Life Imam Hassan

1. Once Upon a Time – Iman, Taqwa, courage
• Besides lake Mahmuddiya
• Shaykh Saeed, local madrassa al-Arshad and masjid
• Writes a letter:
• ِ‫ى‬ِ‫ش‬َ‫ع‬ۡ‫ٱل‬ َ‫و‬ ِ‫ة‬ ٰ‫و‬َ‫د‬َ‫غ‬ۡ‫ٱل‬ِ‫ب‬ ‫م‬ُ‫ه‬َّ‫ب‬ َ‫ر‬ َ‫ُون‬‫ع‬ۡ‫د‬َ‫ي‬ َ‫ِين‬‫ذ‬َّ‫ٱل‬ ِ‫د‬ُ‫ر‬ۡ‫ط‬َ‫ت‬ َ‫َل‬ َ‫و‬ُ‫ه‬َ‫ه‬ ۡ‫ج‬ َ‫و‬ َ‫ون‬ُ‫د‬‫ي‬ ِ‫ر‬ُ‫ي‬‫م‬ِ‫ه‬ِ‫ب‬‫ا‬َ‫س‬ ِ‫ح‬ ۡ‫ن‬ِ‫م‬ َ‫ك‬ۡ‫ي‬َ‫ل‬َ‫ع‬ ‫ا‬َ‫م‬ ۖ‫ۥ‬‫ن‬ِ‫م‬
َ‫ف‬ ۡ‫م‬ُ‫ه‬َ‫د‬ُ‫ر‬ۡ‫ط‬َ‫ت‬َ‫ف‬ ٍ۬‫ء‬ ۡ‫َى‬‫ش‬ ‫ن‬ِ‫م‬ ‫م‬ِ‫ه‬ۡ‫ي‬َ‫ل‬َ‫ع‬ َ‫ك‬ِ‫ب‬‫ا‬َ‫س‬ ِ‫ح‬ ۡ‫ن‬ِ‫م‬ ‫ا‬َ‫م‬ َ‫و‬ ٍ۬‫ء‬ ۡ‫َى‬‫ش‬َ‫ين‬ِ‫م‬ِ‫ل‬ََّّٰٰ‫ٱل‬ َ‫ن‬ِ‫م‬ َ‫ون‬َُُ‫ت‬
• And drive not away those who call upon their Lord morning and evening,
seeking His countenance. Not on thee is aught of their reckoning, nor on
them aught of thine reckoning, so that thou mayest drive them away and
thus become of the wrong-doers. (52)
• Salat ul Fajr in his village – very few prayed, he decides with his
brother to call people to Salah (‫النوم‬ ‫من‬ ‫خير‬ ‫)الصالة‬
• This courage led to the formation of Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimoon a
dawah organisation calling people to Islam.

2. Sheikh Hassan Ahmed Abdel
Rahman Muhammed al-Banna
• School teacher and Imam
• Founder of Muslim Brotherhood - one of the
largest and most influential 20th century
Islamic revivalist organisations.
‫حسن‬‫أحمد‬‫عبد‬‫الرحمن‬‫محمد‬‫البنا‬
(14 October 1906 – 12 February 1949)
"The mentor and leader departed, but his message remains the same.
The Brotherhood is still devoted to the same mission of truth and
freedom, having expanded in all continents of the globe”.

3. • At the age of 9, Hassan Al-Banna memorized two thirds of the
Qur'an. Shortly after that, he finished memorizing the whole
Qur'an.
• He was an excellent speaker. He had the ability to improvise
speeches for almost any occasion for whatever audience he
happened to be addressing.
• He was superb in his ability to get his ideas across to his audience,
supported by verses from the holy Qur'an and by Hadiths, both of
which he mastered very well.
• The unique quality the martyred Imam enjoyed was his ability to
gather people's hearts around him and bind them together with the
link of brotherhood in Islam.
• An unforgettable quality of Imam Al-Banna was his persistence and
diligent work for propagating his message. He always travelled, gave
lectures and Khutbahs, had discussion with people, worked day and
night and never knew what it was like to relax or go on vacation.

