Sufism and the Muslim Brotherhood: Ḥasan al-Bannā’s wird and the Transformation of Sufi Traditions in Modern Islamic Activism

Abstract

Abstract Scholarship on the Muslim Brotherhood has often commented on its initial connection with Sufism. However, the question of how and why Sufism matters in the fully established Muslim Brotherhood movement has so far gone unanswered. This article gives a detailed account of the Sufi elements adopted into Muslim Brotherhood activism by its founder, Ḥasan al-Bannā (1906-1949). It analyses their function, especially their important role in the education of recruits as they become members of a hierarchical organisation based on the ‘family system’. Among the Sufi practices and ideas relevant in the Muslim Brotherhood tradition are the heart-bond (rābiṭah) prayer and self-examination, as well as concepts such as the spiritual path and ‘friendship of God’. Their incorporation into an Islamic project focused on activism and politics radically altered the meaning of these Sufi elements. Beyond al-Bannā and Egypt, the article follows this development within the Muslim Brotherhood movement across the Arab world from the 1950s until the present day.