When the Egyptian woman, Suad Ibrahim Mohamed, who was 20 years old, gave birth to a baby on the morning of November 19, 1954, she didn’t know that this child would become the fifth president of Egypt.
She had hoped he would become a doctor or an engineer, but fate had other plans, and her son, whom she named Abdel Fattah, was chosen as president of Egypt with a near-unanimous vote.
The information available about the mother of the Egyptian president, who passed away today, Monday, is limited, as this was the president’s wish. According to one of the president’s cousins, Sisi strongly opposed any member of his family appearing in front of cameras or in the spotlight, and this applied to his immediate family, i.e., his wife and children.
Hajjah Suad lived with her husband, Saeed El-Sisi, on the third floor of the house built by the president’s grandfather, Hajj Hussein Khalil El-Sisi, at number 7 on Atfat al-Barquqiyya, off Kharnafesh Street, which runs alongside Al-Muizz li-Din Allah al-Fatimi Street in the Al-Gamaliya district of southern Cairo.
She gave birth to 8 children: 3 sons, Ahmed, Abdel Fattah, and Hussein, and 5 daughters, Zainab, Rida, Fareeda, Asmaa, and Busi.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi considered himself lucky because of his mother, and as he said in his presidential election campaigns to the Egyptian media, he was proud of her. He saw her as very wise and devout, and his eyes would fill with tears whenever he was asked about her.
When her name was mentioned in an interview with the “Al-Masry Al-Youm” newspaper, his eyes glistened with tears as he remembered her prayer for him: “May God protect you from all evil.”
Sisi acknowledges his strong connection with his mother. After reading the July 3 statement announcing the end of the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule, he went to see her. When asked what she said to him, he replied, “My mother is at an age that prevents her from following events, and I am very attached to her. She is a very authentic Egyptian woman in every sense of the word, and she raised me to rely on God and accept fate.”
Sisi remembers his mother and how she influenced him, saying, “She taught me impartiality. The first thing I learned was to be impartial in my judgments, which is why my love for her increased, and my respect and appreciation for her grew. She taught me, and even now, despite her condition, she continues to teach me.”