Hassan Ahmed Abd al-Rahman Muhammed al-Banna (Arabic: حسن أحمد عبد الرحمن محمد البنا; 14 October 1906 – 12 February 1949), known as Hassan al-Banna (Arabic: حسن البنا), was an Egyptian schoolteacher and Imam, best known for founding the Muslim Brotherhood,[8] one of the largest and most influential global Islamist movements,[8][3] and for his "martyrdom"[9] at the hands (it is thought) of the Egyptian government.

[11] He declared that establishing a just society required development of institutions and progressive taxation, and elaborated an Islamic fiscal theory where zakat would be reserved for social expenditure in order to reduce inequality.

[13] Al-Banna generally encouraged Egyptians to abandon Western customs; and argued that the state should enforce Islamic public morality through censorship and application of hudud corporal punishment.

Political Militant Islam portal His father, Sheikh Ahmed Abd al-Rahman al-Banna al-Sa'ati, was a Hanbali imam,[15] muezzin and mosque teacher.

In addition to his early exposure to puritanism, Hassan al-Banna was inspired by Rashid Rida's magazine, Al-Manar and he was heavily influenced by Islamic fundamentalism as a youth in Mahmudiyya.

He also studied in Cairo for four years; he attended Dar al-‘Ulum, an Egyptian institution that educated prospective teachers in modern subjects.

He was a regular visitor of the Salafiyya book store, at that time directed by Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib; and often attended the lectures of Rashid Rida.

One of the most important revivalist ideas advocated by Rida was the formation of an Islamic state that would govern by the Sharia and return to a society modelled during the time of Muhammad and his companions.

This idea of a revolutionary struggle based on Islamic principles would guide Hassan al-Banna's later life and manifest in the formation of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In March 1928 six workers affiliated with the Suez Canal company approached Banna, complaining about injustices suffered by Muslims at the hands of foreign colonialist control.

He built a complex mass movement that featured sophisticated governance structures; sections in charge of furthering the society's values among peasants, workers and professionals; units entrusted with key functions, including propagation of the message, liaison with the Islamic world and press and translation; and specialized committees for finances and legal affairs.

It did not confine itself to philosophical theories but rather spread these principles through daily life, and added to them [the notions of] divinity of mankind, and the perfectibility of his virtues and [the fulfilment of] his spiritual tendencies".

[24][25]Al-Banna relied on pre-existing social networks―in particular those built around mosques, Islamic welfare associations and neighborhood groups―to anchor the Muslim Brotherhood into Egyptian society.

[citation needed] The material, social and psychological support provided by the Muslim Brotherhood were instrumental to the movement's ability to generate enormous loyalty among its members and to attract new recruits.

The movement was built around services and an organizational structure intended to enable individuals to integrate into a distinctly Islamic setting that was shaped by the society's own principles.

[26] By emphasizing concerns that appealed to a variety of constituencies, al-Banna was able to recruit from among a cross-section of Egyptian society—though modern-educated civil servants, office employees, and professionals remained dominant among the organization's activists and decision-makers.

Hence it has become an individual obligation, which there is no evading, on every Muslim to prepare his equipment, to make up his mind to engage in jihad, and to get ready for it until the opportunity is ripe and God decrees.

In addition to their fundraising efforts, the Muslim Brothers also organized special prayers for Palestinian Arab nationalists, held political rallies, and distributed propaganda.

Although the Arab revolt in Palestine was ultimately suppressed through repression and military action, the Muslim Brothers' impressive mobilization efforts helped make the Palestinian question a pan-Arab concern in the Middle East.

Sometime in 1939, Hassan al-Banna resurrected Al-Manar to further promote the revolutionary ideology pioneered by the Muslim Brotherhood and claim Rashid Rida's legacy.

[17] Hassan al-Banna in two of his writings, Peace In Islam and Our Message, criticises the ultra-nationalism of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy as being a "reprehensible idea" within which was "not the slightest good"[31] and which gave power to "chosen tyrants".

Following the murder of Nokrashy Pasha by a student member of the Brotherhood,[35] Al-Banna released a statement condemning the assassination and stating that terror is not acceptable in Islam.

[38] His father Ahmed retrieved his corpse from Qasr El Eyni Hospital to his house, then his coffin was carried by women with the police escort who prevented men from attending his funeral except for Makram Ebeid who was a government figure.

[40] Hassan al-Banna wrote more than 2000 articles and many books, which include an autobiographical novel entitled Mudhakkirât al-da'wa wa al-dâ'iya (Remembrances of Preaching and of a Preacher).