4. Advice to duaat
• The difference between our Iman and others is: Their
Iman is lame and asleep, they don’t want to act on it or
listen to the demands of Iman. Yet in our brothers this
same Iman is alive, strong and action orientated.

5. Truth loving
• 1919 - He enters teacher training college at the time when the
call for freedom from colonisation had he started taking part
in rallies and demonstrations for freedom. Regular tussles
with the police; at one meeting of the students the police
raided it;
• Response “we love our country and its freedom, join us don’t
put obstacles in our path, do not prevent us from our
struggles” – the prize of truth.

6. Education
• Like many of the Islamic leaders who followed in his
footsteps, Imam Shaheed enjoyed the benefits of a modern
education, but had been raised in a traditional Islamic
environment.
• Imam was born in 1906 in Mahmudiyya, (north-west of
Cairo).
• His father, Shaykh Ahmad al-Banna, was a respected local
Imam teacher, educated at Al-Azhar University, who wrote
and collaborated on books on Muslim traditions, and also
had a shop where he repaired watches.
• His father was a pious man, who had written commentary
to Musnad of Imam Ahmad (Fath ul Rabbani).
• He was brought up in a good, religious home – he was
taught truthfulness from the beginning.
• Learnt basic science at home.

7. • He was disappointed with the state of Muslims on his visit to
Cairo, people are materialistic, far from their deen.
• Masajid are empty, cinemas and coffee houses are full.
Secularism was on the rise, high class people were engrossed
in fahisha and ordinary Muslims were being impressed by the
evil they were seeing.
• Arab nationalism was on the rise
• He then decided to spread the message of Islam, gather
people under the banner of Islam and he moved to Cairo.

8. Dawah
• He started to visit the masajid, started to give talks but he
noticed that the Imams, Shyookh were beginning to object to
dawah and they were not interested in the work of dawah.
• They started to ask about matters of differences, what is your
madhab, your view on tasawwuf.
• He left the masajid and moved to coffee houses – which were
visited by all sorts of people and soon people, especially the
young started to gather around him.

9. • 1928 – lays the foundations for Ikh, within short time the
organisation had spread to major cities of Egypt.
• People from all forms of society join or are favourable to Ikh.
• Dawah and welfare are the key components of this
organisation.
• Hospitals and schools built.
• Volunteers from Ikh went to Palestine to fight the newly
created zionist state.

10. Dynamic
• Imam was a powerful speaker he spoke proper Arabic, he
speech was full of Iman, his words were very meaningful, he
impressed his listeners.
• He was active, he slept 3 hours a day.
• He would spend nights praying and writing words of advice for
the members.
• To one imam he said life is not about spending the nights in
nawafil/sunnah prayers its about teaching individuals, its
about changing the affairs of the Muslims.

11. Motto
• The motto of joining Ikh was simple, work for Allah day and
night, be soldiers of Islam, raise the Kalima of Allah.
• When the dawah started people were running after the
duniya.
• He said “do not run after wealth and don’t be with those who
are chasing wealth”.
• He said “Iman is sweetness, find this sweetness in the middle
of the night in 2 rakah, and when you taste this sweetness
then Allah will help you in making this part of you.”

