RELIGIOUS CONDITION
CHAPTER 2 EARLY LIFE
3.1 STU DIES IN MAKKAH
3.2.3.4 SHAYKH ISMA'TL GRADUATES FROM AL-AZHAR
After completing his studies in 1931 atal-Azhar,Shaykh IsmaTI was awarded the Shahsdat al-Ahliyyah (certificate of competence) (see Annexure 13). The late Shaykh Shakier Gamieldien claimed that the
Stiatuda:
al-Ahliyyah was considered superior to the 'llimiyat al-Aghrab (diploma for foreign students) which is adegree certificate presented to non-Egyptian graduates from al-Azhar University. Shaykh Ismall specialised in Arabic and passed the following subjects:mantlq
(logic),snariah, tawpId, i}adlth
andtatslr.
photo:"AJ-Azharal-Sharit"
Building of the Arabic Faculty at al-Azhar asitistoday
photo:"AJ-Azharal-Shatit"
Building oftheShaTi'ah Faculty at al-Azharas it is today
InDecember 1930,Shaykh Ismall,accompanied by his room-mate,Shaykh Al,1mad AlIie (AH) , left Cairo for Makkah to perform
pail
and then returned to Cairo.ShaykhAl)madAllie became illand died in Cairo in June 1931. On the 6th October 1931, Slzaykh Ismall and Shaykh Tayb Jassiem returned to Cape Town (see Annexure 14) with the lateShaykhAhmad Allie's belongings ..51
Itis mentioned by various sources that tile students of the Cape spent many hours atal-Aztiar University after lectures discussing and exchanging views among themselves on diverse topics, such as the socio-political, educational and legal issues of the country. This, no doubt, impacted on the mind ofShaykh Ismall, as well as his colleagues." One cannot operate in an environment in which certain discourses are discussed without such discourses impacting on one's thinking.
Although there is no strong evidence that Shaykh Ismall was influenced by the teachings of Hasan al-Banna, some of these teachings must have rubbed off on him.
3.2.3.5 I:IASAN AL-BANNA AND AL-lKljWAN AL -MUSLlMVN (MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD)
The force behind theMuslim Brotherhood was the will to purify Egyptian society of corruption and Western influence and to establish the Muslims society on Islamic principles. This was tobe based upon revolutionary social action, bringing Islamic principles and values into lives of Egypt Muslims. According to the Muslim Brotherhood,the Islamic order rests on three basic principles: the justice of the ruler, the obedience of the ruled and the notion ofshUrii(consultation) by which the ruler is elected,controlled, and if necessary, removed."
Al-Banna extended the message of his movement in regular evening sessions which attracted to his movement members of the local intelligentsia, artisans, as
well as workers from the British camp workshops. The movement became interested in public affairs, thus Al-Banna who was influenced by Muhammad Rashld Ric;la (see Annexure 15), had called for a comprehensive and activistIsltm.
Richard Mitchell asserted that the goal of the Muslim Brotherhood was to establish an 'Islamic order' instead of an Islamic State. The Muslim Brotherhood was young and had not advanced its vision on politics and did not reflect on the assumption of political power as an imminent possibility." _
The Muslim Brotherhood's major concern was the continued British occupation of Egypt and the rising nationalist movement that required more attention. Hasan Al-Banna believed that the foundation for a modern Islamic society lies in the return to the Qur'an and iadlth. He also believed in organising a virtuous community which commands the good and forbids evil doing. Itis only from such a community that a good state can emerge. Hasan Al-Banna championed evolutionary change over radical revolution in order to recreate the early Madinan community of the Prophet (saw),"
This chapter concludes with adiscussion of Hasan Al-Banna, and hereafter we will be focussing on Shaykh Isrnall's return to the Cape.
ENDNOTES
AI,lmad 'Ali wasthebrotherofHanief Allie,theex-principal ofHabibia Primary School.
Inte~.ewwilhJJaJ{ahKhadijah l:Ianlf (wife ofShaykh Ismail) on 14th February1999.ljajjah Khadijah Hamef died on the 1st March 1999 at her residence inSalt River. Interview with Nasif Gamieldi en. (sonofShaykhShakir Gamieldien)on 13th May 1999 andShaykhMuhammad
Abb~s~Jassiem on 18th June 1999Shaykh Muhammad Abbass Jassiem (85 years), isthe only survivmg scholar who studied withShaykh lsmfllin Egypt.
Tayob, p. 50.
10
11
12
14
15
16
17
18
19
Interview withShaykh Salih 'Abadi Solomons on 15th September 1998.
Shaykh in the Arabic language means an old man,a tribal leader and a title given toa person as a means of respect. In this instance the titleShaykhwas givento students who studied abroad.
Tayob, p.51.
InterviewwithShaykhMogamat Amien Fakier on 17th April 1999.ShaykhAmien studied in Makkah and is presentlyimsmof the Siddique Mosque in Elsies River. He isalso the writer and translatorofmany Islamic books such as "Ar-RisaalahAJ-Mufeedah".
Interview with Majedeellanif (eldestsonofSllaykhlsmail) on l lth May 1997.
InterviewwithShaykh Mogamat Amien Fakier on 17th April 1999.
Liesbesny,J L1975 Near&Middle East Readings,Cases,& Material
StateUniversityofNew York Press. Washington Avenue,Albany,New York. p. 107.
Ibid.
Smith, WC1957 Islam inModem IIistory Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.pp. 41- 43.
Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab(1702-92) ,at the age of twenty-one traveled extensively to Iraq and Persia.He studied philosophy and Sufism and even taught Sufism for a while. At the age of forty, he returned to his birth place and commenced to preach his own doctrines,which were opposed by several of his own kinfolk. He then emigrated to Dair'iya where he instituted an alliancewith the local leader,Sa'ud, who approved of his religious views. From there the Wahhabi movement expanded military from Najd to the lIijaz and the cities of Madinah and Makkah became under Wahhabi control. Early in the nineteenth century,the Wahhabis were militarily defeated by Muhamad 'Ali,the governor of Egypt, under the command from the Ottoman government,Soon they were driven out the Najd and their capital at Riyad and were forced to seek refuge in Kuwait for a period of eleven years. 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Sa'nd returned at the beginning of the twentieth century not only to reclaim the lost power of his ancestors but to established his influence over the whole territory known today asSa'udi Arabia. See Rahmanp. 199.
Tazkiyah literallymeans purification. Technically it means thepurification ofthe inner-self. It is also to purify the negative aspect ofthenafs (blameworthy soul) until one arrives towards the positive aspect ofthenafswhich then becomes the soul whichAlltil refers to in theQur':nasnafs
al-mutamainnah (contented).
IP~ literally means excellence. Technically itis used to refer to the excellenceofworship.
According to Sufism,l(Jsill means toattain to the divine presence(musha hada).
Rahman,F19791s1tmThe University ChicagoPress,Ltd.,London,p. 197.
See Chapter Two
Author not mentioned. "Makkah and Wahabies",The Moslem Outlook,18th April 1924,p. 3,cols.
2-3.
Esposito,J LI995Encyclopedia of the modem Islamicworld, Oxford University Press.Madison
20
11
22
13
24
lS .
l6
18
29
31
3l
II
34 31
36
38
J9
Interview withShaykhMogamat Amien Fakier on 17th April 1999.
Ibid.
Al-Sayyid,p. 137 Ibid, p.59.
Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby (1861-1936), British field marshal, was born in Suffolk, and educated at Haileybury College, Sandhurst He was assigned in 1917 as commander in chief of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. He led a victorious offensive against the Turkish armies in the Middle East From 1919 to 1925 hewas British high conunissioner in Egypt. See Funk, vol. I,p.360.
Brockelmann, pp.467-470. Since then every Egyptian government attempted to negotiate a change in its terms.but was unsuccessful,until itwas unilaterally abrogated in 1951 by a Wafdist
government. SeeAl-Sayyid, pp.206-207. -
When Egypt became a Britishprotectorate,thekhedioehad taken the title ofsultan. See Hourani, p.317.
Hourani, p. 318.
See Chapter I,"KMIMahIssue".
Sa'dZaghlul was the father ofthe post world war 1Independence Movement. He became Prime Minister ofEgypt in 1924.Sa'dZaghlul who was a student of'Abduh,died 1927.
Kedourie, E 1970. The Chathamllouse Version and other Middle-EasternStudies, Franc Cass, London. pp.182-183.
Ayubi,N 1991.Politicallslem; Routledge,London. p. 130.
Funk, vol. 5, p.1649.
The Moslem Outlook, 13th February 1925,p, 2,col. 2.
Ibid. 18th September 1926, p. 13, cols.1-3.
Interview with Mohammad Hanief Allie on 6th March 1999.
Rahman, F 1982Is!am and Modernity,University ofChicago Press, Chicago.
P.60.
Zebiri, K1993Mahmu dShaltu t and IsItunic Modernism, Oxford University Press Inc.New York.
p.18.
Literaryijtiha dmeans exertion, and technically the effort a jurist makes in order to deduce the law, which is not self-evident, from itssources.See Mohammad Hashim Kamali,Principles of IsIsmicJurisprudence,TIle Islamic Text Society, Cambridge. 1989. p. 403.
Mohamed, pp. 24-25. See also Zaki Badawi, MA1978The Reformers ofEgyp~ Croom Helm Ltd, London. pp. 80-81.
41
41
(J
45
SI
SI
sa
54
ss
51
58
Mohamed, p.26.
Ibid, p.27.
Ibid. p.16.
Kedourie,E1970.The Chatham House Version and otherMiddle-Eastern Studies,London. p. 178.
Al-Bayomi,MR 1983.AI-Azhar Millenary Celebrations,SecretariateGeneral Higher Committee for al-AzharMillenaryCelebrations,Cairo.pp.105-107.
lbid.p.1 08.
tu«
Interview withIma mRedar Behardien on 16th April 1999. ImamRedar Behardien is presently imamofthe lIeideveldtnasjid. He was a student of the lateShaykhShakir Gamieldien.
Authorunknown, "Cape Townimamwhosettled inCairo"The Sun,20thJanuary1933,p.I, cols.l-2. See Chapter OneconcerningShaykhAbdurahman Gamieldien.
InterviewwithNasir Gamieldien on 13th May 1999.
Zebiri,K1993Mahmud Shaltut and Islamic Modernism Oxford UniversityPress Inc. New York.
pp.11&18.
Ibid, p.11 Ibid Ibid, p.13.
InterviewwithMohammad Hanief AIlie on 6th March 1999.
Ebrahim,MH1997Shaykl:lsmail Hanief (Edumrds) of the Cape -/lis contributionand influence unpublishedBAhonoursdissertation.UniversityofSouth Africa,pp. 15-16.
Rippen,A 1993.Muslims-TheirReligiousBeliefsand PracticesVolume2:TheContemporary Period, Rouledge,London and New York.p. 91.
Ayubi,pp.130-131.
Zubaida,S 1989ThePeople and the State,Routledge,London. pp. 47-48.