A Journey in Islamic Thought: The Life of Fathi Osman
Ghada Osman
Language: English
Pages: 288
ISBN: 1848857470
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
large rectangular living-room area surrounded by several smaller rooms. The living-room area served as a lecture hall and prayer hall, and the smaller rooms functioned as offices. Fathi’s first glance around the room did not reveal anything enticing. There were about 30 people in the Centre that day, all aged between 35 and 50. Most of them were civil servants, mainly clerks at banks and in government offices. It was rare in the small towns at the time for the Brothers to attract members who were
disclaimer, ‘I’m a boring old man. Why don’t you interview soand-so?’ naming a person with whom he had shared an early history of membership in the Society of Muslim Brothers. But I insisted on interviewing him and, as my interviews became increasingly structured now that I was able to focus exclusively on them, he began to open up more xv 00 Journey in Islamic Thought i-xviii 22/7/11 13:11 Page xvi A JOURNEY IN ISLAMIC THOUGHT and more. In time, he came to provide me with detailed
family and a new community. Fathi now would go to Aswan over the weekend to pray the Friday prayer and to visit the Brothers there. Still reeling from the dissolution of the Society, al-Banna’s assassination and the recent jailings, the Brothers sought solace in each other’s company. The edict dissolving the Society had specifically declared any gathering of five Brothers illegal, and so three or four neighbours or colleagues would meet to furtively discuss affairs. Would the Society ever be
of his armed visitors. The plan had backfired. The situation had gained popularity for al-Hudaybi, who appeared as the victim of an unruly and violent throng. The Society’s General Secretary, Abd 123 01 Journey in Islamic Thought 001-282 22/7/11 14:47 Page 124 A JOURNEY IN ISLAMIC THOUGHT al-Hakim ‘Abdin, fearing the negative attention that this visit would cause the organization, urged Nasser to keep it quiet. As a result, subsequent newspaper reports simply declared that the General
upcoming show at Minya’s Palace Theatre, Muhammad bought a couple for himself and his son. The theatre also doubled as a cinema and when films were shown Muhammad would reserve a set of box seats for his entire family. Two of the first films that the young Fathi watched were the popular musicals by the prolific composer and national sensation Muhammad Abd al-Wahab: the 1933 The White Rose (al-Warda al-Bayda), and the 1935 Tears of Love (Dumu‘ al-Hubb). A few years later, the family was introduced