from participating in politics, and the Interior Minister Fuad Siraj al-Din, who was also the Wafd’s secretary-general, had passed a law in Parliament in 1950 to that effect, the Ikhwan refused to accept the law. Eventually, the Wafd government itself had to yield.

The purpose of eliminating the Wafd government was to dampen the independence movement. Subsequently, Ali Maher was asked to form a cabinet. But this cabinet too was merely a guest for a few days. After Ali Maher, Najib Hilali was brought in. He too could not remain for long. These two applied a new method, contrary to that of the former rulers. They met and consulted with the leaders of the Ikhwan al-Muslimun and other political parties. During Najib Hilali’s ministry, the Ikhwan announced that, in view of the unusual circumstances, they would temporarily refrain from participating in elections. After Najib Hilali, Hussein Sirri and then Najib Hilali for a second time took their seats as prime minister. These cabinets had no more substance than wooden puppets. Their sole purpose was to lull the agitated people with the spectacle of consoling them like children.

1952 Year’s Military Coup

In July 1952, Egyptian territory witnessed another coup. Allah took revenge on Egypt’s King Farouk, and in the blink of an eye his pharaonic splendor and grandeur became an ancient tale. How did this coup take place, what were the reasons for its success, and why was it deemed necessary? It is impossible to understand what followed without investigating the answers to these questions. For this reason, I consider it necessary to shed brief light on them.

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the British colonial power began extending its domination over Egypt, and before long it had trapped the Egyptian kingdom in its own pocket. Patriotic figures such as Ahmad Urabi Pasha and Mustafa Kamal tried to resist this penetration. But the storm grew more severe day by day. Those seeking independence established several organizations one after another, but none survived. When British colonial rule over Egypt was formally proclaimed on 18 December 1914, the Egyptians rose against it. On 28 February 1922, Britain was compelled to withdraw its colonial rule. Yet at the same time, it placed such chains on Egypt’s feet in the name of supervision that, although British colonialism had ended, that monstrous despot remained active behind various headings such as Egypt’s defense and the security of foreigners. On 19 April 1923, a constitution was introduced in Egypt for the first time, and Egypt was granted the status of an independent state. Islam was declared the state religion. But how could Egypt’s submission be acceptable in a country into which imperialism had penetrated? Thus, on 26 August 1936, a treaty was signed between Egypt and Britain called the Treaty of Friendship. Under this treaty, Egypt granted Britain permission to establish a military camp on the banks of the Suez, which would guarantee the security of the Suez. In this way, the English cleverly landed in Egypt with preparations for war, and Egypt’s days of misfortune began. Subsequently, constitutional government fell in Egypt, and the English, the King of Egypt, and their puppet cabinet came to power. By taking control of the security of the Suez, the English forces seized Egypt’s economic lifeline, and as English influence increased, Egypt’s subjugation increased as well. The English came to dominate Egypt’s entire administrative system. Matters progressed so far that English diplomacy began to flow like blood through every vein of Egypt’s economic system, education and culture, and domestic and foreign policy. Most schools and colleges came under Christian control. The teachers were Christian. European companies established control over commerce and trade, and the Egyptian nation was crushed under the millstones of their oppression. During the reign of Fuad I, the Egyptian people had at least some freedom to express themselves. But the era of Farouk was an era of double enslavement for the Egyptian people: one was the unchallenged domination of the English, and the other was Farouk’s despotic rule.

The first task Hasan al-Banna undertook after establishing the Ikhwan al-Muslimun was to kindle the spirit of jihad among Egypt’s lifeless and despairing nation. His famous booklet on jihad was a powerful voice of the Ikhwan’s early period. In this booklet, Imam al-Banna, employing rhetorical ornamentation, attracted the Egyptian people to jihad, presenting it as the true remedy for freeing the Muslim nation from backwardness and decline. In the booklet, Imam al-Banna first cited those verses of the Qur’an in which the clear obligation of jihad is mentioned. He then presented detailed evidence for it from hadith. An important chapter of his book records the opinions of all the Islamic legal scholars of the Muslim ummah concerning jihad. In this connection, he cites Ibn Qudamah’s opinion that when an army of unbelievers attacks a city, it becomes an individual obligation upon its inhabitants to fight them and drive them out of the city. The emphatic statement of the scholars of al-Azhar is: who could be a greater scholar than Imam Badr al-Din al-Ayni, the commentator on Sahih al-Bukhari? His practice was to devote one year to teaching and instruction and spend the next year performing Hajj. Finally, he also criticizes those who classify fighting as the lesser jihad and the struggle against the self as the greater jihad, thereby making people lethargic under the pretext of spiritual purification. Regarding this, he writes:

“Some people try to prevent the general public from understanding the importance of war and preparing for jihad. They cite as evidence the statement attributed to a hadith that the greater jihad is a person’s struggle against his own nafs. But this evidence is baseless. Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani wrote in his book Tasdid al-Qaws that this is among the sayings circulated by word of mouth, and that it is not a statement of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), but rather a statement of Ibrahim ibn Ablah al-Radi.”

Therefore, the Muslim Brotherhood declared as its fundamental objective:

***************Arabic****************

That is, martyrdom in the path of Allah is our greatest aspiration. This was not merely their verbal slogan; in practice, they began training their members for jihad. Instead of wasting time on useless activities, young men at colleges and universities received military training and infused the nation with the spirit of jihad. The true expression of this jihadi fervor came when the Arab people went to war against the Jews in 1948. Anwar Sadat, who was Gamal Abdel Nasser’s right-hand man and later a democratic president, wrote on page 177 of his diary, Unknown Pages:

“In those days—that is, during the 1948 war in Palestine—the group that displayed the greatest distinction in the war and jihad, more than any other group, was the Muslim Brotherhood. On the night before they were due to depart for Palestine, Hasan al-Banna and Shaykh Farghali came and delivered an impassioned speech to the mujahid group, arousing intense emotion and excitement among them.”

After reviving the inspiration for jihad, the second major task undertaken by the Muslim Brotherhood was to demand the establishment of an Islamic government in the country. In 1938, Hasan al-Banna wrote a lengthy letter to the Minister of Justice, Ahmad Khushbu Pasha, in which he stated that non-Islamic rule had been tried for fifty years and had been proven a complete failure. It was now time to try Islamic law. In this letter, Imam Hasan al-Banna first explained the importance of Islamic law from the Qur’an’s perspective. He then pointed out that if one examined this country’s constitution and laws, one would realize that their source was not the Qur’an and Sunnah, but rather the constitutions and laws of European countries such as Belgium, France, and Italy.

Our constitution is openly incompatible with Islam, both in its entirety and in part. Now consider this: if a matter arises before a Muslim whose ruling according to Islam is one thing and whose ruling according to the prevailing law is another, what course will that Muslim follow? Also consider how it could be lawful for the magistrates, judges, chief justice, and minister of justice of this country to oppose the commands of Allah, the Best of Judges?

After this severe criticism, Imam Hasan al-Banna answered those who considered the enactment of Islamic law impossible in the modern age, and concluded the letter with this demand:

“The demand of the Muslim Brotherhood is that our government return to the Islamic Shariah and promptly reorganize the Egyptian legal system on the foundation of Shariah. We are a Muslim nation, and we pledge that we will obey only the law of Allah and the rule and injunctions of the Qur’an and Sunnah, even if this requires us to pay a very high price and offer ever greater sacrifices. As a free and Muslim nation, this is our natural right. No alternative can take the place of political and social dignity and perseverance. You, too, should assist us in obtaining this right. Try to change this situation, and do not force the nation onto a path where most of it will become submerged in despair and helplessness.”

On the one hand was this demand of the Brotherhood; on the other, a dispute began over ownership of power in Egypt. Khedive Tawfiq Pasha said to Arabi Pasha, “I acquired this country through my ancestry.” Such thinking also took root in the minds of Tawfiq Pasha’s successors. Nevertheless, the era of Fuad I (1936) was more prosperous. But Farouk’s era was darkened by political chaos and British intrigue. During this period, Hasan al-Banna was the only person who kept his distance from the royal court. Moreover, it was a bathhouse in which independent men such as Nahhas Pasha, free-thinking people such as Taha Hussein, renowned writers such as Ahmad Hasan al-Zayyat, and standard-bearers of the Sunnah such as Muhammad Faqir had all been seen naked. Farouk himself also hated Hasan al-Banna. At first, he paid no attention at all to the Brotherhood’s movement. But as the demand for the enactment of Islamic Shariah gradually grew stronger, his eyes began to open. Anwar Sadat relates in his book that he—that is, Anwar Sadat—met Hasan al-Banna in 1944. At that time, Hasan al-Banna, citing certain observers, said the following about some troubling matters concerning King Farouk:

“The King has sensed a grave danger in the Brotherhood’s الدعوة. He has even heard that, according to the basis of the Brotherhood’s الدعوة, Islam provides no opportunity for hereditary kingship … Thus the King is thinking about how to lay hands on the Brotherhood. (Unknown Pages, p. 19)”

The conflict between the Brotherhood and Farouk reached such a point that, in the end, Farouk and Abd al-Hadi Pasha together had Hasan al-Banna martyred. A subsequent court investigation proved that Farouk’s personal attendant was also involved among the murderers. Even so, the Brotherhood’s movement impressed this eternal truth firmly upon the hearts of the Egyptian people: no reform program can be effective here until the foundation of the monarchical system is changed. Nor is the abolition of monarchy the main issue; the central objective is the establishment of an Islamic government. Farouk’s policy of repression, his moral anarchy, his friendship with the British, and the indiscriminate oppression and persecution inflicted by his officials upon the peasants gave the Brotherhood’s الدعوة a magical influence, until a time came when even Egypt’s innocent children grew disgusted with Farouk.

The cabinets formed during Farouk’s reign were either free of any real authority or established according to Farouk’s wishes, and their standing was no greater than that of wooden puppets. British troops stood behind them. Thus, in February 1942, the Wafd Party government was installed through the support of Britain’s tanks.

Accordingly, the Brotherhood declared its dissatisfaction with and noncooperation toward all these governments.

The fourth feature of this account is the Egyptian army. At that time, the Egyptian army was undoubtedly regarded as the strongest and best-trained army among the Arab countries. But the presence of British forces had kept it defeated. Most of the officers of the Egyptian army were afflicted with the disease of worshiping the king. Only a limited number of people shed tears of blood at the desperate situation and disasters. Yet, for reform to take place, it was necessary to transform the thinking of those who held the country’s real power and authority. Egypt’s current president, Anwar Sadat, who was then among the army officers, was one of the first to learn about Hasan al-Banna’s الدعوة. Thus Anwar Sadat wrote in his book:

“Many army officers used to meet with Hasan al-Banna. Hasan al-Banna’s sole objective was to bring about religious commitment among the Egyptian army officers by whatever means possible.” (Unknown Pages, p. 349)

Hasan al-Banna’s devoted personality and the astonishing influence of his heavenly الدعوة made it immensely acceptable within the army. Anwar Sadat wrote: “The people wanted to be free from British domination at any cost. On the basis of this inspiration, a close relationship developed between a group of freedom-seeking officers in the Egyptian army and Hasan al-Banna.

