Sheikh Alaa Elsayed was born in Cairo and lived in Egypt until he was 15 years old. During his youth, he spent his time as the goalie for the Junior National Team and moved to Toronto, Canada, in the late 1970’s.

Sheikh Alaa worked as a Vice-President of Business Development for an international company, and during this time he competed and placed first in the 1992 Bermuda Triathlon.

Sheikh Alaa has studied for his Bachelors in Shari'ah from the American International University, and has earned a scholarship from the Shari'ah Academy in Egypt/Florida. Sheikh Alaa has also received his ijazah of Qurʾan recitation for Ḥafṣ'an'Asim; studied comparative religion for five years through the IPCI in South Africa, and was on the board of directors of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth.

Sheikh Alaa currently lives in Greater Toronto Area with his wife and three children. He is a member of the Canadian Council of Imams as well as a member of Horizon Interfaith Communication Media Council. Prior to this he was an Imam for the Muslim Council of Calgary and acted as its media spokesperson. He has hosted Vision of Islam, a weekly television show which runs throughout Alberta, Canada. He also appeared as a speaker on Islam on various television channels.

Sheikh Alaa was a member of the Calgary Multi-Faith Committee, and a member of the Muslim Christian Dialogue Committee. Sheikh Alaa received the Alberta Centennial award by the Alberta Government in 2005, granted to him for his outstanding service to the Alberta community.

Currently Sheikh Alaa is the Director of Religious Affairs for the Islamic Centre of Canada-ISNA. Prior to that, he was the Executive Director for the Canadian Islamic Congress. Sheikh Alaa is a favourite tutor with AlKauthar and works closely with Mercy Mission's projects worldwide.