El-Naggar passed away in Amman, Jordan, after a battle with illness [Al-Araby Al-Jadeed]
Egyptian Islamic scholar and geologist Zaghloul El-Naggar, a leading figure in the field of scientific interpretation of the Qur’an, has died at the age of 92.
El-Naggar passed away in Amman, Jordan, after a battle with illness, according to statements released on his official social media accounts on Sunday.
His funeral prayer will be held on Monday at Abu Aisha Mosque in Amman, followed by burial at Umm Al-Qutain Cemetery.
Born on 17 November 1933 in the village of Mashal in Egypt’s Gharbia Governorate, El-Naggar showed an early passion for science.
He graduated with honours in geology from Cairo University in 1955, earning the Mustafa Baraka Award in Earth Sciences. He obtained a PhD from the University of Wales in 1963 and became a full professor in 1972.
El-Naggar’s career spanned decades of teaching and research at universities in Egypt, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Yemen, Jordan, and the United States.
He chaired the geology department at Qatar University, taught at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, and served as a visiting professor at UCLA.
He also directed Al-Ahqaf University in Yemen and later taught at the World Islamic Sciences and Education University in Jordan.
He became one of the Arab world’s most recognised voices on the relationship between science and faith, authoring numerous books and delivering hundreds of lectures on what came to be known as the “scientific miracles of the Qur’an and Sunnah”.
His popular TV programme Ayat Bayyinat (“Clear Verses”) aired across Arab channels, exploring Quranic descriptions of natural phenomena.
El-Naggar was a member of the International Commission on Scientific Signs in the Qur’an and Sunnah and was honoured several times for his contributions to promoting scientific understanding within an Islamic framework.
