Copts in the Mind of “Al-Banna” … From Building Bridges to Break-up

Doaa Imam

The most prominent reference to the status of the Copts in the policy of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (1928) Hassan al-Banna (1906-1949), can be the “diaries of the preaching and the preacher,” which represents his biography, and is considered by the Muslim Brotherhood as a theoretical reference whenever they disagree.

Strangely, the pages of these diaries leaned towards building bridges and dialogue with the Copts when a need for their money exists. When the Muslim Brotherhood group could do without them, they abandoned them.

Al-Banna did not reject the donation he received from Edouard Empain (a Belgian engineer who founded Heliopolis Company) and was a Christian. Empain saw the mosque and school project initiated by the Muslim Brotherhood in Ismailia in 1928. He offered to help the Muslim Brotherhood group with a sum of LE500. In his memoirs, the Muslim Brotherhood General Guide documented his position on this amount, saying: “I thanked him for this, and I understand that this amount is very small, and was not expected from the company because at the time it was building with its own money a church costing five hundred thousand Egyptian pounds, it gave the mosque only five hundred Egyptian pounds. So, he was convinced with my point of view and asked me to accept the money.”

On the rejection of the members of the group to build the mosque and the school with foreign funds, the General Guide responded by saying: “This is our money not foreign funds. The channel is ours, the sea is ours and the land is ours. Those people are angry in a lapse of time. God wanted the mosque to be established. No foreign money has been put in the mosque. The money was put in the building of the Muslim Brotherhood group (And God was capable of everything). Thus, this is crooked jurisprudence. He also did not address the religion of Edouard Empain known Baron Empain.

Serving Islamic Wealth

In 1936, al-Banna mentioned in his diaries the text of a speech by Anba Yunes, the then Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt, asking him to donate money from the church to support the Palestinian cause. The speech began with “Dear Anba Yunes, The head of the Palestine Assistance Committee in the Muslim Brotherhood group in Cairo is pleased to submit this request to your majesty, inspired by what is entrusted to your majesty of the highest noble feelings of mercy and righteousness.”

“You know, O Blessed One, that dear brotherly Palestine is the cradle of the laws and the prophets. It has been subjected to the brutal force. The blood of its sons, Muslims and Christians alike has been shed. Its homes have been destroyed. In Egypt, we can offer those heroes money. We hope that you will embrace these heroic Mujahideen with your fatherly kindness. We also hope that you will order the sons of Palestine be provided with the remainder of the funds of the Al-Ahbash Assistance Committee to the Higher Arab Committee in Jerusalem. Moreover, kindly invite Egyptian philanthropists to donate for this noble purpose. Thank you a lot. ”

Al-Banna considered that the duties of the members of his group are to serve the general Islamic wealth by encouraging the Islamic industries and economic establishments. Not only that, he said in what he called “the message of the teachings,” which are speeches and texts from conferences Al-Banna used to attend.
“Be careful about the money. It should never be fallen in non-Islamic hands whatever the circumstances are. You also should wear and eat only from the products made in your Islamic country.”

In the third pillar of allegiance, al-Banna speaks in the “message of the teachings” about work. He says: “Reforming the government is needed until it is truly Islamic. The government is an Islamic entity as long as its members were Muslims who obeyed the provisions of Islam and were not disobedient. We use non-Muslims when necessary in other positions of the general mandate.”

Thus, the founder of the group defined the government as an Islamic entity that only accommodates Muslims in normal circumstances and expands to include non-Muslims when necessary in non-state positions. This means that the presence of a non-Muslim in the Islamic government is temporary and has taken place because of a need more than a right to participate in power positions.

Al-Banna’s view of the Copts is not too far from the viewpoints of the group’s members, such as Sayyed Qutb and Muhammad Abdullah al-Khatib (the mufti of the group), who incited against the Copts and recommended the demolition of their churches and not burying them in Muslim graves. They have also said that the Copts should be greeted. Al-Banaa only got close to the Copts to request a donation for the group.