Asil Asfour Essays - Islam, Religion, Egyptian Coup Dtat

Asil Asfour Introduction to the Quran Professor Spevack 17 November 2017 Hassan al-Banna's Ideal Brotherhood Islamism, or Islamic fundamentalism, is the use of social and political activism advocating that public and political life should be guided by Islamic principles (Kandil, 5). The essence of Islamism is the full implementation of Shar'ia (Islamic) law into every aspect of a society. The Muslim Brotherhood is a transnational Islamic organization that invented and embodies the concept of Islamism. In 1928, the Brotherhood was founded in Egypt by an Islamic Scholar named Hassan al-Banna, and has rapidly spread through Sudan, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, and various places in North Africa. The primary goal of the Brotherhood is to instill the Quran and Hadith as the "sole reference point for . . . ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community . . . and state" (qtd. in Pape Feldman, 224) with peaceful reform. In the 1940s, Sayyid Qutb, a key articular of the ideas of radical Islamism, called for the use of violence to form fundamentalist Islamic states, and was a major influ ence in the formation of al-Qaeda, a militant Islamist organization (Kull, 2011). The rest of the world was led to believe that the Brotherhood had a covert radical Islamic agenda due to Qutb's hostile ideology and actions. However, Islam is a religion of peace, mercy, and forgiveness, and the Quran is the physical representation of the religion. Islam is derived from the word Salam, which translates to peace and is also one of the most beautiful names of Allah (God) (al-Hashr, 59:23). The Quran is the sacred scriptures of Allah and is a central role in not only "Islamic metaphysics and theology, but also in the practical and ritual aspects of Islamic religious and spiritual life" (Nasr, 2015). Al-Banna dedicated the formation of the Brotherhood to a religion based on peace and tranquility, and uses the Quran and Hadith (Sunnah) to guide the organization's doctrine. Despite al-Banna's hopes of peaceful peaceful reform, the Brotherhood continues to be scrutinized by the rest of the w orld, and is an organization that is commonly misunderstood. To fully comprehend what the Brotherhood stands for, it is necessary to understand the initial principles that al-Banna founded the Brotherhood on. The emergence of the Muslim Brotherhood was sudden and the organization's message rapidly spread to many Muslims. Many believe this efficiency was due to Hassan al-Banna's effective leadership that included, "his charisma, his profound conviction, the sincerity of his faith, and his very great ability in terms of organization rapidly made him a very respected leader, one viewed almost as sacred" (Marechal, 20). His influential leading was proven to be true when his popularity grew so great that his organization counted one million sympathizers in Egypt alone by 1948 (Mitchell, 175). Al-Banna began his mission to establish the Brotherhood by promoting and engaging in da'wah (preaching): he concentrated on the importance of daily religious practices and the need to revivify one's own Muslim identity. The teachings of Al-Banna were beginning to inspire and catch the attention of many Muslims. The support of people helped al-Banna devise a system that effectively transmits the knowled ge of Islam and promote the solidarity of Muslim individuals. Al-Banna envisioned an Islamic organization that was comprised of many independent factions of Muslims that were all administered by the same figures of religious authority, who worked to create societal Islamic laws through tafsir bi-al-ma'thur, or interpreting the Quran's sacred scripts using the Quran and Hadith (Kandil, 6). The purpose of al-Banna's organization was to enact a complete social reform. The reform was to create a society in which Islam functioned as a complete way of life, and not only a doctrine of moral principles (Marechal, 22). Many supported al-Banna's efforts and trusted his Islamic leadership and as a result, the Muslim Brotherhood was established. The Brotherhood does not consider it's organization as an ordinary social movement, but instead, their organization is founded on sacred, divine law - that is, Islam (Shatla qtd. in Kandil, 62). The Message of the Teachings is the Brotherhood's doctrine that was created by al-Banna. The doctrine consists of nine sections: understanding, sincerity, action, jihad, sacrifice, obedience perseverance, resoluteness, and brotherhood. Al-Banna's doctrine consists the