“The relationship became so deep that a group within the Egyptian army regarded the Brotherhood as Egypt’s only hope for liberation.”

In this way, the Brotherhood was preparing the ground in every field of struggle to liberate the Egyptian nation from British occupation and the oppression and persecution of the ruling authority. Finally, the revolution took place in July 1952. From then onward, the monarchical system came to an end in Egypt. The success of this revolution was not due solely to the army. The Egyptian army had enough courage to undertake such an audacious act, one that would inevitably bring it into confrontation with three formidable opponents: the British forces, Farouk, and the government of Egypt’s self-seeking politicians. The army undoubtedly fired the first shot of the revolution. But the Brotherhood had sown such seeds of discontent among the Egyptian people against British influence and Farouk that, as soon as the sound of the revolution’s guns was heard, the entire nation showered them with flowers in congratulations. In the words of General Naguib, “For a long time after the revolution, a deep cooperative relationship was maintained between the Brotherhood and the revolutionary authorities.” Hasan al-Banna’s murderer was arrested. The Brotherhood’s political prisoners were released. The Brotherhood, too, was not lacking in support for the revolutionaries. Indeed, one faction went so far in supporting them that this conduct aroused suspicion among many well-wishers of the Brotherhood. For this reason, some difference of opinion also arose on this matter between Hasan al-Hudaybi and the emotionally driven young men of the organization.

Disagreements between the Brotherhood and the Revolutionary Council

Eventually, disagreements between the Brotherhood and the revolutionary government began to surface. Instead of diminishing, they continued to grow, and the situation escalated into a major tragedy. The disagreements may be summarized as follows:

One: The disagreement began over the formation of the revolutionary cabinet. On 9 December 1952, the Revolutionary Council dismissed Ali Maher, who had been made prime minister after the revolution, and Muhammad Naguib formed the cabinet. The Revolutionary Council proposed giving the Brotherhood three cabinet posts, but the Maktab al-Irshad, the Brotherhood’s Shura Council, did not accept. Hasan al-Hudaybi was not at all prepared to include the organization in such a government, where real independence would not belong to the government but would instead be held by the revolutionary leadership. Hasan al-Hudaybi said, “We are the government’s sincere well-wishers. If the leaders do good work, they will receive our cooperation; and if they commit any error, we will criticize them on that matter.” A member of the Shura Council, Ahmad Hasan al-Baquri, accepted a ministerial post against the organization’s decision and had to resign from the Brotherhood.

Two: The Brotherhood began once again to demand the revival of the Islamic way of life. The magazine Al-Muslimun wrote in August 1951, commenting on the revolution: “The revolution has completed the task of freeing the nation from colonialism and slavery. But the real task must be undertaken by a nation that is completely Muslim in thought and knowledge, in feeling and inspiration, and in practice and character—a nation upon which the implementation of Islamic law can be relied. This task can be accomplished only by those who possess clear knowledge of Islam and whose footing will never waver in the struggle between truth and falsehood.” The Brotherhood demanded that the Revolutionary Council declare the consumption of alcohol and gambling illegal in the country. But the Council established only a few basic restrictions, which did not satisfy the Brotherhood.

Three: On 10 December, Egypt’s constitution was declared abolished, and a committee of one hundred members was formed to draft a new constitution. Observing the members’ inclinations, Hasan al-Hudaybi demanded that the matter be decided by referendum: whether Islamic Shariah or a Western system should be prescribed for Egypt. But this demand became deeply displeasing to the Revolutionary Council.

Four: On 16 January 1953, the Revolutionary Council banned all political parties by law. At that time, Hasan al-Hudaybi’s experience and foresight proved highly valuable. The Muslim Brotherhood wanted to link its destiny with the army, but Hasan al-Hudaybi considered it essential to maintain its distinct identity, even though this meant staying away from minor political attractions. He therefore sent a memorandum to the Revolutionary Council, objecting to the Brotherhood’s being treated as one of the ordinary political parties and stating: “The Brotherhood is a universal religious organization; politics is only one part of its program. The Brotherhood does not seek power, nor will it participate in parliamentary elections.” In this way, the Guide saved the organization from a grave calamity.

Five: On 23 January 1953, the government party announced the establishment of “Liberation.” Members of the Brotherhood and other political parties were also invited to join it. The Brotherhood rejected the invitation. Hasan al-Hudaybi met Gamal Abdel Nasser and told him, “The revolution” reflects the hopes and aspirations of the entire nation. Therefore, the nation should not be tied to any particular party. The consequence will be that opportunists will enter it, use the organization for personal interests, and damage the image of the government and the revolution.

Six: On 22 February 1953, negotiations with Britain began for the second time. In light of its previous experience, the Brotherhood regarded the negotiations as nothing more than a means of wasting time. Moreover, it was not prepared to accept any condition that would in any way allow the British to set foot on Egyptian soil again.

Seven: While the terms of the treaty were being discussed, it was agreed that Mr. Evans, an official of the British Embassy, would meet the Brotherhood’s Guide, Amer (Hasan al-Hudaybi), to learn the Brotherhood’s view of the treaty’s terms. Mr. Evans and the Brotherhood both agreed to this. During the interview, the Guide fully supported the government’s position, and immediately summoned Major Salah Salem, the Minister of National Guidance, and gave him a detailed account of the discussion. Despite this, the Revolutionary Council accused the Brotherhood of conspiring with the British.

This was the main reason for the disagreement between the Brotherhood and the Revolutionary Council. But on 12 January 1954, an incident occurred that became the basis for declaring the Brotherhood illegal. That day, Brotherhood students were observing Martyrs’ Day on the university campus. Suddenly, several armed men arrived in a jeep belonging to the Liberation organization and entered while chanting “Allahu Akbar” and “Long live Egypt.” As soon as they were obstructed, however, they began firing their revolvers. The Brotherhood students immediately returned fire. Using this incident as a pretext, the revolutionary government banned the Brotherhood and arrested numerous leaders. Meanwhile, the Revolutionary Council also removed General Naguib from office. Great disorder broke out in the country, and intense agitation spread through the army. The opposing leadership was ultimately forced to reinstate Naguib. It even announced the lifting of the ban on the Brotherhood and other political parties. Three days after this announcement, the Liberation organization began causing severe unrest, and conditions in the country became so hostile that Naguib had to resign. All political parties except the Brotherhood were dissolved, and Gamal Abdel Nasser himself assumed the office of prime minister.

On 1 September 1953, an agreement with Britain for the withdrawal of troops was signed. The Brotherhood rejected this agreement, and heated debate began between the Brotherhood and the revolutionary leaders. On 26 October 1954, an assassination attempt was made against Gamal Abdel Nasser, for which the Brotherhood was blamed. The long episode ended with the execution of six Brotherhood leaders. Thousands of people were thrown into prison, and such an extreme steamroller of oppression and persecution was unleashed against them that even the black chapters of human history trembled at the sight. On the one hand, the revolutionary government was reviving memories of Pharaoh, Nimrod, Genghis, and Hulagu Khan; on the other, the imprisoned members of the Brotherhood were reviving the examples of Islam’s great figures, such as Bilal, Khubayb, and Sa’id ibn Jubayr, may Allah be pleased with them.

The Martyrdom of the Brotherhood’s Leaders

At this point, I present a quotation from Jamal Abdel Nasser, written by Ahmad Abu al-Fatah, editor of Egypt’s renowned daily Al-Misri. It will provide some sense of the conditions in which the execution of six Brotherhood leaders and the imprisonment of thousands of their members took place. Ahmad Abu al-Fatah writes:

“The trial of the arrested members of the Brotherhood was conducted in the court that Gamal Abdel Nasser called the People’s Court (Mahkamat al-Sha‘b). This court consisted of three judges, all of whom were Gamal Nasser’s colleagues and members of the Revolutionary Council. It should be clear that such proceedings were nothing more than a disgraceful charade. Numerous charges were brought against the defendants. Yet when they entered the courtroom, the marks of brutal torture were clearly visible on their bodies and faces. The judges, however, never once raised the matter of this cruel punishment and torture in court.”

It became clear that this court had been established to hang prominent members of the Brotherhood and imprison ordinary people. In practice, therefore, the court conducted a campaign of repression under Abd al-Nasser’s whim. The court sentenced seven people to death. One of them was the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hasan al-Hudaybi, and the remaining six were senior leaders of the organization. Their names were Advocate Abd al-Qadir—Abd al-Qadir Awda was one of the prominent leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. During Farouk’s reign, he had been a judge in the Egyptian courts. But because he did not consider it permissible to issue judgments under non-Islamic law, on account of his being a Muslim, he resigned from this high office. He then joined the Brotherhood and was promoted to the position of Deputy Guide. He wrote several books. The one that created the greatest stir among his works was Islamic Criminal Law (al-Tashri‘ al-Jina’i al-Islami), completed in two large volumes. The book was highly acclaimed by the legal community throughout the world. He wrote it in 1951. In recognition of the book’s excellence and special contribution, the government decided to award the author the Fuad I Prize. A condition was imposed, however: two sentences had to be removed from the book. One stated that Islam does not advocate hereditary monarchy; the other stated that in Islam no judge is above the law. Professor Abd al-Qadir Awda, may Allah have mercy on him, refused to erase these sentences and also rejected the prize, which was worth one thousand Egyptian pounds. He also incurred the wrath of King Farouk, because the blow of these sentences fell directly upon the king. In addition to this book, Abd al-Qadir Awda, may Allah have mercy on him, wrote several other works, including Islam and Our Legal System, Islam and Our Politics, and The Islamic Teachings of Governance, and others—Secretary-General of the Muslim Brotherhood; Shaykh Muhammad Farghali; Yusuf al-At; Ibrahim al-Tayyib; and Hindawi Daqir.”

