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 PrintableVersion The Society of the Muslim Brothers in EgyptThe rise of an Islamic mass movement 1928-42The Muslim BrothersTHE SOCIETY OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERS THE SOCIETY OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERS IN EGYPT: What is happening in the Muslim world? Why does Islam seem to be strengthening rather than weakening at the present time? To answer questions like these, it is necessary to understand the roots of what is often called 'Islamic fundamentalism'. And the key to the present-day resurgence of Islam is a society of Egyptian origin called 'The Muslim Brothers'. The Society of the Muslim Brothers (al-Jam'iyyat al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin) was founded in Ismailia, Egypt, in 1928 by Hasan al-Banna, a young primary schoolteacher (1906-49). In less than 20 years it became the largest mass movement in modern Egyptian history and its members clashed with the ruling elite on a wide range of issues. It 'is usually considered the mother organisation of all modern Islamist movements' (Lia, p.1), having provided the inspiration for the major Islamic party in Pakistan, Jama'at-e-Islami (founded by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi (1903-78)), and for the thought of Sayyid Qutb (1906-66), particularly exemplified in his influential work, Milestones. Other smaller groups such as HAMAS, Islamic Jihad, Jama'at al-Muslimin, al-Jihad, Munazzamat al-Tahrir al-Islami, have all been influenced by the philosophy of Hasan al-Banna, as mediated through Maududi and Qutb. Three elements'Islamism' is a term for the increasingly popular fusion of three elements. The primary element consists of principles derived from early Islam as it was practised during its founder's ten-year rulership of the Muslim community based at al-Madinah after his flight from Mecca. This trend is often called 'Islamic Fundamentalism' as it is modelled as literally as possible on the Qur'anic suras written at al-Madinah, as well as on the descriptions of the founder's words and actions as reported in the canonical traditions (Ahadith). The earlier Meccan suras promote more peaceful relations with non-Muslims than the later Madinan suras, when Islam started to gain serious power among the Arabian population. These Islamic principles are then welded into a matrix capable of embracing two secondary elements. One of these elements consists of adopting wholeheartedly the advances and advantages of modern science and technology. The other is the construction of a network of Islamic benevolent societies designed to support the Muslim community and facilitate the conversion of the world to Islam. Much of this is based on the practice of Jewish benevolent societies geared to the need of other Jews, and also Christian philanthropy, which has been an important means of commending the gospel message to society at large. In this way 'Islamism' can be viewed as a fusion of Madinan Islam with modernism. This 'Islamist' interpretation of Islam is particularly appealing to a younger generation seeking certainty in an uncertain world, an impulse which also underlies the current swing to the 'Right' in European politics. It is, therefore, important for people in the UK and USA to have some idea of the history and nature of this movement. What is so disturbing is the prevailing ignorance among the general public about movements of this type. One of the reasons for this is the paradigm chasm which most Western people have to overcome before they can understand 'the Muslim mind'. But Christians should, while unable to agree with many of the presuppositions of so-called 'Islamic Fundamentalism', at least be able to empathise with these movements. Definitive studiesThese two books are the definitive English-language studies of al-Banna's Society. Since its original publication in 1969, Mitchell's work has been regarded as the definitive work on the Society. The late Robert Mitchell was Professor of Near Eastern History at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and from 1951 spent several years in Egypt, regularly attending the meetings of the Society for over one and a half years in the period 1953-1956. The major portion of Mitchell's study deals with the Society from 1945 until its suppression by Gamal Abd al-Nasir (Nasser) in the mid-1950s. Mitchell was well-informed through his personal contacts with prominent Brothers, and was also the first Western scholar to draw heavily on Arabic sources. Mitchell, like many others of his time, believed that the Society had been finally suppressed in 1954, by which time all its leaders had been jailed or executed. In 1968, he believed that 'the essentially secular reform nationalism ƒ in vogue in the Arab world would continue until the earlier appeal of the Society eventually is lost' (Mitchell, p.xxiii-xxiv). And, indeed, in the 1960s, such a conclusion was fully in accord with all observable political and social realities. However, in the 1970s and '80s, the situation changed dramatically and, in the 1990s, analysts were agreeing that 'Islamic activism will be a major feature of regional politics into the 21st century' (Robin Wright, quot. in Voll, J.O. Foreword, in Mitchell (1993), p.x.). Consequently this timely (1993) reissue of Mitchell's classic work incorporates a foreword by leading US Islamic scholar John Voll discussing the subsequent history and continued significance of the Society. Early phaseHowever, although Mitchell had noted that, by the outbreak of World War II, the Society had developed from a local religious benevolent society into a significant political force, this dramatic transformation receives little attention in Mitchell's study. Mitchell's work has now been helpfully complemented by the recent work by Brynjar Lia, a research scientist at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, who also happens to teach at the Institute of East-European and Oriental Studies at the University of Oslo. Unlike Mitchell, Lia has concentrated on the early phase of the Society's development from its founding in 1928 to its first suppression in 1941. He has examined in detail the socio-economic and cultural factors which facilitated the movement's expansion and analyses the key to its success, namely its organisation, internal structure, modes of action and recruitment techniques, as well as its ideological and class appeal. He was able to draw on a wealth of new source material, including the Society's internal publications from the 1930s and early 1940s, a collection of al-Banna's letters to his father and security files from the Egyptian National Archives. He has also made extensive use of the Society's newspapers, memoirs of the Muslim Brothers, as well as British War Office and Foreign Office files, in addition to spending many years in Egypt interviewing old and younger members of the Society, including its dissidents. Consequently he has been able to plug many gaps. Al-Banna's brother, Jamal, has praised Lia's work as dealing thoroughly with all that has been so far written about the Movement, and as utilising new information which the author has unearthed from private sources, thus making his study more comprehensive and original than other works on the subject. Believing partiality or bias to be evident in earlier works, he also praises the author's rigorous impartiality. For anyone seeking to get to grips with the roots of the present Islamic revival, these two works are essential. Mike Taylor, London© Evangelicals Now - August 2002 |
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