Al Dawa

Al Dawa was first published between 1951 and 1953, and its founder was Salih Ashmawi.[3] The magazine was published on a monthly basis.[2] In this phase the magazine was very radical and primarily targeted external opponents, namely Jews, Christians, atheist Communists and seculars.[4][5] It also served for other goals. First it disseminated the views of the Brotherhood of which the members were subject to the frequent trials and arrests under the strict government practices against the group.[1] In addition, Al Dawa was a platform to criticize the Brotherhood leader Hassan Al Hudaybi with whom Salih Ashmawi had conflicts.[1] One of the most significant regular contributors was Sayyid Qutb during this period.[6] Al Dawa was banned in 1953.[2]

Al Dawa was restarted in 1976,[7] and the first issue appeared in June 1976 when the Muslim Brotherhood was allowed to publish a magazine.[3] The relaunch of the magazine occurred when Salih Ashmawi asked Umar Al Tilmisani, a member of the Brotherhood, to help him to revive it.[1] It was published by the Islamic Publication and Distribution Company[8] on a monthly basis.[2] The magazine was managed by Umar Al Tilmisani who also published many articles in Al Dawa[9] and was the chair of the publishing company.[8] It was used by the Brotherhood to disseminate their ideology and views.[10]

From the third issue published in September 1976 Al Dawa became very aggressive similar to its first period.[9] For instance, it asked President Anwar Sadat to establish an Islamic order in the country in cooperation with Saudi Arabia to eliminate the communist-leftist atheism.[11] In addition, in the fourth issue dated October 1976 its attacks began in relation to Sadat's policies concerning education, inflation, housing and transportation.[2] The aggression of the magazine increased immediately after the visit of Sadat to Israel in 1977.[2] Umar Al Tilmisani published an article in Al Dawa in October 1978 arguing that Egypt should carry out jihad against Israel, but it should be only under the command of the head of state.[12] However, unlike other Islamic publications in the country the magazine exhibited a non-violent opposition against the Camp David Accords and the settlement between Egypt and Israel in 1979,[13] although it condemned the Accords.[11] However, the magazine's opposition to both Jews and Zionists was expressed in its children's supplement in October 1980.[14]

In 1981 President Anwar Sadat banned all opposition publications, including Al Dawa of which the final issue was published in August that year.[3] The magazine featured more than 3,000 articles written by nearly 350 authors between 1976 and 1981.[9] During this period major contributors included Muhammad ‘Abdal-Quddus, Mostafa Mashhur, Muhammad ‘Abdallah Al Khatib, Salih Ashmawi, Jabir Rizq and Zaynab Al Ghazali.[9] The latter published articles in Al Dawa from 1976 to 1978.[9]