Changes

== Education and Influences ==

== Education and Influences ==

In 1923, he entered the State Teacher’s Training Center, and graduated at the age of 16, first in his class.  Then he entered Dar al-Ulum College (Al Azhar University) in Cairo.  Those proved to be influential years in his life.  He met many prominent Islamic scholars because of his father’s connections.  The greatest influence was his adverse reaction to the breakdown of Islamic society and the trend toward secularism that he found in the city.  He was concerned that young people were abandoning Islam and blamed the onslaught of Western culture.<ref>ibid.</ref>  The teaching he received there may also have been influential.  Several other radical Islamists also studied there, including Abdulla Azzam, 1941-1989, an educator considered “gatekeeper of the jihad”; Huari Boumedienne, 1932-1978, an Algerian dictator; Sayyid Qutb, 1906-1966, Muslim Brotherhood philosopher and successor of Hassan, and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, 1936-2004, Hamas leader.<ref>http://www.nndb.com/people/6321/000135227/</ref> Hassan graduated in 1927.

In 1923, he entered the State Teacher’s Training Center, and graduated at the age of 16, first in his class.  Then he entered Dar al-Ulum College (Al Azhar University) in Cairo.  Those proved to be influential years in his life.  He met many prominent Islamic scholars because of his father’s connections.  The greatest influence was his adverse reaction to the breakdown of Islamic society and the trend toward secularism that he found in the city.  He was concerned that young people were abandoning Islam and blamed the onslaught of Western culture.<ref>ibid.</ref>  The teaching he received there may also have been influential.  Several other radical Islamists also studied there, including Abdulla Azzam, 1941-1989, an educator considered “gatekeeper of the jihad”; Huari Boumedienne, 1932-1978, an Algerian dictator; [[Sayyid Qutb]], 1906-1966, Muslim Brotherhood philosopher and successor of Hassan, and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, 1936-2004, Hamas leader.<ref>http://www.nndb.com/people/6321/000135227/</ref> Hassan graduated in 1927.

Al Hassan was a follower of Islamic reformists, the Egyptian Muhammed Abduh and his disciple, the Syrian Rashi Rida.  They believed that the trend of declining Islam could only be reversed by a return to “pure” Islam.<ref>Op. cit.</ref>

Al Hassan was a follower of Islamic reformists, the Egyptian Muhammed Abduh and his disciple, the Syrian Rashi Rida.  They believed that the trend of declining Islam could only be reversed by a return to “pure” Islam.<ref>Op. cit.</ref>