“The judicial proceedings were condemned for oppression and persecution, revenge, trampling upon the truth, and denouncing justice and fairness. The people of Egypt and other Arab countries expressed their hatred of this policy, and protests against such blatant oppression were voiced from various corners of the Arab and Islamic world. Huge protest marches took place in the principal cities of Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Jordan, and Iraq, with slogans calling for the downfall of the military dictatorship. All the leaders of the Arab and Islamic world called for intervention in the matter and appealed to Gamal Abdel Nasser to bring this tragic chapter to an end by whatever means necessary. The newspapers of the Arab countries also attacked this policy, the court’s proceedings, and the military government in extremely sharp language. But Gamal Abdel Nasser paid no attention whatsoever to these appeals. Rather, he displayed extraordinary eagerness to carry out the executions of the Brotherhood’s leaders, although the Supreme Guide of the Brotherhood, Hasan al-Hudaybi, was spared this punishment.”

Representatives of international news agencies witnessed the executions and saw with their own eyes the defendants’ astonishing fearlessness and steadfastness, which did not diminish in the slightest even as they stood at the gallows. John Lacouetter, a correspondent for France Soir, France’s most famous newspaper, was present there. He published a detailed account of the event in his newspaper under the headline “The Courage and Boldness of Those Rushing Toward the Gallows.” He wrote that a black flag was flying at the main gate of Cairo Prison, signifying the mournful event of the execution of six leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. At the moment of their execution, they were thanking Allah, who had granted them the honor of martyrdom.

These men advanced toward death with extraordinary courage. At eight o’clock, a black flag was raised in front of the Court of Appeals, where the accused had been transferred the night before last. As usual, a cold wind was blowing outside the prison. Within the prison’s central enclosure, two gigantic executioners stood waiting as usual. They had unkempt moustaches and were dressed in black. They stood beside a half-open door, waiting. It was the door of the execution chamber. Five minutes after eight, the first man whom the security police led to the gallows was Abdul Latif. He wore a red cap, a black shirt and red trousers. His feet were bare. Moving his lips, he recited a supplication. His face shone with the same cheerfulness I had observed on the day of the court hearing. After the charges had been read, two religious scholars recited passages from the Qur’an so that the Ikhwan might be reproached for allegedly seeking to assassinate Colonel Nasser and organize a revolution by force. A third religious scholar, who was blind and known as Shaykh Saadi, delivered a speech in which he testified that Abdul Latif, by targeting Colonel Nasser, had planned to kill not merely one person but all twenty-two million Egyptians. But Allah protected the colonel for the welfare of the Egyptian people. The district administrator instructed the condemned man to recite the testimony of faith. Instead, he began saying, “I thank Allah, who has granted me the honor of martyrdom.” Martyrdom was the cherished desire of the Muslim Brotherhood. Abdul Latif refused to accept anything. In the meantime, I heard a scream. The block of wood was removed from beneath the condemned man’s feet. His heartbeat continued for three and a half minutes, after which he became still forever.

After each execution, I had to wait for half an hour. Egyptian law required the body of a condemned person to remain hanging for half an hour, so that no doubt about his death would remain.

Next, Yusuf al-At was brought in. He had been the organizational secretary of Syria. Like the previous man, he too was dressed in red and black. Between the two enormous, giant-like executioners, he appeared quite small. His body was bluish and his face swollen. As he walked past us, he looked around repeatedly with both eyes. When he reached the gallows, he expressed his wish to pray two rak‘ahs. But the executioners replied, “Pray silently.” He therefore recited the following supplication aloud—

(*************)

(Forgive me, and also those who have wronged me.) Yusuf al-At’s heartbeat ceased after only two minutes.

The third condemned man, Ibrahim Tayyar, was the leader of the secret organization in the Cairo zone. No one will be able to forget the courage he displayed here. A faint smile mixed with contempt rested on his lips. Moreover, instead of walking in the middle, he walked along one side. He looked fearlessly at those present and said in a very clear voice, “Praise be to Allah that our enemies have assumed the role of our judges. But on the Day of Resurrection, both the oppressor and the oppressed will appear before a just Judge, and that Judge will decide between them with truth and justice.” At one point he said to the executioner, “Do not bind me so tightly; the chain is tearing my arm.” With a meaningful smile, he entered through the final door.

The fourth condemned man was a lawyer. His name was Handabi Dabir. He was accused of supplying the murderer with weapons and inciting him to commit the murder. When asked whether he had any last wish, he said, “I ask Jamal Abdun Nasser for mercy.” The prison governor replied, “Your request has been conveyed to him.” He was then taken into the dark room as well.

Then it was the turn of a handsome and dignified shaykh. He was Muhammad Fargali, the Ikhwan’s renowned preacher. He came forward with a sweet smile on his face. These words were audible from his lips: “Allah is the Greatest; I am being granted the good fortune of meeting Allah.” He whispered something softly into the ear of one of the prison’s religious scholars and proceeded toward the gallows.

The sixth and final condemned man being led toward the execution platform was Shaykh Abdul Qader Awda. He was the spiritual leader of the Ikhwan movement. He alone served as the intermediary between Naguib and the Ikhwan. In court, he delivered a highly learned statement concerning the court’s decision, and when the death sentence was read to him, he accepted it with a grateful heart and a faint smile. We saw him pass before us with his head held high and his steps calm; a bright smile shone in his eyes. He recited the Qur’an in a solemn voice. Finally, he recited several Arabic poems whose meaning was: “If I can give my life in the path of Allah, I have nothing to fear.” Holding his head very high, he said, “My blood will become a curse upon the present government.” He refused to accept anything. As he walked toward the gallows, he left the appointed executioners behind and advanced on his own.

(Source: the newspaper France Soir, Paris, 8 December 1954)

These were the six men whom Abdun Nasser sentenced to death. There were also many others who silently fell into the arms of death inside the prison, and no one could even learn of their deaths. In this connection, the incident at Tarah Prison became particularly notorious. It occurred on 1 June 1957. On that day, twenty-one men were shot and torn apart inside the prison at the same time, because they had called a strike in protest against the government order that deprived these prisoners of visits from their relatives.

Abdun Nasser imprisoned fifty thousand Egyptians, and they were subjected to limitless cruelty. Even the families of these prisoners were treated with extreme inhumanity and brutality. The story of these fifty thousand prisoners and their relatives is an extremely painful and endless one. Even now, thousands of Ikhwan members are living unbearable lives in prison, most of them struggling for life and death in camps in the open desert.

I compiled this lengthy quotation from the book Jamal Abdun Nasser by Ahmad Abul Fatah, a close friend of Jamal Nasser and editor of Al-Misri. Until 1956, Ahmad Fatah was Jamal Abdun Nasser’s right-hand man. But eventually he too became a target of Jamal Nasser’s hostility and was forced to choose the path of escape from him.

Most of the quotation cited in Ahmad Abul Fatah’s book is based on the account of the Paris newspaper France Soir. I have mentioned the eyewitness account recorded by this newspaper’s correspondent solely to show, in the words of a foreign journalist, how the great event of the Ikhwan leaders’ martyrdom appeared. Otherwise, what happened to the Ikhwan leaders in prison, the humiliation inflicted upon them by a court that existed in name only, and the extraordinary character they demonstrated on the execution platform constitute a very extensive and detailed story.

Contributions

Earlier, I briefly shed light on the history and da‘wah of the Muslim Brotherhood. I wish to make clear to readers how pure and sacred the history is of a movement that was subjected to continual oppression and persecution, and for whose suppression no method other than bullets and executions was considered sufficient; how sincerely it connected every thorny chapter with Islam; and how it demonstrated genuine concern for the welfare of the country and the nation. I now wish to discuss what effect the Ikhwan movement had on Egyptian society and what measures it adopted for the comprehensive reform of Egyptian society.

I mentioned at the outset that the Muslim Brotherhood was founded at a time when, on the one hand, the throne of the Ottoman Caliphate was overturned and Turkish nationalism raised its head. On the other hand, Arab nationalism became a rival slogan. The Christian community of Lebanon and the atheists of Egypt, under the cover of Arab nationalism, greatly promoted atheism, smuggling and the worship of the West in Egypt, and many prominent Muslim intellectuals were swept along by this current. The Dar al-Ulum Club, founded under the patronage of Hefni Nasif Bey and associated with many eminent scholars, was, to speak frankly—

—a standard-bearer for keeping Egypt’s doors open to every ideology and every civilization and culture. A group of literary figures and scholarly educators considered Egypt part of Europe rather than the East, and associated themselves with the Mediterranean rather than the Red Sea. Even the thoughtful scholar Musa Salam, who was experienced in complex subjects, said that German and Chinese literature were closer to Egyptians than Arabic literature. The state of journalism was such that, after investigating Egyptian journalism in 1934, Muhibuddin al-Khatib concluded: “Our Muslim newspapers seem to be replicas of Hollywood.” Trade and commerce were not merely entirely under European control; the hotels and coffeehouses were also under their control. About one hundred thousand of these European merchants were Italian. To free themselves from these foreign merchants, the only thing Egyptian thinkers did was establish the Misr Bank. This bank was founded by Talaat Harb Pasha. In addition, Egypt’s economic independence movement was pursued through the development of Egyptian cinema and theater. The condition of the educational system was even more dismal. Foreigners had established complete dominance in this field.

Program for Bringing About an Intellectual Revolution

In these circumstances, the Ikhwan launched their movement for comprehensive reform and began reform work in every corner of Egyptian society. On the one hand, they made the educated classes the focal point of their efforts and struggles; on the other, they continued their activities among the workers and peasants. The educated classes were being swept along by powerful currents of patriotism, nationalism, national worship and atheism, while the workers and peasants were being brutally crushed in the millstones of monarchy and colonialism. They had no feeling even for life or its needs.

Thus, the Ikhwan raised their voices against apostasy, atheism, narrow nationalism and Western worship. Through their speeches and writings, the Ikhwan leaders criticized these harmful matters and clearly explained their detrimental effects. They exposed the underlying secret of the divisive slogan separating religion from the material world and presented Islam as a complete way of life. Resisting the current of Western civilization and culture, they created the beauty of Islamic civilization. Educational institutions were major centers for propagating Western civilization, culture and thought. The Ikhwan devoted full attention to this area, breathing life into the religion of Islam among students and teachers and training them for jihad instead of allowing them to waste time in useless pursuits. Fuad I University, now Cairo University, was regarded as Egypt’s greatest seat of learning. There was a time when Islam was mocked and ridiculed at this university. But as a result of the Ikhwan’s da‘wah, such a transformation took place that students supported by the Ikhwan gained a majority in the university student union. Indeed, in the words of the Palestinian writer Dr. Ishaq Musa al-Husayni, the results of the Fuad University student-union elections were as follows:

Agricultural College: The Ikhwan won all eleven seats.

Science College: There were eleven seats in total. The Ikhwan won them all.

Engineering College: The Ikhwan won seven of the ten seats.

Art College: The Ikhwan won seven of the ten seats.

