Ali Gomaa was born in the Upper Egyptian province of Beni Suef on 3 March 1952 (7 Jumadah al-Akhirah 1371 AH).

"[18] Gomaa graduated from high school in 1969, at which point he enrolled at Ain Shams University in Egypt's capital, Cairo.

(Bachelor of Commerce) at Ain Shams in 1973, Gomaa enrolled in Cairo's al-Azhar University, the oldest active Islamic institution of higher learning in the world.

[22] In addition to being a teacher of Aqida, Tafsir, Hadith, legal theory and Islamic history,[23] Gomaa is also a highly respected Sufi master.

An article in The Atlantic states: When he became the khatib, or orator, of Masgid Sultan Hassan, a mosque long favored by devout Cairenes, Gomaa began to attract a following of another kind.

When he first met Gomaa, in the late 1980s, Sabri was a struggling young businessman, eager to take advantage of his government's move away from socialism.

One such sheikh, the leader of a popular Sufi sect, was denounced as decadent and corrupt when he failed to reprimand his followers for drinking liquor and wearing revealing clothes.

Gomaa's ideas were countercultural, but his lifestyle was orthodox: he refrained from physical contact with women outside his family, encouraged abstinence before marriage for both sexes, and could often be seen walking with his prayer beads in hand, counting them methodically.

"[21] Gomaa has told American journalist Lawrence Wright that he worked with Islamic Group prisoners who later embraced the "Nonviolence Initiative" and denounced violence.

Another justification was that the Prophet let his uncle Al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib take usury in Mecca when it was a non-Muslim city, and he did not prohibit him except in the year of the Farewell Pilgrimage.

During the fatwa, which was a reply to a question from a Muslim in Europe asking about whether it would be allowed for him to work in stores that sell alcohol and pork along with other products because he cannot find another job, Gomaa mentioned the terms "Dar-al-Harb" (House of War) and "Ahl al-Harb" (people of war) several times, and he gave a response that not only dealt with what the questioner had asked but also considered further points such as the taking of interest and gambling.

He stated in an article in "The Atlantic" that dubbed Gomaa "The Show-Me Sheikh", "Show me where it says in the Koran or the Sunna (prophetic tradition) that a woman is obligated to cook, or that she can't ask for a divorce.

[40] According to Dr James Dorsey of Nanyang Technological University, "Gomaa asserted in 2015 that women did not have the strength to become heart surgeons, serve in the military, or engage in sports likes soccer, body building, wrestling and weightlifting.

A year later, Gomaa issued a fatwa declaring writer Sherif El-Shobashy an infidel for urging others to respect a woman’s choice on whether or not to wear the veil."

In fact, it was only two years ago that Sheikh Ali Gomaa made clear statements to the effect that apostasy is not punishable by death in Islam, a position that he holds to this day.

[46] Gomaa has publicly asserted that the anti-Semitic The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a forgery and made an official court complaint concerning a publisher who falsely put his name on an introduction to its Arabic translation.

They also worry that extremists may use the ruling as a pretense for destroying Egypt's ancient relics, which form a pillar of the country's multibillion-dollar tourist industry.

"[16] Dr. Ali Gomaa made several public statements in relation to the massive uprising that began on 25 January 2011 and led to the stepping down of former Egyptian President Mubarak on 11 February 2011.

[54] He was clear that public protest to address grievances is a fundamental human right,[55] but cautioned that mass demonstrations leading to a disruption of day-to-day life could be considered impermissible (haram) from an Islamic legal point of view.

[55] On 3 February 2011, Gomaa went on national TV to answer "hundreds of calls he received that day" with concerns about attending Friday prayer services.

[56] He issued a fatwa allowing people who feared physical harm from further mass protests to pray at home and not attend Friday prayer services.

However, he reassured that Muslims believe that "Islamic law guarantees freedom of conscience and expression (within the bounds of common decency) and equal rights for women.

Following the Egyptian coup, he expressed hostility towards Western democracy in a television interview and stated that it was contrary to Islamic law.

[65] According to Dr David H. Warren of University of Edinburgh, Ali Gomaa was one of "the most prominent supporters of the coup and its bloody aftermath."

[7] Dr Usaama al-Azami of the University of Oxford also notes that Gomaa told the army shortly before the Rabaa massacre that they "should not hesitate to kill those who oppose them."

[6] Professor Mohammad Fadel of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law argues that Gomaa is representative of "authoritarian forms of political Islam.

"[5] Fadel adds: "ʿAlī Gomaa exhorts the armed forces to cleanse Egypt of the former president’s supporters, even claiming that the army’s position was vindicated by, among other things, the "innumerable visions (tawātarat al-ruʾā) of the Prophet of God" that came to Egypt's living saints in which he communicated to them his support for the military against the former president.

Secondly, the video for that speech was around 37 minutes and it was given to soldiers to encourage them in their war against terrorism and the people who carry arms against the military, especially in Sinai.