Writer

Muhammad Metwalli al-Sha'rawi

Islamic scholar

1911 - 1998

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His biography is available in 15 different languages on Wikipedia. Muhammad Metwalli al-Sha'rawi is the 3,921st most popular writer, the 450th most popular biography from Egypt and the 42nd most popular Egyptian Writer.

Muhammad Metwalli al-Sha'rawi was an Egyptian Islamic scholar, jurist, and former Minister of Endowments most famously known as one of the Arab world's most influential and beloved television preachers of the 20th century—nicknamed the "Preacher of the Century" or "Imam of the Missionaries"—whose weekly televised Quranic exegesis (tafsir) program Nur ala Nur (Light upon Light), aired especially during Ramadan, reached tens of millions with his simple, eloquent, and captivating explanations of complex verses, blending deep scholarship, everyday language, and spiritual insight to make the Quran accessible to ordinary people across the Muslim world. He authored numerous books on Quranic themes, Islamic rulings, and faith (many compiled from his broadcasts), served in key religious roles including teaching at Al-Azhar and Saudi universities, and delivered the khutbah at Mount Arafat during Hajj as a rare non-Saudi honor. Surprisingly, despite his mainstream Sunni orthodoxy and widespread reverence as a symbol of popular Egyptian culture in the 1970s–1990s, his teachings occasionally sparked controversy (e.g., later criticisms linking him to extremism by some critics), yet he remained a unifying figure whose taped sermons and fatwas continue to be widely watched and quoted decades after his death, with millions mourning at his funeral.

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Among Writers

Among writers, Muhammad Metwalli al-Sha'rawi ranks 3,921 out of 7,302. Before him are Athol Fugard, Apollon Maykov, Fadwa Tuqan, Seán O'Casey, Charles Grandison Finney, and Michael Blake. After him are Rizaeddin bin Fakhreddin, Titus Calpurnius Siculus, Mirza Khazar, Bernard-Marie Koltès, Girolamo de Rada, and Emmanuel Bove.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1911, Muhammad Metwalli al-Sha'rawi ranks 194. Before him are Michel Pablo, Martim Mércio da Silveira, Allan Pettersson, Viktor Nekrasov, Ellen Corby, and Said Akl. After him are Mahmoud Taleghani, Mario Perazzolo, Paris Pişmiş, Antonio Sastre, Franz Wagner, and Mary Blair. Among people deceased in 1998, Muhammad Metwalli al-Sha'rawi ranks 173. Before him are Lev Dyomin, Tammy Wynette, Victor Papanek, Jafar Sharif-Emami, António Ribeiro, and Luis Cruz. After him are Zezé Moreira, Genrich Altshuller, Jon Postel, Konstantinos Kollias, Michèle Arnaud, and Laila Schou Nilsen.

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In Egypt

Among people born in Egypt, Muhammad Metwalli al-Sha'rawi ranks 450 out of NaN. Before him are Haim Saban (1944), Naguib Sawiris (1954), Pope Theodosius I of Alexandria (450), Osorkon IV (-800), Al-Ashraf Sha'ban (1353), and Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni (1940). After him are Mike Beuttler (1940), Riccardo Freda (1909), Zakaria Mohieddin (1918), Georges Schehadé (1905), Thrasyllus of Mendes (-100), and Hafez Ibrahim (1872).

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Among Writers In Egypt

Among writers born in Egypt, Muhammad Metwalli al-Sha'rawi ranks 42. Before him are Mustafa Kamil Pasha (1874), C. S. Forester (1899), Aisha Taymur (1840), Albert Cossery (1913), Alaa Al Aswany (1957), and André Aciman (1951). After him are Georges Schehadé (1905), Hafez Ibrahim (1872), Bat Ye'or (1933), Mohammed Hussein Heikal (1888), Yusuf Idris (1927), and Abbās al-Aqqād (1889).

Egyptian born Writers

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