Wednesday 8 March 2017

Again… from Ibn Taymmiya to Hassan el-Banna




I have not read the article of Gihad el-Haddad which he wrote in English days ago and sent to one of the biggest American newspapers affirming that he is muslim brotherhood and that being so does not mean he is a terrorist… but I read tens of comments who asked for replying to such letter… away from how this article was smuggled outside the prison and then sent to Washington, I have already written before about some of the extremism aspects in Hassan el-Banna’s writings, here is part of what I wrote:

To Ibn Taymmiya, the other non-Muslim is an enemy of Islam… and not believing in the proper religion… actually he is considered a disbeliever who deserves to be treated as one… I mentioned in a previous article some details of Ibn Taymmiya’s opinion, who is considered the main source for ideologies of many groups claiming to represent Islam and falsely claim it as a reference in their political and ideological discourses… I excerpted some texts from the man’s Fatwas that were mentioned in the volumes of “Al-Fatawa Al-Kubra” or the most important Fatwas which Sheikh Hassanien Makhlouf; ex-Grand Mufti of Egypt, wrote its introduction.

In such regard, the sources of what can be regarded as extremist opinions and disdaining the other party are revealed… and as I said before in my last article, I believe that tackling the origins and roots of this extremism is better and more convenient… in addition, one can find some writings of el-Banna that are even exceeding the extremist opinions of Ibn Taymmiya… especially in the matter of relations between people inside the society.

The history of Hassan el-Banna and his Dawaa is known and available for everyone to know… also, the phases of development of muslim brotherhood group are known too… but I think that many of those interested in detecting origins of the extremist ideology and discipline – not only towards the other non-Muslim but towards the other Muslim who is not one of them as well – have not read carefully the writings of Hassan el-Banna and the literature related to his stances… in such writings, there are certain contexts and sayings that are almost – in my opinion – a source for every extremism and disdaining for the other party… and maybe more extremist that what Sayed Qutb wrote.

For example, regarding women, in el-Banna’s note directed to Muslim woman, the first written to the sisters’ section in muslim brotherhood group, and which was published as an article in Al-Manar magazine in the 1359 Hijri calendar, he said: “as to the other fields of sciences which women do not need, they are useless… as women do not need them and it is better they spend their time doing something useful… women do not need to excel in different languages or specialized technical studies… as they will know soon that home is their place and nothing else… and that they need not to excel in studying rights or laws… it is only enough for them to know what the common people know in such regard…”

Until he comes to the point when he states his final opinion about women education saying: “we do not want to stop at this limit… we do not want to do like those who keep overloading women with what they do not need of studies… but we say: teach women what they need and which is related to their mission and task that God assigned to them; that is taking care of household and raising children”.

Now we come to another point in el-Banna’s writings as we shall stop long before some points mentioned in his note about Jihad as he mentioned samples from Hadith sayings about Jihad… in no. 15 he said: “Abdel-Khair ibn Thabet ibn Qays ibn Shammas narrated this Hadith after his father who in turn narrated it after his father, Abdel Khair said: a woman called Um Khallad, came to prophet Muhammed – Peace be upon him – She was wearing Niqqab. She asked about a son of hers who was killed during fighting for the sake of Allah… some of prophet Muhammed’s companions or Sahabah said to her: you came asking about your son while you are wearing Niqqab? She said: I lost my son but I will not lose my bashfulness… then prophet Muhammed said to her: your son has the reward of two martyrs. She said: why? He said: because he was killed by the People of the Book.

I have not checked the veracity of this Hadith but Hassan el-Banna has added his own comment to it literally saying: in this Hadith, there is a clue that fighting the People of the Book is a must… and that God doubles the reward for the one who fights them… as fighting is not only for the atheists but for everyone who is not Muslim as well!

I believe the reader can notice that the text of Hadith did not mention the name of the incursion or battle where that martyr was killed… also meticulous people who know about Tafsir and rules of Qiyas or Islamic jurisprudence may get confused when they try to find a text or a clue in that Hadith which says that fighting the People of the Book is a must… and that God doubles the reward for those who fight them… and that fighting should be for all non-Muslims… adding to this that if we extended this interpretation of Hadith of those “non-Muslims”, then fighting will be against Muslims who do not apply to the conditions set by muslim brotherhood group as necessary in order to be a true Muslim.

In a note titled “towards light”, Mr. El-Banna directed his words to the king mentioning main points he admits that “they need detailed extensive in-depth research by specialists”… including some issues that we should pay attention to and then compare the current attitudes of muslim brotherhood in light of those directions:

·      Eliminating parties and directing the nation’s political powers to one side.

·      Reviving the Islamic spirit in the government institutions so that all the employees can feel they are asked to apply the directions of Islam.

·      Watching the personal behavior of the employees and not separating between the personal and practical sides.

·      All the government work shall be evaluated according to the Islamic provisions and teachings.

·      Opposing grooming and flirtatiousness and guiding women to how they should behave and emphasizing this… especially the female teachers, pupils, doctors, students and all their likes.

·      Reconsidering changing the girls’ education curricula and the necessity to distinguish between these curricula and those of the boys in many education phases.

·      Prohibiting mixing between male students and female ones and considering the case when a man is alone with another woman that is not his mother, sister, wife or daughter a crime for which both of them shall be punished.

·      Monitoring theaters, cinemas and movies and scrutinizing in choosing the novels they perform.

·      Choosing the songs according to the Islamic directions and keeping a close eye on this.

·      Considering Hisbah and punishing the one who was proved guilty of violating any of Islam’s teachings like not fasting Ramadan, not holding prayers on purpose, insulting religion or anything like this.

·      Directing the press and encouraging authors and writers to tackle the oriental Islamic issues.

There are many issues el-Banna mentioned that are indisputable… there are others that are not only disputable but represent a source of terror as well… just because the muslim brotherhood group he established sees that all what el-Banna says is unquestionable… to them, his sayings can amount to be revered as the main sources of Islamic jurisprudence.

I do not want to continue as the space allowed here is not enough but I encourage all those concerned about our current political interaction to carefully read and understand the writings of Hassan el-Banna because in them, one can find the origins or many extremist political ideologies.

As to this smuggling thing, I have a lot to say about it next time.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar


This article was published in Almasry alyoum newspaper on March 8, 2017.

To see the original article, go to:


#almasry_alyoum #ahmed_elgammal #ibn_taymmiya #hassan_elbanna #muslim_brotherhood #extremism

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