Muhammad Metwally Al Shaarawy

Early life and education

He was born on 15 April 1911 in Daqadus, near Mit Ghamr in Dakahlia Governorate, and had memorised the Quran by the age of eleven. After al-Azhar's institutes in Zagazig, he entered the Faculty of Arabic Language of al-Azhar University in 1937, graduated in 1940 and obtained his teaching licence in 1943.

Teacher and official

He first taught at al-Azhar institutes in Tanta, Zagazig and Alexandria. In 1950 he went to Saudi Arabia to teach Sharia at the College of Sharia in Mecca, the forerunner of Umm al-Qura University, and he later taught at King Abdulaziz University. Back in Egypt he headed the office of the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Hassan Ma'moun, and then led al-Azhar's mission in Algeria for several years.

From 9 November 1976 to 5 October 1978 he was Minister of Endowments and al-Azhar Affairs in Mamdouh Salem's government under President Anwar Sadat, a period in which he supported the founding of Faisal Islamic Bank, Egypt's first Islamic bank. He joined the Islamic Research Academy in 1980 and the Cairo Academy of the Arabic Language in 1987.

The Khawatir on television

From the 1970s his talks on the Quran, first aired in Ahmed Farrag's programme Nour 'ala Nour, became a fixture of Egyptian television. Working verse by verse, he covered the text from Al-Fatiha to the end of Al-Mumtahanah and the opening of As-Saff, combining linguistic subtlety with everyday examples. These Khawatir al-Sha'rawi ("Reflections") were later published in many volumes, and cassettes of his lessons circulated throughout the Arab world. His other books include Al-Adilla al-Maddiyya 'ala Wujud Allah (Material Proofs of God's Existence).

Honours, death and legacy

He received the Order of Merit (first class) in 1976, the Order of the Republic (first class) in 1983 and 1988, and honorary doctorates from Mansoura and Menoufia universities; the Dubai International Holy Quran Award named him Islamic Personality of the Year in 1998. He died on 17 June 1998 (22 Safar 1419 AH), and more than a million mourners reportedly filled the streets for his funeral. His life was the subject of a 2002 television series, Imam al-Du'at ("The Imam of Preachers"), and his Khawatir remain among the most widely heard commentaries on the Quran.