CAIRO: The funeral of prominent Islamic thinker, author and philosopher Mostafa Mahmoud brought together the rich and the poor, the simple man on the street and the intellectual. Mahmoud's funeral was dominated by those who benefited from his charity organization as well as intellectuals from all colors of the political spectrum including a marked attendance from the Muslim Brotherhood. After suffering from a brain clot in 2003, Mahmoud passed away Saturday morning. His funeral procession began at his Mohandiseen mosque and he was buried at the family cemetery in Sixth of October city. A doctor by training, Mahmoud was born in Shibin El Kom, Menufiya governorate, in 1921. A prolific author, he was known for his controversial writings on existential philosophy and Islam which often took him to court. His TV show "Faith and Science, a fixture in many Egyptian households. In one of his writings, he revealed that the time he spent living in Tanta, where he attended the moulid (birthday celebration) of Sayed El-Badawy, had a great impact on his personality and spiritual journey because of his exposure to Sufi practices. Mahmoud graduated from the faculty of medicine in 1953 following years of troubled student life, interrupted by bouts of illness when he fed his avid interest in literature. He once said that spending time with dead bodies and sick people triggered his talents. Mahmoud wrote more than 89 books, including six plays and three novels, and aired more than 400 episodes of his program linking science with religion and using scientific evidence to prove the existence of God. His books "A Chat with an Agnostic Friend, "My Journey from Doubt to Faith and "Allah and Man in which he discussed the relationship between God and humans and evidence of the existence of God sparked fierce debate, leading former president, Gamal Abdel Nasser to sue him in response to an Al-Azhar complaint accusing him of atheism. "My journey from doubt to faith didn't stem from stubbornness, denial or atheism but was a scientific revision in which I started from the beginning without any givens; I didn't lose my relationship with God during this period, Mahmoud wrote in his autobiography. In 1979 he established a mosque in Cairo. Adjoining it were three medical centers to treat the poor and the needy. He also set up a charity organization and built an observatory. His charity organization is allegedly worth LE 80 million. Mahmoud's two marriages - in 1961 and in 1983 - ended in divorce but bore him a daughter, Amal, and a son, Adham. A proponent of the policies of former President Anwar Sadat, Mahmoud was offered a ministerial position during his rule, but he refused opting to dedicate himself to his research and writing. "My most important victory is the victory over myself. I dream of being what I am, not more, and to give this life my best and continue to give until I die while close to Allah, he once said.
