Omar Abd al-Kafi

Omar Abdelkafy Shehata is an Egyptian Muslim preacher, born on 1 May 1951 in the village of Talla in Minya Governorate, Upper Egypt. ^{1 2} Arab audiences know him from satellite channels through programmes such as "The True Promise" (al-Wa'd al-Haqq) and "This Is Our Religion", and his lessons and books focus on the scientific inimitability of the Qur'an and Sunna and on traditions about the hereafter. ¹ The English Wikipedia article states that his YouTube channel had over 9.87 million subscribers, a platform figure dated to the article's revision of August 2026, not a fixed number. ²

The sources differ on his birth year. His biography on the Assabile archive says he was born on "Labour Day" in 1952, and that he had memorised the Qur'an and Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim by the age of ten. ³ The English Wikipedia article and Wikidata give 1 May 1951. ^{2 4} Both are shown together and neither is preferred.

He grew up in the village of Talla in Minya Governorate. He took a licence degree in Arabic and Islamic studies and a master's degree in comparative jurisprudence, and also enrolled in the Faculty of Agriculture, taking a doctorate in agricultural sciences; he studied at the Academy of Scientific Research and worked as a researcher at the National Research Centre. ¹

From childhood he studied under teachers and scholars in fiqh, tawhid, tafsir, sira, usul al-fiqh and hadith sciences, among them Muhammad al-Ghazali, Muhammad Metwalli al-Sha'rawi and Yusuf al-Qaradawi, and memorised Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim with their chains of transmission under his teachers. He studied rhetoric, grammar and morphology and memorised many didactic texts, such as the Alfiyya of Ibn Malik, and was a member of the World Commission on Scientific Signs in the Qur'an and Sunna of the Muslim World League. ¹

He began giving Friday sermons and teaching lessons immediately after graduating from university in 1972, and kept two weekly lessons, on Mondays and Thursdays, for about twenty years. His regular lecture series include "The Final Abode" (al-Dar al-Akhira), an explanation of Sahih al-Bukhari, the Prophet ﷺ's biography and the stories of the prophets; the Arabic article counts more than 1,200 Friday sermons and about 3,000 lessons of an hour and a half each. ¹

From 1994 he devoted himself to his own scholarly research, working on an encyclopaedia of the scientific inimitability of the Qur'an and Sunna, an encyclopaedia of the prophets of God, and other books. ¹

He left Egypt in 2000. The Arabic article says this was because of the restrictions he faced under former president Hosni Mubarak, when he was barred from lecturing and preaching in mosques, universities and clubs. He resided in the United Arab Emirates and travelled among many Arab and European countries, then returned to Egypt in 2011. ¹

He has presented many television and radio programmes, the best known being "The True Promise" and "This Is Our Religion", and "The Choicest of the Choice" (Safwat al-Safwa), which he co-presented with Muhammad Khaled on the Sharjah satellite channel; these programmes were turned into books. ¹ The English article notes that he delivered hundreds of lectures on channels such as Iqraa and Al-Resalah, with series including "From the Treasures of the Sunna", "The Lucifer Diaries" and "Wonders of the Heart". ²

Among his Ramadan programmes are "The Lucifer Diaries", "Treasures of the Sunna", "Wa Yuzakkihim" and "People of Wisdom", and the channels on which he has presented include Da'wa, Al-Resalah and Al-Nada. ¹

He is a member of the Council of Elders of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, a member of the Dubai International Holy Qur'an Award and director of its Qur'anic Studies Centre, a member of the Fiqh Academy of the scholars of India, and a cultural adviser at the Juma Al Majid Centre for Culture and Heritage in Dubai. ¹

The Assabile archive of Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy's recorded lessons lists 25 series, seven of video and eighteen of audio, with 622 lessons in total, according to the site's index. ⁵ The archive prints the series titles in transliteration. Where its own English pages give an English title, that title is used: "Wonders Heart" for Ajaeb Al Kulub, "The Real Promise" for Alwaad Alhaq, "The Lucifer Diaries" for Modakirate Iblis and "From The Treasures of Sunnah" for Min Kunuz Al Sunnah. ⁵

