Mashhur Hasan’s speech on the Muslim Brotherhood and Shaykh Al-Albani’s commentary on it.

Mashhur: Allah the Exalted has blessed the Muslims with your presence.

The Shaykh: Excuse me.
Mashhur: And you opened their eyes to verifying matters and to adhering to the Book and the authentic Sunnah. This is, by Allah, a very great benefit. I do not doubt that this benefit is not limited to specific people but is general for all Muslims. Since the discussion was specifically about the Muslim Brotherhood, I know with certainty that many of the young men of the Muslim Brotherhood respect you and follow your verifications and writings. Based on my knowledge, I can say that the Muslim Brotherhood consists of three sections. The first is the traditional section, which is concerned with the name and the party affiliation itself, without paying attention to anything else. The second is the dangerous school that has begun to spread among them; they have established its foundations and begun to call for clear, specific matters. They have moved away from the ambiguities and generalities of their predecessors, but unfortunately, they have strayed from the straight path by freezing the texts and abolishing them with their minds, and they have called for a new secularism.

The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar.
Mashhur: This section and the one before it do not concern me. What I want from our Shaykh, may Allah reward him with good, is that he direct a word to the third section of the Brotherhood, which does exist. If we may give this section a name, we would call it the fundamentalist section, or the section that stands firm on the Shari'ah texts. What truly concerns them is the religion of Allah the Exalted and Majestic. They have a burning passion for Islam, and they follow and stand firm on the truth in the statements of the scholars of knowledge. Therefore, anyone who looks into the conditions of the Brotherhood knows that there are among them sincere, devoted voices calling for the sovereignty of Allah the Exalted and Majestic, fighting superstition, fighting the wrong traditionalist approach, and fighting the sinful voices that rise here and there to obscure the features of the truth, to obscure the symbols of the truth, and to speak about these symbols. So we hope that our Shaykh, may Allah reward him with good, will direct a word to these people, so that perhaps they may benefit from it, if Allah wills. And may Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh: May Allah reward you with good for this explanation, which truly expresses the individuals of the Muslim Brotherhood who are united under this name. And by the grace of Allah the Exalted and Majestic, I know this reality. Therefore, when I was in Damascus, as I hinted a few minutes ago, I was with the Muslim Brotherhood there in Damascus, and I was as if I were one of them. The public assumed this because of my frequent interaction and companionship with them, even in trips to some villages and some mountains, and under the tents where we spent nights with them in number. This was because I knew that they had a readiness to accept the call to the truth, the call of the Book and the Sunnah. And I used to say, and I still say, that the Muslim Brotherhood prepares its individuals to accept the Salafi call, but they themselves cannot realize this call within their ranks because they adopted a methodology based on what is called, or can be called, grouping and aggregation, then education. As for us, the Salafis, our methodology is the opposite of the methodology of the Muslim Brotherhood, and from here the disagreement arises. Our methodology is based on the principle: educate, then group. This is in contrast to them, whose grouping was based on the principle: group, then educate, and then no education. Therefore, the previous question: it has been about seventy years since the Muslim Brotherhood, and in their culture and knowledge of Islam as a creed, as rulings, as morals and behavior, they are still as they were before, because they do not concern themselves with Islamic culture in general, let alone as individuals. And I am speaking now about a group and a methodology, let alone that they care about the correct Islamic culture. Therefore, I found fertile ground in the Muslim Brotherhood there in Damascus, the city of Sham, and Allah benefited with this call as He willed to benefit. Their senior figures, some of whom are still alive, for example, Ihsam al-Attar, who was for a certain number of years the president of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria, and who used to attend the lessons there. In terms of Islamic culture, he is Salafi in creed, but his methodology is still the methodology of the Muslim Brotherhood. The difference between our methodology and their methodology is that our methodology is scientific, while their methodology is partisan. They strive for aggregation, which we do not strive for, and we strive for education, which they do not strive for. Therefore, they created a vacuum for someone