In 1996, a life devoted to the service of Islam came to its end; a combatant who fought hard for the Islamic cause laid down his arms. The man was Muhammad Al-Ghazali, born in Egypt in 1917. He wrote with feelings and never hesitated to state the truth clear and open.
When he was born, his father called him Muhammad Al-Ghazali, because of the father’s love of the great Islamic scholar of that name who lived several centuries earlier. The earlier scholar was renowned for his great knowledge and passionate defense of the truth against philosophical creeds. His father hoped that his newborn son would follow in the footsteps of his illustrious namesake. His great aim was that his son would be able to explain the true nature of Islam to its people who were at the time suffering from weakness resulting in the colonization of much of their land, and ignorance that reduced their Islamic knowledge to little more than a host of practices, many of which could not be sanctioned by Islam.
His full name was Muhammad Al-Ghazali Ahmad Al-Saqqa, but he was to be known only as Muhammad Al-Ghazali, and his fame traveled far and wide both in the Muslim world and among those who were opposed to Islam. The latter recognized in him a stumbling block which doomed to failure all their attempts to distort Islam or remove its teachings from public life. His father directed him to Islamic education, enrolling him in the Alexandria Religious Institute, one of the many institutes in Egypt run by Al-Azhar, where he completed his secondary education.
But Al-Ghazali was an exceptional student. He memorized the Qur’an at an early age, and pursued the study of the Arabic language and literature. This gave him a command of the language that is rare among his contemporaries. When he completed his secondary education, he joined Al-Azhar, enrolling in the Faculty of Usool Al-Deen, or Fundamentals of the Islamic Faith. This specializes in the study of the Qur’an, Hadith and theology. He proved once again that he was an exceptional student and graduated with distinction.
It was during his student days at the Alexandria Institute that Al-Ghazali met Hassan Al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, the most important Islamic revivalist movement of the twentieth century. When many years later he was asked to name the people who had influenced his life and thinking, he named quite a few of his teachers in Al-Azhar, but then added: “No one influenced me more than Imam Hassan Al-Banna, who ranked among the most distinguished scholars of Islam, a fluent orator who spoke with feeling and a dedicated worker who recognized the challenges facing Islamic revival.”
Furthermore, he writes: “The 20 principles outlined by Hassan Al-Banna incorporate much goodness and gives his movement its rightful rank in the great Islamic march. They do not give this movement any odd mark, nor do they make him a man devoted to a group standing apart from the bulk of the Muslim community. He was one of a number of great leaders that distinguished themselves over the 14 centuries of Islamic history by their dedication to the Qur’an and the Sunnah. They derive their honor from their total allegiance to God and His messenger, and their welcome of all those whom they meet in their spacious field of work, even though these may differ in their thoughts and orientation. I also learnt from Hassan Al-Banna the importance of giving people their credit when we differ in our views. If I differ with a scholar over a particular ruling, I cannot ignore his right views on many other questions, or overlook what God might have favored him with. I respect all that and respect his dedication to Islam, even though I might think that he is mistaken in his view in respect of the question on which we differ.”
Al-Ghazali was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood ever since he met Hassan Al-Banna, and was later made a member of the founding council of the Brotherhood. He remained one of the main advocates of the Brotherhood until the early 1950s. He wrote regularly in its newspapers and spoke in its functions. But he was to be further distinguished as one of its main authors.
In December 1948, the Egyptian government started rounding up the members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which had sent many of its young members as volunteers to fight in Palestine against the Jews who were trying to occupy it. Sheikh Al-Ghazali was among those arrested and was sent with thousands others for imprisonment near Mount Sinai. He devoted his time there to enhancing his fellow prisoners’ perception of Islamic principles and values. He organized circles of study, and led the prayers, giving his fellow prisoners a feeling that they were making much benefit of their time. During the month of Ramadan, this spirituality was at its highest when everyone felt that the meager provisions they received were better than a great banquet.
Even in prison he showed his great courage in defending what is right. He realized that the prison officers took most of the canned food that was sent for the detainees. He also realized that those military officers felt that they could do what they liked, since there was none to hold them to account. Therefore, in his speech before Friday prayers, he charged the feelings of the congregation against such daylight robbery. After the prayer, he led the congregation in a demonstration against such ‘unjust policy of starvation’. This took the officers in charge by surprise. They had no option but to accede to the fairness of the prisoners’ demands. Thus, with his brave stand for justice, he forced the jailers to stop their injustice.
Sheikh Al-Ghazali left the Muslim Brotherhood in an acrimonious way. In the early period of the military government in Egypt, Nasser tried hard to divide the Brotherhood, seeking to sow discord among its various leaders. He was able to attract some members of the paramilitary wing of the organization and instigated them against the official leadership of Hassan Al-Hudaybi, who had succeeded Al-Banna after the latter was assassinated by government agents. These members rebelled and were able to win the support of some distinguished figures who did not see eye to eye with the new leader. This led to a period of great difficulty and Al-Hudaybi felt that such divisions threatened the very existence of the Brotherhood. He set out on a policy of reorganization, but with the continued division, fueled by Nasser and his agents, he had to take some drastic measures. One of these was to expel four distinguished figures of the Brotherhood, including Muhammad Al-Ghazali.
Sheikh Al-Ghazali was deeply hurt by this order of expulsion. He never thought that he would ever be forced to leave the movement he loved and for which he dedicated all his talent. He wrote criticizing the leadership in no moderate terms, but he later regretted opening his fire against them.
At the first opportune moment, he swiftly moved for reconciliation, visiting Hassan Al-Hudaybi when he was released from prison. He removed from subsequent editions all that he had said against him and other Brotherhood leaders. Not only so, but he was seen trying to kiss Al-Hudaybi’s hand while the latter was trying to prevent him from doing so. He wrote admiring Al-Hudaybi’s courage and steadfastness in his resistance of Nasser’s rule.
