The death of Sheikh Ahmed Al-Mahlawi at the age of 98

Highlights: Sheikh Ahmed Al-Mahlawi, the imam and preacher of the Commander Ibrahim Mosque in Alexandria, died today, Sunday, at the age of 98. He was mourned by the President of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Sheikh Dr. Ali Al-Qara Daghi. The funeral prayer will be after the noon prayer at Al-Rahman Mosque, and the condolences will be limited to the graves of Al-Husseiniya Abis II. The grandsons of the late Sheikh Ibrahim and Omar Al- Mahlawi announced through their Facebook accounts the death of their grandfather.

The preacher Sheikh Ahmed Al-Mahlawi, the imam and preacher of the Commander Ibrahim Mosque in Alexandria, died today, Sunday, at the age of 98. He was mourned by the President of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Sheikh Dr. Ali Al-Qara Daghi.

The late preacher Sheikh Ahmed Al-Mahlawi, former imam of the Commander Ibrahim Mosque in Alexandria, Egypt (communication sites)

The preacher Sheikh Ahmed Al-Mahlawi, imam and preacher of the Commander Ibrahim Mosque in Alexandria, died today, Sunday, at the age of 98 years.

The grandsons of the late Sheikh Ibrahim and Omar Al-Mahlawi announced through their Facebook accounts the death of their grandfather, and the latter said, “My grandfather, His Eminence Sheikh Ahmed Al-Mahlawi, has passed away. The funeral prayer will be after the noon prayer at Al-Rahman Mosque, and the condolences will be limited to the graves of Al-Husseiniya Abis II.”

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The President of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Sheikh Dr. Ali Al-Qaradaghi, also mourned him through his account on “X” and said, “With hearts that believe in God’s will and destiny, we extend our warm condolences and sincere good feelings to the family and fans of Sheikh Al-Mahallawi, as he died, this Sunday morning, in his home in the city of Alexandria, at the age of 99.” "Generally."

With hearts that believe in God’s will and destiny, we extend our warm condolences and sincere good feelings to the family and fans of Sheikh Al-Mahallawi, as Sheikh Ahmed Al-Mahallawi died this Sunday morning in his home in Alexandria at the age of 99 years.

Ahmed Abdel Salam Al-Mahlawi was born on July 1, 1925 AD in the village of Ezbet Al-Mahlawi… pic.twitter.com/5uQYB8jkG5

- Dr.

Ali Al-Qaradaghi (@Ali_AlQaradaghi) March 10, 2024

He added, "He was a source of determination, influence, record of advocacy, and religious maturity, and we will continue to remember him and be affected by his history of struggle and his positive influence on the good of the call. We belong to God and to Him we shall return. Oh God, forgive us and him."

Professor of Hadith at Al-Azhar University, head of the Qur’an Review Committee, and former sheikh of all Egyptian reciters, Dr. Ahmed Issa Al-Masarawi, also mourned him, saying, “To God we belong and to Him we shall return. Sincere condolences on the death of Sheikh #Ahmed_Al-Mahlawi, asking the Lord - the Almighty - to cover him with His vast mercy and to dwell him in His spacious Paradise. May he grant his family and relatives sincere patience and solace.”

We belong to God and to Him we shall return.

Sincere condolences on the death of Sheikh #Ahmed_Al-Mahlawi,

asking the Lord - the Almighty - to cover him with His vast mercy and dwell him in His spacious gardens, and to inspire his family and relatives sincere patience and solace pic.twitter.com/kxeTMWnOkT

- Prof. Dr. Ahmed Issa Al-Masrawy (@elmasrw) March 10, 2024

Who is Sheikh Mahlawi?

Sheikh Al-Mahlawi was born on July 1, 1925 in the village of Ezbet Al-Mahlawi in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate. He completed memorizing the Holy Qur’an in the book of his village, then joined Al-Azhar studies at the Tanta Institute and from there to the Faculty of Sharia in Cairo.

He obtained a bachelor’s degree in Sharia law in 1954, then obtained a master’s degree from the Faculty of Arabic Language at Al-Azhar University in 1956, after which he was appointed an imam and preacher at the Al-Satohi Mosque in the city of Burullus in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate in 1957.

In 1963, a decision was issued by the Ministry of Endowments to transfer Sheikh Al-Mahlawi to the imamate of the Sidi Gaber Mosque in Alexandria Governorate. However, the Sheikh’s role was not limited to the mosque. Rather, he turned to preaching in private schools and also established strengthening classes in the mosque for secondary and university students.

Al-Mahlawi founded the Association of “Mosque Scholars in Alexandria,” which moved Islamic work from the mosque to the street, and many sheikhs studied under him, including: Muhammad Ismail Al-Muqaddam and the martyr Abdel Aziz Al-Rantisi, the well-known leader of the “Hamas” movement during his studies in Egypt.

During the era of the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser, the head of the Sharq district in Alexandria asked Sheikh Al-Mahlawi to pray for Abdel Nasser in the Friday sermon, but he refused despite the district head obtaining a decision from the Endowments Directorate to do so.

Since the mid-seventies, Al-Mahlawi began to deviate from the framework of the mosque’s religious and educational circles, to set off throughout the length and breadth of Alexandria to deliver lectures in pavilions and universities, which disturbed the regime of the late President Anwar Sadat.

In 1977, a decision was issued to transfer him from Alexandria to Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, but the sheikh did not respond to the decision, and the government decided to keep him in Alexandria and move him to the Commander Ibrahim Mosque in the Raml Station area.

Tensions escalated in the relationship between Sheikh El Mahlawy and Sadat after the signing of the Camp David Accords with Israel in 1978, when he launched a scathing attack on Sadat and his wife Jihan after she entered an Alexandria mosque to open some charitable projects without a veil.

In July 1981, he was summoned to the Socialist Prosecutor's Office for investigation after the issuance of the so-called Shame Law. He was suspended from work and arrested, but the authorities were forced to release him on the morning of his arrest after massive demonstrations took place in Alexandria demanding his release. Then he was re-arrested again days later.

Sadat spoke about him in his famous speech on September 5, 1981, and Sheikh al-Mahallawi’s detention continued until July 1982, when he was released after Mohamed Hosni Mubarak took power, but the sheikh remained banned from working in mosques and preaching.

Officials in the state and the Ministry of Endowments tried to convince the sheikh to accept work as an inspector or director of the Endowments, but he insisted on returning as an imam and preacher, and he actually returned to the pulpit and inaugurated his lessons and lectures again.

After a series of bloody events with the Islamic Group, the authorities sensed a danger from Al-Mahlawi, so the Ministry of Endowments issued a decision banning him from preaching or lessons, but he returned to the pulpit again during the reign of the Minister of Endowments, Dr. Al-Ahmadi Abu Al-Nour (1984-1986), and then he was banned again during the reign of the Minister. Muhammad Ali Mahjoub (1986 - 2005).

After being deprived of the pulpit for about 15 years, Sheikh Al-Mahallawi reappeared with the outbreak of the January 2011 revolution, when the masses in Alexandria were surprised on February 4, 2011 by him delivering a Friday sermon at the Commander Ibrahim Mosque, the first square of the revolution in Alexandria.

Source: Al Jazeera + social networking sites