Mahdi Akef: Brotherhood’s Guide who spent life behind bars

Cairo – The former leader of Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Mahdi Akef, who died at 91 in Egyptian hospital, was one of the major figures of the group who spent much of his life behind the bars. He was imprisoned many times since the era of President Jamal Abdel-Nasser.

Akef was born in 1928 in coincidence with the foundation of Muslim Brotherhood, as he involved in it at a young age. He led the group’s student section years before joining its guidance office in the 1980s. He was arrested for the first time in 1954 after the failed assassination attempt against Abdel-Nasser, while he was released 20 years later by ex-President Anwar Al-Sadat.

After his release, Akef founded a center for the Brotherhood in both Saudi Arabia and Germany and then joined the group’s Guidance Office in 1987. He was elected as a member of Egypt’s parliament in 1990. He was arrested in 1996 and sentenced to three-year imprisonment in accusation of being a leading member of a banned group.

Akef was elected as a Supreme Guide of Muslim Brotherhood 2004. Under his leadership, the group managed to gain 20 percent of parliamentary seats. This matter was viewed as an unprecedented achievement by many experts and researchers. He retired from him position after only one term in office on the contrary of his predecessor who remained in their position until their death.

Although he left his position in 2010, he kept his role as an active member of the group. He was one of the major inciters against the Egyptian protesters who rallied in the squares calling for the ousting of Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated President Mohamed Morsi.

Akef participated in Raba sit-in and called for targeting the demonstrators and Egyptian security and military forces. He was arrested for the third time after the ousting of ex-president Mohamed Morsi in accusation of insulting judiciary and inciting violence.

He launched a number of provocative statements that raised controversy among the Egyptian people for years. He described Egypt as a clump of clay and a rotten fist of dirt. He said that he does not recognize the concept of the nation-state, saying that Islam is the true nation of Muslim people.

Ten months before death, Akef was transferred to a hospital in Cairo for cancer treatment and died on Friday.