12. sweetness
• This is the sweetness when on tastes it then everything else is
meaningless.
• Many members were killed in the prisons of Nasir, but none of
them turned back – see example in Seerah.
• They happily accepted the gallows as did Khabab Ibn Arat.
• َ‫ل‬‫ٲ‬ َ‫و‬ ۡ‫م‬َ‫أ‬ َ‫و‬ ۡ‫م‬ُ‫ه‬َ‫س‬ُ‫ف‬‫ن‬َ‫أ‬ َ‫ين‬ِ‫ن‬ِ‫م‬ ۡ‫ؤ‬ُ‫م‬ۡ‫ٱل‬ َ‫ن‬ِ‫م‬ ٰ‫ى‬ َ‫ر‬َ‫ت‬ۡ‫ٱش‬ َ َّ‫ٱَّلل‬ َّ‫ن‬ِ‫إ‬ُ‫م‬ُ‫ه‬َ‫ل‬ َّ‫ن‬ََِ‫ب‬ ‫م‬ُ‫ه‬َۚ‫ة‬َّ‫ن‬َ‫ج‬ۡ‫ٱل‬
• ‫ٲ‬َ‫ذ‬ َ‫و‬ ۚ‫ۦ‬ِ‫ه‬ِ‫ب‬ ‫م‬ُ‫ت‬ۡ‫ع‬َ‫ي‬‫ا‬َ‫ب‬ ‫ِى‬‫ذ‬َّ‫ٱل‬ ُ‫م‬ُُِ‫ع‬ۡ‫ي‬َ‫ب‬ِ‫ب‬ ْ‫ا‬‫و‬ُ‫ر‬ِ‫ش‬ۡ‫ب‬َ‫ت‬ۡ‫ٱس‬َ‫ف‬ُ‫ز‬ ۡ‫و‬َ‫ف‬ۡ‫ٱل‬ َ‫و‬ُ‫ه‬ َ‫ك‬ِ‫ل‬ُ‫م‬‫ي‬ََِّ‫ع‬ۡ‫ٱل‬

13. Government
• He was not interested in government posts or positions or
entertaining ministers.
• Ismail Sidki Pasha come to Ismailia – he refused to entertain
him or sing his praises.
• “My job to prepare my students well not sing praises of
dignataries.”
• He had brilliant qualities, great memory, excelled in his job
and studies
• He knew each of his members and their strengths and
weaknesses. He knew each area in Egypt
• He was a tough and strong man, spent a lot of his time
travelling, never got tired.

14. A friend describes a journey
• We travelled together in one car to Makkah and Medina, we
became we tired but there were no signs of tiredness on
Musrshid Al-Am. We ate some food on the way and our
stomachs started to ache but he ate the same food and had
no effects. We came from the heat of Makkah to the coolness
of Medina and we caught a cold and coughing but the
Murshid had no effect. In Makkah we climbed the mount Hira
and we got tired but there were no signs of tiredness on the
Murshid.
• The government banned Ikhwan, accused them of plotting to
overthrow King Farooq, arrested its members but he did not
back down from his mission. They said leave politics, just
concentrate on religion and we will lift the ban.

15. Leave politics…..His response
• “Islamic teachings and guidance takes precedence over our
worldly affairs, those who think these teaching are just
traditional and spiritual rituals are wrong. Islam is an aqeeda,
worship, country, nation, religion, spiritual, Quran and sword”.
• He lived a simple life, he disliked extravagance.
• He was invited for a dinner at the house of the Qadi of
Ismailia, silver cups – he refused to drink tea from it,
difference of opinion – quoted hadith from Bukhari.. (those
who eat from gold and silver dishes are putting the fire of hell
in their stomachs..
• Judge and gold ring
•

16. • He viewed the issues of Muslims in light of Q & S.
• In the words of Mufti of Palestine Al-haj Amin Al-Hasisi that
Imam H reminded us of our honour, he gave us confidence in
our deen. To him the whole of Islamic world was his country
not just Egypt…Muslims are one body – he dream a united
Muslim world based on Iman and Taqwa.
• The members actively participated in the jihad in Palestine
against the creation of Zionist state, on return on orders of
the British and US they arrested and thrown into prisons.

17. Meets his Lord
• Imam H was not arrested he was called for a meeting and on
the way he was shot (12/2/1949) on a busy road in Cairo.
• The victim was seen the no. plate of the escape vehicle was
noted nothing was done.
• Hospitals were notified not to operate or treat Imam.
• As soon as he was shot, the army imposed curfew in Cairo.
• He died in hospital, people were not allowed to attend his
funeral prayer, his father led his prayer and buried him –
armoured guard.

