Journalist Kariman Hamza, the first veiled broadcaster on Egyptian television, died yesterday evening, Sunday, December 31, 2023, at the age of 82, after a struggle with illness.
Her grandson, Talal Riyad, wrote on his page on the Facebook platform, saying, “To Allah we belong, and to Him we shall return… O reassured soul, return to your Lord, satisfied and pleasing, so enter among My servants and enter My Paradise. With great sadness and sorrow, the preacher and media professor, Kariman Hamza, my dear grandmother, may God have mercy on her, passed away to the mercy of God Almighty. May God cover her with His vast mercy. There is no power or strength except with God Almighty.”
The National Media Authority in Egypt mourned her and described her as “she was the first broadcaster on Egyptian television to give value and value to religious programs through the distinguished cognitive programming content she presented that addressed the mind and conscience and gained acceptance and respect from viewers, and through her hosting of senior scholars, sheikhs and preachers in Egypt and the Islamic world. And she will continue to be Her works are immortal and one of the important Islamic sources of knowledge.”
Egyptian journalist Mahmoud Al-Tamimi mourned her in a post on the Facebook platform, saying: A short while ago, I received news of Kariman Hamza’s death today after a long illness. My sincere condolences to her family. Please pray for her forgiveness and heaven, God willing.
Al-Tamimi added: “All of our generation who grew up on Egyptian television programs know this face well… In fact, the music of the religious program that Kariman Hamza used to present now creeps into my ears, with her distinctive voice and angelic face.”
The first veiled journalist on Egyptian television
Kariman Hamza was born in Cairo on February 8, 1942. She graduated from the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University, Department of Journalism, and married Major General Mahmoud Riyad when she was 15 years old.
Her father is Dr. Abdul Latif Hamza, professor of journalism at the College of Mass Communications, where she began her radio work by presenting a program for children entitled “My Lord’s Qur’an.”
Kariman was the first veiled journalist to appear on Egyptian television in 1970, and she was 26 years old at the time.
Kariman worked as a presenter of religious programs on television until 1999. The most prominent of these programs are “Contentment and Light,” “With the Truth We have sent it down, and with the truth it has been sent down,” “A Good Word,” “Religion and Life,” “The Path to God,” and “God’s Guidance,” which talked about Islamic economics, and she also worked on Iqraa TV channel.
Kariman wrote several books, including “For God’s sake, Zimri,” “Nijar and the Jungle,” and “Master of Creation,” and she presented an interpretation of the Qur’an for young people under the title “The Clear Interpretation of the Qur’an for Youth.” She also wrote the encyclopedia “Elegance and Modesty,” which displays some of the elegant clothes of veiled women.
Kariman was the first to introduce Sheikh Muhammad al-Ghazali to the Egyptian television audience and introduce people to his thought. She also recorded episodes with preachers Sheikh Muhammad Metwally al-Shaarawi, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Dr. Omar Abdel Kafi, and Sheikh Yassin Rushdi.
Source : Al Jazeera + Egyptian press + social media sites
