Ali Gomaa

Background

Ali Gomaa was born in the Upper Egyptian province of Beni Suef on March 3, 1952(7 Jumadah al-Akhirah 1371 AH). Gomaa is married and has three adult children. In person, Gomaa's appearance has been described as "tall and regal, with a round face and a trim beard."

Education

Gomaa graduated from high school in 1969, at which point he enrolled at Ain Shams University in Egypt’s capital, Cairo. Having already begun to memorize the Quran, he delved deeper into his studies of Islam, studying Hadith and Shafi'i jurisprudence in his free time while at university. After completing a B.Comm. (Bachelor of Commerce) at Ain Shams in 1973, Gomaa enrolled in Cairo’s al-Azhar University, the oldest active Islamic institution of higher learning in the world. He received a second bachelor's degree (B.A.) from al-Azhar, then an M.A., and finally a Ph.D with highest honors in Juristic Methodology (usul al-fiqh) in 1988. Since he had not gone through the al-Azhar High School curriculum, he took it upon himself in his first year at the college to study and memorize all of the basic texts, which many of the other students had already covered.

Teaching

Gomaa taught in the faculty of Islamic and Arabic Studies at al-Azhar University from the time he received his M.A. until he was appointed Grand Mufti, first as an assistant professor and then as a full professor. In addition to being a teacher of Aqida, Tafsir, Hadith, legal theory and Islamic history, Gomaa is also a highly respected Sufi master.

Classes outside university

In addition to the courses he taught at the University, Gomaa also revived the tradition of open classes held in a mosque where he taught a circle of students six days a week from after sunrise until noon. Gomaa established these lessons in 1998 with the aim of protecting the Islamic intellectual tradition from being lost or misinterpreted: "I want people to continue in the tradition of knowledge reading the classical texts the way they were written, not the way people want to understand them."

In addition to the lessons in al-Azhar, Gomaa also began giving the Friday sermon (khutbah) in Cairo’s Sultan Hassan Mosque in 1998 after which he would give a short lesson in Islamic jurisprudence for the general public followed by a question-and-answer session. In addition Gomaa speaks fluent English, and he was a former chairman of Al-Azhar University's Islamic Jurisprudence Department.

Work with jihadi prisoners

Gomaa has told American journalist Lawrence Wright that he worked with Islamic Group prisoners who later embraced the "Nonviolence Initiative" and denounced violence. "I began going into the prisons in the 1990s.... We had debates and dialogues with the prisoners, which continued for more than three years. Such debates became the nucleus for the revisionist thinking."

Grand Mufti

Ali Gomaa was appointed Grand Mufti in late September 2003. by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, replacing former Mufti Mohamed Ahmed El-Tayeb. El-Tayeb was appointed Al-Azhar University president, taking over from Ahmed Omar Hashem.

His office, the Dar al Ifta (literally, the House of Fatwas), a government agency charged with issuing religious legal opinions on any question to Muslims who ask for them, issues some 5,000 fatwas a week, including both the official ones that he himself crafts on important issues and the more routine ones handled via phone and Internet by a dozen or so subordinate muftis.

Media appearances

Since being appointed as Grand Mufti, Gomaa had numerous media appearances. His regular television appearances include al-Bayt Baytak on Tuesday nights on both Egyptian terrestrial and satellite channel two, when he discusses current events and answers the questions of viewers who call in; Yas’alunaka, on Fridays on the Risalah satellite channel on which he gives a simplified explanation of Islamic jurisprudence; and a commentary on the Koran, which appears daily on local Egyptian channel one.

In addition to his television appearances, Gomaa has a weekly column in the Egyptian daily newspaper al-Ahram. His articles have covered a wide range of topics from explanations of the basis of Islamic law and calling for calm in the face of the Danish cartoon crisis, to refuting extremism and denouncing The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as a forgery. He is one of the signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders, calling for peace and understanding.

Views on selling pork and alcohol in the West and 'non-Muslim countries'

In a fatwa issued by Dar-al-ifta, approved and signed by Ali Gom’a, the Egyptian Mufti stated that selling pork and alcohol is permitted in the West because "it is allowed taking the opinion of the scholars from the Hanafi madhhab, who allow to deal with wrong contracts in non-Muslim countries."

Another justification was that the Prophet let his uncle Al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib take usury in Mecca when it was a non-Muslim city, and he did not prohibit him except in the year of the Farewell Pilgrimage.

