Hundreds of people yesterday attended the funeral for Islamic thinker Abdel Sabour Shahin, professor emeritus at Cairo University's Faculty of Dar al-Ulum and former Shura Council member. Shahin was aged 82 when he died. The funeral service was held at Amr Ibn al-Aas Mosque with state officials and Al-Azhar scholars in sparse attendance. Sami Mohamed Metwalli al-Sharawi was the only member of Al-Azhar to attend the funeral. Scores of students of the deceased attended as well as prominent members of the Muslim Brotherhood, including former Supreme Guide Mahdi Akef, Deputy Supreme Guide Mahmoud Ezzat, and a number of members of the Guidance Bureau. Al-Sharawi described Shahin as an “enlightened moderate thinker,” while Akef said Shahin was a reverent scholar and orator who was raised on the principles of the Muslim Brotherhood and who kept his pledge to the group until his death. Mohamed al-Beltagui, member of the Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary bloc, criticized the absence of state officials at the funeral, saying it was a reflection of the value they place on scholars and reformists in the Arab world, and a grave mistake. Shahin, a French-speaker, authored and translated more than 70 books. Among his most famous was "Abi Adam" (My Father Adam). Translated from the Arabic Edition.