• Video series: Ajaeb Al Kulub (29 lessons), Alwaad Alhaq (44), Modakirate Iblis (30), Min Kunuz Al Sunnah (30), Mawkib Al-Nour (29), Ahl Al Hikma (27) and Al Naba' Al Safi (24). ⁵
• The longest audio series: Sharh Saheeh Al Bukhare (60 lessons), Albuyout Alamena (47), Al Dar Al Akhera (33), Tariq Al Noor (30) and Bustan El Amal (30). ⁵
• Other audio series: Sharh Ketab Al Fawaed, Sharh Al Hekam Al Ataeya, Al Hoquq, Aadau Al Islam, Al Dinu Al Qayem, Tafsir Al Quran Al Qareem, Muktatafat Mena Al Seera, Silsilat Ebadu Al Rahman, Silsilat Qissa Wa Ebra, Al Fawzu Al Moubeen, Nafahat Ramadaneya 1436 h, Wa Nafsun Ma Sawaha and Al Manjeyat. ⁵

These counts are the index as it stood on 25 October 2026 and may change as episodes are added. This section does not yet state what any lesson says: each point from a lesson needs checking before it enters the record. ⁵

This section should be read as an account of positions reported in the sources, not as the museum's judgement on them.

The Arabic article tells of his departure from Egypt in 2000 as the result of restrictions under Hosni Mubarak — he was barred from sermons and lectures in mosques, universities and clubs — and of his return to Egypt in 2011 after that era. This is the article's account; the sources used here carry no corresponding official account. ¹

His preaching, as the sources describe it, concentrates on the scientific inimitability of the Qur'an, the Arabic language, traditions about the hereafter, and the stories of the prophets. ¹

He has written dozens of books in Arabic, among them "The True Promise" (al-Wa'd al-Haqq), "Hold Your Tongue" (Amsik Lisanak), "Urgent Messages to My Muslim Daughter", "Sins of the Tongue" (Afat al-Lisan), "The Doors of Goodness" (Abwab al-Khayr), "This Is Our Religion" (Hadha Dinuna), "The Ethics of the Muslim Man and Woman" and "The Final Abode" (al-Dar al-Akhira). ² The Arabic article adds the encyclopaedia of scientific inimitability in the Qur'an and Sunna, the encyclopaedia of the prophets of God, "Fiqh of Exile" (Fiqh al-Ghurba) for Muslims living abroad, "Prayer: Worship and Secrets", and "Safwat al-Safwa". ¹

He is married with children; the museum does not publish family detail beyond what understanding his work requires. ¹

His lessons and programmes reached a wide audience through Arab satellite channels and then online; the English Wikipedia article states that his YouTube channel had over 9.87 million subscribers. Platform figures change constantly, so this article records them only with the source's revision date of August 2026. ² His own YouTube channel, published under the handle @abdelkafytube and described in its About as his official channel, recorded 10.2 million subscribers in a channel harvest checked on 25 October 2026. ⁶

• The defined sources cited above, registered in data/source/.
• Later translations and edits of this article need periodic review with clear update dates.

The speaker gave these figures and dates in the Assabile archive recordings. They are not yet checked and are not treated as facts (needs_source):

• A date given in a passage about events in a republic, the year 1930 ⁷.
• The figure 1920 in talk about scholars and events ⁸.
• The figures "180 dollars" and "73 million dollars" ⁹.
• The numbers of brothers and sisters in his account of his family, which overlap in the transcript ¹⁰.
• Unclear money figures in talk about the economy ¹¹.
• A sum of 60,000 pounds mentioned in a passage about a loan and a bank ¹².
• A number of children given as twenty in a passage about family ¹³.

