Mahmoud Zakzouk

Zakzouk was born in Dakahlia, Egypt, on 27 December 1933.{{cite web|title=Ministry of Waqfs (Endowments)|url=http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Templates/Articles/tmpArticles.aspx?ArtID=391|work=SIS|access-date=30 August 2013}}{{cite web|title=Professor Dr. Mahmoud Hamdi Zakzouk|url=https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/content/language2/html/8513.asp|work=Robert Bosch Stiftung|access-date=30 August 2013}} He obtained a bachelor's degree in languages from Al Azhar University in 1959.{{cite book|title=Who's Who in the Arab World 2007-2008|year=2007|publisher=Publitec Publications|location=Beirut

|page=846|isbn=9783598077357|doi=10.1515/9783110930047|edition=18th|url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110930047/html|editor-last1=Publitec Publications }} Then he received a master's degree from the same university in 1960. He also received a PhD in philosophy from Munich University in 1968.{{cite book

|editor=P. Koslowski|title=Progress, Apocalypse, and Completion of History and Life After Death of the Human Person in the World Religions

|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=veaWegpB22oC&pg=PA133|chapter=Contributors|year=2002|publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers

|isbn=978-1-4020-0647-0|page=133|location=Dordrecht; Boston, MA; London}} His PhD thesis dealt with the comparison of the philosophical approaches of Descartes and Al-Ghazali.

Zakzouk was a professor of philosophy and taught philosophy at his alma mater, Al Azhar University. He joined the university in 1968. From 1972 to 1976 he was visiting professor in Libya and from 1980 to 1984 in Qatar. He served as the dean of the Islamic Theology Faculty at Al Azhar from 1987 to 1995. He was appointed minister of religious endowments (Awqaf) in 1995 and was in office until the Revolution of 2011 when he was removed.{{cite web|title=Mahmoud Hamdi Zakzouk|work=DAAD|access-date=30 August 2013

|url=https://www.daad.de/alumni/netzwerke/vip-galerie/nordafrika/12812.en.html|date=31 January 2013}}

Zakzouk served as head of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs to which he was appointed in 1996.{{cite web|title=Conferences|url=http://elazhar.com/conferences_eu/13/11.asp|work=Al Azhar|access-date=30 August 2013}} He held the following posts: vice president of Al Azhar University (1995), member of the Islamic Research Academy, member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in Salzburg and head of the Egyptian Society of Philosophy.

In July 2016, Zakzouk received the bishop Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot to give him a tour of Al Azhar University upon the request of Pope Francis and to discuss the formal resumption of dialogue between the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and Al Azhar University.Carol Glatz. (12 July 2016). [http://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/07/12/vatican-working-to-re-establish-dialogue-with-leading-sunni-university/ Vatican working to re-establish dialogue with leading Sunni university], Catholicherald.comElise Harris. (21 February 2017). [https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/02/21/vatican-al-azhar-team-counter-religious-justification-violence/ Vatican, Al Azhar team up to counter religious justification for violence], Cruxnow.com

Zakzouk argued in 2006 that the Baháʼí Faith "is 'not a revealed religion' for Muslims and thus not subject to special protection in Egypt."{{cite thesis|author=David Faris|title=Revolutions without revolutionaries? Social media networks and regime response in Egypt

|url=https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/116|location=University of Pennsylvania|year=2010|degree=PhD}} He also publicly claimed that capital punishment for converts, more specifically those Muslim-born persons who convert to other religious beliefs, is legal.{{cite book|title=Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes Are Choking Freedom Worldwide|author=Nina Shea|year=2011|publisher=OUP

|location=New York|page=70|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812264.001.0001|isbn=9780199812264}} In 2007, he called on Egyptian imams to condemn the practice of female genital mutilation.{{cite news|author=Khaled Diab|title=This article is more than 16 years old Scars that refuse to heal|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/aug/14/scarsthatrefusetoheal|access-date=27 April 2024|work=The Guardian|date=14 August 2007}}

Zakzouk frowned on the use of the niqab. He expelled a counsellor wearing the niqab from a meeting at his ministry, and stated "the religious counsellor should set an example of moderation. By wearing the niqab, this female counsellor promotes a tradition not demanded by Islam".{{cite web|author=Yasmine Saleh|title=Zakzouk supports calls to equate women to men in court testimonies|access-date=8 November 2013|url=http://www.masress.com/en/dailynews/116127|date=14 March 2008|work=Masress}}

In 2010, Zakzouk announced a plan to unify the Adhan, but the religious affairs committee in the parliament refused his proposal. Seven years later, actress Shereen Reda and the Minister of Religious Affairs, Gaber Tayae, relaunched Zakzouk's suggestions through a press campaign.Farah Tawfeek. (25 December 2017). [https://www.egyptindependent.com/azhar-sheikh-criticizes-shereen-redas-description-of-some-calls-to-prayer-as-animal-sounds/ Azhar Sheikh criticizes Shereen Reda's description of some calls to prayer as 'animal sounds'], Egypt IndependentFarah Tawfeek. (27 December 2017). [https://www.egyptindependent.com/endowments-ministry-defends-shereen-redas-likening-of-some-prayer-calls-to-animal-sounds/ Endowments Ministry defends Shereen Reda’s likening of some prayer calls to 'animal sounds'], Egypt Independent

Zakzouk was married and had one child. He died on 1 April 2020.{{cite web|title=وفاة الدكتور محمود حمدي زقزوق وزير الأوقاف الأسبق عن 87 عامًا {{!}} المصري اليوم|website=www.almasryalyoum.com|url=https://www.almasryalyoum.com/news/details/1722773|access-date=1 April 2020|language=ar}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sis.gov.eg/Story/145329/Egypt's-Mufti-mourns-death-of-former-Awqaf-Minister?lang=en-us|title=Egypt's Mufti mourns death of former Awqaf Minister|date=1 April 2020|work=Egyptian government}}{{cite web

|url=https://www.muslim-elders.com/en/MediaCenter/197|title=Muslim Council of Elders mourns the passing of Council member and reputed Islamic Scholar Mahmoud Zakzouk|date=2 April 2020|work=Muslim Council of Elders}}

• 1997: Egyptian State Prize for Social Sciences

Zakzouk published many scientific articles and books, including On Philosophy Culture and Peace in Islam,{{cite book|author=Mahmoud Zakzouk|title=On Philosophy Culture and Peace in Islam|publisher=Shorouk|location=Cairo|url=http://elazhar.com/lib/Culture-E-PDF/p5-132.pdf}} On the Role of Islam in the Development of Philosophical Thought (1989), Al Ghazalis Philosophie im Vergleich mit Descartes (Comparison of Al Ghazali's Philosophy with that of Descartes, 1992), Fragen zum Thema Islam (Questions on Islam, 1999) and Einführung in den Islam (Introduction to Islam, 2000). He also contributed to The End of Tolerance? which was published in 2002.{{cite book|title=The End of Tolerance?|id={{ASIN|1857883179|country=jp}}}} The book focuses on interfaith origins of tolerance.

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Category:20th-century Egyptian philosophers

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Category:1933 births

Category:2020 deaths

Category:Al-Azhar University alumni

Category:Academic staff of Al-Azhar University

Category:Endowments ministers of Egypt

Category:Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni

Category:People from Dakahlia Governorate