Мохаммед Махди Акеф: Биография лидера «Братьев-мусульман»

Seventh General Guide of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood

Mohammed Mahdi Akef (محمد مهدي عاكف; July 12, 1928 – September 22, 2017) was the head of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Egypt based Islamic political movement, from 2004 until 2010. He assumed the post, that of "general guide" (المرشد العام) (frequently translated as "chairman") upon the death of his predecessor, Ma'mun al Hudaybi. Akef was arrested on 4 July 2013. On 14 July 2013 Egypt's new prosecutor general Hisham Barakat ordered his assets to be frozen.

Akef was born in 1928 in Kafr Awad Al Seneita –Aga Dakahlia Governorate, in the north of Egypt. The year of his birth was the year the Muslim Brotherhood Movement was founded. Akef obtained his Primary Certificate of Education at Al Mansoura Primary School, and obtained his Secondary Certificate of Education at Cairo Fuad 1st Secondary School. He then joined the Higher Institute of Physical Education and graduated in May 1950, after which he worked as a teacher at Fuad 1st Secondary School. This was during the struggle against the British occupation in the Canal preceding the 1952 Revolution, after which he left responsibility to Kamaleddin Hussein, then National Guard Chief. On October 19, 2009 Egyptian newspapers reported that Akef had resigned as the general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood after a dispute among various leaders in the group. However the following day reports on the Muslim Brotherhood website stated that Akef had not resigned and would continue to serve as the group's general guide until elections in January 2010. Following Sisi's military takeover of Egypt, the Brotherhood was deemed a terrorist group by the new regime and Akef was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Akef has been described as "unapologetic about charges by reformist members regarding the reluctance of the Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] to engage more proactively in opposition to the Mubarak regime in the first decade of the twenty first century" (27). However, in 2005, he would call Mubarak's rule "failed and finished." In 2007, he is reported by historian Fawaz Gerges as having stated: "Critics who call on us to protest in the streets do not think about the grave consequences. Unlike other small groups, we, as the biggest organization, act responsibly and measure our actions carefully I have to protect the movement." In the mid 2000s, he considered anti American insurgents in Iraq to be "freedom fighters." His daughter is married to Mahmoud Ezzat, with whom she has five children with.

Akef died on 22 September 2017 at the age of 89.