Hassan al-Banna حسن البنا

Imam Hasan al-Banna rahimahullah (1906-1949) was a prominent Egyptian scholar, educator, and the founder of al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun (the Muslim Brotherhood), one of the largest Islamic movements of the modern era. Born in Egypt in 1906, he received his early formation in Islamic sciences - including hadith and fiqh - under his father, Shaykh Abdur Rahman al-Banna, and under other notable scholars. He went on to graduate from Dar al-Ulum, Cairo, one of Egypt's foremost institutions of Islamic learning. After graduating he worked for many years as a teacher, channeling his scholarly formation into grassroots education and Islamic revival. His commitment to renewing Islamic life across all levels of society led many Muslim scholars and thinkers to consider him a mujaddid (reviver of the faith) of the twentieth century. He was assassinated and martyred in 1949. His writings, including the devotional collection Al-Ma'thurat and the Intimate Discourse (Al-Munajah), continue to be widely read across the Muslim world.