Muhammad Al-Ghazali

(1917 – 1996)

Sheikh Muhammad al-Ghazali was one of the most influential Islamic scholars of the twentieth century, both as an author and in the field of Da'wa. Born at Buhayra, Egypt in 1335/1917, he received his schooling at the Alexandria Religious Institute before entering the Faculty of Usul al-Din at the University of al-Azhar.

In 1362/1943, al-Ghazali was appointed Imam and lecturer at al-Makataba al-Khadra in Cairo. He later became a prominent member of the Muslim Brotherhood and a close associate of Sheikh Hasan Al-Banna. During the early 1950s he worked for the Islamic Movement in various capacities. Subsequently his work for Islam extended over many parts of Africa, Asia. Europe and America as well as the Arab countries.

Between 1391/1971 and 1410/1989, Sheikh al-Ghazali rose through the ranks of the Egyptian Ministry of Awqaf, to become Undersecretary for Islamic Da'wa, His academic career included spells of teaching at the universities of Umm al-Qura (Makka) and Qatar: and he served as a Chairman of the Academic Council first of al-Amir 'Abd al-Qadir University, at Constantine, Algeria, and later of the international institute of Islamic Thought at Cairo

Sheikh Muhammad al-Ghazali published over sixty books, several of which have been published in translation. Probably the most important is "Journey through the Qur'an" (al-Tafsir al-mawdu' li-suwar al-Quran al Karim). He received many awards in recognition of his contribution to learning and Da'wa.

He passed away in Saudi Arabia in 1996 while attending a conference in Riyadh, and was buried in Jannatul Baqi’ in Medina.

May Allah have Mercy upon his soul, Amen.

(source: http://www.arabnews.com )