Muhammad Husayn al-Dhahabi (October 19, 1915 — July 7, 1977) was an
Al-Azhar scholar and the former Egyptian
Minister of Religious Endowments. He was a critic of the militant jihadist movement that had splintered from the mainstream
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...
. On July 3, 1977, he was kidnapped by the radical group
Takfir wal-Hijra, who held him hostage and demanded the release of imprisoned members of their movement.
[ Marc Sageman, ''Understanding Terror Networks'' (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004) p.29] When their demand was not met, they executed al-Dhahabi. Following his execution, the government of
Anwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...
cracked down on militant Islamic organizations in Egypt.
References
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20th-century Egyptian politicians
Egyptian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Endowments Ministers of Egypt