Professor Mohamed Mohamed Aboumousa

Mohamed Mohamed Aboumousa was born in Kafr El Sheikh city, Arab Republic of Egypt, in 1937. He memorized the Holy Qur’an at an early age. He began his studies at Al-Azhar in 1949. He studied his undergraduate degree at Al-Azhar University, Faculty of Arabic Language, from 1958 to 1963, followed by postgraduate studies from 1964 until 1965 with a specialization in rhetoric and criticism. He earned his master’s degree in 1967 and Ph.D. in 1971.

He was appointed as a teaching assistant in the Department of Rhetoric and Criticism at the Faculty of Arabic Language in 1964 and progressed through academic ranks until he became a full professor in 1981. He served as Head of the Department of Rhetoric and Criticism at the Faculty of Arabic Language and was a member of the Permanent Academic Committee for Promotions. He taught at various universities in Egypt, Libya, and Sudan, and taught for more than 20 years as a professor at Umm Al-Qura University in Saudi Arabia. He has also been a founding member of the Council of Senior Scholars at Al-Azhar since 2012.

He enriched the linguistic and rhetorical field with 32 books, most of which were published in multiple editions. Among the most important are: Qur’anic Rhetoric in Al-Zamakhshari’s Tafsir, Characteristics of Structures (1974), Imagery in Expression (1976), Structural Meanings (1978), Secrets of Qur’anic Expression: An Analytical Study of Al-Ahzab Chapter (1972), Readings in Classical Literature (1978), Rhetorical Inimitability: An Analytical Study of the Scholars’ Legacy (1983), Reviews in the Foundations of Rhetorical Studies (2005), Abridgment of Hazim Al-Qartajanni’s Method of the Eloquents (2005), Pre-Islamic Poetry: A Study of Poetic Tendencies (2007), The Al-Ha Mim Series: A Study in Rhetorical Secrets (4 books, 2008–2012), Commentary on Hadiths from Sahih Al-Bukhari (2001), Commentary on Hadiths from Sahih Muslim (2015), The Unspoken in the Rhetorical Heritage (2017), From the Paths to Renewal (2018), From the Critical Heritage (2019), and From Our Missing Approaches in Preparing Future Generations (2023).

Professor Aboumousa has held a scholarly teaching circle at Al-Azhar since 2014, in which he teaches the two most important books in Arabic rhetoric, Secrets of Eloquence and Proofs of Inimitability by Imam Abd Al-Qahir Al-Jurjani. The number of these circles has reached nearly 300.

In recognition of his scholarly work, 15 theses and academic studies have been written to examine his intellectual contributions. A commemorative volume was published containing 20 articles and thematic studies about his work. A section of his biography was included in Arabic rhetoric textbooks for secondary level schools. He was selected among the top 10 figures in the Arab and Islamic world in terms of scholarly contribution to be honored in the inaugural session of the Doha Arab Book Award in 2024.