The Moslem (Black) Brotherhood
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where he waited for the Egyptian prime minister, Mahmoud
Fahmy el Nokrashy Pasha, to emerge. As soon as Nokrashy
Pasha appeared, followed by his bodyguard, Abdel whipped
out a pistol and shot the minister dead, his duty to the Moorshid and to Allah fulfilled, his place in heaven assured.
I MEET THE MOORSHID
ALL that I had learned about Hassan el Banna and the unquestioned loyalty he inspired in his cutthroats only whetted
my desire to meet him. It proved more difficult than I expected, because of his deep hatred of "Europeans." Finally
one day, accompanied by my friend Gamal, I walked into
Ikhwan headquarters for my audience with the Supreme
Guide.
He approached us—a short, squat ratty-faced man with
puffed checks and fleshy nose. He was dressed in European
clothes—a black pinpoint double-breasted suit—and wore an
extra tall tarboosh, which gave him the illusion of added
height. His thin beard, running from ear to ear, crawled up,
then down his upper lip like an ugly black hirsute vine. His
manner was mousy and furtive. His eyes, beadlike and deepset, were like two dark slits across his face. We sat in the
shade, under the shield showing the Koran above a pair of
crossed swords.
The Moorshid spoke with a pious look on his face, his head
bent slightly to the right, hands folded meekly in his lap. I
disliked him instantly and thoroughly. He was the most loathsome man I had yet met in Cairo. Gamal sat next to us and
faithfully interpreted.
"The Koran should be Egypt's constitution, for there is no
law higher than Koranic law," the Moorshid began. "We seek
to fulfill the lofty, human message of Islam which has brought
happiness and fulfillment to mankind in centuries past. Ours
is the highest ideal, the holiest cause and the purest way.