Tariq Ramadan, Your Grandfather Was a Colonialist

By Published On: February 18, 2011

In a recent article appearing in The New York Times, apologist for the Muslim Brotherhood Tariq Ramadan portrayed his grandfather, Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood as an anti-colonialist.

This is simply not true. Al-Banna was a self-proclaimed colonialist. His own writings prove it.

In an essay titled “Our Mission” written to describe the goals of the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Banna described how the adherence to true Islam fulfills the impulse embodied by a number of different “patriotisms” offered by propagandists who compete with Islam for humanity’s allegiance. In the essay, translated by Charles Wendell and published by the University of California Press in 1978 (Five Tracts of Hasan Al-Banna), the author lists a number of patriotisms whose impulses are better fulfilled by authentic Muslim practices. After detailing the problems of the “Patriotism of the Sentiment” and the “Patriotism of Freedom and Greatness” al-Banna writes

Or if they mean by “patriotism” the conquest of countries and lordship over the earth, Islam has already ordained that, and has sent out the conquerors to carry out the most gracious of colonizations and the most blessed of conquests. This is what He, the Almighty, says: “Fight them till there is no longer discord, and the religion is God’s” [Q.2.193].

This is support for religious colonialism pure and simple. Readers will have to decide for themselves if Ramadan is either misinformed about his grandfather’s beliefs, or if he is willfully mischaracterizing al-Banna’s teachings.

We expose the anti-Israel lies so you don't have to. But we can't do it without your help. Join the fight -- Donate now
CAMERA logo
Tell the World – Share Now!

More from SNAPSHOTS

  • Israel-E.U. Economic Ties Increase

    February 20, 2018

    Economic ties between the nation of Israel and the European Union (EU) have increased, according to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), a Washington D.C.-based think tank. Ilysa Tuttelman, a researcher for WINEP’s [...]

  • The Media Ignores Foiled Plot to Assassinate Israel’s Defense Minister

    February 20, 2018

    Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman Israeli authorities foiled a plot to assassinate Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, the Shin Bet security service said on Feb. 18, 2018. The Shin Bet’s remarks went widely underreported by major [...]

  • The Song Remains The Same: NYT Backs Off the Palestinian Authority

    February 16, 2018

    Earlier this week, in a moment of candor, the New York Times acknowledged that the Palestinian Authority does, in fact, have agency in shaping the situation in the Israel and the territories. A Feb. 12 [...]

  • Huffington Post Arabic, Platform for Hamas Propaganda

    February 12, 2018

    Feb. 20 Update: Huffington Post Arabic Removes Hamas Propaganda Hamas has found an unlikely platform to amplify its propaganda. Huffington Post Arabic has copied and pasted a Hamas caption, word for word, including language completely [...]

  • UPDATED:The Washington Post Claims Israel Used Iranian Drone As ‘Pretext’ For Attack

    February 10, 2018

    The remnants of the Iranian UAV. Picture courtesy of The Times of Israel The Washington Post treated an Iranian attack against Israel with unwarranted skepticism, using the event to unfairly question the motives of the [...]

  • NY Times: “Hard-Line” Jews Support Recognition of Jerusalem as Capital

    February 8, 2018

    A New York Times news story about this morning's National Prayer Breakfast broad-brushes American Jews who back recognition of Israel's capital in Jerusalem as hard-liners. In the article, White House correspondent Mark Lander asserts: Mr. [...]

  • Los Angeles Times Errs on Commercial Imports to Gaza

    February 8, 2018

    Flat screen television sets at Kerem Shalom crossing on their way to Gaza from Israel, 2012 (photo by Adam Levick) In their Los Angeles Times article yesterday ("Neither Israel nor Hamas wants another war in [...]

  • New York Times, and the Continuous Mischaracterization of BDS

    February 2, 2018

    So maybe the image above is a bit of an overstatement. But for some reason, the New York Times can't seem to get it right when explaining BDS activism to readers. BDS stands for boycott, [...]

  • ‘Moderate’ Palestinian ‘Peace Negotiator’ Outraged Over U.S. Designation of Hamas Terrorist

    February 1, 2018

    Ismail Haniyeh On Jan. 31, 2018 the United States State Department announced that top Hamas operative Ismail Haniyeh was now listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). Less than twenty-four hours later, the Palestinian [...]

  • Echoes of the Past: German Tanks and the Turkish Government Assaulting Minorities

    January 31, 2018

    An article in the German newspaper Deutsche Welle reports on the consternation of members of the German government over the use of German Leopard tanks by the Turkish army in its cross-border invasion of the [...]