Muslim See islam.
Muslim Brotherhood (Arabic: al-Ikhwan
al-Muslimun; also known as the Society of
Muslim Brothers)
The first modern city-based Islamist movement
with mass appeal in the Arab world was the
Muslim Brotherhood. Founded in 1928 by hasan
al-banna (1909–49), an Egyptian school teacher,
in the Suez Canal Zone city of Ismailiya, it subse-
quently created hundreds of branches and spin-off
organizations throughout egypt, and subsequently
in libya, palestine, Jordan, syria, sUdan, yemen,
and kUWait. It developed close contacts with
Wahhabis in saUdi arabia that continue to the
present day. Splinter groups have arisen elsewhere
in the region, and it served as the basis, directly or
indirectly, from which a number of more radical
Islamic movements have arisen. Today the Muslim
Brotherhood is an especially influential religiopo-
litical force in Egypt, the Sudan, and Jordan.
Egypt was a protectorate of Great Britain
when al-Banna established the Muslim Brother-
hood. At the time there was a limited degree of
Egyptian self-rule under a monarchy and national
legislature, but the people desired complete inde-
pendence from foreign occupation and a more
democratic government. Al-Banna appealed to this
widespread anticolonial sentiment and combined
it with a call for moral renewal in accordance with
an idealized Islam of the Quran and the salaf, the
esteemed first generations of Muslims. He had
been inspired by the teachings of Jamal al-din al-
aFghani (d. 1897), mUhammad abdUh (d. 1905),
and mUhammad rashid rida (d. 1935), leaders in
the modern Islamic reform movement that was
sweeping many Muslim countries. Al-Banna was
particularly troubled by the growing influence
European secular values were having on Egypt’s
Muslim youth and the inability of the tradition-
alist Ulama to counteract this influence. He saw
this development as more of a threat than British
military occupation of his country. In the 1930s
another issue in which he developed great interest
was the fate of Palestine under British rule and the
success of the Zionist movement. Al-Banna gave
speeches about these matters in coffeehouses in
Cairo and Ismailiya that attracted large audiences,
from among whom he recruited the first members
of the Muslim Brotherhood.
In addition to educating people about Islam,
the Brotherhood engaged in political activity and
provided social services to the needy. Reflecting
the diverse sources from which he formed his
vision of the Brotherhood’s mission, al-Banna
declared his new organization to be “a Salafiyya
message, a Sunni way, a Sufi truth, a political orga-
nization, an athletic group, a cultural-educational
union, an economic company, and a social idea”
(quoted in Voll, 362). He strove to keep the Broth-
erhood from being associated with ulama and
secular Egyptian political parties. At the time of
al-Banna’s assassination in 1949, its membership
is estimated to have reached 500,000 active mem-
bers, not to mention many more sympathizers and
supporters. After the Free Officers secured Egypt’s
independence in 1953, membership dropped sig-
nificantly, and the organization soon came into
conflict with the new Arab nationalist government
of Jamal abd al-nasir (r. 1953–70).
The Brotherhood’s success in winning popular
support was in large part due to its leadership
and its ability to promote its message of Islamic
renewal through a tightly knit organizational
structure. It was like a mini-state, headed by a
General Guide (murshid), Guidance Council,
and Consultative Assembly. This governing body
worked through a network of units charged with
technical operations and coordination of activi-
ties at the local level. The operational units were
concerned with teaching and outreach (d a awa)
to students, professionals, labor, peasants, and
the wider umma, or Muslim community. It also
had committees charged with financial oversight,
provision of legal and social services, issuance of
legal opinions (sing. fat wa), and policymaking. A
section for women, known as the Muslim Sisters,K 506 Muslim