Ali Gomaa

Ali Gomaa (, Egyptian Arabic: ) is an Egyptian Islamic scholar, jurist, and public figure who has taken a number of controversial political stances. He specializes in Islamic Legal Theory. He follows the Shafi`i school of Islamic jurisprudence and the Ash'ari school of tenets of faith. Gomaa is a Sufi.

He served as the eighteenth Grand Mufti of Egypt (2003–2013) through Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah succeeding Ahmed el-Tayeb. He has, in the past, been considered a respected Islamic jurist, according to a 2008 ''U.S. News & World Report'' report and ''The National,'' and "a highly promoted champion of moderate Islam," according to ''The New Yorker''. However, in recent years Western academic observers have described him as a supporter of authoritarian forms of government.

He was succeeded as Grand Mufti by Shawki Ibrahim Abdel-Karim Allam in February 2013. Provided by Wikipedia