During the fatwa, which was a reply to a question from a Muslim in Europe asking about whether it would be allowed for him to work in stores that sell alcohol and pork along with other products because he cannot find another job, Gomaa ntioned the terms "Dar-al-Harb" (House of War) and "Ahl al-Harb" (people of war) several times, and he gave a response that not only dealt with what the questioner had asked but also considered further points such as the taking of interest and gambling.

Other significant fatwas

Since taking office, Gomaa issued a number of fatwas and statements that have made an impact in the media. He has issued a fatwa asserting that men and women enjoy equal political rights in Islam, including the right to become president of a modern state.

He recently stated on national television that it is permissible in Islam for a woman to have hymen restoration surgery for any reason since Islam promotes protecting one’s privacy and reputation and does not require a woman to provide proof of her virginity.

In November 2006, he ruled that female circumcision (also referred to as female genital mutilation or FGM) should not be applied; this ruling is in accordance with Egyptian law, which also forbids female circumcision. This ruling came about after a conference instigated by research and a documentary on FGM in Somalia by the German action group Target. The fatwa is now also used in Western Europe to combat FGM.

On 24 June 2007, after an 11-year-old died under the knife undergoing circumcision, he decreed that female circumcision was not just "un-Islamic" but forbidden.

He has also stated that Islam does not call for and has never known a theocratic state and that there is no contradiction between Islam and liberal democracy: "I consider myself a liberal and a Muslim, but this does not mean I am a secularist. The Egyptian [historical] experience has combined liberalism and Islam in the best of ways."

He is a signatory of the Amman Message, which gives a broad foundation for defining Muslim orthodoxy, unequivocally states that nobody has the right to excommunicate a Muslim, and it restricts the issuing of fatwas to those with the scholarly qualifications to do so.

In 2007 he "unequivocally told the Washington Post that the death penalty for apostasy simply no longer applies."

Ramadan Al Sherbini of Gulf News later reported Gomaa clarifying that Muslims are not free to change their faith: "What I actually said is that Islam prohibits a Muslim from changing his religion and that apostasy is a crime, which must be punished."

However, the Mufti still rejects the death penalty for apostasy. In 2009, posted on his website that he does not believe that apostasy is punishable by death.

In fact, it was only two years ago that Sheikh Ali Gomaa made clear statements to the effect that apostasy is not punishable by death in Islam, a position that he holds to this day.

He is the Editor of the Encyclopaedia of Hadith, a sub-project of the greater Sunnah Project of the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation, which aims at documenting and publishing all works related to Prophetic narrations or hadith.

Gomaa has publicly asserted that the anti-Semitic The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a forgery and made an official court complaint concerning a publisher who falsely put his name on an introduction to its Arabic translation.

Views on extremism

Gomaa has taken a very clear stance against extremist interpretations of Islam. "He has become the most explicitly anti-extremist cleric in mainstream Sunni Islam."

He says that the use of violence to spread Islam is prohibited and extremists have not been educated in genuine centers of Islamic learning: "Terrorists are criminals, not Muslim activists."

He indicates, about religion in general including Islam: "Terrorism cannot be born of religion. Terrorism is the product of corrupt minds, hardened hearts, and arrogant egos, and corruption, destruction, and arrogance are unknown to the heart attached to the divine."

Gomaa believes the best antidote to Islamic extremism is "traditional conception of sharia law — along with knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence"

Conclusion of term

Despite having a one-year extension of his term because of the political situation in post-revolutionary Egypt, Gomaa's term was allowed to expire.

A committee decided Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam to be the Mufti's successor.

Egyptian Revolution

Dr. Ali Gomaa made several public statements in relation to the massive uprising that began on 25 January 2011 and led to the stepping down of former Egyptian President Mubarak on 11 February 2011. His general position was one of caution addressing the potential for mass bloodshed and chaos. He was clear that public protest to address grievances is a fundamental human right, but cautioned that mass demonstrations leading to a disruption of day-to-day life could be considered impermissible (haram) from an Islamic legal point of view.

On 3 February 2011, Gomaa went on national TV to answer "hundreds of calls he received that day" with concerns about attending Friday prayer services. He issued a fatwa allowing people who feared physical harm from further mass protests to pray at home and not attend Friday prayer services.

