Said Ramadan (; 12 April 1926 – 4 August 1995) was an Egyptian political activist, and one of the preeminent leaders of the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

He was the son-in-law of

Hassan al-Banna Hassan Ahmed Abd al-Rahman Muhammed al-Banna (; 14 October 1906 – 12 February 1949), known as Hassan al-Banna (), was an Egyptian schoolteacher and Imam, best known for founding the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the largest and most influential g ...

, the Muslim Brotherhood's founder, and emerged as one of the brotherhood's main leaders in the 1950s. Ramadan was often accused by the Egyptian government of Gamal Abdul Nasser of being in the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

's pay. After being expelled from Egypt for his activities, Ramadan moved to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

where he was one of the original members of the constituent council of the

Muslim World League The Muslim World League (MWL; ) is an international Islamic non-governmental organization based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia that promotes what it calls the true message of Islam by advancing moderate values. The NGO has been funded by the Saudi gov ...

, a charity and missionary group funded by the Saudi government. From the 1950s, he was considered the Muslim Brotherhood's unofficial "foreign minister." Ramadan also played a pivotal role in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, where he moved in 1948, after the creation of Israel, to attend the World Muslim Congress held in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

as the representative of the Muslim Brotherhood. However he was not chosen as its secretary-general because of his extremism. He was still able to influence young Pakistani intellectuals by hosting weekly radio programs and publishing booklets discussing Islamic affairs. Ramadan met

Abul A'la Maududi Abul A'la al-Maududi (; – ) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist, and scholar active in British India and later, following the partition, in Pakistan. Described by Wilfred C ...

and was endorsed by Prime Minister

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan (1 October 189516 October 1951) was a Pakistani lawyer, politician and statesman who served as the first prime minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the he ...

, who prefaced one of his books. To better integrate in Pakistani society he wore a '' Jinnah cap'', which "made people forget he was Egyptian". His work as an ideologue is said to have contributed in making Pakistan an Islamic Republic in 1956, as "he was omnipresent in the media - arguing, on every occasion, for legislation based on the

sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

." From the 1950s, Ramadan enjoyed extensive support from the

, which saw him as an ally in the battle against

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

. By the end of the 1950s, "the CIA was overtly backing Ramadan. While it is overly simplistic to call him a US agent, in the 1950s and 1960s the United States supported him as he took over a mosque in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, kicking out local Muslims to build what would become one of the Brotherhood's most important centers, a refuge for the beleaguered group during its decades in the wilderness. One of his close confidants was Bosnian Muslim Mahmoud K. Muftić, who had married his cousin. In the end, the US did not gain much for its efforts, as Ramadan was more interested in spreading his Islamist agenda than fighting communism." Said Ramadan was the father of Hani Ramadan and

Tariq Ramadan Tariq Ramadan (, ; born 26 August 1962) is a Swiss Muslim academic, philosopher and writer. He was a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at St Antony's College, Oxford and the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford, He is ...

. On 9 August 1995 Ramadan was interred next to his father-in-law

. The ''Said Ramadan Peace Prize'' is named in his honour.

Books and booklets

*''Islamic law; its scope and equity'' *''Islam and nationalism'' *''Three major problems confronting the world of Islam'' *''Islam, doctrine and way of life'' *''What we stand for'' *''What is an Islamic state?''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramadan, Said 1926 births 1995 deaths Egyptian Muslims Muslim Brotherhood founders Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members People of the Central Intelligence Agency CIA and Islamism