Crisis Studies of the Islamic World

Crisis Studies of the Islamic World

Addressing the Tension between Tradition and Modernity in Hassan al-Banna’s Intellectual Discourse

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
1 Baqir Al-Uloom University, Qom
2 Bagheral Uloom University
Abstract
Among the influential intellectual discourses of the contemporary era, Hassan al-Banna's Islamist discourse represents one of the most significant responses to the crises associated with modernity. This study examines the relationship between Hassan al-Banna's Islamist discourse and the discourse of modernity, with particular emphasis on how the tension between tradition and modernity is addressed in his thought. Adopting a descriptive-analytical approach and a library-based research method, the study employs discourse analysis as both its theoretical framework and its analytical method. It seeks to identify and examine the fundamental characteristics of Hassan al-Banna's Islamist discourse and to explore his approach to various dimensions of modernity. The findings indicate that, by emphasizing the comprehensiveness of Islam, al-Banna developed an indigenous model for responding to Western modernity, grounded in principles such as a return to the Qur'an and the Sunnah, anti-colonialism, Islamic propagation (da'wa), the establishment of an Islamic state, the revival of a unified Muslim community (Ummah), and rapprochement among Islamic schools of thought. In contrast, the discourse of modernity, drawing on humanism, autonomous rationality, and secularism, seeks to transcend religious tradition and construct a new conception of human identity. Ultimately, although both discourses attach importance to rationality and social modernization at the methodological level, fundamental differences in their ontological and teleological foundations place them in epistemological and civilizational tension.
Keywords

Volume 13, Issue 3 - Serial Number 43
Autumn Quarterly
Autumn 2026

  • Receive Date 02 June 2025
  • Revise Date 31 August 2025
  • Accept Date 14 December 2025