Islam’s progressive knight for the modern era
Dec 22nd, 2009 | By Joseph Mayton | Category: Interviews, Media, Who are you people?
CAIRO: The name Al Banna conjures images of the Muslim Brotherhood and conservatism up in one’s mind that it is often difficult for the brother of the Islamist group to move from the edifice that has ensnared the Al Banna name for nearly 8 decades. But Gamal, the 89-year-old younger brother of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood’s founder and iconic figure Hasan Al Banna, has found a niche as a progressive thinker in the ever-growing radicalism of Egyptian society.
“The way I was raised was totally different from my brothers, especially my late brother, Hasan Al Banna,†the leader in the revisionist Islamic movement begins, “but we all had religious roots in common due to my family’s strong faith.â€
When the younger Gamal was only four-years-old, his family moved from the small town of Al Mahmoudiya – some 30 minutes from Alexandria – to Cairo, where he would enter public schools and the secular education system of the 1920s. This was in stark contrast to his elder brother, Hasan, who had been educated in a religious school back in their town.
Due to poor health when he was a child, Gamal was unable to play with other children, resulting in his in love for literature and reading. Without the open space to mingle among his peers in Cairo, Gamal said that he developed early on a sense that his purpose was education and scholarly work.
“My only hobby was reading,†Al Banna said in his Cairo office lined with bookshelves of thousands upon thousands of books from floor to ceiling. “In secondary school, the other children called me the philosopher because I read so much.â€
He has been defiant since his early years. He lambasted the education system of his childhood and rebelled against the rigid structures that were established then and remain today.
“Ever since I was a child, I didn’t like the system of education here. I always wanted to be a writer, not like other Egyptians who want to be doctors or lawyers, but writers do not have a conception in university. In secondary school, I had a fight with my English teacher and I decided to study on my own.â€
His sense of duty became a part of his personality from an early age after witnessing the historical events that led to the 1952 revolution.
“I was overwhelmed with civil rights. I paid attention to labor rights, labor movements and women’s rights. I always felt that women’s ignorance is a reflection of society and my beliefs came about in a civil manner, not religious like my brother.â€
“I always prayed that I would not live as a bourgeoisie and not write as academics do. I believed that European civilization was based on humanity, liberty and freedom and this was a main influence on me,†he argues.
Ironically, it was his reading and learning of the European cultural traditions that led Al Banna back to Islam. At the height of the coming Egyptian revolution in the late 1940s, the then mid-twenty-year-old began to take an interest in religious ideology that was quickly becoming a part of everyday society.
“The Islamic part of my life began to take form after a while, but I decided not to take part in the system like others, so I did not attend Al Azhar. My beliefs depended on my own studies, my own reading of the Qur’an, the Prophet’s statements and my own interpretations, not from a sheikh.
However, his beliefs did not fit with the growing power of the infant Muslim Brotherhood. Although he helped run the group’s printing press, it was not as a member of his brother’s organization. As an aspiring writer, the opportunity his brother gave him was immense, helping to establish a career that has been marked by scores of published books and articles on Islam and its principles.
But, he would never join his brother’s group, saying that he prefers an open and free society where religion is not a base for contention among a country’s citizens. This has led to some contention between the Brotherhood and Gamal.
“My brother and I had mutual respect for one another and we often discussed different views of Islam,†he tells.
Hasan Al Banna, he continues, was not the conservative figure that people have made him out to be in recent times. Gamal argues that his brother was more liberal and open than many give him credit.
“He [Hasan Al Banna] grew up in the most liberal period in Egyptian modern history, but at the same time he was a leader of the masses and as they grew more conservative he had to change his message for the people, as any leader would do. Because of this, the people did not allow him to spread his liberal thinking as much as could have been.â€
It was during his time at the Brotherhood’s printing press that his ideas on faith and history began to take form, which would soon come to encompass his way of thinking and made joining his brother’s movement not an option.
“I figured out that there are two kinds of Islam: Islam of scholars and Islam of history.â€
His progressive nature was etched almost immediately after finishing university, when he began to write about the need for people to be open in their understanding and thinking of religion. Al Banna points to the early history of Islam as a guiding principle, even in the modern era 1400 years later.
“I began to understand that the Islam of the Prophet and first few decades of the religion differs greatly from the Empire that was built only 40 years after the Prophet died. Back then, there used to be intellectual freedom,†he says, which is something that has been lost in the centuries since.
“Islam is tolerant and does not have a church-like system as other religions. There are not supposed to be religious ranks. But, at the same time as this tolerance, the rulers began to be very authoritarian. They allowed people to pray as much as they wanted, but if they stepped into criticizing the government it would be the end of them,†he laughs, pointing to the fact that not much has changed in 1,000 years.
That intellectual freedom is at the heart of Al Banna’s revisionist attitude and openness to religious debate. He has been outspoken on a number of issues despite the constant criticism and attacks that have been thrown his direction.
