Gad el-Haq

Sheikh Gad el-Haq Ali Gad el-Haq
Born 5 April 1917
Batra, Dakahlia Governorate, Sultanate of Egypt
Died 15 March 1996 (1996-03-16) (aged 78)
Cairo, Egypt
Known for Grand Imam of Al-Azhar
Awards King Faisal International Prize

Sheikh Gad el-Haq Ali Gad el-Haq (Arabic: جاد الحق علي جاد الحق‎) (5 April 1917 – 15 March 1996) was Grand Imam of Al-Azhar from 1982 to 1996.[1]

Life

Born in Batra, Dakahlia Governorate and educated at a village school in the Nile Delta, he gained his Alimiya degree from al-Azhar University, Cairo. Finding a job as a clerk in the Mufti's office, he was promoted to the post of amin al-fatwa. In 1954 he became a judge. Nasser appointed him to the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in 1960.[1]

In 1978 Anwar Sadat appointed him as Grand Mufti of Egypt. In 1982 he became Minister of Religious Affairs, and then Grand Imam of Al-Azhar. A conservative voice, he pleased the Egyptian government with his strong opposition to the fundamentalist Wahhabi doctrine. However, the government was less pleased by his criticism of abortion (for which he collaborated with the Vatican delegation) at the 1994 UN Population Conference in Cairo. He refused to accept the Oslo Accords, since they did not acknowledge the Palestinian right of return.[1] He also issued a fatwa against Farag Foda, who was subsequently assassinated.[2] He died in Cairo.[1]

Awards and honors

Gad el-Haq was awarded King Faisal International Prize in 1995 for his efforts for brotherly ties between Muslim communities throughout the world, and his relentless efforts to improve the spiritual, intellectual and material conditions of Muslim minorities in non-Muslim countries.[3]

Works

  • Hadha Bayan li'l'Nas

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Tim Winter,OBITUARY: Sheikh Gad al-Haq Ali Gad al-Haq, The Independent, 18 March 1996. Accessed 13 January 2013.
  2. ↑ Dan Tschirgi,Turning Point: The Arab World's Marginalization and International Security After 9/11, 2007. Accessed 7 December 2017.
  3. ↑ "King Faisal International Prize".


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