Chapter 2 Hasan al-Banna

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Chapter 2HASAN AL-BANNA 1906–1949 Hasan al-Banna is frequently characterized as the father of contempo-rary Islamism, and with good reason. In 1928 Banna founded al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun, or the Egyptian Society of Muslim Brothers, an organi-zation that has spawned branches throughout the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and beyond and has directly or indirectly inspired vir-tually every Sunni Islamist group now in existence. As Banna was assassi-nated in 1949, the tumultuous history of the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots extends far beyond the life of its founder by many decades. Yet, at the time of his death at forty-three, Banna had already built a formida-ble organization with deep roots in Egyptian society and a broad base of membership, ranging from civil servants to soldiers, urban laborers to rural peasants, village elders to university students. Although the appeal of the Brotherhood’s message of Islamic “rearmament” had much to do with timing and specifi c political circumstances, it was also and crucially about Banna himself. A watchmaker by training and schoolteacher by pro-fession, Banna exuded selfl ess religious devotion and unfl agging energy and, by all accounts, was preternaturally gifted with remarkable personal charisma, rhetorical skill, and organizational acumen. More activist than theologian, Banna would largely leave the task of developing an Islamist theoretical framework to thinkers who came after him. Yet many of the positions and arguments associated with Islamists such as Qutb, Maw-dudi, and Khomeini are a systematic articulation of a worldview already evident in the model of leadership and sociomoral reform Banna left behind. Banna is so closely identifi ed with the Brotherhood that its early his-tory and his biography are almost indistinguishable. Banna was born in 1906 in Mahmudiyya, a village north of Cairo. His father was a shaykh, scholar, and imam for the local mosque as well as a watch repairer, and he conveyed his religious devotion, love of learning, and practical exper-tise to his son.11 Throughout his life, Banna was drawn to a life of learning and study in addition to engagement and action—and precociously so. At thirteen, Banna was already deeply immersed in Hasafi yya, a Sufi mystical 1 Banna’s life has been amply documented in several excellent studies of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Banna himself also provides extensive (if occasionally self-serving) infor-mation about his early life and the founding of the Brotherhood in his memoirs. See R. Mitchell (1993), Banna (1974), and Harris (1964).

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Chapter 2HASAN AL-BANNA 1906–1949 Hasan al-Banna is frequently characterized as the father of contempo-rary Islamism, and with good reason. In 1928 Banna founded al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun, or the Egyptian Society of Muslim Brothers, an organi-zation that has spawned branches throughout the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and beyond and has directly or indirectly inspired vir-tually every Sunni Islamist group now in existence. As Banna was assassi-nated in 1949, the tumultuous history of the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots extends far beyond the life of its founder by many decades. Yet, at the time of his death at forty-three, Banna had already built a formida-ble organization with deep roots in Egyptian society and a broad base of membership, ranging from civil servants to soldiers, urban laborers to rural peasants, village elders to university students. Although the appeal of the Brotherhood’s message of Islamic “rearmament” had much to do with timing and specifi c political circumstances, it was also and crucially about Banna himself. A watchmaker by training and schoolteacher by pro-fession, Banna exuded selfl ess religious devotion and unfl agging energy and, by all accounts, was preternaturally gifted with remarkable personal charisma, rhetorical skill, and organizational acumen. More activist than theologian, Banna would largely leave the task of developing an Islamist theoretical framework to thinkers who came after him. Yet many of the positions and arguments associated with Islamists such as Qutb, Maw-dudi, and Khomeini are a systematic articulation of a worldview already evident in the model of leadership and sociomoral reform Banna left behind. Banna is so closely identifi ed with the Brotherhood that its early his-tory and his biography are almost indistinguishable. Banna was born in 1906 in Mahmudiyya, a village north of Cairo. His father was a shaykh, scholar, and imam for the local mosque as well as a watch repairer, and he conveyed his religious devotion, love of learning, and practical exper-tise to his son.11 Throughout his life, Banna was drawn to a life of learning and study in addition to engagement and action—and precociously so. At thirteen, Banna was already deeply immersed in Hasafi yya, a Sufi mystical 1 Banna’s life has been amply documented in several excellent studies of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Banna himself also provides extensive (if occasionally self-serving) infor-mation about his early life and the founding of the Brotherhood in his memoirs. See R. Mitchell (1993), Banna (1974), and Harris (1964).

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