Indeed
it is troubling times for the ummah and the Islamic movement. For the Islamic
movement, the Ikhwan al Muslimoon is considered as the vanguard movement
and pioneer which has always been at the
epicenter of Islamic revival and consciousness. The movement has always been
consistent, steadfast; bearing the heavy burden of presenting Islam to the
modern world, the bearers of the universal Islamic message offering the
blessings of the Lord to mankind. As were the many leading revivalists before
them, the Ikhwan presented Islam as the true, straight path for salvation and
success for the ummah and all of mankind, always steering the middle path al
wasatiyah, always moderate, never compromising its principles in upholding
Islam and to reform society. It was always promoting a true understanding of
Islam, improving faith, to attain piety, upholding truth and justice, extolling
charity, purifying the hearts and souls, reaching out in da’wah,
educating by training in tarbiyyah, organizing the Islamic mission and
work - amal jama'iyy, taking care
physically and above all connecting and networking in close brotherhood - ukhuwwah
amongst Muslims. These were after all the teachings of the Qur’an and the
Sunnah of Rasulullah, Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, may peace and the
blessings of Allah be upon him.
There
were severe hardships and calamities which befell the Ikhwan, the brothers and
sisters of the movement. In the 50's and 60's, the Egyptian regime under Nasser betrayed and slandered the movement, harshly
repressed the Ikhwan, killing, imprisoning and brutally torturing its leaders
and members, men and women. The very men and women of Egypt , its own sons and
daughters, who had moral esteem and high ideals, who in some other situation
and place in time, would have been highly regarded as statesmen and
intellectuals, and be the role models of society. But the jealous and paranoiac
tyrants simply suppressed and brutally repressed the Ikhwan culminating in the
tragic and controversial conviction and execution of the syuhada’ Abd Qadir Awdah and Sayyid Qutb and the others who were
sentenced to death, may Allah have mercy on them. The accusations have
subsequently been shown to be false but Allah has deemed them to return unto
Him in His wisdom.
By
jailing its youth, shackling its intellectuals and cowering its principled
citizens, Egypt ,
a year later, went to war with its real and menacing enemy, Israel , ending up
in utter and humiliating defeat.
The
suppression of the Ikhwan suited the agenda of the Zionists, the Communists at
that time and Western powers - former colonialists who feared a revolutionary
force that would threaten the status quo and would place Egypt away from
their spheres of influence. But even though the Ikhwan were viciously attacked physically
and its image always been distorted and vily misrepresented, they never ever
adopted a radical approach or a militant act nor a violent response. Ikhwan's negative
image has always been portrayed systematically by media and propagandists to
the world and to ordinary Egyptians, even to children as irhab - terrorists, as backward people and as bogeyman, a menace to
society. Ikhwan has always maintained the moderate path and kept to upholding
peace and unity of the ummah above all other considerations. It has always been
in the mode of da’wah wa tarbiyyah – reaching out and educating. This is
as envisioned and as was taught by al syahid al Imam Hasan al Banna, its respected
founder and maintained with great forbearance and patience by the others after
him. The few young and impatient but maybe sincere idealists do disagree,
dissented and differed with the Ikhwan, some resulted in grave consequences for
the movement and the ummah as a whole as experienced presently by Muslims - the
phenomena of Islamophobia as a reaction to incidences and outcry. But the
Ikhwan credibly remained as the mainstream movement and maintained its popularity
and is still well respected by friends and seems to be always feared by its foes.
However
on the matter of principles, the fundamentals of Islam and also justice for the
Ummah and the liberation of Palestine
in the face of Israel ’s
illegitimacy, there is no compromise by the Ikhwan.
Some
of its leaders undertook to consolidate, plan and organize the movement internationally
while in exile. A movement by any other principles would have been shattered
and would have faltered under such intense pressure and meticulous scrutiny if
not by its highest ideals and its committed leadership. The Ikhwan participated
and maintained a very strong presence in politics, the mosques, the
universities, the professional bodies by dominating the medical, engineering
and legal associations ,the intellectuals and also the Arab street. The Ikhwan’s
representatives participated democratically contesting elections, have won
seats persistently albeit using various platforms of the present political
parties, having done so under severe discrimination and against all odds in Egypt ’s highly
lop sided electoral system.
It
is indeed sad and tragic that Ikhwan Al Muslimoon has never been officially
recognized or registered or allowed to operate legally and openly in Egypt or any
part of the Arab world. But Ikhwan persists to exist, its presence felt and
they were there to help out the needy, they were the first to offer relief to disaster
victims of quakes and calamities being more efficient, reliable and
trustworthy; they were there to quell riots peacefully, and they were there
fighting in the first wars to liberate Palestine before being betrayed by the
Arab legion of that time (and Yasser Arafat himself could vouch for this as he
was there in person and knows the Ikhwan’s commitment)
The
authorities would arrest the Ikhwan’s candidates and leaders just before elections
just to disrupt and ensure that they cannot win. The travesty was the
authorities’ extreme and shameful use of violent and provocative tactics to
defeat the Ikhwan’s first and sole women candidate for the Iskandariah seat.
She was highly popular and her win would have disproved all the narrow-mindedness
and prejudice of the extreme liberal-secularists towards Ikhwan and the Islamic
movement’s attitude towards the role of women and leadership. Ikhwan decided to
field a woman candidate when even secular parties were reluctant. Other Islamic
parties in the world learnt a lot from this experience.
It
is also sad that most of the ummah will never know of Ikhwan's many leaders that
have departed, never knowing or recognizing their great contribution towards
the ummah’s own revival and a better present understanding of Islam in the
contemporary world. The history of the modern Muslim world and the social studies
of the last century ought to be reviewed and relooked at seriously so that
justice be done to the real men and women who contributed to the world’s social,
moral and ethical progress and development. With the fall of the caliphate in
1927, it was the Islamic movement pioneered by Ikhwan al Muslimoon and led by its
predecessors which revived and kept the idea of the community - Ummah, the
Islamic brotherhood, the Islamic commonwealth and the Islamic Tasawwur
or Islamic world view, alive by the grace of Allah. Even if it is unfortunate
for the Arab and Muslim world’s independence and redevelopment in terms of
spirit, thought and confidence has never been acknowledged to have come from the
Islamic movement's contributions as represented by Ikhwan. The many Arab
failures and the other contemptible Muslim lands which failed to take off and
remained miserable as it should be due have partly been to their severe
repression of the Islamists and rejection of Islamization as was experienced by
trying to eradicate the Ikhwan. Allah knows best and unto Him all things will
return.
Those
of us who has inherited the glorious legacies of the scholars, the companions
of the Prophet s.a.w. and those after them, may Allah be pleased with them, having
such little knowledge and only a trickle of understanding and meager will; in
the course of Islam should pledge, strive and endeavour to improve ourselves
and reach out to others to carry on the struggle for the cause of Islam as bearers
of Rahmatan lil Alamin- the Blessings
for the Universe.
(article
written in 2002)
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