Al Dawa

Al Dawa was originally published between 1951 and 1953, and its founder was Salih Ashmawi.[1] In this phase the magazine was very radical and primarily targeted external opponents, namely Jews, Christians, atheist Communists and seculars.[2] One of the most significant regular contributors was Sayyid Qutb during this period.[3]

Al Dawa was restarted in 1976,[4] and the first issue appeared in June 1976 when the Muslim Brotherhood was allowed to publish a magazine.[1] The publisher was the Islamic Publication and Distribution Company.[5] The magazine was managed by Umar Al Tilmisani who also published many articles[6] and was the chair of the publishing company.[5] It was used by the Brotherhood to disseminate their ideology and views.[7]

From the third issue published in September 1976 the magazine became very aggressive similar to its first period.[6] However, unlike other Islamic groups in the country the magazine exhibited a non-violent opposition against the Camp David Accords and the settlement between Egypt and Israel in 1979.[8] Nevertheless, it did not help for Al Dawa to survive. Because in 1981 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat banned all opposition publications, including Al Dawa of which the final issue was published in August that year.[1] The magazine featured more than 3,000 articles written by nearly 350 authors between 1976 and 1981.[6] During this period major contributors included Muhammad ‘Abdal-Quddus, Mostafa Mashhur, Muhammad ‘Abdallah Al Khatib, Salih Ashmawi, Jabir Rizq and Zaynab Al Ghazali.[6] The latter published articles in Al Dawa from 1976 to 1978.[6]