Last year, he sparked the ire of the conservatives by going on pan-Arabic news network Al Arabiya and arguing that men and women should be allowed to embrace in public. These comments came only a short time after publishing a book on the higab, which sparked an uproar among conservative women adorning the niqab – full veil that covers the face and eyes.
But the criticism does not bother him rather it pushes the 89-year-old further. He says that these are simply his views and that people should “think for themselves about their own faith and how they want to live their lives.â€
Al Banna believes that Islam is a religion of the people and that it should be the individual who chooses how to practice their faith outside movements or religious groups.
“My Islam is based on humanity,†he argues.
BM
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Well, he’s doing his best being an apologetic for religion. However it’s like putting lipstick on a pig! All he’s actually doing is that he’s issuing apologetic fatwas, and endorsing plastic-surgery research, fitting the whole body of islamic thinking to modern standards in a shotgun marriage kind of way.
For instance, revising the age of Aicha when she got married to the prophet to be exactly 18 instead of the historically agreed upon 9. Regardless of the accuracy of this result, it doesn’t change the fact that the Islamic literature is littered with Fatwas upon Fatwas regulating marriage to girls even before they hit adulthood! In fact, there are two references in the Qura’an itself: divorcing a girl that didn’t hit puberty yet, and in heaven one of the prizes will be ‘women’ that barely made it!
If we stand a chance at reconciling our heritage with our present, we need more Nawal Saadawi’s, Farag Foda’s, Zaki Neguib Mahmoud’s, and Taha Hussein’s. The last thing we need is more apologists and more lipstick for our swines!
Y.
[...] presents an in-depth interview with Gamal Al Banna, the brother of the Muslim Brotherhood’s founding member Hasan Al Banna. [...]
[...] via Islam’s progressive knight for the modern era | Bikya Masr. [...]
Hey Yaser, tell me, r y on hasheesh or do you write such crap being sober? Why not take yr swines, put some mascara on them and hit the road?
Thank you, Gamal El Banna. I always knew why I like you and your open mind.
As the Qur’an says over 300 (!!!) times – use your brain. Something which I would highly recommend to commentator #1 too. It’s not done with some lipstick on his (American) swine … e.g. “shotgun marriage kind of way.”
Dear Avigdor…i’m sober all right. And that’s why i won’t respond to personal remarks like the ones above.
Eleonora, thanks for your reply. However, “use your brain” is a good advice. You should use it as well when you’re reading islamic literature about the issue that I mentioned above. And i’m talking the real deal, not Amr Khaled or some other hack televangelist.
Again, if we stand a chance, we need to be critical of our past and heritage knowing that it is written by humans to humans – excluding qura’an. Not just take that literature, and cast it into the mold of post-modernism overnight, by minor modifications like smoking in ramadan or insisting that Aicha was 18 instead of 9 when she got married. That approach to reconciliation of our odd issues in the literature with the requirements of our present is what i called shotgun marriage. And I’m sure that it’s only sensible to agree – provided that there’s some level of mutual understanding of what i’m talking about.
Finally, I’m not an American by birth, heritage, or even nurture. Quite the contrary: muslim parents, wahabi schools training as a kid in Saudi, I even memorized large portions of Qura’an and Sunna, and was trained to analyze them! I know I’m an Egyptian, it’s just that I like “using my brain” as independently as possible.
To Yaser – yr comment #4
Dear Yaser
Don’t be too harsh on Avigdor – he is used to the types of the “infidel alliance” and can’t stand them and I assume the swine didn’t sit right with him
.
I can not come to terms with televangelists although I like Moez Masoud. All I wanted to point out is that Islam teaches us time and again to use our intellectual ability and question everything – at least that’s how I understand it. Questioning everything means “everything” but I understand that a forum of this kind is too limited to go indepth. I simply assume that you understand what I want to say (?).
Personally I do not believe that we can reconcile our heritage with the present – I rather opt for accepting our heritage and not trying to repeat the same mistakes (if there were mistakes). In other words: heed the lessons we’ve been taught. The core of our religion the way I understand it is adaptable to all times i.e. it’s teachings are valid and livable through time.
What eats up my tolerance though are those “good” Muslims who are obsessed with which hand to put over which while praying – if a woman should or should not wear the hijab – if a galabeya has to be full length or only 3/4 – etc. They are so absorbed into the decoration and appearance … and forget what our religion teaches us: love, peace, understanding, tolerance and acceptance of the others.
Wish you a good day
PS As for th issue with Aisha: I do think that it gains importance today as people with an ulterior motive use this fact as a reason and proof to call Prophet Mohamed all kind of names. They can be my guest – I don’t care for such trivialities. But the deeper laying reason is worth to address and to correct.
“Again, if we stand a chance, we need to be critical of our past and heritage knowing that it is written by humans to humans – excluding qura’an.”
wrong wrong wrong
And until you realize that you will never be an enlightened human being.
Eleonora,
Glad we’ve cleared the air. About “infidel alliance” an avigdor. I’m not sure i really understand what you’re talking about.
