Mohammed al-Saidi (Jihadi Militant, Egypt)

by | Sep 17, 2021 | Biographic Summaries, Egypt Coverage

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  • Full name: Mohammed Sa’ad Kamel al-Saidi
  • Pseudonym: Abu Hamza al-Qadi
  • Alternatives: N/a
  • Location: Sinai, fmr Syria
  • Affiliation: Islamic State’s Province of Sinai [DaIWS], Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh]

Mohammed al-Saidi is a little-known but very influential jihadi from Egypt’s South Sinai governorate. He was probably involved with Islamist militant outfits fighting in the Sinai Insurgency before traveling to Syria and joining the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [DaIISh; Dawlat al-Islamiya fi-Iraq wal ash-Sham] around 2013.1 The DaIISh later tasked him with guiding jihadis operating in the Sinai. Saidi returned in late 2014 and held meetings with senior leaders of the Partisans of the Holy House [ABaM; Ansar Bait al-Maqdis].2 Days after his arrival on the peninsula, the ABaM swore allegiance to the DaIISh and morphed into the Islamic State’s Province of Sinai [DaIWS; Dawlat al-Islamiya Wilayat Sina’a].

Saidi went on to become DaIWS top jurist. In that capacity, he reportedly oversaw the organization’s courts and proselytization efforts.3 Saidi was known for his strict interpretation of Shari’a and uncompromising hardline attitude.4 He issued numerous fatwas that allowed DaIWS fighters to kill anyone from members of the security forces to civilians cooperating with the authorities.5 In the fall of 2017, Saidi ordained the killings of workers of a local cement factory and declared inhabitants of the village of Rawda to be infidels.6 His fatwa was later used to justify the Nov. 24, 2017 killing of 311 villagers at a Rawda mosque. In December 2017, his role was revealed in the Egyptian press.7 Saidi was wrongly reported to have been eliminated in 2018.8

Saidi was also involved with enforcing strict discipline in the DaIWS. He issued fatwas calling for the execution of members who cooperate with the Gaza-based Islamic Resistance Movement [HAMAS; Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya] and the killing of fighters wounded in battle so that they could not give information to the authorities upon capture.9 In September 2021, Saidi surrendered to the Egyptian security forces along with his wife and children.10​

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