A Call for Islamic Social and Political Action

Although the commitment to modernization advocated by Mustafa Kemal had supporters throughout the Middle East, it also had stanch opponents. Many Muslims—from all classes of society and across all educational levels—were alarmed by the prospect of a secularized, westernized future and sought instead to establish a true Islamic society guided by the Quran and conforming to Islamic law. In the interwar years their hopes were best represented by the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1929 by an Egyptian schoolteacher, Hasan al-Banna.

Born in a small town in the Nile Delta, Hasan al-Banna as a student in Cairo after World War I was deeply troubled by the factionalism, social conflict, poverty, and religious indifference he observed in Egypt. He concluded that British colonialism and the widespread acceptance of Western values had caused these ills and that a return to fundamental Islamic teachings would cure them. In 1927 he became a schoolteacher in the Sinai town of Ismailia, where he organized religious study groups and committed himself to Islamic renewal. In 1929 he founded the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization dedicated to the realization of Islamic government in Egypt and other Muslim lands.

In the 1930s, the Brotherhood grew into a tightly knit, disciplined organization with a million members form all walks of life and a network of branches made up of numerous secret cells. It built mosques, schools, and small hospitals; sponsored youth programs, social clubs, and light industries; and publicized its religious message through preaching and publications. In the 1940s, with a great commitment to political activism, it clashed with British authorities and the Egyptian government itself. Linked to the assassination of several officials, the Brotherhood was outlawed by the Egyptian government in 1949, and Hasan al-Banna himself was assassinated by government agents in the same year.

The Brotherhood regained legal status in 1950 and since then has continued to be an important religious and political force in the Arab Middle East. It has branches in Sudan, Syria, and other Arab states, vast financial resources, and an estimated membership of 2 million. It has accomplished this despite attempts by the Egyptian government to suppress the organization on two occasions in the 1950s and 1960s after member of the Brotherhood were implicated in assassination plots and antigovernment conspiracies. The organization also has experienced bitter internal divisions between militants and moderates. In Egypt, the Brotherhood officially rejected violence in the 1980s in favor of advancing its program by winning elected office and increasing its commitment to social service activities. This moderate policy caused some of its members to defect to more militant groups. Organizations such as Islamic Jihad and Hamas, which are committed to the cause of Palestinian nationhood and oppose any compromise with Israel, are both offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The document I would like you to read is an excerpt drawn from a pamphlet issued by the Brotherhood in 1936. Directed to King Faruk of Egypt and other Arab leaders, it summarizes the goals of the Brotherhood in its early years of existence. You can read the document by clicking here.

After reading the document, I would like you to think about and discuss the following: How would you characterize the Brotherhood’s views on the purpose and goals of government? According to this document, what was the Brotherhood’s conception of the ideal government official? What does the document reveal about the Brotherhood’s attitude toward the West? Are there aspects of Western culture the Brotherhood finds acceptable? What role does the Brotherhood envision for women in Islamic society? According to the Brotherhood, what are the goals of education? How are they to be achieved? What policies does the Brotherhood propose to help the poor? What is there in the statement that might help account for the widespread support of the Brotherhood among Middle Eastern Muslims? Your thoughts…