Mohamed Hussein Yaqob

Education

He learned the Quran as a child with Sheikh Mahmoud Talba and Sheikh Abd al-Aziz al-Fayyumi, and later earned a teacher-training diploma. From 1980 to 1985 he lived in Saudi Arabia, where he studied under scholars including Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz and Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymin, with a particular interest in hadith and the six canonical collections.

Preaching and works

He has delivered hundreds of lessons and sermons in Egyptian mosques, in a heartfelt style focused on inner reform, piety and religious commitment. They spread widely on cassette before reaching television audiences on Al-Nas and then Al-Rahma. He has written about twenty books, among them How Do I Repent? (Kayfa Atub?), The Secrets of Those Who Love Ramadan and A New Heart for Whoever Wants One.

Public statements

During Egypt's constitutional referendum of March 2011, his phrase "the raid of the ballot boxes" (ghazwat al-sanadiq), which cast a "yes" vote as a vote for religion, caused a major controversy. In June 2021, called as a witness before a state security court in the trial of an Islamic State cell, he stated that he does not issue fatwas, is not a specialist in jurisprudence or hadith, and rejected the idea that jihad means carrying out attacks.