Wagdy Abd El Hamied Mohamed Ghoneim (), normally shortened to Wagdy Ghoneim (born 8 February 1951) is an Egyptian Muslim imam and writer. He was

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

at the Islamic Institute of

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

, in the United States, until 2005.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the Un ...

(ICE
Press release
4 January 2005 He was a fundraiser for the

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

based

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

charity KindHearts. In January 2005, Ghoneim left the US for Qatar, following his arrest for violating his immigration status. Bail was refused over concerns that his previous speeches and fund raising might have supported organisations such as

. He was given a ten-year ban on re-entry to the country. In May 2009, he was placed on the British

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

's list of "Individuals banned from the UK for stirring-up hatred" for being "Considered to be engaging in unacceptable behaviour by seeking to foment, justify or glory terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs and to provoke others to commit terrorist acts."

Controversies

He said, prior to 30 June 2013 major protests, that who ever protests against the president

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa Al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012 Kafir ''Kāfir'' (; , , or ; ; or ) is an Arabic-language term used by Muslims to refer to a non-Muslim, more specifically referring to someone who disbelieves in the Islamic God, denies his authority, and rejects the message of Islam as ...

. Ghoneim denounced

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has been serving as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. After the 2011 Egyptian revolution and 201 ...

's coup d'état after Morsi was toppled. The amputation of limbs for stealing is supported by Ghoneim. In April 2017, he justified attacks on Coptic churches, due to their support to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. On 26 July 2019, he has been banned from entering Tunisia because of hateful declarations against the former president

Beji Caid Essebsi Beji Caid Essebsi (or es-Sebsi; , ; 29 November 1926 – 25 July 2019) was a Tunisian politician who served as the fourth president of Tunisia from 31 December 2014 until his death on 25 July 2019. Previously, he served as minister of foreign af ...

. Ghoneim stated that Tunisia is against Islam and its president is against the Quran and Sunnah. In April 2021, he criticized the

Pharaohs' Golden Parade The Pharaohs' Golden Parade was held in Cairo, Egypt, on the 3rd of April 2021. It was a means to encourage tourism in Egypt again. It involved the transportation of twenty-two ancient Egyptian mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square t ...

, calling the

ancient Egyptians Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower ...

as infidels.

Notes

: His name in Arabic text: ; in IPA ; the initial name maybe transcribed as ', the middle name may also be transcribed as '. See Abdel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghoneim, Wagdy Abd el-Hamied Mohamed Living people Anti-Christian sentiment in Africa Antisemitism in Egypt 1951 births Egyptian imams Egyptian Islamists Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members Egyptian Salafis Egyptian expatriates in the United States Egyptian expatriates in Qatar Critics of Shia Islam Critics of Christianity Egyptian expatriates in Turkey