Palestinian religious leader, Muslim brother and preacher, born in 1937 in Ashqelon, refugee in Gaza since 1948, worked as teacher, preacher and community worker, completely paralyzed following an accident in his youth, founder of the Islamic Centre in Gaza in 1973 which soon controlled all religious institutions, creator, spiritual leader and key figure of HAMAS, the Islamic Resistance Movement , believes that Palestine belongs to Islam and advocates an Islamic state in all of Palestine.

In 1989, he was arrested by Israel and sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering the killing of Palestinians who had allegedly collaborated with the Israeli army. he's been released on 1 October 1997 , in a trade off with Jordan for 2 Israeli agents.