Location: Daqadoos – Meet Ghamr
Shaykh al-Sha’rawy (may God be pleased with him) was born on April 16th, 1911 CE into a pious family whose roots trace back to saints and men of sacred knowledge.
Under impulse of his parents He memorized the Noble Quran at a young age and was sent off to al-Azhar in order to be deeply rooted in piety. Not long after he came to be known as a sincere man of knowledge and teacher of jurisprudence, holding academic positions at the Azhar institutes in Tanta, Alexandria and finally Zaqazeeq.
His national reputation took a turn in 1951 when he began teaching exegesis and Hadith at the department of Islamic Jurisprudence at the University of Mecca while growing in popularity internationally through the pilgrims that got to hear him lecture on the Hanafi pulpit. He remained in Mecca for ten years until God destined his return to the Ahmadiya city in Tanta. There he would become once again a representative of al-Azhar to eventually become the Dawa’ director for the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowments and afterwards a director in the office of the Shaykh of al-Azhar, Imam Hasan Mamoon in the year 1964 CE.
al-Sha’rawy was passionate about the Arabic language and its sciences. God endowed him with a unique versatility with the language of the Qur’an which allowed him to graduate from Azhar University with distinction. Afterwards he was chosen by the Azhar committee to lead the expedition for Arabizing Algeria in the year 1966 CE, where he met some prominent figures of French thought and orientalism. Nevertheless, the most striking encounter was his spiritual meeting with the Shaykh and Gnostic Muhammad Bilqa’id in Tilmisan. It was God’s way of opening new doors of divine knowledge by gifting him with the blessings of the Shaykh’s company and sanctity. Eventually, he decided to stay with his new spiritual teacher for a certain amount of time. In this environment of spiritual seekers coming and going while experiencing the wonders and greatness of God, al-Sha’rawy wrote a poem describing his peculiar destiny and his life changing experience meeting the Shaykh Bilqa’id.
After his time with Bilqa’d he returned to Egypt to study the sacred law along with the esoteric sciences in the year 1970-1972 in Mecca as a visiting professor in the department of Islamic Jurisprudence. He was also the president of the department of graduate studies at the Saudi university of King Abdul Azeez
His reputation rose to its epitome when Ustadh Ahmed Farrag hosted him in his television program “Noor a’la Noor which was received very well by the public. Not only was his vast knowledge so impressive but more so his character made him estimable. In the year 1976, CE he was chosen as the Minister for Religious Affairs and Endowments in Egypt except that he quickly went back to the life of calling people to God with guidance and insight. He went on traveling the world east and west until he returned to his Lord at Fajr on the morning of June 17th, 1998. This is an event that brings to mind the words of Imam al-Shafi’i:
“A people have died yet their gifts keep on giving and there are a people who live but among men they might as well be dead.”
Here is one of Shaykh al-Sha’rawy’s final print interviews in which he reveals hitherto unknown information about his background: 