COUNTRY
EgyptPOPULATION
83,688,164 (July 2012 est.)GDP PER CAPITA
$6,600 (2011 est.)RELIGIONS
Muslim (mostly Sunni) 90%, Coptic 9%, other Christian 1%AT THE CENTER
RELATED RESOURCES
ORGANIZATIONS (7)
Al-Azhar University
Al-Nour Party
Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue Between Cultures
Al-Nour Party
Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue Between Cultures
PEOPLE (13)
QUOTES (11)
Pope Tawadros II on Religion in Egypt's Consitution
November 5, 2012
Hisham Qandi on The Innocence of Muslims in a BBC Interview
September 15, 2012
Mohamed Morsi on Interfaith Cooperation and National Unity in His Presidential Acceptance Speech
June 25, 2012
November 5, 2012
Hisham Qandi on The Innocence of Muslims in a BBC Interview
September 15, 2012
Mohamed Morsi on Interfaith Cooperation and National Unity in His Presidential Acceptance Speech
June 25, 2012
PUBLICATIONS (3)
Mobilizing Islam: Religion, Activism and Political Change in Egypt
November 1, 2002
Feminists, Islam, and Nation: Gender and the Making of Modern Egypt
January 1, 1995
The Society of the Muslim Brothers
January 1, 1969
November 1, 2002
Feminists, Islam, and Nation: Gender and the Making of Modern Egypt
January 1, 1995
The Society of the Muslim Brothers
January 1, 1969
Egypt
Interviews (22)
The intersection of religion and politics in Egypt has been characterized by both gradual change and revolutionary rupture. Islam arrived in the 7th century CE, and Egypt emerged as a center of politics and culture in the Muslim world. British control during the late 19th and early 20th centuries allowed local and European intellectual traditions to mingle, contributing to the establishment of a nationalist, secular regime in the 1952 Revolution. Though Islam became the official state religion in 1971, Egyptian presidents largely continued to rule as they saw fit. In 2011, a popular revolution involving secular and religious actors ended 30 years of rule by Hosni Mubarak (1981-2011). The Muslim Brotherhood, which had previously been banned as a political party, won a majority of seats in the post-Revolution parliamentary elections, and the group’s political leader, Mohamed Morsi, was elected president. The Constitution grants freedom of religion, but authorities often restrict it in practice. Among those most directly affected are Coptic Christians, approximately 10% of the population.
This conversation between John Lewis and Katherine Marshall, Thomas Bohnett, and Hahna Fridirici took place on March 15, 2010 as part of a World Faiths Development Dialogue investigation of faith and agriculture and was updated in March 2011 by email. Lewis’ core argument is that agricultural strategies for Africa can and should press for carbon-intense food security agriculture as opposed to outdated Green Revolution approaches that involve clearing land, chemical fertilizer, pesticides, and...
Background: Thoraya Obaid and Katherine Marshall sat down to reflect on Dr. Obaid's engagement with faith actors during a UN staff workshop in Turin, Italy in November 2010. In addition to discussing the upcoming stages of her career, after she leaves UNFPA in December 2010, the conversation builds on earlier exchanges and explores both the positive and less enthralling aspects of Dr. Obaid's longstanding determination to actively take culture and religion into account in pursuing UNFPA's...
Background: This discussion between Reverend Karpf and Katherine Marshall took place in Washington DC, soon after Ted Karpf retired from seven years at the World Health Organization in Geneva. The interview focuses on his extraordinary life journey, exploring his understanding of the church and his pastoral role. He describes his central role in the earliest understandings of the implications of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and how that led to his work on national and international public health...
Background: As part of the Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding Fellowship, Consuelo Amat interviewed Ambassador Ochieng Adala, Executive Director of Africa Peace Forum in Nairobi, Kenya. Ambassador Adala is a career diplomat who joined the Kenya Foreign Service in April 1964. He was Kenya’s Ambassador to Zambia and the Southern African States, and to Egypt and the Northern African States. Adala was also Permanent Representative of Kenya to the UN in New York before retiring from the Foreign...
Background: This July 2010 discussion between Afeefa Syeed and Katherine Marshall focuses on Afeefa's pioneering role within USAID and her rich experience there. She highlights the importance of listening to what communities want and driving programs from that perspective. Women are natural peacemakers, she argues, across many regions, from family to community to regional levels, sought out in conflicts because of their skills and approach. She also speaks to the active roles of youth, many...
Background: In this June 2010 exchange with Katherine Marshall, Karen Torjesen reflects on the evolution of her intellectual interest in religious history towards a focus on the role of women in the early church. That interest in religion and its gender dimensions paralleled a growing interest in women's studies. The two threads found themselves united in the development of Claremont's interreligious studies program and rooted in the social realities of the Los Angeles community. Her focus...
Background: As part of the Education and Global Social Justice Project, in July 2010 undergraduate student Ryan Covington interviewed David Dinda, a 2006 graduate of St. Aloysius Gonzaga Secondary School and founder of the community-based organization Foundation of Hope.
Background: This June 2010 exchange between Qamar-ul Huda and Susan Hayward focuses on Huda’s experiences as a Pakistani-American, which led him into the field of Islamic peacemaking, and his work for USIP in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Background: This exchange with Azza Karam was part of preparatory work for a WFDD/Berkley Center/USIP conference on women, religion, and peace on July 7-8, 2010. Ms. Karam and Katherine Marshall spoke by telephone on April 6, 2010 in preparation for the interview conducted on April 29, 2010. The discussion focuses on Ms. Karam's experience in building networks of women involved in peace, and her ongoing research on the topic. Her interest in the topic stems both from her lifelong commitment...
