Muhammad Metwally Al Shaarawy

Muhammad Mutawalli Ash-Sha'raawi
Egyptian Islamic Scholar
Recent image of deceased Ash-Sha'raawi.
Born	April 5, 1911 Egypt
Died	June 4, 1998(1998-06-04) (aged 87) Egypt
Full name Muhammad Mutawalli Ash-Shar'aawi
Religion	Sunni Islam

Muhammad Mutawalli Ash-Sha'raawi (Arabic: محمد متولي الشعراوي‎‎) (April 5, 1911 – June 17, 1998) was an Islamic scholar, former Egyptian minister of Endowments and Muslim jurist. He has been called one of Egypt's most popular and successful Islamic preachers, and "one of the most-prominent symbols of popular Egyptian culture" in the decades of 1970, 80s and 90s.

Muhammad Mutawalli Ash-Sha'raawi was born on April 5, 1911, in the village of Dakadous village, Mit Ghamr, Ad Daqahliyah, Egypt. At the age of 11, he had completely memorised the Quran and in 1916 he joined a Zagazig elementary institution. In 1923, he earned his elementary certificate, joining the secondary institution afterward. During this time, his interest in poetry and literature had grown immensely and he went on to be elected leader of the Student Union at the institution due to his popularity and charisma.

A turning point in his life, when his father sent him, paying for his living expenses, to further his education in Al-Azhar, Cairo. Muhammad El-Shaarawy wanted to stay with his brothers to cultivate land. Trying to avoid going to Cairo he placed what seemed an impossible condition. The condition was for his father to buy him amounts of books in the heritage, language and Quran science. But his father caught on to that trick, and bought him all requested material, saying "I know my son that all of these books are not prescribed to you, but I preferred to buy in order to provide you the draws of the science."

In 1937, he joined the College of Arabic Language and became active in the nationalist movement and Al-Azhar movement, participating in the anti-colonial rallies and related gatherings. He graduated from Faculty of Arabic language, Al-Azhar University in 1941.

After graduating in 1940, he went on to earn his teaching certification in 1943. He later graduated from the religious institution of Tanta, before moving to another at Zagazig and then, finally, at Alexandria. In 1950, he moved to Saudi Arabia to work as professor of Sharee'ah in the University of Ummul-Quraa. In 1960, Institute of Tanta Azhary appointed him as the director of the Islamic Call. In 1961, the Ministry of Awqaf appointed him as inspector of Sciences. In 1963 he returned to Egypt and served as the Director of the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar. However, the diplomatic relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia worsened and it became impossible for him to return to Saudi Arabia. Instead, he took the position of manager of the office of the Imam of Al-Azhar, Hasan al Ma'amoon. In 1966, he traveled to Algeria as the head of Al-Azhar Mission and remained for seven years. During his stay in Algeria, the war of June 1967 occurred and Egypt suffered tremendous losses to Israel. Ironically, Ash-Sha'raawi 'praised' the defeat, saying "Egypt did not gain victory while the hands of communism surrounds them and their religion remains uncorrupted." Later, he did get to return to teach at the King Abdul Azeez University in Saudi Arabia. In 1970, he was appointed a visiting professor at King Abdulaziz University Faculty of Sharia in Mecca, then President of the Department of Graduate Studies at King Abdul Aziz in 1972.