Ahmed Omar Hachem

Education

Born on 6 February 1941 (10 Muharram 1360 AH) in the village of Bani Amer near Zagazig, in Sharqia Governorate, he graduated from the Faculty of Usul al-Din at Al-Azhar University in 1961. He went on to earn a master's degree in hadith sciences in 1969 and a doctorate in 1973 under the supervision of Sheikh Muhammad Muhammad Abu Zahw.

Career

After starting as a teaching assistant in the hadith department, he became professor of hadith and its sciences in 1983 and dean of the Faculty of Usul al-Din in Zagazig in 1987. From 1995 to 2003 he was president of Al-Azhar University. A member of the Islamic Research Academy and of Al-Azhar's Council of Senior Scholars, he was also appointed by the president to the People's Assembly and later to the Shura Council, and sat on the political bureau of the National Democratic Party until 2011. He served on the board of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, chairing its religious programmes committee.

His honours included the State Appreciation Award in the social sciences (1992) and the Order of Sciences and Arts, first class. Among his books are Al-Islam wa Bina' al-Shakhsiyya, Min Huda al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya, Al-Shafa'a fi Daw' al-Kitab wal-Sunna, Qasas al-Sunna and Al-Qur'an wa Laylat al-Qadr.

He died in Cairo on 7 October 2025 (15 Rabi' al-Akhir 1447 AH), aged 84.