Law College: Nine of the ten.

Commerce College: The Ikhwan won nine of the thirteen seats.

The Law College had once been a stronghold of students supported by the Wafd Party. But the Ikhwan’s students won nine of the ten seats there. When the Ikhwan announced its participation in the jihad in Palestine, these students joined the first ranks of the mujahidin, and they went to the Ikhwan’s camps to receive military training. The British newspapers also acknowledged that the organization exerting the greatest influence among students was the Muslim Brotherhood.

When the voice of Islam and the Islamic way of life rose from these educational institutions, it had a broad impact on every sphere of life. Educators and literary figures were influenced by it. It affected the legal profession, and within twenty-five years the face of Egyptian society changed. Those whose writings had been devoted to Western thought and philosophy, and whose criticism had always been directed against Islam, completely changed after witnessing the change in the prevailing climate. Their God-defying pens became devoted to praising Islamic history, civilization and culture, and the Islamic systems of government and society. Muhammad Husayn Haykal, author of Hayat Muhammad, may he rest in peace, is a shining example of this change. Demand for Islamic literature grew so much that even professional writers found Islamic subject matter to be a need of the times.

The voices that had proclaimed the slogan of separating religion from politics, branded Islam as ancient and outdated, and had no aim other than worshipping the masters of the country began to proclaim instead: Islam is the name of creed, faith and worship; it is also the name of country and nation. Islam is the name of religion as well as the state system; it is the name of spirituality and action, the Qur’an and the sword. This call reached every class of the nation. Its light spread from the cities to the villages and rural areas. Every individual in the nation was affected by it in one way or another. The renowned Egyptian man of letters Ahmad Zayyat wrote about this turning point of the age:

Only the Muslim Brotherhood represents pure Islamic creed and Islamic thought in this troubled society. They do not regard religion as a separate center of worship, nor do they imagine the world as an uncontrolled and perpetual marketplace. In their view, the mosque is the marketplace’s lofty pillar, and the marketplace is a part of the mosque. They possess a language of discourse and analysis. In the economic sphere, the reality of their intentions is evident. They acquire military training for jihad. In the political sphere, they have an independent outlook. They have followers in every city and influence in every Arab country. In Egypt, Sudan, Iraq and Syria, Yemen and the Hijaz, Algeria and Morocco, they will have extraordinary importance in the national awakening now being witnessed. (Risalah, 7 January 1952).

The renowned Palestinian philosopher Dr. Ishaq Musa al-Husayni wrote about the Ikhwan movement: “The official scholars had done no more than engage in linguistic disputation. The Sufi community was confined to venerating a narrow spiritual outlook. Each group afflicted with the serious disease treated only part of it. Finally, the Muslim Brotherhood appeared and filled all the gaps.”

What means and instruments did the Ikhwan choose to achieve this intellectual and practical revolution? In other words, what services did the Ikhwan render to the Egyptian kingdom? A brief account follows:

In the letter Imam Hasan al-Banna wrote to Muhammad Mahmud Pasha, after identifying all the disorders and immorality in society, it was clearly stated that various reformative measures could be adopted to eliminate them. The fundamental measures would be to thoroughly reorganize the foundations of the educational system, reform the laws, resist wrongdoing and use leisure time for beneficial activities. Accordingly, the Ikhwan began reform work in accordance with the plan set out in Imam Hasan al-Banna’s statement. The earliest manifestation of the Ikhwan’s activities took shape through speeches, discussions, and intellectual and moral reform.

This work spread especially among workers and the poor, who flocked to this call in groups. They found great peace and satisfaction in it. The Ikhwan’s instructional talks were based on several fundamental principles: teaching uneducated people to perform the prayers and fast, having them memorize some surahs of the Qur’an, and explaining the significance of the Islamic call—that Islam is not merely the name of worship and devotion, but a complete system of rules for Islamic life. The people were accustomed to civilization and morality, taught the commands and prohibitions of the Shariah, and encouraged to follow them. The current of material worship was resisted, and it was explained that Islam should be established as the guide in every aspect of life for the renewal of the East. Through practical cooperation with people in all matters of life, an exemplary way of life was presented to them. At first, the Ikhwan’s preaching and teaching were centered in mosques. But when branches were opened in different cities, they turned each branch into a training center where the public was trained in the Islamic way of life. This training phase continued for several years.

The Call to Islam Directed at Those in Power

Another means they chose to spread their call was to send da‘wah letters to the responsible leaders of the country. A lengthy letter was written to Muhammad Mahmud Pasha inviting him to revive the Islamic way of life and drawing his attention to certain reformative measures: prohibiting mixed gatherings or parties, whether governmental or private; preventing ministers and administrative officials from participating in gambling, horse racing and entertainment programs, and from publishing photographs of their wives in newspapers. Offices and courts would close at prayer times, and everyone would perform the prayer. Islamic education would be given precedence in the homes of senior officials: they would use Arabic in conversation instead of English or French and appoint Egyptian tutors for their children instead of foreign tutors. Strict punitive measures would be taken against corrupt government employees.

This letter also called upon Muhammad Mahmud Pasha to reform the law and demanded that it be reshaped according to Islamic principles. It proposed forming a committee to consider reconciling the existing law with Islamic law. In a letter to the King of Egypt, Nahas Pasha and the Arab authorities, it was stated that if they linked the Muslim ummah with genuine Islamic development, we would obey all their instructions and would not hesitate to make any sacrifice. Letters were written to Umar Tusun and Muhammad Ali Tawfiq, drawing attention to the disorder that political parties had created in the country. The nation was called upon to unite. A letter was written to the Minister of Justice, Ahmad Khashaba Pasha, demanding that Islamic law be introduced. In a letter to Nahas Pasha, the establishment of friendly relations with Muslim countries and the facilitation of Islamic brotherhood and the establishment of the Islamic Caliphate were urged. In another letter, Nahas Pasha was asked to prepare the Wafd Party’s manifesto in accordance with Islamic principles. The central perspective of all these letters from the Ikhwan was to transform the country into an Islamic state and reform society universally according to Islamic principles. To ensure the broad circulation of the letters, the Ikhwan formed a committee at its central office to arrange for their extensive dissemination.

In the Field of Journalism

The Ikhwan also made a significant contribution to journalism. In the words of the Egyptian journalist Muhibuddin al-Khatib, a change began in Hollywood-style journalism. At the beginning of the twentieth century, there were some newspapers that mentioned the name of Islam, such as Shaykh Ali Yusuf’s Al-Mu’ayyad, Mustafa Kamil’s Al-Liwa, al-Shafi‘i’s Al-Akhbar, and Shaykh Abdul Aziz Jawish’s Al-Ilm. Even so, pure jahiliyyah controlled Egyptian journalism. Finally, the Ikhwan came and called the adhan of tawhid in the temple. At first, they published their distinguished monthly magazine. Later, in 1946, they launched a daily newspaper called the Muslim Brotherhood. It became extremely popular in Egypt and other Arab countries. Through its fearless editorial policy and impartial criticism, the newspaper caused consternation in government circles. The English colonialists seethed with anger and resentment at seeing its popularity. Consequently, it was shut down several times. In addition, the Ikhwan published several weekly newspapers: Al-Ta‘aruf, Al-Shi‘ah, Al-Nadhir and Al-Shihab. After the severe trial of 1948, the Ikhwan launched Al-Mabahith, Al-Da‘wah and Al-Muslimun. In short, through its powerful journalism, the Ikhwan brought about a revolution in Egypt’s journalistic sphere. Instead of being satisfied with obscene stories and sensational news, the people began to find fulfillment in profound and constructive subjects.

In the Educational Field

The contribution made by the Ikhwan in the field of education was foremost among all their activities. At various times, the Ikhwan drew the government’s attention to the Islamic educational system. They described four objectives of education:

1. Manifesting a truthful outlook.

2. Developing an elevated moral character.

3. Making use of past experience.

4. Producing skilled people in various fields on the fundamental basis of knowledge and science.

The detailed form of the Ikhwan’s educational plan was as follows:

First: adopting an enduring and firm policy that would improve the standard of education and create unity among those classes that were equal in purpose and objective. Bringing the nation’s various cultures closer to one another, dedicating the primary stages of education to moral training and the creation of a patriotic spirit.

Second: giving special attention to the history of Islam and the history of Islamic civilization and culture.

Third: teaching religious education as a fundamental subject at every educational level.

Fourth: reconsidering the educational system and curriculum for girls and creating distinctions between the curricula of boys and girls in every branch.

Fifth: keeping away from educational institutions those who are immersed in harmful beliefs and immorality.

Sixth: giving full attention to science and distinguishing between Western philosophy and Western science.

At first, the Ikhwan confined themselves to submitting their educational schemes to the government. Later, however, they strove to implement them as far as they could. For this purpose, they formed a board and established separate primary and secondary schools and technical schools for boys and girls. To eradicate illiteracy and spread religious education among the people, madrasas, Qur’an memorization schools, and night schools for farmers and workers were opened. Several educational centers were opened for students who passed their examinations, where coaching classes were arranged under the supervision of the university. Branches were established to educate children of various ages who had been deprived of schooling because of work. Private schools were opened for boys’ education. Separate educational institutions for girls were established under the name Mothers of the Believers School. Technical education centers were also established. In short, the Ikhwan implemented an educational campaign on the basis of a comprehensive plan. Wherever the Ikhwan had branches throughout the country, not a single one lacked an educational institution under its supervision. Proof of the people’s enthusiasm for these institutions is an adult-education center where 173 workers studied together. It is quite difficult to give a complete account of these educational institutions. In Cairo alone, there were 31 educational institutions, 11 of which were colleges.

Public Welfare

The Ikhwan participated in public-welfare activities through multifaceted programs. To administer these programs, they established a separate department called Public Welfare. The Ikhwan began this work at the earliest stage of the movement. When the Ikhwan was declared illegal during the era of Pasha al-Nuqrashi, there were five hundred public-welfare centers established by the Ikhwan in Egypt. In 1945, the Ministry of Social Affairs assumed supervision of these centers in accordance with the law. These centers assisted deserving people with goods and money. They met the needs of the needy with funds collected from zakat, sadaqah, and sacrificial-animal hides. They arranged means of earning for the unemployed and sometimes employed them in business with sufficient capital. Patients were treated free of charge. Food was supplied to the poor at low prices. Educational facilities were provided among the workers. The Ikhwan formed a special committee for the reform and development of rural inhabitants. In rural areas, the poor and needy were helped in various ways, and local disputes were settled through village councils.

