Mohammed Hussein Heikal (Arabic: محمد حسين هيكل) was an Egyptian writer, journalist, politician. He held several cabinet posts, including minister of education.
Many critics have considered the novel Zeinab, written by Heikal 1913, as the 'first modern Egyptian novel. However, some scholars have debated this, with Elliot Colla reaching a conclusion that this label had more to do with "the needs of national institutions such as the cinema, the Parliament, or Cairo University, at moments of formation or reformation than it does with the texts themselves." Colla went on to conclude that Zaynab became recognized as part of the national literary tradition not at the moment of its initial production but in subsequent circumstances of reception and reproduction tied to other non-literary significances.
عظيم. يصف السيرة وصفًا يجعلها تتغلغل في حنايا فؤادك وتعمل بعا واقعًا. صور النبي الإنسان الذي ما كان ملكًا وإنما سيرته واقعية بإمكاننا اتباعها وربط بين سيرته والعالم اليوم وما يجري فيه وكيف نصلح العالم بسيرته. رحمة الله على محمد حسين هيكل وخلد الله ذكره الصالح بهذا الكتاب.