like me to work with them within the limits of correct Islamic culture. So I was with them as if I were one of them. Likewise, when I came here to Amman, perhaps some of the brothers, I do not know who, remember that the Muslim Brotherhood center in Zarqa opened for me, and I delivered a speech there, and perhaps more than one speech. But when the heads there felt that the brothers were beginning to be influenced by Al-Albani’s culture and Al-Albani’s call, they feared that some of them would withdraw, reducing their grouping and gathering. Therefore, they did not later offer me to deliver what I had delivered to them of knowledge. And I am still in my state, and my gatherings, which are not organized but are organized in a way or another. The point is, I settled here, I resided in Amman, and my activity began as it was there in Syria, and individuals of the Muslim Brotherhood began to frequent my gatherings and my sittings, including some of their heads, especially among themThe Shaykh : Abdullah Azzam, who later became a doctor, and may Allah the Blessed and Exalted have mercy on him. He used to attend with a small notebook and a soft pen, like his story, may Allah have mercy on him, and he would write the headings of what he heard from Al-Albani. But the circle or the party administration did not like what was reported to them about the influx of young Muslim Brotherhood members to Al-Albani’s lessons, fearing that they would be influenced by his call. What is wrong with his call? His call divides. Therefore, part of the methodology of the Muslim Brotherhood that they were convinced of is that, by Allah, this is a call to the truth, but we are now in need of grouping and aggregation. What is the benefit of this grouping and aggregation? Reaching parliament. What is the benefit of reaching parliament? Ah, they want to change the system. And what did they change of the system? Did they change it here or in Syria? They did not change it. The point is, you do not know, as a young man, I do not think you realized those years. A decision was issued by the Muslim Brotherhood to boycott Al-Albani and boycott his gatherings, and if they met him on the road, they would not greet him, nor anyone who is known to be from the group of Al-Albani, especially my well-known son-in-law to some of the attendees, Nizam Sukajha. And I metThe Shaykh : Abdullah 'Azzam, in that period, in the gathering of Suhayb, who was the imam of 'Abd al-Fattah 'Umar, I saw him leaving the mosque as he was about to descend the stairs. I greeted him and said, "What is this? O Shaykh, where are you all? Your wide methodology is broad enough to include the Shi'ah among you. What is the matter? You have cut ties with us and announced it among the youth. What did we do to you?" The poor man said, "It is a summer cloud that will soon disperse." We said, "May it be good, if Allah wills." About two years passed, and they were adhering to this decision. During that time, I know for certain, O Shaykh, that I used to frequent al-Buq'ah, and some of the brothers may know this, and I felt that in the gathering there were Muslim brothers who disagreed with the decision because it was not practical. Those upon whom this decision was imposed know that it has no weight whatsoever from an Islamic perspective; it is merely blind partisanship. Then the effect of this unjust decision passed. I know well that if the individual Muslim brothers were given a choice between two things: either opening the way for al-Albani to go to their centers and gatherings, knowing that many of them would respond to the call of truth, or allowing them to attend al-Albani's gatherings, they would do neither. This is among the ill omens of partisanship and the ill omens of factionalism that divide the Muslim community, while they claim to want to gather the people, but in reality, they are dividing them. Therefore, we have left, may Allah reward you, O Shaykh, only this writing, which we devote ourselves to and through which we can direct some information to the entire Muslim world. As for them, if they had opened their doors to us, we would have thanked them for it and gone to them to the extent that our time allowed. I am among the most knowledgeable people that there are young men among them who are fully prepared to accept this call of truth, but blind partisan factionalism has prevented them from doing so. So, what is the good opinion of the Muslim Brotherhood's call, which seeks to make people aware of their reality and restore the Islamic state to what it was before? These are claims that are undoubtedly the call of every Muslim, but
"And claims, unless you establish proofs for them, their offspring are claimants"
So I ask Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to make it easy for us to connect with every brother whom Islam unites us with, regardless of their partisanship and their factions. But the matter is as it was said:
"Not everything a man wishes can he attain *** The winds blow not as the ships desire"
It seems you have not had many questions