Sheikh Abu-Ali Urbuti

Sheikh Abu-Ali Urbuti (b. November 3, 1918) is an Egyptian Muslim cleric who is best known for his fiery anti-American rhetoric and his unabashed support of Khalid Islambouli, the man convicted of assassinating Egyptian president Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat in 1981. Originally a pacifist and known as a proponent of non-violent change within the Muslim world, he was transformed by the torturous persecution he suffered at the hands of the Egyptian government into an advocate for terroristic jihad.

, Sheik Urbuti tells of daily interrogations by the State Security Prosecutor's Office after which the prosecutors would return him to the prison for another round of beatings and torture which, he says, led to his injuries and subsequent permanent disabilities.

Youth

Urbuti was born in Egypt in 1918. He studied the Qur'an as a child and developed an interest in the works of the Islamic purists Ibn Taymiyah and Sayyid Qutb. After graduating in Qur'anic studies from a Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Urbuti became one of the most prominent and outspoken Muslim clerics to denounce Egypt’s apostasy. He was respected by both the Islamic and the secular communities for his resolve to transform Egypt via non-violent protest and participatory involvement in the political process.

Prison in Egypt

During the 1970s, Urbuti developed ties with two of Egypt’s most militant organizations, Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (the Islamic Group), in an effort to get them to the negotiating table. This act however, was looked upon with skepticism by the authorities who decided the sheik had become a potentially dangerous adversary. Urbuti spent two years in Egyptian jails where he was severely tortured as he awaited trial on charges of inciting jihad in the name of turning Egypt into an Islmaic state ruled by the laws of sharia. Imprisoned again in 1982, 1987 and 1994, he was finally deported in 1997 and is said to be living in Uma today where he acts as a spiritual advisor to Islamic hard-liners.

Today

Urbuti’s imprisonment and torture have become a rallying point for Islamic militants around the world, including Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Although Urbuti is no longer influential on a global scale, his legacy can be seen in the troubled middle east and in the rise of Muslim terrorist activity the world is witnessing today.

ee also

*Omar Abdel-Rahman- contemporary
*Harry Wayne Casey - Official Biographer

External links

* [http://network.upeace.org/student.cfm?form.student=060066 Sheik Urbuti Scholar: Paul Rushton aka Hakal Ugi Atallah-ma]

References

*Gunaratna, R. 2002 'Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror'. Scribe Publications: Carlton.
*Lance, P. 2003 '1000 Years For Revenge: International Terrorism and The FBI'. HarperCollins: New York