18. • Imam was from those individuals whom Allah sends to redirect the
Ummah towards His worship to change status quo.
• He was muttaqi, strong Iman, sincere and Man of Azeema (excelled in
Goodness and piety).
• Of those who see an evil change with hand.
• He raised the banner of truth when Egypt was stooped in materialism and
secularism – Deen is for Allah and the country for us. Deen was restricted
to the four walls od masajid and madaris.
• Muslims were losing hope, youth were turning toward western ideologies
• He said I don’t know any nationhood apart from Islam
• ‫هللا‬‫غايتنا‬ (our aim is Allah) and ‫االرسول‬‫زعيمنا‬ (The Prophet is our leader and
guide) – he reignited the spirit of Islam amongst the youth.
• He is martyred but martyrs don’t die, they leave a legacy a genration
behind.
• Imam was and is an asset for the Ummah.

19. Imam Al-Banna, established his Da'wah on several pillars which
he considered to be of utmost importance, among those pillars
are:
• 1. Singleness of purpose,
2. Gathering people around the basic principles of Islam and not worrying
about minor differences,
3. Following the proper Islamic manners in case of disagreement,
4. Thinking positively of those who disagree with one's idea,
5. Avoiding despotism,
6. The possibility of more than one right opinion for a single issue,
7. Cooperation in what is agreed upon and forgiveness in what is
disagreed upon,
8. Calling all Muslims to face the common enemy,
9. Encouraging work and productivity, and
10. Feeling of pity, not malice, for those who have gone astray.

20. • Among His Sayings....
•O sincere brothers! Our pledge has ten pillars, remember them: understanding,
sincerity, work, strife, sacrifice, obedience, steadfastness, singleness of purpose,
brotherhood and confidence.
•Revive your conscience by believing in Allah and remaining mindful of Him;
protect your communities by enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong;
these are the two pillars of reformation.
•Islam performs two tasks: First, it moulds the individuals into a new shape based
on Aqidah and noble human qualities; it then uses these individuals as building
units to establish the righteous Allah-mindful communities.
•Islam is an Aqidah (creed) as well as a nationality. Unlike nationalities which are
based on land, the nationality of Islam is based on brotherhood in faith and,
therefore, is far stronger and more meaningful than the former.

21. In Cairo
• Access to prominent Islamic scholars,
• He witnessed the effects of Westernisation the rise of
secularism and the breakdown of traditional morals.
• He saw the failure of the Islamic scholars of al-Azhar
University to voice their opposition to the rise of atheism
and to the influence of Christian missionaries.
• In his last year at Dar al-"Ulum, he had dedicated himself to
becoming "a counsellor and a teacher" of adults and
children, in order to teach them "the objectives of religion
and the sources of their well-being and happiness in life".
He graduated in 1927 and was given a position as an Arabic
language teacher in a state primary school in Isma"iliyya, a
provincial town located in the Suez Canal Zone.

22. Copts
• The Christians- all over Egypt- felt this mutual spirit of intimacy and
tolerance between them and the Muslim Brotherhood, especially in
religious occasions. The Muslim Brotherhood was keen to publish
the news of these visits in their newspapers. To cite an example,
here is a piece of news published in the Muslim Brotherhood
newspaper dated 10/11/1946.
" the Reverend Sharqiya and governorates" Motran visited the
Muslim Brotherhood house in Zagazig on the occasion of the
Greater Bairam (1365 Hijri) to congratulate them on the feast; the
Reverend made public a long statement entitled "The Feast
Present" around (unity is the symbol of victory), which he
concluded with: I thank the Brotherhood society because they are
brothers in feelings, brothers in solidarity and brothers in action".
“a living role model of religious tolerance, and excluding blind fanaticism; he was
looking at the Copts- in particular- as brothers in homeland”.