Like a tree with its firm roots جذور deep in the ground and its sweet fruits and leaves high in   the sky, Mostafa Mahmoud had firm roots and his works are like fruits for all people. Mostafa Mahmoud was and Egyptian doctor طبيب , scientist عالم , psychologist عالم نفس, philosopher فيلسوف , thinker مفكر and writer كاتب .

He was born on 27^th December 1921 in Shibeen Al-Koom, Monofiyya Province, Egypt. He was raised by a middle class family near a famous mosque in Tanta where he attended secondary school. He used to be good at school and had a small lab in his house where he did experiments on gases and small animals. He spent most of his time thinking and day-dreaming especially when he joined the College of Medicine in Cairo. He used to spend a long time looking at dead bodies and asking himself questions about death الموت and life  الحياة after death. He traveled a lot and wrote in many subjects. He used to present a television program that was called “Science and Faith العلم و الإيمان ” in which he tried hard to prove the accordance of scientific facts with Islamic and Qura’anic facts. He died on 31^st October 2009 after a long struggle with illness المرض leaving behind a great number of precious books and journal articles.

Mosatafa Mahmoud’s life can be divided into some several stages that mark his thought development and growth. He dated for these stages of his own life.

1. The Secular Materialistic Stage (1954 – 1958): He wrote some book collections in which he depicted society from a realistic point of view. He refused all religious paradigms and doubted everything. “Allah and Man الله والإنسان ” and “Demon الشيطان ” were among these books.
2. The Uncertainty Stage (1959 – 1962): Here he was convinced of the inability of the materialistic thought. To provide any comprehensible explanations for life, death, man, and history. In this stage he wrote many novels like; “The Mystery of Death لغزالموت” , “The Mystery of Life لغزالحياة” and “The Impossible المستحيل “
3. The Nature Stage: (1962 – 1964): Here Mostafa Mahmoud sets out to nature to try to find answers and reach the truth. He travels to tropical forests and deserts and then comes back to write three books; “The Forest الغابة ” , ” A Traveler’s Tales حكايات مسافر ” and ” An Adventure in the Desert مغامرة فى الصحراء “.
4. The Scientific Stage (1964 – 1966 ): Here Mostafa Mahmoud resorts to science and even goes further it to try to find answers and he writes some science fiction stories like; ” The Spider العنكبوت ” , ” Out of the Coffin الخروج من التابوت ” , ” A Man under Zero رجل تحت الصفر ” and  ” Einstein and Relativity أينشتين و النسبية “
5. The Literary Stage (1966 – 1968 ) : Mahmoud began some literary plays like; ” The Earthquake الزلزال ” , “Man and the Shade  الإنسان والظل” and “Alexander the Great الاسكندرالأكبر ” Mahmoud also, wrote some literary novels like; “Blood Smell رائحة الدم ” and “Opium الأفيون “
6. The Religious Stage (1968 – 1970) : Mostafa mahmoud started a long journey in all kinds of religions and wrote on them all ending with Islam and Qura’an to find all answers. He wrote many books including; “My journey from Doubt to Faith رحلتي من الشك إلى الإيمان ”  , “Allah الله “, “Mohammad محمد ” , “The Church الكنيسة ” , ” Torah التوراة ” , ” The Demon Rules الشيطان يحكم ” , “Body and Soul الروح والجسد ” , ” A Dialogue with my Atheist Friend حوار مع صديقي الملحد ” , ” Marxism and Islam الماركسية والإسلام ” , ” Why I Rejected Marxism لماذا رفضتُ الماركسية ”  At this stage, Mahmoud explored all kinds and theories of thought and was totally convinced in the Islamic thought.
7. The Mystic (Sufi) Stage: That stage started in the late 1960s and continued till he died. He wrote so many books and stories like; ” The Greatest Secret ألسر الأعظم ” , “I saw Allah رأيتُ الله ” , ” Existence and Nihilism الوجود و العدم ” , “Qura’an Secrets أسرار القرآن ” and  ‘ Qura’an is a Living Being القرآن كائن حى “

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRCQABf1-ik

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The Article was translated and adapted from the Biography of Mostafa Mahmoud on his own website at http://mostafamahmoud.org/?p=431#more-431

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