CAIRO -

Dr. Hassan Mahmoud El-Shafei's winning of the King Faisal International Prize, less than 10 years after receiving it for the first time, shed light on one of the Al-Azhar men who managed to win the award twice in one of the most turbulent periods in Egypt, as well as the many intellectual and political polarizations in The Arab and Islamic world, and his works won the appreciation and respect of all.

Azhar scholar Dr. Hassan Mahmoud El-Shafei is a member of the Council of Senior Scholars in Al-Azhar, a member of the Council of Muslim Elders, President of the Union of Arab Linguistic Academic Academies, and former President of the Academy of Arabic Language, who on Thursday received the King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam 2022, jointly with the former President of Tanzania Hassan Moeny.

Al-Shafei was awarded the prize in its 44th session for his long service in the service of Islamic sciences, teaching, authorship, investigation and translation, his contribution to the establishment of the International Islamic University in Islamabad, the development of the curricula of its faculties, and his assumption of its presidency, and his great efforts in establishing a series of institutes concerned with Al-Azhar study, and serving him. The Arabic language during his presidency of the Arabic Language Academy in Cairo.

Al-Shafi’i’s winning of the award in the “Service of Islam” and “Arabic Language and Literature” branches in two separate periods reveals exceptional merit, as the “Service of Islam” award takes into account the intellectual or practical efforts of the candidate that serve Islam and Muslims, and the selection committees in other award branches - Every year - by defining the topic of the award, according to the studies and research done on that topic, according to the institution.

What is the King Faisal Prize?

The King Faisal Foundation launched the King Faisal Prize, which was awarded for the first time in 1399 AH / 1979 AD, to reward individuals and institutions for their unique achievements in 5 different branches: “Service to Islam, Islamic Studies, Arabic Language and Literature, Medicine, and Science,” according to the Foundation’s website.

The winners are selected based only on their eligibility and merit. Specialized selection committees carefully review their work. The meticulous selection process follows international standards. Some of the King Faisal Prize winners have subsequently received other prestigious awards, such as the Nobel Prize.

King Faisal Prize

Al-Azhar Al-Sharif celebrated Al-Shafi’i, and said that the venerable scientist’s obtaining the award is the culmination of his extensive scientific output, and the work he made to serve Islam and the Arabic language, and the crowning of great efforts during a long history full of giving and serving students of science, and that this honor happened to his family.

Al-Azhar indicated - in a statement - that Al-Shafei had previously received the King Faisal International Prize for Arabic Language and Literature during his presidency of the Arabic Language Academy in 2013, from Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Saudi Arabia (at the time), and the award came at the time. In appreciation of the Academy’s efforts over more than 80 years in serving the Arabic language, and the dictionaries it issued that contributed to serving the language of the Noble Qur’an.

Prize Components

  • A patent on luxurious paper written in Arabic calligraphy signed by the head of the award committee, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz, inside a luxurious leather file, bearing the name of the winner and a summary of the works that qualified him to win the award.

  • 24 karat gold medal, weighing 200 grams.

    Its first side bears the image of King Faisal and the award branch in Arabic, and the second side bears the award’s logo and its branch in English.

  • A check in the amount of 750,000 Saudi riyals (equivalent to 200,000 US dollars), to be distributed equally among the winners if they are more than one.

Memoirs of my life in my stories

In his life, Al-Shafi’i was influenced by his mother, whose lifespan was nearly 100 years, and he says in his memoirs “My life is in my stories” (released in 2015), “My dear, who left me when I was about a hundred, and I reached sixty-six, she was the most important person in my life, and she My life was affected by her life and psychological contexts, which guided my attitudes consciously and unconsciously.”

And about his harsh experience that spanned for years in prisons, he says, “I do not know why myself does not compel me to narrate my experience in the military prison, so that I can carry it on a burden. Psychological and moral aches accompany them, and they are almost never erased, even if the time is long.. and they are more severe and extreme.”

Al-Shafi’i is one of the strongest supporters and defenders of the January 25, 2011 revolution, and he went to Tahrir Square in the heart of Cairo on January 28, which witnessed the peak of the revolution. Who dared say that it was the beginning of chaos or the project of the West at the hands of their young agents that they were tyrants and slaves of tyranny.