When the Ikhwan was fully restored during the era of Pasha al-Nahhas, it adopted an extensive public-welfare plan in conjunction with its various programs. It began with the establishment in Cairo of a mosque, a medical center, a library, and an auditorium. Under this plan, arrangements were made to care for mosques that had been lying unused. In Cairo alone, twenty-five mosques were operated under the Ikhwan’s supervision. For some of them, the Ikhwan bore all the expenses itself, while in others it assumed only the duties of imam and khatib, entirely without remuneration.

The Ikhwan’s center had a separate department for the welfare of farmers and workers, which addressed their various problems. A workers’ center was opened where workers were trained regarding their rights and duties and taught about labor law. A team of lawyers specializing in labor law worked in this department. Similarly, the Ikhwan’s contribution in the agricultural field was also considerable. Its agricultural department informed farmers about new agricultural methods and taught them ways to protect crops from all the dangers of the sky and the earth. The Ikhwan had to undertake all these activities because the state paid no attention to them at all. Alongside the religious call, this religious movement was gaining a deep and broad influence that could not be achieved merely through speeches and addresses.

A separate board also worked in the field of social welfare. This department consisted of people experienced in social affairs and professors. They implemented and supervised social-development plans. In its final days, the Ikhwan worked to realize a plan to build a model city in the Cairo region known as Old Egypt. For this purpose, it purchased land and intended to establish a clean settlement there for middle- and lower-income people.

In the Economic Field

The Ikhwan’s contribution in the economic field was all-encompassing. To strengthen the national economy, they established various companies whose profits were distributed on the basis of mudarabah, with workers also holding a share in those profits.

1. Islamic Company: It began operations in 1939 with capital amounting to four thousand pounds. The Ikhwan’s members also became extremely interested in it, and its capital rose from four thousand pounds to twenty thousand pounds. This company introduced several ordinary bus services. It established a factory manufacturing fuel-oil stoves, whose products found demand not only in Egypt but beyond it as well. The company also established a cement factory.

2. Arab Company: It began in 1947 with capital of six thousand pounds. The company imported modern stone-cutting machinery worth thousands of pounds. But when the organization was declared illegal, its reserves were left ownerless, and the company suffered losses of thousands of pounds.

3. Textile Company: In 1948, this company opened a cloth-manufacturing factory with eight thousand pounds. Sixty artisans worked in the factory. It produced high-quality poplin, silk, gabardine, and other fine fabrics, which were sold at fair prices.

4. Islamic Publications Company: It was launched with an investment of seventy thousand pounds.

5. Daily Newspaper Company: Its initial capital was fifty thousand pounds. On May 5, 1946, a daily newspaper was launched by this company, which played a significant role in promoting the struggle for independence and Islamic civilization and culture.

6. Trading and Engineering Company: It began with capital of fourteen thousand pounds. The company earned an excellent reputation in engineering and house construction.

7. Commercial Company: Its headquarters was in Cairo, and it had branches in various parts of the country. The company operated on the fundamental principle of mutual cooperation. It supplied essential household goods at low prices.

The Ikhwan’s contribution in the medical field also included seventeen charitable clinics and one hospital in Cairo alone. Patients were admitted to this hospital. Millions of people received free medical care from these clinics. Doctors specializing in various diseases served as physicians there either without remuneration or for a small allowance.

This is a brief account of the contributions of the great religious movement of the Islamic world—the movement that Egypt’s President Nasser expended all his strength and resources over twelve years to crush. In addition, it faced Western and capitalist imperialism, as well as Israel, all of whom regarded it as a major obstacle.

Egypt and the Ikhwan

[This article was written in September 1966 on the occasion of the martyrdom of Sayyid Qutb (may Allah have mercy on him). The picture of Egypt presented here relates to that period.]

The conflict between Nasser and the Ikhwan, which had continued since 1945, has now once again reached an extremely tragic stage. In 1954, six prominent leaders of the Ikhwan were hanged. Now three more have been hanged, among them the renowned figure Sayyid Qutb. A long list of charges has been brought against them. But the greatest and most terrible charge is that they wanted to assassinate President Nasser. In addition, they were allegedly planning to carry out a bloody revolution in the country with weapons. Before examining the mystery behind these charges and the Ikhwan’s response to them, it is necessary to investigate the causes that actually operated deep within this conflict.

In recent years, thoughtful and patriotic circles in Egypt had not been satisfied with the manner in which the Egyptian government conducted its foreign policy, and this discontent gradually turned into intense anger, irritation, and agitation. The Egyptian nation is fundamentally devoted to Islam and has a profound connection with Islamic history. Islamic knowledge and science have been cultivated there for centuries. It has always been connected with the Islamic world. In the recent past, many reformers, scholars, and powerful groups engaged in the religious call have passed through its midst. Apart from particular sections of the urban population, the ordinary inhabitants—most of whom were rural farmers—were deeply attached to Islam, and the profound influence of Islamic life and conduct was evident in their social life. The ways in which this Muslim nation became a victim of international politics are as follows:

Egypt’s foreign policy did not regard the problems and crises of the Islamic world as the problems of Islam or Muslims. Rather, it judged them through the farsighted spectacles of those groups whose subservience brought them prestige, or it remained subject to the personal interests and expediencies of Egypt’s rulers. This erroneous outlook left Egypt’s foreign policy without a foundation and opportunistic. On the one hand, the Egyptian government considered hostility toward Israel its foremost and ultimate objective; on the other hand, it maintained deep connections with countries that not only supported Israel but were devoted to its development and advancement. It had friendly relations with Yugoslavia. It maintained extremely close relations with Haile Selassie of Abyssinia, even though he was a killer of Muslims and was clearing the African continent of obstacles for Israel. In the Muslim-populated areas of Eritrea, he permitted several Israeli companies to conduct business and trade. Once, while addressing the American Congress, he said:

I will turn all these Abyssinian Muslims who live in my empire into Christians within the next twenty years.

Makarios was so dear in the eyes of the Egyptian government that he was even given military assistance against Turkey. More recently, it was announced from Nicosia that if Turkey attacked Cyprus, Egyptian rockets would arrive there in response. Makarios was not some unknown or insignificant figure. He ruthlessly killed Turkish Cypriots, which in reality served British imperialism behind the facade of the Orthodox Church. When Makarios visited Egypt, he said in praise of President Nasser:

He was an extremely close friend of ours; indeed, he did not even mention Palestine during our discussions.

The unwarranted use of force by the Egyptian government and Egypt’s rulers cast Syria forever into the abyss of a dark future. The passionate friendship Syria had established with Egypt demanded that the Syrians’ great historic sacrifice be honored and that Egypt assist in resolving the internal crisis that had driven them to seek refuge under Egypt’s wing. Everyone knew that Syria, frightened by the Communist backbiting, had attached itself to Egypt. But because the Egyptian authorities heated up the market of looting in Syria, Syria found it necessary to separate from Egypt, and the situation now is that they have fallen from the sky and become stuck in a date palm. Before this, Egypt had rendered Sudan ineffective. No sooner had the trap of Nile Valley unity been constructed than it was torn apart. The Egyptian government’s dictatorial treatment of Naguib turned the Sudanese people against Egypt. Now, instead of correcting its previous mistakes, the Egyptian government continues to commit the offense of making even more mistakes. Since Sudan’s present government did not favor unity with Egypt, the Egyptian rulers incited the Communists of southern Sudan against the Sudanese government in order to discredit it and place it in difficulty. The Sudanese government even traced the source of the Egyptian weapons that had entered southern Sudan from Egypt.

Let us now turn to the problem of Yemen. The reality is that the Yemen problem not only became a source of disgrace for Egypt because of the Egyptian government’s unlawful policy; in the words of Israeli radio, it also stained the brow of the entire Islamic world. Egyptian troops remained in Yemen for three years. The oppression and persecution they inflicted on the Yemeni tribes during those three years deserve a separate detailed account. During these three years, Egypt spent one billion pounds on its troops, and to this day five hundred thousand pounds is being spent daily. Nearly one hundred thousand people lost their lives in the war, including ten thousand Egyptian soldiers, with the remainder being inhabitants of Yemen. On the one hand there were the claims of Arab nationalists; on the other, this massacre of Arab brothers became a source of anxiety for every patriotic citizen. Egyptians whose children fell victim to death in the mountains of Sana’a and Taiz expressed especially strong opposition to this war. The Egyptian government propagated that those killed in the war in Yemen were martyrs for freedom. But how can a Muslim conscience accept that Muslims should cut one another’s throats and yet attain the status of martyrdom? In this situation, the entire Arab world, the Yemeni people, and the Egyptian nation were left bewildered. The Egyptian army itself also grew discontented; even Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi and Kamal al-Din Hussein, close friends of President Nasser who were regarded as his right-hand men, expressed dissatisfaction with the war. In return, they were subjected to reprimand.

Egypt’s connection with the Palestine problem is extremely close. In light of the stage through which this problem has passed, it has continued to move farther from every possible solution, and now the Arab people are compelled to wonder whether the Egyptian government intends to make a sincere effort to resolve it properly while Israel’s influence continues to grow day by day. First, the Egyptian government has maintained friendly relations with countries that not only support Israel but could cooperate in suppressing it; with those countries, the Egyptian government has adopted an inhumane policy. Indeed, the matter has reached the stage of open conflict. The clear defects in Egypt’s policy toward the Palestine problem were that it supported the unauthorized entry of the United Nations Emergency Force into Gaza, thereby effectively opening the region to Israel’s unrestricted movement. This was precisely the area from which Arab volunteers secretly entered Israel and conducted guerrilla operations. United Nations police now do not allow Arab volunteers to enter this region, while Israel is calmly implementing its economic aims there. Similarly, by supporting United Nations control in the West Bank, the Egyptian government effectively handed it over to the Jews. Before the establishment of United Nations control, the Jews would not have dared to make any declaration in this region, yet now they have built a large port in the Eilat area, and their ships travel proudly to African countries. All restrictions on opening this gulf have been removed, a matter that had caused Israel severe concern and left it suffering from extreme economic depression. Now it is freely establishing its commercial markets in African countries, and most of those countries are becoming entangled in its trap of deception.

These changes occurred before the eyes of the Egyptian government because of its own mistakes. The sight set the hearts of the Arab people ablaze. But instead of taking appropriate measures to remedy the situation, the Egyptian government is declaring that the only solution to the Palestine problem is the unity of the socialist and revolutionary governments of the Arab countries—that is, the Muslims of the world will unite over this matter under those who champion socialism. Addressing a session of the Palestine Liberation Organization, President Nasser said:

I state clearly that we have no strength even for self-defense, although we are in a position to attack. The issue of diverting the course of the Jordan River should be postponed for the time being.

