The Muslim Brotherhood grafted modern political-organizational strategies onto Islamic da’wa

Evidence

In extending the classical meaning of da�wa, al..Banna incorporated many of the concepts and organizational strategies integral to the practice of mod.. em politics and governance. For example, in his writings and public speeches he addressed fellow Muslims as citizens whose collective project was to sustain the Egyptian nation as an integral part of the umma ( the Muslim commu.. nity) . Similarly, the Muslim Brothers made the public spaces of urban life (cafes, clubs, and public squares) a key site of their da�wa activity, and used au.. ral and print media extensively to propagate their message. They engaged in trade union activities and established professional syndicates, which to this day form the backbone of the Muslim Brotherhood’s popular activism. The Brothers successfully transformed mosques from spaces reserved for worship to, what Banna described as “schools [for] the commoners, the popular uni.. versities and the colleges that lend educational services to the young and old alike” (al.-Banna, quoted in Abu Rabt 1 996 , 78 )-a legacy that continues to thrive in the role mosques are playing in the current Islamic Revival. — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 459

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels Hobsbawm’s invented tradition and also the grafting metaphor from the trees essay — religious tradition deliberately refitted with modern organizational forms.
• ADDENDUM: Relevant to the grafting article: al-Banna grafted modern civic-organizational techniques onto the mosque’s traditional role, transforming mosques into schools and civic squares.