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How did British influence near the Suez Canal shape Hassan al-Banna’s early activism?

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Founder of the Muslim Brotherood — Muslim Brotherhood Hassan al-Banna, a schoolteacher in Ismailia, Egypt, founded the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 as an attempt to modernize Islamic society.

In 1927, Hassan al-Banna was assigned to teach in Ismailia, a city situated near the Suez Canal. At that time, the canal served as a primary focal point for the foreign economic and military occupation of Egypt.1

Living in this environment, al-Banna witnessed firsthand the impact of the British presence, which caused him and many other Egyptians significant distress. This exposure to the realities of colonial occupation deeply influenced his perspective on the state of his country. Consequently, in March 1928, he founded the Muslim Brotherhood alongside six workers from a British camp labor force. The organization was established with the goal of achieving a rejuvenation of Islam and addressing the social and political conditions he observed under foreign influence.12