During his visit to France, Abd al-Hakim Amer said in an address in Paris: The United Arab Republic has neither the desire nor the intention to wage war against Israel.

It was during this visit that the Egyptian government received thousands of dollars from France. A certain Egyptian army officer, Brigadier Muhammad Fawzi, mentions this on page 131 of his book entitled Judaism and Israel.

Some people recognize war as the solution to the Palestine problem. This is completely irrational. This solution contradicts the United Nations agreement to which the Arab countries have given their signatures. It also violates the policy of permanent peace, whose standard-bearer is Egypt.

This book was included in the syllabus of Cairo’s Military Training College. Is it really so complicated that the Muslim people of Egypt cannot understand that the Egyptian government can spend one billion pounds in Yemen and deploy sixty thousand soldiers, yet has no means or resources for resolving the Palestine problem?

The subject currently on everyone’s lips throughout the Arab world, and indeed the Islamic world, is Islamic unity. At their previous meeting, the Conference of Arab Leaders passed a resolution stating that the Palestine problem should not be confined to the Arabs alone, but should be recognized as a problem of all Muslims, and that the assistance and cooperation of Muslim governments should therefore be sought. The leader of the Golden Land proposed that the Muslim countries should unite over certain of their problems. For this purpose, a conference of Muslim leaders should be held. King Faisal of Saudi Arabia supported this proposal and actively took up this call. Conscience demanded that the Egyptian government come forward to support this call—not merely that, but that it join its vanguard. Yet, on the contrary, the Egyptian government was the first to oppose it. It was neither prepared to become involved in the plan itself nor willing to allow other countries under its influence to join it. Instead of answering the plan with arguments, it resorted to abuse. The question is: if the socialist and revolutionary governments of the Arab countries can unite and make the ideals of revolution and socialism the basis of their unity, why should unity on the fundamental basis of Islam be forbidden? Moreover, the language and methods used by the Egyptian government in criticizing its opponents—if the Arab leaders are placed among its opponents—were neither in keeping with Islamic character nor with Arab principles. Indeed, even the ethics of demonic policy could not tolerate them. For example: so-and-so is not from the Sayyid lineage but from the lineage of Satan; so-and-so is the son of a Jew; and so on. Could such language be the language of propaganda used by any respectable and civilized government? The people of Egypt are not so foolish that they would fail to be distressed on seeing their country’s spokesman use language in this manner.

Egypt’s internal situation is also noteworthy here. As I mentioned at the very beginning, most of the Egyptian people are innocent, simple-natured peasants. The peasants’ relationship with Islam is as strong as an old woman’s faith could be. Like Muslims in other countries, they have only one desire and aspiration: that Islam should spread in Egypt, Islamic education should advance, Islamic law should be honored, and their leaders should follow Islamic Sharia and walk in the footsteps of their predecessors. But the situation is not merely leaving the people’s aspirations unfulfilled; it is trampling them underfoot.

The constitutionally empowered Egypt Charter clearly declared that a socialist system would be introduced in the country. President Nasser explained this socialist system in terms of ideological socialism, while the Egyptian newspapers explained it as Marxism. Until the reign of Farouk, the constitution had at least included the statement, “The religion of the state shall be Islam.” But the Egypt Charter was completely free of this conservatism. The socialist system was not merely professed; it was implemented in practice in Egypt. Egypt’s sole party, the Arab Socialist Party, took responsibility for implementing it into its own hands. Egypt’s Socialist Party announced that it was dissolving itself and merging into the Arab Socialist Party. After the entry of socialism, the Egyptian government established sweeping control over private property and companies in a manner that kindled fear and a desire for revenge among the people. Egypt’s economic condition reached the brink of ruin. According to Al-Ahram itself, Cairo became a city of beggars. In reality, it was not the farmers and workers who benefited from this socialism, but the leaders of the Arab Socialist Party, from whose fraud and plunder no respectable person was spared. From a moral perspective, it can be seen that Egypt’s major cities, Cairo and Alexandria, were transformed into haunts of obscenity and sin. Communists and atheists gathered in the world of newspapers and periodicals. They continued to encourage consumerism and moral decline as they pleased. In their eyes, those who regularly performed prayers, drank coffee, and abstained from theaters and cinemas were conservatives, agents of imperialism, and deserving of the death penalty.

The greatest danger to befall Egypt was the revival of Pharaonic civilization. The Egypt Charter stated: “We shall take the blueprint for our development from the civilization of the Pharaonic era.” A statue of Ramesses (the Pharaoh of Egypt) was moved from the site of its original architecture and installed in the center of Cairo, at a cost of five hundred thousand pounds. In one speech, President Nasser addressed the people, saying, “O descendants of Taha-Tamun and Ramesses!” Likewise, during another speech he said, “For the first time in two thousand years, the Egyptians themselves have today been given the opportunity to govern Egypt.” In other words, in his view, the eras of all non-Egyptian Muslim rulers from the time of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) to the present had been eras of imperialism. After the Pharaonic era, Egypt had now, for the first time, gained independence from the grip of imperialism. This audacity went so far that the Egypt Charter caused two copies each of the Gospel and the Holy Qur’an to be buried at the foundations of the temple and statues of Abu Simbel. Can we expect even an uneducated Muslim to remain silent about placing the Qur’an beneath a Pharaonic idol, and can his sense of honor rooted in faith accept it?

All this was happening at a time when civil liberties had been taken away, the newspapers were under government control, and press freedom had been abolished. The editor of Egypt’s renowned newspaper Al-Misri, Abul Fatah, was living in exile. The editor of another famous newspaper, Mustafa Amin, who had been lavish in his praise of the Egyptian government, was being held under house arrest in prison and was then accused of spying for America. Communist newspapers were flooding the market like water. Muhammad Hassanein Heikal, editor of Al-Ahram, and Asad Ahmad, an announcer on Radio Cairo, regularly explained socialism to the people. One group even won over the scholars of Al-Azhar, who proved Islam to be socialist. Egypt’s atmosphere trembled and the skies seemed to split with the echoes of praise and glorification of socialism. According to the Egyptian newspapers, plots to assassinate President Nasser were being made every day, and it was believed that one conservative group or another was active behind them. In reality, when various factories, offices, and courts in Egypt were nationalized—or, in plain terms, placed under the control of the Socialist Party—the production and income of these institutions fell to zero, while expenses increased nearly twofold compared with before.

That is one side of the overall picture. Now the other side must be mentioned: the bitter pill that the Arab Socialist Party and Egypt’s ruling group sought to force down the people’s throats could not be swallowed by them. Millions of pounds were spent to make the Egypt Charter’s praise and virtues acceptable to the Egyptian people. But the people refused to accept it. They regarded it not only as a deception but also as a subtle covering for a communist constitution. The entire state apparatus was devoted to playing an active role in reviving Pharaonic civilization. The image of the Pharaoh was printed on the Egyptian pound. The Pharaoh’s likeness was also printed on postage stamps. The eagle, a symbol of the Pharaonic era, was engraved on Egyptian currency. Roads were named Ramesses Road, parks Ramesses Gardens, and a cinema Ramesses Cinema. Motor cars manufactured in Egypt were named Ramesses. But the Muslim people of Egypt are raining a thousand curses upon this civilization, and they view Pharaoh from the perspective in which the followers of Moses (peace be upon him) and Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) ought to view him. Similarly, limitless efforts were made to conceal the government’s continuing errors and failures in Yemen. Soldiers who died in Yemen were given the title of martyrs to conceal their subjugation. Attempts were made to placate their relatives in various ways. Nevertheless, a section of the Egyptian army and the Egyptian people became deeply resentful of this flattery.

On the other hand, whatever any Islamist said—whether he supported the Ikhwan or belonged to the opposing side—was heard far and wide among the people. The leaders and workers of the Muslim Brotherhood had lived imprisoned in jails since the latter part of 1954. Even imagining political activity was impossible for them. Yet their learned men, whether in prison or outside it, rendered whatever service they could to preserve Islam within the country intellectually and ideologically. They wrote on various subjects of Islam. During the preceding ten years, a vast body of literature had been produced in Egypt on tafsir, hadith, fiqh, Islamic history, and the Islamic way of life. It was so extensive in various fields that people could not help encouraging the writers and praising the publishers. Today, in addition to the two-volume famous work on Islamic criminal law by the martyr Abd al-Qadir Awda, we find six large works on this subject by the renowned Egyptian researcher and philosopher Fathi Wasdi. A rare compilation on Islamic international law by a judge of the Linata Court of Appeal is also available. The collected writings of Muhammad Qutb, Abdullah al-Samman, and Muhammad Husayn on philosophical discussions of the Islamic way of life are available. A long series of biographies of jurists, exegetes, hadith scholars, leaders, linguists, and historians of Islamic history, entitled Famous Islamic Personalities, is available to us and was published by Egyptian publishers. In short, learned and scholarly people wrote thousands upon thousands of books in this period and strove to demonstrate Islam’s superiority intellectually and ideologically. This conservative literature achieved wide acceptance among the Egyptian people. Egypt’s libraries were filled with it, and these were the works most buyers could be seen carrying under their arms.

For Egypt’s Communist Party (currently known as the Arab Socialist Party), this situation was heart-rending. To transform Egyptian socialist society—in plain terms, communist society—it was considered extremely necessary to eradicate these conservative ideas and conservative writers completely. According to what we know, the communist leaders prepared a lengthy report and sent it to Moscow, clearly stating that so long as even one person from the conservative group remained in Egypt, Egypt would not become a suitable place for us.

The political condition of Egypt can also be inferred from the fact that, as a result of the Egyptian rulers’ reckless expenditures, the Syrians became rebellious within only three years and ultimately secured Syria’s independence. But where this reckless conduct continued for twelve years, it is easy to imagine how extreme the bitterness and discontent became. The Egyptian people’s open expression of dissatisfaction with Egypt’s rulers occurred when Mustafa al-Nahhas Pasha died in 1964, millions attended his funeral, and clashes broke out between the police and the people at the funeral. To suppress this discontent, a law was passed on October 11, 1965, granting the president the power to arrest anyone for political reasons without filing a case, with no right of appeal against him anywhere.

On the other hand, the Yemen problem reached such a stage that even if the Egyptian people tore their heads apart in anguish, it would not be enough. For three years, the Egyptian army devastated Yemen. Ten million pounds were spent. Ten thousand Egyptian youths—or twenty-five thousand, according to another account—were sacrificed in this war. Egypt’s economic backbone was broken. Even the last remaining strength available for confronting Israel was destroyed, and the various parties in Yemen, including supporters of Sallal and collaborators of Badr, would all sit together and resolve the problem, whether today or tomorrow, directly and personally or through someone else’s mediation. In the end, the consequence of this grave error was mental turmoil and severe unrest within the Egyptian army. The solution adopted for this unrest was also to create fear and terror in the country. If criticism or a harsh opinion appeared anywhere, it would be suppressed before the appropriate time.