The series has ten episodes and covers the first surahs of Juz' 'Amma: Surat An-Naba' and then Surat An-Nazi'at. The Sheikh opens the first episode with Surat An-Naba' and takes its opening as the subject of the lesson. ¹⁴ He returns to the Great News in later episodes. ^{15 16} The last episodes turn to Surat An-Nazi'at, which he introduces in the eighth episode. ¹⁷ In the ninth he recaps the series so far. ¹⁸ The tenth episode also deals with An-Nazi'at. ¹⁹

In the first episode the Sheikh introduces the series as a practical path to al-Fawz al-Mubin through simple solutions. He holds that people undervalue simple solutions and think this victory comes only through great deeds, such as those of the Companions. ²⁰ In the ninth episode he states that the subject of the series is al-Fawz al-Mubin. ²¹

In the first episode he holds that the nation suffers a defect in its morals and conduct. He also holds that loss of good manners in dealing with others leads to the loss of many basic things. ^{22 23}

He calls every Muslim to reflect on what the Prophet loved in his words, deeds and dealings, and to keep it before him. He concludes that fulfilling trusts, truthful speech and good neighbourliness are among the things the Prophet loved. ^{24 25}

In the third episode he holds that the subject of reading is extremely serious, because it defines the nation's culture before world culture. ²⁶ He describes his daily habit of reading two pages of the Qur'an and two pages of a useful book. He proposes free reading of a quarter of an hour a day that grows gradually, and advises writing notes in the margins of a book and reading its index before buying it. ^{27 28 29}

Some episodes are opened by a presenter rather than the Sheikh. In the seventh the presenter announces that the episode is devoted to the expansion of the breast. In the eleventh the presenter introduces the episode as a space of hope for those who have lost hope. ^{30 31}

In the thirteenth episode he holds that religion is easy but people have complicated matters and moved away from its realities. He counts keeping company with one whose good is not hoped for as the first obstacle to al-Fawz al-Mubin. ^{32 33}

On rights and duties, he holds that the loss of rights stands in the way of al-Fawz al-Mubin. He calls the viewer to consider what others are owed according to one's role, such as son, father, husband, neighbour and employer. ^{34 35}

He speaks of his own experience in America in the 1970s and 1980s, when hotel signs urged that life is worth more than money. He sees in Mecca a spiritual safety in which the pilgrim feels at ease in worship (needs_source: personal-recollection). ³⁶

The Assabile index lists the series Al Naba' Al Safi among its video series, with 24 lessons. ⁵

In the first episode a caller says that music channels are no real threat, but religious programmes should not feature disputes or become a platform for argument. This is the caller's view, not the Sheikh's. ³⁷

In the eleventh and twelfth episodes the Sheikh tells the story of Hatim and his eight lessons. He says Hatim stated that he learned only eight things (needs_source: Hatim's statement of how many things he learned), and that the first is that every person has something he loves. ³⁸

The third lesson concerns people who gather wealth by any means, lawful or unlawful. ³⁹

On the lesson of trust in God's provision, he summarises that Hatim saw people hoarding worldly goods and taught contentment, because what is with God endures. ⁴⁰

The fifth lesson is that people envy and backbite one another; since division is by God, one should neither envy nor hate others. ^{41 42}

He cites a Qur'anic verse that the provision of every creature on earth is with God, and says people kill one another over provision that is already written. ⁴³

He closes the lessons by saying that Shaqiq told Hatim to go and teach what he had learned, and he sums up the eight lessons. ⁴⁴ In the twelfth episode he summarises the lessons: sovereignty belongs to God and what people hold of it is temporary; life and wealth are trusts; and the Hereafter belongs to God alone. ⁴⁵

These are the Sheikh's own views and criticisms as they appear in the lessons; each is attributed to him alone.

He holds that disputes multiply among people: he describes cases in courts and police stations over divorce, theft and property, and says people have become enemies of one another. ⁴⁷

He says people waste their time quarrelling with one another and over minor matters, and that the real enemy is Satan. ⁴⁸

He holds that people rely on uncles, relatives and officials, while Hatim relies on God alone. ⁴⁹

He holds that religious lessons are worthless unless they benefit the community. ⁵⁰

He offers a view he presents as weak: that a person who wants to change wrong should change it within his own sphere, for example by founding a school or institution on his own method, and not by force or destruction. ⁴⁶