About The Book

"The subject of good and evil is one which provokes much controversy. The reason for that controversy is that people fail to understand the true meaning of life. With very few exceptions, people make their life in this world the be-all and end-all of everything."

In this important book the famous Egyptian scholar and television broadcaster, Sheikh Muhammad Mitwalli Al-Sha'rawi, examines the question of good and evil in the light of the fundamental teachings of Islam regarding theodicy and the true meaning and purpose of human life.

About The Author

Muhammad Mutawalli Ash-Sha'raawi (April 5, 1911– June 17, 1998) was an Islamic scholar and former Egyptian minister of Endowments. He has been called one of Egypt's most popular and successful Islamic preachers, and "one of the most-prominent symbols of popular Egyptian culture" in the decades of 1970, 80s and 90s.

After graduating in 1940, he went on to earn his teaching certification in 1943. He later graduated from the religious institution of Tanta, before moving to another at Zagazig and then, finally, at Alexandria. In 1950, he moved to Saudi Arabia to work as professor of Shari'ah in the University of Umm al-Qura.

However, in 1963, the diplomatic relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia worsened and it became impossible for him to return to Arabia. Instead, he took the position of manager of the office of the Imam of Al-Azhar, Hasan al Ma'amoon. Later, he travelled to Algeria as a head of the Al-Azhar expedition, where he stayed for seven years. During his stay in Algeria, the war of June 1967 occurred and Egypt suffered tremendous losses to Israel.

Ironically, Ash-Sha'raawi 'praised' the defeat, saying "Egypt did not gain victory while the hands of communism surrounds them and their religion remains uncorrupted." Later, he did get to return to teach at the King Abdul Azeez University in Saudi Arabia.

Alsharawi was host of very popular Friday afternoon TV program preaching Islam.

About The Translator

Aisha Abdurrahman Bewley, born 1948 in the United States. She holds a BA in French and MA in Near Eastern Languages from the University of California, Berkeley. She spent a year with a fellowship at the American University in Cairo and at the same time attended a seminar on Sufism and Islamic philosophy at Dar al-’Ulum. She is a student of Shaykh Abdalqadir al-Murabit, and also studied Ibn ‘Arabi with the late Sidi Fudul al-Hurawi in Fes, Morocco.

Aisha Bewley converted to Islam in 1968. She is the author and translator of many published and unpublished works, some available on her website. She is married to Hajj Abdalhaqq Bewley with whom she often translates and mother of three children.

On reflection of his influence was the Egyptian parliament's repeated blocking of legislation permitting organ-transplant operations, after Alsharawi issued a Fatwā declaring such operations Haraam (sinful)(in case organs are sold and not just "donated") on the grounds that `humans do not own their bodies’.