Banned art in Brotherhood’s ideology

Mustafa Hamza

Islamist movements adopt divergent positions to art. Some of these movements sanction it, but others ban it. The whole thing depends on how the leaders of these movements view this art.

Nonetheless, some Islamist movements use art to serve their own agendas. These movements use chants to mobilize their members and followers. The same movements use drama and the cinema as opposition tools to ruling regimes.

The Muslim Brotherhood is one of these movements that adopt mixed positions to art. Singing is a clear example in this regard. Some of the leaders of the Brotherhood do not have any problems with singing, particularly this in which tambourines are involved. Other leaders, however, ban singing. Those who agree to singing accompanied by tambourines bar other musical instruments.

The literature produced by Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna does not include any clear-cut stance toward art. Nevertheless, al-Banna refers to art in two of his messages. In one of the two messages, namely “Are we practical?” al-Banna says that art cannot be a way of reforming the manners of nations. Religion, he adds, does this.

In the other message, namely “Our mission”, al-Banna says progress in the arts does not bring any internal peace to people.

In his book, “Muslim Brotherhood transformations”, the late Islamist researcher Hossam Tamam says when he founded the Brotherhood in 1928, al-Banna highlighted the importance of the arts. Al-Banna introduced religious songs and art sketches to the celebrations of the Brotherhood, Tamam says in his book.

He especially refers to a chant written by Sheikh Ahmed Hassan al-Baqouri, the minister of Islamic endowments at the time of the 1952 revolution. The chant was one of the most famous in the 1950s. It was the official chant of the Brotehrhood at the time.

The 1970s can be called the era of chants. This type of singing spread to all fields: to celebrations and wedding parties.

Brotherhood chants from jihad to romanticism

Tamam says this type of singing changed dramatically during the 1980s. This went hand in hand with changes taking place in the Egyptian society.

The performance of Islamist movements moved from mere volunteerism to professionalism with these movements gaining more ground in all Egypt’s provinces. This caused these movements to gradually start using other musical instruments. Now, these movements use all these instruments without any problems.

Islamist movements, Tamam says in his book, enlisted services from professional musicians, including the well-known musician Hassan Esh Esh. Some of the troupes affiliated to the Islamist movements even introduced things to their music that had nothing to with their Islamist nature. One of these troupes mimicked a song by Egyptian singing sensation Amr Diab.

Tamam says some of the songs of the Islamist movements lost their enthusiastic and jihadist nature and acquired a romantic nature instead.