By Hassan Isilow and Omer Kilic

JOHANNESBURG

A leading Muslim scholar who spent months in an Egyptian prison over his alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood has described his ordeal.

Abdul Salaam Bassiouni, who holds dual South African and Egyptian citizenship, was arrested in December 2014 as he arrived in Cairo to attend his daughter’s wedding.

He was accused of being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood -- which Egypt listed as a terrorist organization after the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 -- before being released under house arrest last April. He was allowed to return to South Africa on Sunday.

“I felt very bad about my arrest,” Bassiouni told Anadolu Agency. “My heart was very sore. I was surprised and shocked.”

The 65-year-old, who founded a series of schools across South Africa, said his claim that he was uninvolved in politics went unheeded by his captors. “I told them I’m a religious man. I’m not a politics man.”

The former University of Johannesburg lecturer said he met several high profile people accused of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in jail.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency at his home in Lenasia, a southwestern suburb of Johannesburg, late Tuesday, Bassiouni said he left Egypt 30 years ago to teach Arabic and preach Islam in Sierra Leone and South Africa.

“Life in jail was very difficult,’’ he said, adding that although his cell was cramped with nine other inmates, some held as many as 19 prisoners.

Recounting a conversation with a fellow prisoner arrested for Muslim Brotherhood membership, Bassiouni said: “He told me ‘Sheikh, I don’t even make salaah [daily prayers] but they caught me and said I’m Ikwaan [Brotherhood].’”

Bassiouni praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s example in helping Syrian refugees without discrimination.

“We appreciate his support,” he said. “He doesn’t look after only Muslims but some are Christians.”