Sheikh Alaa Elsayed was born in Cairo and spent his early years there, up until the age of 15. He spent his early years playing goaltender for the Junior National Team before relocating to Toronto, Canada, in the late 1970s.
Sheikh Alaa competed in the 1992 Bermuda Triathlon and won it while holding the position of vice president of business development for a multinational corporation.
Sheikh Alaa received a scholarship from the Shari’ah Academy in Egypt/Florida while pursuing his Bachelor in Shari’ah at the American International University. Sheikh Alaa also served on the board of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth and obtained his ijazah for Qur’an recitation for “af’an’Asim.” He also studied comparative religion for five years through the IPCI in South Africa.
Currently, Sheikh Alaa, his wife, and their three kids reside in the Greater Toronto Area. He belongs to the Horizon Interfaith Communication Media Council and the Canadian Council of Imams. Prior to that, he served as the Muslim Council of Calgary’s media representative and served as its imam. He has served as the host of the weekly television program Vision of Islam, which airs in Alberta, Canada. He spoke about Islam on several television networks as well.
Sheikh Alaa belonged to both the Muslim Christian Dialogue Committee and the Calgary Multi-Faith Committee. For his exceptional service to the Alberta community, Sheikh Alaa was given the Alberta Centennial award by the Alberta government in 2005.
Sheikh Alaa currently serves as the Islamic Centre of Canada’s Director of ISNA’s of Religious Affairs. He was the Executive Director of the Canadian Islamic Congress before that. Sheikh Alaa works closely with Mercy Mission’s programs around the world and is one of AlKauthar’s favourite tutors.