Abdel-Halim Mahmoud (Arabic: الإمام الأكبر عبدالحليم محمود) (12 May 1901 – 17 October 1978; 2 Jumaada al-awal 1328 A.H. - 14 The al-Qi`dah 1398 A.H.) served as Grand Imam of al-Azhar from 1973 until his death in 1978.

Abdel-Halim Mahmoud was born on 12 May 1910 in the village of Abou Ahmed (now Al Salam), in the Sharqia Governorate, 50 kilometers north east of Cairo, Egypt.

He then continued his studies in France, where he obtained a Doctorate degree in philosophy from the Universite de Paris - La Sorbonne in 1940.

[2]He signed an agreement with King Faisal, ruler of Saudi Arabia, to combat Communism in 1971 during the presidency of Anwar Sadat.

During his tenure as Grand Imam, Al-Azhar witnessed unprecedented reform and revival, including the introduction of new faculties, teaching methods and management style.

He was greatly influenced by the Sudanese Sufi Sheikh Mohammed Osman Abdu al-Burhany whose knowledge shaped his views on Sufism.

`Abd al-Halim cites `Abbas Mahmud al-`Aqqad (d. 1964) in saying that ma`rifa is an intellectual realm which neither physical science, cognition (fikr), nor various types of mental perception (basira etc.)

He states rather that Sufi must be committed to solving the problems of the time, and gives the example of `Abd al-Qadir al-Jazai'rli (d.1883), who fought for the defence of Algeria against France (ibid.