An Egyptian engineer and architect, Dr Muhammad Kamal Isma’eel who preferred to be away from the public limelight, was the first engineer who initiated the planning and implementation of the (Haramain) Makkah and Madinah mosques expansion project.
Dr Muhammad Kamal was the youngest person in the history of Egypt to obtain a high school certificate, the first Royal School of Engineering and the youngest to graduate from it, and the youngest to obtain three doctorate degrees in Islamic Architecture, and the “Nile” scarf and the rank of “Iron” from the king.
Kamal was born in 1908, married at age of 44 years. His wife gave birth to a son and died, thereafter he remained single and devoted his full-time in worshipping Allah until his death in 2008.
He exceeded hundred years which he spent in the service of the two holy mosques, far from the mass media limelight, fame and money.
Kamal refused any payment for his design and architectural work, despite all efforts from prominent people of the country, and companies.
“Why should I accept money for my work at the two sacred mosques, how will I face Allah on the Day of Judgement?” he said to Bakar Bin Ladan after refusing millions from him.
He wanted to cover the floor of the Haram Shareef (Holy mosque) for those making “tawaf” with a particular marble to absorb heat, so he went to a small mountain in Greece and purchase almost half of the mountain for the work.
15 years after the Holy Mosque was completed in Makkah, the Saudi government asked him to place a similar type of marble in the Holy Mosque in Madinah, which he went to the same company in Greece and met with the CEO but was told it had been sold immediately he left 15 years ago.
Kamal decided to know the whereabouts of the person who purchased the remaining marble from the office secretary and was told the name of the company in Saudi.
He later discovered that the company still have the marble stuck without use, he gave a blank cheque to the owner of the company to fill in the amount he wants for the stuck, but he refuses, saying Allah made him purchase this marble and to forget about it, that it was meant to be used for the mosque of the Holy Prophet (SAW).
Written by: Dr Zaglool Al-Najjar, an Earth Scientist
