Mahmoud al-Habbash (Religious Affairs Advisor)
Mahmoud al-Habbash (محمود الهباش) was born in 1963 in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. He is Mahmoud Abbas‘s adviser on religious and Islamic affairs; and the Palestinian Authority‘s top Sharia judge. Habbash was previously minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs between 2009 and 2014.
He studied Islam at the Islamic University of Gaza. Habbash was a member of Hamas until 1994 when he left to create the Islamist “Union Party” (Hizb al-Itihad), closely aligned with PLO chairman Yasser Arafat. He eventually joined the Fatah party.