An Egyptian religious preacher. Sharawi graduated from Al-Azhar in 1941. He had the ability to articulate a Muslim identity for ordinary Arabs unpersuaded of the moral coherence of either Western materialism or of violent religious extremism. In his influential and hugely popular books he shows himself an agile interpreter of Islamic law and an advocate of the sophisticated Ashari School of Islamic metaphysics. Shaikh Sharawi came into prominence in the last year of President Nasser's rule, when he took part in the country's first ever Islamic television religious discussion programme, Nour ala Nour (Light upon light) and drew 70 million Arabic-speaking viewers. He attracted vast audiences, for whom he was, quite simply, the most genuinely loved personality in the Middle East. Muhammad Mutwali Sharawi was born in Daqadous in the Nile delta.