Following Turkey's decision to revoke his citizenship, the Muslim Brotherhood is considering the fate of Mahmoud Hussein, the acting guide, and where he will reside and manage the group's affairs, especially amidst the ongoing conflict between his faction and the London faction led by Salah Abdel Haqq.
Hussein holds the position of acting general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, after the Istanbul faction appointed him amid disagreements with the London faction led by Ibrahim Munir before his death. Mahmoud Hussein is 77 years old, born on July 16, 1947, in Jaffa, Palestine, to an Egyptian father and a Palestinian mother, and spent his childhood in Rafah. He completed his secondary education in the city of Beersheba, Palestine. According to Brotherhood sources, Mahmoud Hussein's father, Sheikh Hussein Al-Masri, was one of the historical leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine and one of the founders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza, which was previously announced under the name Hamas. Hussein was a member of the first Shura Council of the group in Gaza and represented Rafah in the council. He was also a founding member of the administrative body of the Islamic Complex in Gaza, according to Brotherhood websites.
### Educational Qualifications
Mahmoud Hussein received a Bachelor's degree in engineering in 1971, and after graduation, he was appointed as a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Engineering at Assiut University. He traveled to the United States on a scholarship in early 1978. After returning, he was appointed as a teacher at the Faculty of Engineering at Assiut University in 1984, later becoming an assistant professor and then a full professor.
Hussein served as the Secretary-General of the Muslim Brotherhood, succeeding Dr. Mahmoud Ezzat in 2010. He joined the Guidance Office after the death of Sheikh Abu Hamd Rabbie as a representative of Upper Egypt. He was tasked by the general guide of the group to travel abroad before the June 2013 Revolution to manage the group’s affairs abroad in anticipation of any emergencies.
### Legal Issues
In 1995, during the reign of former president Hosni Mubarak, he was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of reviving a banned group. He was arrested in August 2007 but suffered a severe heart crisis while in Torra prison, leading to his transfer to Kasr Al-Ainy Hospital, where it was determined he needed open-heart surgery due to coronary artery disease. He was released after a request from the defense committee for health reasons due to the deterioration of his condition.
### Relationship with Adel Imam
In 2007, the Egyptian State Security Prosecution charged Mahmoud Hussein and Essam Al-Erian with attempting to overthrow the regime and creating unrest in the country while leading a banned group. Security forces arrested Hussein and Al-Erian on Friday, August 17, 2007, inside the home of engineer Nabil Maqbel, the son-in-law of comedian Adel Imam in Giza Governorate.
In October 2021, following the decision of the General Shura Council of the Muslim Brotherhood to dismiss Ibrahim Munir, Mahmoud Hussein submitted a memorandum to the council requesting that the regulations regarding Munir's role as the general guide not be applied, and that the General Shura Council appoint an acting guide instead.
The council decided to form a temporary committee to carry out the responsibilities of the general guide regarding Egyptian affairs for six months or to take a decision to specify the acting guide, whichever was closer. On December 17, 2021, Dr. Mustafa Taleb was appointed as the official representative of this committee, temporarily fulfilling the duties of the general guide after the death of Ibrahim Munir, the leader of the London faction. In November 2022, the committee for the acting general guide submitted a memorandum to the General Shura Council regarding the activation of Article 5 of the group’s general regulations, and Mahmoud Hussein took on the role of acting general guide as the oldest member of the Guidance Office.
Notably, in 2019, Amir Bassam, a fugitive Brotherhood leader in Turkey, accused the Brotherhood leaders in Istanbul, including Mahmoud Hussein, of embezzlement and registering properties, apartments, and cars in their names and those of their children. The Brotherhood leader stated that the leaders, including Mahmoud Hussein, were seizing the group's funds and donations, purchasing luxurious properties and apartments in their names and their children's, both in Turkey and elsewhere. Meanwhile, young and fugitive members of the Brotherhood residing in Turkey threatened to publish recordings revealing the corruption and violations of the group's leaders at the time.
