El-Hodaibi, late guide-general of Muslim Brotherhood group

By Abdul Raheem Ali, IOL Staff

CAIRO, January 9 (IslamOnline.net) – The sixth guide-general of Muslim Brotherhood, Mamoun el-Hodaiby, died early Friday, January 9, at the age of 83.

El-Hodaibi had been admitted into one of the Egyptian capital’s hospitals to undergo some medical checks on his ailing colon. Hours after returning home, he passed away around dawn Friday.

Late Hodaibi who served as guide-general after the death of Mustafa Mashhour – the fifth guide-general who died 14 months ago – was born in Cairo May 28, 1921.

He graduated from the Faculty of Law in 1941 and worked as a district attorney. He was promoted in the line of duty till he was the head of the Court of Appeals, his last official post as he was detained from 1965 till 1971.

He joined the out-lawed Muslim Brotherhood group relatively late, according to inside sources who assert that he was not a member of the group – whose father (Hassan El-Hodaibi) was its second guide-general – till 1973.

El-Hodaibi filed a law suit against the government to return to his post as head of the Court of Appeal, but even though he won the case, the Egyptian government maneuvered till 1981 when he reached pension age.

He was elected a member of parliament in 1987 and was the spokesman of the Parliamentary Body of opposition for 3 years.

When Mashhour went into a coma October 29, 2002, El-Hodaibi worked as acting guide-general for the banned but tolerable opposition group till November 14 that year when Mashhour died and El-Hodaibi became the guide-general to serve only for 14 months.

His death came as sudden and abrupt to all parties, in and outside the group, as he had no health problems even though he was over eighty.

El-Hodaibi’s death brings under the spotlight – in little over a year – the issue of succession inside the group due to various opinions concerning the qualities any new guide-general should possess.

No Arranged Funeral

In a statement to IslamOnline.net, one of the leaders of the group’s Shura Council, Dr Essam El-Irian, said that the funeral would be after Friday prayers (noon local time), from Raba’h El-Adawyah Mosque, Nasr City in Cairo.

“We won’t wait for any arrangements to be made. The group and the late guide-general’s family will accept condolences in the same mosque the following day (Saturday, January 10).”

The funeral of Mashhour was attended by huge crowds from all over Egypt and it went on for over 10 kilometers, raising the group’s slogans.

New Leader

In another related – yet quick – development, the website of the Muslim  Brotherhood said that Mohamed Helal, 83, is to take over as acting guide-general, in accordance with the bylaws of the group which allows the oldest member to take over the helms until a new leader is elected for the post within two months.

Helal was born in 1921, the same year as the deceased Hodaibi, and attended the same Faculty of Law. He joined the banned group in 1943, and marked a record of detentions beginning in 1948 for two years. He also spent six years in prison from 1965.