The communist gathering held in Sudan was extremely alarming. Egyptian communists made every effort to shelter the Sudanese communists. The rebels of southern Sudan were incited so that disorder would arise inside Sudan and Muslims’ attention would be diverted from the communists. But through the united efforts of all Islamist members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan, the communists were kept suppressed there. The Egyptian communists and the Russian Communist Party decided to retaliate against Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. To them, the Brotherhood members were all the same, whether Egyptian, Sudanese, Jordanian, Syrian, Iraqi, or Saudi. Their da’wah and their organization were also one.

On the basis of these reasons and this outlook, when President Nasser visited Moscow in August 1965, he said in a speech at a conference there: “The Brotherhood had planned to assassinate me, but the plot was exposed. I forgave them in the past, but I will not forgive them now.”

On the one hand, he disclosed this assassination plot in Moscow; on the other, mass arrests began in Egypt. By attacking the Brotherhood, President Nasser won the satisfaction of several groups and achieved various aims: he pleased the Russians and the Egyptian Communist Party, which was pro-Russian. By pleasing the Russians, foreign aid increased, and the Egyptian Communist Party also shed the stigma attached to it in the country through the widespread publication of conservative ideas about it. America was similarly pleased, because from America’s perspective, suppressing Islamists was a thousand times better and more beneficial than suppressing communists. The Jews were also satisfied, because the Brotherhood supported the Muslim rebels in Eritrea, and their favorable attitude had become a problem for the Salami rulers. A powerful instrument for creating fear and terror emerged in Egypt. This was intended to ensure that if anyone else became possessed by the devil, he would learn from the Brotherhood’s fate and would not make socialism and the Yemen problem objects of criticism.

It is impossible to finish describing the merciless manner in which the Egyptian intelligence police arrested Brotherhood workers after the so-called plot was exposed, or the brutal treatment they inflicted on women during house-to-house searches of Brotherhood members’ homes. There are even cases in which a husband and wife were arrested while their innocent child was left alone in the house. The parents insisted that their nursing infant also be arrested so that it would not die of hunger and thirst alone in the house but could spend its days in prison. However, the Egyptian police rejected their request, and no one else was willing to care for the child, because anyone expressing a desire to do so would itself become suspect. These arrests created a frightening situation throughout Egypt. Since the Brotherhood had greater influence among the peasants, this impoverished population became the principal target of the Egyptian police’s retaliation. Two incidents occurred that made the situation extremely delicate: one was the Kardasa incident and the other was the Miyat incident.

Kardasa is a village on the coast. Several intelligence-police officers went there in search of Brotherhood workers and, during the search, raided a house. When they learned that no Brotherhood member was there, they arrested one of the women of the house and dragged her away. After the village peasants learned of this, they abandoned their work, rushed into the village, and attacked the police station. Sticks and stones were exchanged on both sides. One police officer was killed in the incident, and the rest fled. The victorious group of peasants returned to the village chanting slogans of “Down with them.” Later, when they learned that the police had called for military assistance and that the entire village was being surrounded with artillery, the peasants also took defensive measures nearby. But artillery fire by the army reduced the entire village to ruins. Countless people were killed; those who survived were arrested, and their homes were looted. The Swiss newspaper L’Express reported in its December 10, 1965 issue that the villagers of Kardasa had confronted Ab Nasser’s troops with weapons when they raided the village to arrest a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The other incident took place in Miyat, located on the coast of the Roman Sea, 130 miles east of Cairo. A police unit entered the village in search of Brotherhood members. The police wanted to search a fisherman’s boat, but he kept delaying out of fear that the police would take all the fish he had caught. Such audacity by the fisherman was contrary to the police’s authority and dignity. Therefore, the police shot and killed him without hesitation. His fellow fishermen cried out at this brutal scene of abuse, and people from the surrounding area rushed to help them. Thousands gathered within moments. Moved by the helplessness of the poor fishermen, they began demonstrating against the police in Miyat and the government, chanting slogans calling for the Egyptian ruler’s downfall. In their agitation, they trampled on the picture of the Syrian leader displayed in the shops. The local administration contacted the higher administration and called for military assistance to suppress the demonstration. Egyptian forces then arrived and surrounded Miyat. What happened afterward is beyond imagination. In its December 4, 1965 issue, the Cairo newspapers reported the incident as a clash between a smuggler and the police. But according to a report by Joint Press News of America, at least sixteen people from the village were killed, and Marshal Abdel Hakim Amer enjoyed this in a most matter-of-fact manner. United Press of America stated that the dead were buried without ritual washing or shrouds. In addition, the soldiers took thousands of people away as prisoners. Reuters and Agence France reported the incident with great importance.

According to the latest reports, by the end of December 1965 more than forty thousand Brotherhood workers had been arrested. London’s Daily Telegraph wrote on October 11, 1965, that twenty thousand people had so far been arrested and that arrests were still continuing throughout the country.

Among those arrested were approximately twenty-eight women. In addition, the families of those arrested were exiled to remote parts of the country. Thus, a London Jewish newspaper, the Jewish Observer, gleefully reported in its November 28, 1965 issue the welcome news that that week’s reports confirmed that 4,500 families of arrested Brotherhood members had been exiled to distant, desolate areas.

According to Egyptian government sources, those arrested were divided into two groups. A small number were people against whom the Egyptian government had brought charges; their number was fewer than four hundred. The majority were people against whom no charge had been brought.

Notable persons among those arrested were:

1. Hasan Ismail al-Hudaybi: He was approximately seventy-four years old. Before establishing a formal relationship with the Brotherhood, he was legal adviser to the Cairo Supreme Court. After the martyrdom of the late Hasan al-Banna in 1948, he was elected the Brotherhood’s General Guide (central president). Since he was a lawyer, he made extensive efforts during his tenure to ensure that the organization observed the law. However, in some circles of the Brotherhood he faced criticism because of his legal strictness and inflexibility over minor matters. When the Brotherhood was struck by a second calamity in 1954, he too was arrested and sentenced to death. The sentence was later commuted because of his age. He was subjected to limitless torture in prison, causing his physical condition to deteriorate so severely that the government was forced to release him. From then on, he spent his days under house arrest. Later he was arrested again on charges of plotting an assassination and sentenced to three years of hard labor.

2. Mamun al-Hudaybi: He was Hasan al-Hudaybi’s son and was also a legal adviser to the Cairo Supreme Court. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

3. Ismail al-Hudaybi: He was another son of Hasan al-Hudaybi. He was a lawyer by profession. He was sentenced to one year of hard labor.

4. Sayyid Qutb: He was approximately sixty years old. Before joining the Brotherhood, he held the post of school inspector in Egypt’s Ministry of Education. He became a member of the Brotherhood in 1953. He too was arrested in 1954, and the People’s Court sentenced him to death; the sentence was commuted because of his age. In August 1964, the Egyptian government released him on the recommendation of the late Abd al-Salam Arif. But just one year later, in August 1965, he was arrested again and hanged.

5. Muhammad Qutb: He was Sayyid Qutb’s elder brother. He was the author of several books. He had no organizational relationship with the Brotherhood. His famous books include:

1. Man in the Eyes of Materialism and Islam,

2. Islam in the Maze of Error,

3. The Ignorance of the Twentieth Century,

The widespread popularity of these books ultimately led to his arrest. He also established his own publishing house, which published his works, as well as books by Sayyid Qutb and other Islamic writers. When he was arrested, the government also confiscated his publishing house. Muhammad Qutb was subjected to inhuman torture in prison, and similar torture was inflicted on his sister, Amina Qutb.

6. Professor Salih Abu Raqiq:He was the Arab League’s Central Legal Adviser.

7. Muhammad Farid Abdul Khaliq:He was one of Egypt’s renowned educationists.

8. Professor Munir Walla:During Farouk’s reign, he was the Legal Adviser to the Council of State.

Among the notable women arrested were:

1. Sayyida Zaynab al-Ghazali.She was over sixty years old. She was the leader of the women’s organization. While giving her testimony before the tribunal, she said, “What was the need to bring false charges against me? And if my life was wanted, here it is, ready to be taken.” She was sentenced to ten years’ rigorous imprisonment.

2. The wife of Hasan al-Hudaybi, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood.

3. Sayyida Khalida, the daughter of Hasan al-Hudaybi.

4. The wife of Ismail al-Hudaybi (Hasan al-Hudaybi’s daughter-in-law).

5. Sayyida Hamida Qutb. Sayyid Qutb’s sister. She was sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment.

6. The wife of Professor Abdul Halim al-Washahi.

It is also important to mention how those arrested were treated in prison and what happened to their families. I have described above how most of the families of those arrested were sent to distant, desolate areas so that they could neither seek any kind of assistance or intervention nor receive the sympathy of the public. The families of those arrested were not even permitted to meet their relatives and friends or exchange letters with them. Most people were arrested—or, in other words, abducted—in such circumstances that their families knew nothing about them. There were thousands of families without anyone to manage or support them.

Moreover, under a government law, those among the arrested who held government jobs were deprived of their salaries, allowances, and other legal rights. For example, if anyone among those arrested was a government employee, he too would be dismissed from his job, his salary would be stopped, and none of his close relatives would be given financial assistance. Ordinary people were also instructed not to provide the relatives of those arrested with cash or any other kind of assistance. It was announced that anyone committing this offense would receive the appropriate punishment. All the movable and immovable property of those arrested was confiscated. The Paris newspaper Ravmandi reported in its issue number 65 of December 23 that, under a law issued by the Egyptian government, the government was authorized to confiscate the property of political detainees. Families living in rented or government housing were expelled from their homes at the police’s direction and left helpless under the open sky.

Since the purpose of Communist advisers was operating behind these arrests, the arrests were not confined to the Muslim Brotherhood alone. In reality, these acts of persecution and repression had two objectives: first, the existence of conservative writers and preachers; second, conservative thought and outlook. It is clear that Communism would not be able to prosper in this country until it had been purged of these two things.

The first attack, aimed at eliminating conservative writers and preachers, was launched against the Muslim Brotherhood. Then attention was turned toward Egypt’s other religious organizations. Each of them was somehow shown to be connected with the assassination plot. The Muhammad Youth Organization, Jamiyyat al-Sharia, the Tablighi Jamaat, and Ansar al-Sunnah al-Muhammadiyah held strong differences with the Muslim Brotherhood and regarded political involvement as traditionally prohibited. Nevertheless, these organizations were persecuted, their supporters were arrested, and they were accused of benefiting from the religious emotions and sentiments of these young people and bringing them within their sphere of influence. Most of the inhabitants of Asyut were Christians. Jamiyyat al-Sharia had built a mosque for the Muslim minority there, along with a club for the young people’s recreation, because he frequented a club managed by a religious organization.

