Personal Info
- Country of residence: Portugal
Information
Hazem Darwish Al-Sarraj was born in Gaza City on February 12, 1950. He is married and has four daughters and a son. He studied primary school at Al-Karmel and Al-Yarmouk Preparatory Schools, and secondary school at Palestine Secondary School, from which he obtained his high school diploma in 1968. He earned a Bachelor of Medicine and General Surgery degree from the University of Valencia in Spain in 1979, and a Master's degree in Ophthalmology from the University of Alicante in Spain in 1985.
He was active in student activities during his university studies, and was a member of the Arab Students Center, a member of the Assembly of Muslims who speak Arabic and foreign languages, and participated in educational and student conferences in European universities, and worked to promote the adherence of Arab and Muslim students to religious principles and purposeful Arab customs and traditions.
He returned to the Gaza Strip and dedicated himself to religious outreach, delivering sermons, lectures, and talks in mosques, clubs, schools, and universities. He was also active in community service, co-founding the Zakat Charitable Society and the Mecca Charitable Society, which focuses on drilling water wells for needy communities in the Strip. He is the head of the Al-Shifa Charitable Support Society, which provides hospitals with essential medical supplies, and served as chairman of the board of the Al-Amal Institute for Orphans until 2018. He has been a member of the Palestine Future Society since 2014, a member of the Zakat Authority affiliated with the Ministry of Finance, a member of the Quran and Sunnah Society, and a member of the Blind Association and the Deaf Association. He participates in conferences organized by the Ministry of Religious Endowments and is considered a prominent reformer in the Gaza Strip.
He adopts moderate Islamic thought, and he has a study on Darwin’s theory of evolution (1982), and he authored the book “Reflections on Our Ancient History” (1983).
The Sheikh was distinguished by his writings, which combined Islamic thought with rational discourse. Among his most prominent works are:
“Glimpses into Our Ancient History” (1983), in which he addressed the issues of the nation with contemporary eyes.
A study on “Darwin’s Theory of Evolution” (1982), in which he discussed it from an Islamic scientific perspective.
He believes that the Oslo Accords harmed the Palestinian people and led to their fragmentation and division. He believes that the Palestinian people have the right to use all kinds of struggle against the occupation, whether armed or peaceful, because they are oppressed and have the right to defend themselves. He believes that division is the greatest sin after associating partners with God, because it is not permissible for the sons of the same blood and homeland to attack each other and cause division. He believes that Arab normalization must end one day and the Arab peoples will return to their unity and resist the Zionist occupation.
Al-Sarraj suffered throughout his life; during the First Intifada and after every Friday sermon, he was subjected to investigation and threats from the occupation, and he has been banned from entering the West Bank and the occupied territories for a long time.
Sheikh Hazem Al-Siraj passed away on Thursday evening, January 9, 2025, in Egypt, after a long struggle with illness.
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