Sheikh Nabil Naim closes Qom’s conference

Addressing his audience Sheikh Naim stressed on the need to offer the Islamic nation guidance at such a juncture. “The Islamic world is going through difficult times … Radicalism and extremism have become plagues onto our people and it can only be addressed through unity and collaboration.”

Moreover, the Sheikh warned against those forces which seek to sow division and tensions amid the Muslim Ummah, urging all to remain vigilant.

But who is Sheikh Nabil Naim? 

Nabil Naim Abdel Fattah was born in 1956 in Egypt.

He is the founder of the Democratic Jihad Party as well as a contributor to Asharq Al-Awsat. He was also the leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad from 1988 until 1992.

He was arrested by Egypt in 1991 and not released until the 2011 Egyptian revolution. He and Ismail Nasr wrote up a document abandoning violence towards the state, though it did not gain much support, partly because he was not theologically qualified. The revisions of Sayyid Imam al-Sharif were more widely accepted among members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad.

He also backed the protests started by Tamarod that led to the 2013 Egyptian coup.  Naeem stated in an interview that the Muslim Brotherhood should be overthrown by the military. He has also stated that the Muslim Brotherhood "used Islam as a tool of repression." In his criticism stated in May 2013, he has called the Brotherhood a "dictatorial organization." In a news conference held by the Association for Victims of the Muslim Brotherhood Regime on 28 September, Na'eem called Mohamed Morsi a "traitor."