Under Morsi

In March 2011, Gomaa’s 60th birthday and the official retirement age of Egyptian government employees, the SCAF issued him a one-year extension to help with the continuity of government. In June of the same year Muhammad Morsi was elected Egypt’s new president. On 20 July 2012, Gomaa held a national press conference to announce the start of the holy month of Ramadan and announced the month in the name of Egypt’s new president. In March 2013, Gomaa retired from his position of Grand Mufti of Egypt, and Dr. Shawqi Allam became Egypt’s new Grand Mufti.

Views on future of Islam in Egypt

In an op-ed in the New York Times, he supported the passage of the 2011 Constitutional referendum, calling it a "milestone" for Egyptian democracy.

He also stated that since Egypt is a very religious society, "it is inevitable that Islam will have a place in our democratic political order". However, he reassured that Muslims believe that "Islamic law guarantees freedom of conscience and expression (within the bounds of common decency) and equal rights for women."

He also stated that there was no contradiction between Articles 2 and 7 of the constitution, the former saying that Islam was the official religion of the state and that legislation was based on principles of Islamic jurisprudence, the latter guaranteeing full citizenship before the law to members of Egyptian society regardless of religion, race or creed.

He also stated that Islamists would stay within mainstream, and that radicalism would "not only run contrary to the law, but will also guarantee their political marginalization".

An opponent believes that Gomaa is not necessarily committed to democracy. Following the Egyptian coup, he expressed hostility towards Western democracy in a television interview and stated that it was contrary to Islamic law. Specifically, he argued that the Muslim Brothers should be following Islamic law, not Western democracy.

Views on ISIL

Gomaa is highly critical of the rebel group ISIL In September 2014, he, alongside 226 other prominent Sunni scholars, was a signatory to an open letter denouncing ISIL and its religious tenets.

In February 2015, he was noted for statements regarding the burning to death of Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh by ISIL in which he claimed to have proof that the burning was photoshopped and that the pilot was not in fact burned to death. He stated as proof of his claim that in the video published by ISIS, Al-Kasabeh stands still while being burned, something that would seem impossible.

Controversy

According to American journalist Jay Tolson, Ali Gomaa has been a victim of "smear tactics" by hardline blogger critics of Islam and the Muslim world, the effect of which has been "cumulative and insidious." He quotes Robert Spencer as referring to "wife-beating" statue-hating Mufti Ali Gomaa.`

Sculpture

On 18 April 2006, an article entitled "Egypt's grand mufti issues fatwa: no sculpture" appeared:

Artists and intellectuals here say the edict, whose ban on producing and displaying sculptures overturns a century-old fatwa, runs counter to Islam. They also worry that extremists may use the ruling as a pretense for destroying Egypt's ancient relics, which form a pillar of the country's multibillion-dollar tourist industry.

Jay Tolson defended Gomaa, saying that

while Gomaa did say that it was un-Islamic for Muslims to own statues or to display them in their homes, he made it very clear that the destruction of antiquities and other statues in the public sphere was unacceptable and indeed criminal. He is also on record deploring the Taliban's destruction of the great Buddhist statuary in Afghanistan.

Original writings

His published works include:

Teachers

His sheikhs and teachers include in alphabetical order:

1. ‘Abd al-Hafidh al-Tijani
2. ‘Abd al-Hakim ‘Abd al-Latif
3. ‘Abd al-Hamid Mayhub
4. Ahmad Jabir al-Yamani
5. ‘Abd al-Jalil al-Qaranshawi
6. Ahmad Hammadah al-Shafi’i
7. Ahmad Mursi
8. ‘Ali Ahmad Mar’i
9. Hasan Ahmad Mar’i
10. al-Husayni Yusuf al-Shaykh
11. Ibrahim Abu al-Khashab
12. ‘Iwad Allah al-Hijazi
13. ‘Iwad al-Zabidi
14. Ismail Sadiq al-’Adwi
15. Ismail al-Zayn al-Yamani
16. Jad al-Haqq ‘Ali Jad al-Haqq
17. Jad al-Rabb Ramadan
18. Muhammad Abu Nur Zuhayr
19. Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki
20. Muhammad Ismail al-Hamadani
21. Muhammad Mahmud Farghali
22. Muhammad Shams al-Din al-Mantiqi
23. Muhammad Zaki Ibrahin
24. Sha’ban Muhammad Ismail
25. Said ‘Abd Allah al-Lajhi
26. al-Sayiid Salih ‘Iwad
27. Salih al-Ja’fari
28. Yasin al-Fidani