Hazem Abu Ismail

IslamPreacherSalafismPropagandistPolitical IslamSunni Islam

Jul 14

**DOB:** 16 June 1961

**Nationality:** Egyptian

**Location:** Egypt

**Ideology/Affiliation:** Salafism/Sunni Islam

**Type of Leader:** Preacher/Propagandist/Salafi Islamist Politician

Biography

Hazem Salah Abu Ismail is a prominent preacher in Egypt, and a Salafi Islamist politician (with the Salafi Islamist Party). The Economist described him as a “populist Salafist”. He is the son of a well-known Islamist figure Salah Abu Ismail, reputable Al-Azhar scholar, an established member of parliament and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In 2005 parliamentary polls, Hazem attempted to win a seat as an independent Muslim Brotherhood candidate but he failed. At that time the polls were largely criticised for having been rigged in favour of candidates linked to Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic Party.

Abu Ismail’s vision is in favour of the implementation of a strict version of Islamic law with segregation of the sexes and enforcement of public morality. Hazem Salah is against Egypt's peace treaty with Israel and has spoken of Iran as a successful model of Islamic independence from the U.S.

In January 2011, in the aftermath of the uprising against Hosni Mubarak, he gained significant popular support after his denunciations of military rule. Amid the Egyptian elections of 2012 he was widely seen as a front-runner. However, the Egyptian Interior Ministry disqualified him from running in the parliamentary elections and said that Ismail's mother Nawal Abdel-Aziz has an American citizenship. Few weeks later, even though the Cairo Administrative Court said they did not have enough evidence to prove this, the Supreme Presidential Election Committee still disqualified his candidacy saying that his mother briefly held American citizenship which made him not eligible to run for the presidency.

After the ousting of Muhammed Morsi from power in 2013, Abu Ismail was arrested on 5 July 2013 and accused of inciting violence as protesters marched across Cairo while demanding the return of president Morsi. He appeared in court on 18 November stating: “If there is no real justice at the court hall, I will cede the defense.”. In January 2014, he was sentenced to one year imprisonment for insulting the judiciary. Furthermore, in 2019, Abu Ismail was sentenced to five years imprisonment for inciting and participating in violent demonstrations at the Nasr City court in 2012.

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393 followers

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Evidence of Hate Speech/Incitement:

May 2013: In a video on Youtube entitled “The conflict between Muslims and Jews” Abu Ismail said that the Jews are manipulating and corrupting Muslim minds in order to empower their presence in the region.

May 2013: Abu Ismail said that Muslims living in non-Muslim countries should immigrate to the Muslim world and to areas where Islam is applied. He called these countries “infidel societies”. He added that these Muslims living in non-muslim societies, even they try to protect their faith, they should first prioritise the Islamic task of supporting efforts to consolidate Islam.