Background: As part of the Foreign Policy Practitioners Interview Series, Dr. Thomas Farr interviewed Elliott Abrams, former member and Chairman of United States Commission on International Religious Freedom and current Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations Washington Office. In this interview, Abrams speaks about how his professional and religious experience led to his involvement with the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. Additionally,...
Background:This telephone conversation between Robert Paarlberg, Katherine Marshall, Thomas Bohnett, Claudia Zambra, and Hahna Fridirici took place on January 27, 2010 as part of a review of links between agriculture and faith undertaken by the World Faiths Development Dialogue, in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The discussion focuses on the GMO debates, with special reference to Africa. Paarlberg situates the debate within a larger and polarized debate about “Green...
Background: Cornelio Sommaruga held many leadership posts over a long career, including in the Swiss Diplomatic Service, president of the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), and President of Initiatives of Change (IofC). Since his formal retirement from the ICRC in 1999, he has headed numerous nongovernmental organizations and undertaken several public service tasks. In this interview, he reflects on his career and above all questions how, across his different challenges,...
Background: As part of the Peacebuilding Practitioners Interview Series, Jason Klocek interviewed Raphael Soloman Sabun, who joined RECONCILE International in 2007 and currently serves as the Peace Building and Civic Education Coordinator. In this interview, Sabun speaks about his experiences with reconciliation and how his background led him to engage in his current work. Sabun also discusses the role of churches in contemporary Southern Sudan.
Background: Thomas Getman, until March 2009 the director of international relations for World Vision, traced his career working for President Gerald Ford, in the U.S. Senate, and then for 25 years with World Vision in South Africa, Palestine, and Geneva. Getman talked about the gradual movement of World Vision, which has traditionally been a Christian-inspired organization, towards a pluralistic organization fueled by the social justice and humanitarian impulses of people of a range of faith...
Background: This discussion between Husnul Amin and Brady Walkinshaw took place on June 23, 2008 as part of preparatory work for a June 24-25, 2008 consultation in the Hague on roles of faith-inspired organizations in development. In the interview, Mr. Amin shares how he came to research the links between poverty, social development, and religious education in the Islamic world. He also relates how his own experiences in Pakistan have shaped his view on the relationship between Islam and...
Background: This conversation between Noureddine Benmalek and Katherine Marshall, originally spoken in French, was part of a December 17, 2007 symposium at Georgetown University's Doha Campus on "Global Development and Faith-Inspired Organizations in the Muslim World." In this interview, Mr. Benmalek speaks about his interest in non-violent Islamism. In addition to explaining his own views on Islamism, Mr. Benmalek offers insight into how Islamist organizations oriented toward development...
Background: This conversation between Marie Juul Petersen, Sara Lei Sparre, and Katherine Marshall took place as part of preparatory work for a December 2007 symposium on “Global Development and Faith-Inspired Organizations in the Muslim World,” co-sponsored by the Berkley Center. In this interview, they discuss the findings of their study on Islam and civil society organizations in Egypt and Jordan. The project focuses on existing civil society organizations, particularly social welfare...
Background: In preparation for a December 17, 2007 symposium in Doha on global development and faith-inspired organizations in the Muslim World, Katherine Marshall and Hady Amr met again to discuss Mr. Amr's recent work. In this interview, Mr. Amr reflects on his work at the Brookings Doha Center and the role of faith in the public square in both the United States and in the Muslim World. He discusses Islamic social movements and reemphasizes the potential and necessity of a partnership...
Background: This conversation between Mona Atia and Katherine Marshall took place as part of the preparatory work for a December 17, 2007 conference at Georgetown University's Doha Campus on "Global Development and Faith-Inspired Organizations in the Muslim World." Ms. Atia discusses her dissertation research as a PhD candidate at the University of Washington,inspired by her initial desire to understand "how the Patriot Act was creating a climate in which traditional charity, across the...
Background: Saad Eddin Ibrahim is a Professor of Sociology at the American University in Cairo and a prominent human rights activist in Egypt. Ibrahim founded the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies in Cairo and the Arab Organization for Human Rights. He has been criticized for accepting international funds to promote civil society and election monitoring in Egypt, and for suggesting that the United States should condition its aid to Egypt on improvements in the country's human rights...
Background: Dr. Hany El-Banna is Co-Founder and President of Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), an international relief and development organization that aims to alleviate the poverty and suffering of the world's poorest. He is a member of the Three Faiths Forum and was selected to be a member in the World Economic Forum's Community of West-Islam Dialogue (C-100). El Banna is also a trustee of the Disasters Emergency Committee and a member of the Advisory Group to the International Department of...
Background: The following conversation between Patrice Brodeur and Katherine Marshall was conducted by phone as part of preparation for a December 17, 2007 conference in Doha on "Global Development and Faith-Inspired Organizations in the Muslim World." Mr. Brodeur shares how he became passionate about the study of religions and discusses his current involvement in the interfaith dialogue in the Islamic world. He describes his vision of "inter-worldview dialogue" as intended to merge the...