Mostafa Kamal Mahmoud is an Egyptian scientist, thinker, author, and philosopher known for his role in bridging science and religious faith. He was trained as a doctor, but later chose a career as a journalist and author, traveling widely and writing on many subjects related to the philosophy of science and religion.
Mostafa Mahmoud was born on 27 December 1921, in Shebin al-Kom, Menoufia Governorate, Egypt. He was raised in a middle class family near a famous mosque in Tanta where he attended school.
His childhood dream was to become a great inventor, explorer, traveler, or scientist. The religious background he was raised upon had a great influence on developing his analytical mind that investigated and analyzed his every thought and belief including his religious faith. While attending medical school, he spent hours in the morgue staring at corpses and thinking about death and life after death. In 1960, he decided to abandon his career as a doctor, and travel around the world trying to find answers to the questions that occupied his mind.
During his travels, Mostafa Mahmoud lived in Algeria, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and the United States. In every stop he made, he lived among a different nation to learn their way of living and understand their philosophy in life. As he travelled from one place to another, he had a greater journey within himself. He boarded the ship of science, knowledge, and religion starting from the Indian Fideism, Zoroaster, Buddha, and ending with Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. Finally, he found his comfort and himself in the Quran. Thus, he concluded his traveling and devoted himself totally to reflection and contemplation. He lived among the jurists, scholars, and Sufis, and realized that the Quran is an ocean around which all the branches of knowledge gather.
Seventy-five books written by Mostafa Mahmoud were published; six of them were adapted for theater: Earthquake, Man and Shade, The Great Alexander, The Social Gang, Blood Odor, and The Devil Lives in Our House. One of the books, The Impossible, was presented as a film, while twenty-five books dealt with Islamic subjects; the rest consisted of studies and short stories.
Mostafa Mahmoud’s face is well-recognized by every Egyptian, thanks to the TV show he presented, Science and Faith. More than four-hundred episodes of this show were presented on TV, discussing a wide diversity of topics related to science and philosophy.
Mostafa Mahmoud died at the age of 88, on 1 November 2009, leaving behind a rich philosophical and scientific heritage to be remembered with.
Reference
www.mostafamahmoud.net