(p. 215)

In his memoirs, Al-Shafei touched on his victory at the Presidency of the Immortals Academy, saying, “Journalists used to congratulate me on the position of the sixth elected president in the history of the complex, and the first generalist (Azhari) to occupy it. She occupies the chair of Taha Hussein, and he says, “I feel that I am younger than a professor and greater than a dean.” I attribute this to his Azhar studies, despite his studies at Cairo University and London.

And when the political crisis in Egypt intensified after the late President Mohamed Morsi assumed power as the first elected civilian president, Al-Shafei saw in a letter to the Speaker of the Shura Council, that it was necessary to accept early presidential elections. Finally, he expressed his belief that President (Morsi) would accept this logic if it was presented to him without dictation or pressure.

Al-Shafi’i student, prisoner and scientist

Al-Shafi’i was born in 1930 in one of the villages affiliated to the Biba Center in the Beni Suef Governorate in Upper Egypt. His father was an Azharite sheikh working in education and memorizing the Noble Qur’an at an early age. He obtained a BA in Arabic and Islamic Sciences from the Faculty of Dar Al Uloom, Cairo University in 1963, then a high degree in Creed and Philosophy from the Faculty of Fundamentals of Religion at Al-Azhar University in the same year, and he obtained a doctorate in Islamic philosophy from the University of London in 1977.

The man’s career was not without suffering with the Nasser regime. In 1953, he joined the Faculty of Dar Al Uloom at Cairo University and the Faculty of Fundamentals of Religion at Al-Azhar University at the same time, specializing in Islamic philosophy, and he did not graduate from both colleges until 10 years later (1963). He was arrested in 1954 and remained He was sentenced to 6 years in prison for belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood.

When he graduated with first honors, he was appointed as a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Dar Al Uloom, but he was arrested again and stayed in prison for 4 years. He obtained a master's degree in 1969.

His scientific positions

He was included in scientific and administrative positions at the College of Dar Al Uloom, Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, Arab and Islamic universities, in addition to membership in the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, the Arabic Language Academy, which he headed from 2012 to 2020 for two consecutive terms, the Islamic Research Academy, membership of the Council of Senior Scholars, and the Council of Muslim Elders.

Al-Shafi’i is the first Azharite scholar to head the Arabic Language Academy in Cairo, and he has dozens of scientific and intellectual research, and various solid scientific contributions by authoring, investigating and translating Islamic philosophy and Arabic language sciences, in addition to articles, research and scientific contributions locally, regionally and globally.

Al-Shafi’i published about 10 books in Islamic philosophy, monotheism, theology and mysticism, and more than 30 scientific research published in many scientific journals and periodicals in Egypt and abroad, and achieved 5 heritage texts, and translated 4 books into English, in addition to supervising and judging dozens of letters. Universities in Egypt, the Arab world, Pakistan and Malaysia.

Honor and harass

Al-Shafei did not engage in politics, but by virtue of his position during the difficult period that the country went through between 2011 and 2013, where he worked as an advisor to the Sheikh of Al-Azhar (the head of the technical office of the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Dr. July 2013 onwards, where he made his position clear in a strong statement.

“There is no freedom and revolution in #Egypt.”..


Advisor of #Al-Azhar_Sheikh Hassan Al-Shafei pays the price of his #fourth conviction for turning against him pic.twitter.com/DagLWkfkRf

- Al Jazeera Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) November 22, 2020

This statement resulted in a lot of reactions from the Egyptian media loyal to the authorities, accusing him of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, and he was subjected to a media attack in many programs on satellite channels, and they demanded at times to expel him and at other times to dismiss him from his positions.

In August 2015, Al-Shafei was dismissed from his job as a professor at the Faculty of Dar Al Uloom at Cairo University, claiming that he would combine two jobs without official permission from the university. He said at the time that the decision to dismiss him was arranged by the university’s president at the time, Dr. Gaber Nassar.

After two terms as president of the Al-Khalideen Complex (Arabic Language Academy) for 8 years, Al-Shafi’i was elected for the third time by a comfortable majority in November 2020, but he was removed from the position by a decision of the Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, and he assigned Dr. Salah Fadl in his place, who lost to him In the elections, claiming that leadership positions have a term of only two terms.