To free the country from conservative thought, the maktabs were sealed and the books in which its germs were supposedly found were confiscated. We have a long list of books that were declared illegal in Egypt during the preceding few months. Besides books by Muslim Brotherhood writers, it also included books by other writers whom the government had similarly designated. The presses that generally printed Islamic literature were sealed. I met Muhammad al-Madani, owner of Cairo’s famous Al-Madani Press. As he personally told me about the destruction of his press, he said that it had been destroyed solely because, instead of printing Communist literature, it printed Islamic literature. For this reason, I will say without hesitation that this conflict is in reality a conflict between Islam and Communism, and between belief and atheism. To judge it merely as the madness of a few individuals and imagine that it ends with their execution is not a correct assessment of the situation.

The charges brought against the Muslim Brotherhood in the government’s press release are now set out:

The first charge was that the Muslim Brotherhood had established a secret organization led by Sayyid Qutb. The organization collected financial assistance and other supplies for the accused. It trained people to plan the assassination of President Nasser and the destruction of special trains, and it had enlisted the assistance of some women in this training.

Basically, this was not a new charge. Nor was it any special charge against the Egyptian government or the Muslim Brotherhood. Every person in power has brought such charges against his opponents in every age; Communist countries and states under their influence have proved especially skilled at fabricating such accusations. Can this charge be supported merely because it was stated in an official press release? Anyone of ordinary intelligence would ask: thousands of Brotherhood members were imprisoned in 1954. Their families lived in boundless hardship and destitution. Sayyid Qutb himself was released after ten years, and within a year he was arrested a second time. He remained under close surveillance even after his release. How could conscience accept that he had formed such a vast conspiracy in so short a time and collected such an enormous quantity of weapons as would overthrow the government? When the police of a government capable of having suspected persons packed into boxes in Rome and brought to Cairo were present, could anyone even imagine such a conspiracy? It is also noteworthy that the indictment stated that the accused continued planning to overthrow the government until 1959. Did Sayyid Qutb supervise this plan from prison and seek the help of his own sister and a sixty-year-old woman, Zaynab al-Ghazali, to distribute instructions for carrying it out? What, then, is the evidence for this charge? Radio and newspaper propaganda is not evidence at all, and the secret behind the manner in which this charge was presented in such a court was exposed by the impartial international organization Amnesty International.

However, the important work the Muslim Brotherhood carried out in recent years was providing financial assistance to the abandoned and helpless families of the thousands imprisoned in 1954. The Egyptian government freely poured money and resources into its intelligence police, media, the Arab Socialist Party, and similar institutions, but never considered it necessary to allocate even a penny for the livelihood of the prisoners’ families. Yet it was its responsibility to provide the innocent children, wives, and elderly mothers of those imprisoned for long periods for political reasons with financial assistance for the minimum necessities of life. Does Marxism not even have a basic principle for protecting these people’s families from starvation? Does Marxism permit only the ruling party to fill its bags with money and resources, while no one else has any right to them? Will only the non-Egyptian children of the martyr Lumumba receive all educational opportunities through Egyptian government grants, while the helpless, impoverished children of Abdul Qader Audah have no right to any of this? Yet there is a long list of the close relatives living in the homes of thousands of prisoners. Has anyone considered whether their mothers, wives, daughters, and nursing infants have enough to eat twice a day?

But Egypt was not entirely devoid of compassionate and sympathetic people. A group of school, college, and university students went from house to house among well-wishers, collected donations from them, and delivered them as needed to the helpless families of each prisoner. The Egyptian government also considered this group a secret organization. They were not beyond the notice of Egypt’s intelligence police. They were not members of the Muslim Brotherhood either; many young people did this solely out of humanitarian concern and a desire for public welfare. In addition, many honest people who had not the slightest connection with the Muslim Brotherhood gave them financial assistance for this charitable work solely out of fear of God and human sympathy. No respectable person imagined that this could be considered a political activity. Therefore, they felt no need to conceal it, nor did they establish any secret organization for this purpose. Those who understood the Egyptian government’s disposition advised these sincere young people to refrain from this work, because they knew that this public service would one day prove disastrous for them. But this advice had no effect on them. Rather, they remained constantly engaged in their work. Eventually, their fearlessness proved dangerous for them. While they continued their work on one hand, Egypt’s intelligence police quietly began compiling their names on the other. Eventually, they were declared members of the Muslim Brotherhood’s secret organization, and many of these honest people who had provided financial assistance to hungry families were arrested on charges of conspiracy.

The second charge was that an arms depot had been found in the possession of the Muslim Brotherhood. They supposedly planned to overthrow the Egyptian government, assassinate prominent figures, and demolish major buildings with these weapons. But the weapons shown in the newspapers were merely ordinary knives and hooks. If the police had really found weapons, they would certainly have organized an exhibition and broadcast it on television to convince the whole world that these people had collected the equipment necessary for an armed revolution. Is it not astonishing that, while concealing the recovered weapons, the newspapers would print only knives and hooks to show the world? Was the Egyptian government a foolish child that, after recovering the magazine, would hide it and present these ridiculous objects to the world as an exhibition? A prominent journalist visiting Egypt stated that the government invited a group of journalists to come to the village of Karasasa to inspect the arms depot. The journalists were taken to Karadasa on one side, while an army vehicle loaded with weapons was sent toward Karadasa on the other. By chance, however, the vehicle broke down on the road and could not arrive at the appointed time. As a result, the police had no opportunity to prepare an arms depot. When the journalists demanded to see the depot, the police were forced to display the army vehicle itself and announced that this vehicle was what the term “arms depot” meant. Although photographs of other weapons besides this army vehicle appeared in the newspapers, no weapons were ever presented as specimens, nor were they shown to the public. After these two basic charges, the number of accusations continued to increase day by day, as follows:

1. The siblings of Sayyid Qutb, Muhammad Qutb, Amina Qutb, and Hamida Qutb were leaders of a terrorist secret organization. Under their leadership, a plan had been drawn up which, had it not been exposed, would have caused a catastrophe in Egypt. That brothers and sisters from the same family were preparing such a vast plan might be possible if they belonged to a family of fools and idiots, but it could not be true of the family of the authors of Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic social justice, materialism, and Man as Leader from the Islamic perspective. Nor could it be the family of people whose every member had served ten years of rigorous imprisonment, one of whose women had spent ten long years waiting for a husband serving a life sentence.

2. The conspiracy of a man named Husayn Tawfiq was exposed. Although the police report treated it as distinct from the Muslim Brotherhood’s conspiracy, the Egyptian news agency and newspapers declared it part of the Brotherhood’s conspiracy. The police report identified Husayn Tawfiq as an agent of the Saudi government. But if this conspiracy were considered connected with Saudi Arabia, it might obstruct a solution to the Yemen problem. At that time, the Egyptian government strongly desired a peaceful solution to this problem. For this reason, instead of linking the conspiracy to Saudi Arabia, it was blamed on the Muslim Brotherhood. They were such convenient scapegoats that sooner or later they were bound to be slaughtered.

3. After some time, it was claimed that the Brotherhood’s terrorist organization had planned not only to assassinate President Nasser, but also the singer-empress Umm Kulthum, the renowned musician Abdul Wahab, the famous film actor Abdul Halim Hafiz, and the shining star of the cinema world, Fayza Shadya. The purpose of the police in publicizing these names was clear: if the people were not aroused by news of a plot to assassinate their beloved president, then at least anger and hatred for their beloved heroes would inevitably be stirred in them. The intriguing aspect of the matter was that when the names of the leading music and dance artists mentioned above appeared in the newspapers, other artists of their kind would protest, asking why they were not counted among the heroes. In response to their demand, the police would produce more documents supposedly proving that, besides those mentioned, many more people were included on the Brotherhood’s list. Their names too would be published in the newspapers.

It is said that those sentenced to death or another severe punishment voluntarily confessed their crimes. But under a dictatorial system, stories of voluntary confessions require neither corroborating evidence nor analysis. The world is familiar with the stories of confessions during Stalin’s era. Every person has a limit to his endurance. By inflicting excessive oppression and torture beyond that limit, anyone can be made to confess to crimes he did not commit. But what answer is there to this: when these criminals were brought before the court and the proceedings began, they were broadcast on television. Yet as soon as the prisoners began recounting their suffering, the broadcast was immediately stopped and the prisoner was taken into a closed room. Egyptian and foreign journalists were not permitted to attend the hearings. When a representative of Amnesty International sought to enter the court, he too was refused. Thereafter, the newspapers published only as much of the court proceedings as was released through official channels. Even if we accept that the Brotherhood prisoners confessed to the crimes, this is no surprise to us. In light of how they were treated in prison, any prisoner might have endorsed the charges published in the official press release and the newspapers of other countries. The Geneva office of the Red Cross made this public. The report of an Amnesty International representative confirmed it. Above all, the truth echoed even from the mouths of the young children of the Arab countries.

Here I am describing only the conditions in Egypt’s military prison, where only those subjected to interrogation were kept. The following account of how members of the Muslim Brotherhood were treated there was published in the daily Al-Misاق al-Islami, Khartoum, Sudan, issue 2–3, February 1966; the daily Al-Ilm, Rabat, Morocco, March 1966; and Ukaz, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 1, 1966. This is the account of prisoners who somehow succeeded in conveying outside what had happened to their companions; thereafter, the account reached the newspapers of Sudan, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia:

A group of nearly thirty members of the Muslim Brotherhood was brought in. They were divided into three groups. Each person’s legs were tied to another person’s arms, and they were laid flat on the ground. Then ten cranes were brought in. The two arms of the first person were tied to crane number one. The legs of the third person were tied to crane number two. In this way, the ten cranes suspended all thirty people in the air. The cranes were arranged in five rows. They were tortured in various ways like this. Their torture surpassed even Stalin’s torture. This concludes the account of the torture inflicted on the Muslim Brotherhood.

Islamic revival has now begun in many places, and the role of the Muslim Brotherhood behind it is foremost. Although they were unable to establish the society they desired, their efforts did not fail. The blood of martyrs has never been, and never will be, shed in vain. One day, an Islamic society will certainly be established upon the blood they shed, God willing.

The heated blood of the monotheistic peoples of Palestine, Bosnia, Kashmir, Iraq, and Afghanistan, not only Egypt, bears witness to this.

The End