Preceded by Position established Citizenship Syrian Religion Sunni Islam Parents Husni Al-Siba`i | Succeeded by Issam al-Attar Alma mater Al-Azhar University Died 1964, Homs, Syria Education Al-Azhar University | |
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Books The Islamic Civilization, The Sunnah and Its Role in Islamic Legislation Political party Muslim Brotherhood of Syria Similar Sa`id Hawwa, Issam al‑Attar, Yusuf Sibai | ||
Mustafa al-Siba'i (Arabic: مُصطَفى السِّبَاعِي) was a Syrian politician. He was dean of the Faculty of Islamic Jurisprudence and the School of Law at the University of Damascus. From 1945 to 1961 he was the leader of the Islamic Socialist Front, the Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.
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Life
Mustafa al-Siba'i studied Islamic theology at al-Azhar University, Cairo. While in Egypt he went to lectures by Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Egyptian Brotherhood, and joined the Brotherhood in 1930. Returning to Syria, Siba'i taught at Damascus University, and in 1940 was made Dean of the Faculty of Theology. In 1941 he established Shabab Mohammad (Mohammad Youth), a religious paramilitary group based on the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Shabab Mohammad allied itself with the National Bloc in resisting the French mandate.
In 1946, al-Siba'i founded a Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, leading it through several parliamentary campaigns. After the United Arab Republic was formed in 1958, Gamal Nasser outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood and arrested hundreds of members. Joining the underground, Siba'i supported the 1961 coup ending the UAR. However, the Ba'ath government which came to power in 1963 again outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, and banned many of Siba'i's works.
al-Siba'i's The Socialism of Islam (1959) argued that Islam was compatible with socialism. It was reprinted in Egypt and endorsed by several members of the Egyptian government, though al-Siba'i complained at the use of his book to justify Nasserism.
al-Siba'ii was also a well-known defender of the Sunnah of the Prophet, he refuted Ignez Goldziher's attempt to undermine the hadith through his work "Sunnah wa Makanatuha fi al-Tasyri' al-Islami"