This year, one of the most watched Ramadan TV series was Al Ikhtiyar (The Choice) depicting the bravery of Egyptian military officers fighting Jihadis in Sinai. The series introduced Egyptians to several figures in the Jihadi universe especially Omar Rifai Sorour

The attention to Omar is warranted, given the role he played in both Sinai and Libya Jihadi operations and structures especially as a religious authority for them. I have been following Omar for over ten years now, after I came to know the work of his father Rifa'i Sorour

Rifa'i Sorour is probably the most important Islamist thinker that has not been seriously examined by Western scholarship. Googling his name shows you this problematic lack of scholarship. I profiled him in my @HudsonInstitute study in late 2014. Let me share a few glimpses

Rifa'i Sorour was born in 1947 in Alexandria. As a young man, his religious view were formed by Ansar Al Shari'a, Egypt's oldest Salafi organization established in 1926. He broke with them in 1966 accusing them of being apathetic
toward the implementation of Shari’a

This was likely due to his discovery of the work of Sayed Qutb, which was left for him by a Brotherhood neighbor who was involved with Qutb in the 1965 cell after his arrest. Enchanted with Qutb, he wrote a book about him following Qutb’s death while he was still only 18 years.

That book impressed Yehia Hesham, at the time one of the first members of a small Jihadi group founded in 1964. Hesham sought him out and recruited him for the Jihadi cell in 1966 that included among its members Ayman El Zawahriri and Mohamed Ismail El Mokadem.

Ayman of course needs no introduction. Mohamed Ismail El Mokadem would later on form Egypt's most important Salafi group: Al Da'wa Al Salafiya (Salafi Call) from which the Nour Party emerged after 2011.

This Jihadi group suffered from an early split as both Yehia Hesham and Rifa’i Sorour broke in 1967. The disagreement came over the methodology to overthrow the Egyptian regime. Others believed in infiltrating the military to conduct a coup. Yehia and Rifa'i disagreed.

Instead they argued that working with the masses and
conducting a popular revolution was the better methodology to overthrow the regime. This was in part due to the popular protests following the lenient sentences given to Air Force officers in March 1968

Following Yehia Hesham’s killing by security forces in 1975, Sorour managed to escape arrest and continued involvement in various Jihadi efforts. He was nominated as the leader of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad but refused the post.

This is just one example of how important Sorour was. He was nominated to head an Egyptian Islamic Jihad group that included men like Ayman Al Zawahiri.

Following Sadat’s assassination, he devoted his life to creating a theoretical framework for the Jihadi movement. This didnt stop him from being jailed twice in 1981 for three years and again in 2005.

His revolutionary theorization, successfully merging Salafi tenets, Jihadi discourse, and revolutionary methodology, would later become the foundation for the emergence of revolutionary Salafism after the Egyptian revolution.

His most important work was "The Political Conception of the Islamist Movement" in which he attempted to overcome the disagreements within the Jihadi discourse and by formulating an overall Jihadi theory.

Sorour’s ideas were adopted by a number of younger Salafis who became his students such as Khaled Harbi (who married Sorour's daughter) and Hossam Abu Al Bukhari. Both of these men as well as Omar Sorour became well known faces in paltalk rooms in the 90's.

They and Sorour himself devoted themselves to fighting Christianity. Their efforts led them to later form a group to support "Christian women converting to Islam". In many such cases, accusations and evidence that this network was involved in kidnappings exist.

It was only in 2011, that Sorour really emerged in the public eye becoming the Godfather of Revolutionary Salafism. Young Salafis, frustrated by their Sheikh's lack of revolutionary actions flocked to him. For many Salafis, the 2011 revolution proved Sorour had always been right.

Sorour formed with his students the General Islamist Current, which aimed to gather all revolutionary Salafis into one bloc focusing on the implementation of Shari'a. More importantly, they adopted a revolutionary discourse that aimed to overhaul the status quo.

Sorour died in February 2012. Testimony to his strong appeal was the attendance at his funeral of thousands of Islamists, including Sheikhs Abdel Meguid El Shazly, Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, Hassan Aboul Ashbal and Hafez Salama and by Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed El Beltagy.

His funeral witnessed the Bay3a (Oath) to Hazem Salah Abu Ismail for the presidency. Following his death his followers played an instrumental role in Abu Ismail's presidential campaign and in the attack on the Ministry of Defense in Abasiya.

Sorour had 6 children. Omar: now dead, Yehia, Yasser, Asma'a (Khaled Harbi's wife), Wala'a and Roqaya. They continue to carry his legacy and are all leading voices among Revolutionary Salafis. Wala'a is especially active on facebook promoting Jihadi ideas.