Gamal al-Banna… No Guardianship Over Freedom
If Muhammad Abduh confronted stagnation,
and Shaltout opened the door of ijtihad from within the المؤسسة, then Gamal al-Banna went a step
further—stripping away from it any religious or political guardianship.
For Gamal al-Banna, freedom of opinion and expression is
not a “permitted space,” nor a “margin regulated by authority,” but an inherent
right that no one possesses to grant or withhold.
Faith… A Personal Relationship
Al-Banna proceeds from a central idea:
faith and disbelief are purely personal matters
between الإنسان
and his Lord.
The state—any state—has no authority over hearts, nor any
ولاية over beliefs.
In his view, the Qur’an has settled the matter clearly in
the verses:
{You are only responsible for conveying the message, and
upon Us is the reckoning} (al-Ra‘d: 40),
and {Upon Our Messenger is only the clear conveyance}
(al-Taghabun: 12).
The Messenger is a conveyor, not entrusted with judging الناس. The verse reassures the Prophet ﷺ that your responsibility ends with
delivering the message; do not grieve or distress yourself if they do not
believe or if they deny, for the reckoning belongs to God:
{Then perhaps you would kill yourself with grief over
their footsteps, if they do not believe in this message, out of sorrow}.
The role of the messengers themselves was limited to
conveying and reminding—not control or compulsion:
{So remind, you are only a reminder. You are not over
them a controller} (al-Ghashiyah: 21–22).
No Compulsion… No Exceptions
Gamal al-Banna rejects all attempts to circumvent
the principle of “no compulsion in religion.”
No religious authority, no political interest,
and no social fear justifies the stripping away of
freedom of belief or expression.
Even apostasy—as al-Banna interprets it—was not assigned
a worldly punishment in the Qur’an; rather, its matter is left
to God alone on the Day of Judgment.
Diversity… A Divine Will
Al-Banna يرى
that difference is not a flaw in the cosmic order, but part of its purpose.
Had God willed, He would have made الناس one community;
but plurality—in belief, opinion, and understanding—
is the rule, not the exception.
Thus, attempts to impose uniformity
are not a defense of religion, but a challenge to God’s
laws in creation.
Freedom Before the State
One of al-Banna’s sharpest critiques
is the transformation of faith into a matter of “public
order.”
When the state intervenes to regulate beliefs,
it shifts from being a guardian of rights to an adversary
of freedom.
The result—as he argues—is a religion without spirit,
and a السلطة
without moral legitimacy.
The Prophet… Without Guardianship
Al-Banna grounds his argument in a decisive Qur’anic خطاب:
the Prophet himself was not a guardian over people’s
faith.
He was neither a custodian, nor a controller,
nor a coercer.
So how can such authority be granted to those below the مقام of prophethood?
Why Did Gamal al-Banna Provoke Controversy?
Because he challenged entrenched assumptions, confronted
the jurisprudence of السلطة, and stripped
religious cover from many forms of coercion.
His voice was neither comfortable nor easily
instrumentalized;
thus, he was attacked both by conservative currents
and by advocates of the religious state alike.
What Does al-Banna Add to the Series?
He restores freedom to its original place:
an individual right that admits no division, no
postponement,
and no guardianship.
In doing so, he closes the door on the most dangerous
question:
Who has the right to think on behalf of others?
In the Next Episode (25)
We move to a precise legal-jurisprudential approach:
Muhammad Salim al-‘Awwa—
and freedom of opinion between the modern state,
citizenship, and constitutional ijtihad in Islam.
To be continued,
Cairo: 5:00 PM, local time.
