RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Mahmoud Jouda, a controversial Palestinian sheikh, was born in 1960 and grew up in the Rafah refugee camp. He majored in Sharia studies at Umm al-Qura University in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. In 1985, he established and spearheaded the religious group Jama’at al-Muslimin (Society of Muslims), which was known among citizens under the name of Takfir wal Hijra (Excommunication and Exodus). He preached and practiced religious work in the group, far from politics.
Jouda was jailed several times. The first time, Egyptians held him captive when he returned from Iran in the early 1980s. He claimed that he had visited Iran to learn and delve into some Shiite confessions such as Twelver Islam. Israel also jailed him on several occasions.