❝ What must I do? – this is the most universal and urgent question of all; this is the daily bread of the human soul ❞

About Mohamed Abdallah Draz

“The late Professor Muhammad Abd Allah Draz was born in Egypt in 1894. He came from a family of distinguished scholars in religious studies, and studied in Cairo at al-Azhar, the most ancient and respected of Islamic Universities. Draz graduated in 1916, and went on to teach Qur'anic studies at al-Azhar for some eight years, commenting on some of the great Islamic scholarly texts, such as the Muwii.fii.qii.t of al-Shatib'i (d. 790/1388), one of the classics of Islamic jurisprudence. He was then sent on a scholarship to prepare for a doctorate at the Sorbonne. In Paris, he studied philosophy, the history of religions, psychology and ethics, before embarking on the preparation and writing of two dissertations, Initiation au Koran (published as part of the London Qur'an Series as Introduction to the Qur'an in 2000) and this work, the major and monumental La morale du Koran. Both were examined in December 1947, and resulted in Draz being awarded a doctorate with the highest distinction. On his return to Egypt, Draz taught at al-Azhar and Cairo Universities, producing many distinguished studies in Arabic. He died at a conference in Pakistan in January 1959.”

Exert from Introduction to The Moral World of the Qur’an, by renowned scholar of Islamic Studies Dr. Muhammad Abdel Haleem (SOAS University)

M. A. Draz Personal Life

Mohamed Abdallah Draz was born in 1894 in Mehallet Diyay in Desouk, Kafr ElSheikh, where he spent his childhood and youth. By age ten, he had memorized the Quran and moved to Alexandria. There, his father, Sheikh Abdallah Draz, was chosen by his professor, Imam Mohamed Abdo, to establish a branch of Al-Azhar Institute in Alexandria along with three of his fellow teachers.

On June 7th, 1917, M. A. Draz married Hosna Draz, daughter of Sheikh AbdelRahman Draz, and they continued to live in Alexandria until he left for France in 1936. Their first child was born in 1918, and by the time M. A. Draz left to study at the Sorbonne, they had five daughters and four sons. In 1937, his wife and nine children joined him in Paris, where his fifth son was born in 1939, just a few months before the outbreak of World War II.

The Draz family stayed in France until 1948. During that period, his second oldest daughter got married in Paris, and his first grandchild was born in 1941.

Due to the dire circumstances caused by WWII, M. A. Draz decided to split the family into two. His older daughters, who had finished studying at university, lived in the countryside in Limay with his younger sons in a small farm house that M. A. Draz renovated to be suitable for the family. The rest of his children, who were still studying at university, were based in Paris in an apartment on Rue du Puits de L’Ermite. M. A. Draz and his wife divided their time between the two homes.

M. A. Draz was a hands-on family man and father. Studying and working on his PhD dissertation did not stop him from being involved in the day to day needs and activities of his family. M. A. Draz had many hobbies; he enjoyed all kinds of sports, which he practiced regularly. When he grew older, his daily regimen consisted of a few minutes of morning exercises plus an hour of walking.

At 9:30 P.M. on January 5th, 1958 , M. A. Draz passed away after making his last diary entry while attending the International Islamic Colloquium in Lahore, Pakistan. His last letter to his family was written and sent from Lahore on December 27th, 1957, two weeks before he passed away. His body was flown to Egypt and his funeral started from Al-Azhar in Cairo on January 9th of 1958.

Upon his return from Paris in 1948 and until his death in 1958, M. A. Draz participated in many fields. He was a member of the Higher Committee for Education Policy at the Ministry of Education and the Higher Council for Broadcasting and in the Cultural Advisory Committee at Al-Azhar. He also represented Al-Azhar at international scientific and religious conferences in 1939, 1950, and 1951. M. A. Draz was also nominated as the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in the deliberations of the Council of Ministers prior to the selection of Sheikh Al-Khidr Hussein.