About the deal with Aisha, it’s not about what to call the prophet or Aisha, it’s an example of something that was acceptable at some point, so much so that there was all sorts of “sciences” and fatwas regulating who should feed a wife if she’s still nursing, but is no longer acceptable or even tolerable now! Saying this is enough grounds to judge me as an apostate by some “muslims”, however, that’s exactly my point. In order to move forward, we need to reconcile our past with our present because the present requires us to do so!!! I appreciate your spiritual and benign approach to religion, and I personally think it’s the right approach if you ask me: a personal matter of ‘faith’
Ed, Easy on my bro. I’m not sure i get you though, so please express what is wrong, and what do you mean by “enlightened”.
Cheers,
Y.
To Yaser – yr comment #7
In order to (maybe) understand my remark go and snoop in this forum of BM: http://bikyamasr.com/?p=6144. That may also explain my initial reaction and (my guess) the one of Avigdor (?).
With respect to your remark re “sciences” and fatwas – that’s were the issue of context and historical connection comes in. What was applicable and more so acceptable in those days is not any longer today. After all we’ve moved on in time and development and anyone who insists in hanging on to this “old stuff” is in my opinion a … fill in what you like
. But it sure can not apply to today’ life based on today’s knowledge as you observed too. In view of this I do agree to your vote of reconciliation.
Now if this makes the both of us “apostates” or at least “bad” muslims then so be it. The ultimate judge on this matter is not from this world anyway. If only we people could stop judging others – in my opinion none of us is qualified to do so anyway. We do have enough to take care in “front of our own house door” anyway (Swiss proverb) so there shouldn’t be any time left to be judgemental of others.
For me religion in general and faith in particular is a very private and personal matter anyway and that’s were it belongs and were it should stay.
As for “Ed”: “he” is a perfect example of being judgemental. Who is he/she to judge on what base who is an enlightened human being and who not? It’s too close to the Nazi time where they judged who is inferior and who not. “We” people seem not to be able to learn from history. Sad but true.
Take care
I do not “judge” anyone.
I strongly believe that everyone is free to believe whatever they want. Whether it be unicorns, magical elves, or an invisible man who lives in the clouds and writes books. I do, however reserve the right to think anyone who believes in such nonsense is a fool.
You know what the problem is guys? The problem is that each nation needs some kind of an ideology, or at least a theory about who they think they are, in order to progress. In the darker days, religion fit that niche perfectly: we are god’s chosen ones was the answer to that question. That’s what happened in the Arab Peninsula as well, and it led Arabs to a renaissance that peaked round the Abbasid reign during the middle ages – some of the philosophers of the era were, in my humble opinion, among the best that you can find. However, times changed, and so did we! Alas, for worse. During that period, there was a lively and dynamic debate between the rational attitude towards the sacred, and the B.S that you hear these days as the conservative attitude. The latter attitude won, and it was actually revived by petrodollars during the 70′s of the 20th century.
As you see, it’s more than just believing in an invisible guy in the clouds who writes books that are generally incoherent. It is a theory about who we are. The best way to deal with the current situation would be to come to terms with some of the problems that we’re facing with our heritage, and finding a way to deal with it bottom up – quite the opposite of giving Nietzsche, Sartre, and Derrida an Arabic tongue! However, it shouldn’t be – as I mentioned earlier in comment #1 – through putting lipstick on a swine! It shouldn’t be through simply “proving” that Aicha was 18 when she got married to the prophet, or that smoking won’t break your fasting! It should be by focusing on the core issues that we have with our heritage, the soft spots that sends some of us laughing and some crying! Maybe then, we’ll have a postmodern theory – so to speak – about who we are, and how we define ourselves in a time where nothing can be cast in stone anymore.
P.S
By “we”, I meant Egyptians. I don’t really care about the middle east or north africa or the muslim world. Also, I meant “we” as in everybody, Atheists and Secularists included. I think we’re at a point that the we should all stop and ask ourselves “is it really about belief?”
Eleonora,
“What eats up my tolerance though are those “good†Muslims who are obsessed with which hand to put over which while praying – if a woman should or should not wear the hijab – if a galabeya has to be full length or only 3/4 – etc. They are so absorbed into the decoration and appearance … and forget what our religion teaches us: love, peace, understanding, tolerance and acceptance of the others.”
If those “good” Muslims don’t represent Islam, then who is the good example that represent it?
How any one get attracted to any subject of interest? Isn’t by watching how the follower of this subject of interest perform it.
How we be sure that the “good” Muslims misinterpret Islam and not you?
We often see in the news, “good” Muslims trying to blow up a plane, or shooting at Copts, 9/11, do these Muslims misinterpret Islam also?
Where can we find the REAL Muslims that you are talking about? I am mean in real life not figures in Quran and Hadith, and why we don’t hear about their recent accomplishments?
You forgot to mention the Fatwa about “the breast feeding of the adult” beside the Hijab and the Galabea.