Shawqi al-Shaykh’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story

From Egypt 
Gender male
Death April 1990

Shawqi al-Shaykh (شوقي الشيخ) was an Egyptian Islamist who broke way from al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya to found the group al-Shawqiyun in the late 1980s. Al-Shaykh was a proponent of the doctrine of Takfir and publicly challenged the leadership of al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya calling Omar Abdel Rahman an apostate and demanding that Hosni Mubarak pay him the Jizya. Egyptian security forces killed Al-Shaykh in the village of Kahk in the governorate of Fayoum in April 1990.

Life

Shawqi al-Shaykh’s path to radicalization began in the early 1980s when he was imprisoned on charges of belonging to the Al-Jama’a Al-Islamiyya. While in prison the former engineer became acquainted with Naguib Abdel Fattah Ismail, the son of the deceased Muslim Brotherhood member Abdel Fattah Ismail. While in prison Shaykh adopted to radical views that would lead him to be even too extreme for Al-Gama’a Islamiyya. After being released from prison he developed a reputation for being a determined and capable militant. Some time in the late 1980’s al-Shaykh broke ties with Al-Gama’a Islamiyya and formed his own group in Fayoum called al-Shawqiyun.

Al-Shawqiyun won support from the impoverished Egyptians in the Fayoum area. Al-Shaykh used their support to seize control of the village of Kahk. Al-Shawqiyun established a small emirate in Kahk and imposed an austere brand of Islam on the villagers there. His organization enriched itself through theft and extortion targeting Christians in particular. Al-Shaykh determined that all who were not active in his organization were unbelievers. Al-Shaykh even went so far as to send a telegram to then president Hosni Mubarak demanding that Mubarak convert or pay him the Jizya tax. The stunt earned the ire of Mubarak who ordered military action against Al-Shaykh. In April 1990, Al-Shaykh was killed by a security forces raid on Kahk.

Influence

Ahmad al-Drayni believed that Shawqi al-Shaykh helped inspire the brand of Islamic radicalism that would influence the rise of ISIS.

You May Also Like

Tom Wilkinson’s net worth, biography, fact, career, awards and life story

Tom Wilkinson Net Worth: Tom Wilkinson is an English actor who has a net worth of $12 million. Tom Wilkinson was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England in February 1948. He graduated from the University of Kent and attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His screen debut came in the film Smuga cienia in 1975. In 1979 he made his television debut on the series Crime and Punishment. He starred as Martin Taylor in the TV series Spyship in 1983 and starred in the 1986 mini-series First Among Equals. In 1996 Wilkinson starred as Seth Pecksniff in the TV mini-series Martin Chuzzlewit. He starred in another mini-series, The Kennedys, as Joe Kennedy Sr. in 2011 where his wife played Rose Kennedy. Wilkinson has starred in the movies Sense and Sensibility, The Ghost and the Darkness, The Full Monty, Oscar and Lucinda, Wilde, Shakespeare in Love, The Patriot, In the Bedroom, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Normal, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Batman Begins, and Separate Lies, Michael Clayton, Cassandra’s Dream, John Adams, Recount, Valkyrie, The Lone Ranger, and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Wilkinson has won a Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy, BAFTA Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also been nominated for two Academy Awards. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for services to Drama. Tom married actress Diana Hardcastle in 1998.
Read More