“most intellectually intriguing episode in Ibn Hanbal's life was his fierce struggle with Al-Mutazillah, an isolationist school of Islamic philosophy that flourished in the eighth and ninth centuries in parts of Iraq and the Levant and which started with advocating… — Tarek Osman Copy Share Image
“Even the weighty Salafist voices (for example, Mohamed Seleem Al-Awaa,19 Mohamed Al-Ghazali,20 Fahmi Howeidy21 and Gamal Al-Banna22) were sidelined as ‘too intellectual’.” — Tarek Osman Copy Share
“Between 1991 and 1993, the militants had virtually taken complete control of Imbaba, replacing the government as the social arbiter. The situation reached a climax in 1992 when the security forces decided to intervene. More than 12,000 troops in more than 100 armed cars descended on the neighbourhood (home to more than a million Cairenes) and sealed it off; by… — Tarek Osman Copy Share
“At that time, a grand Arabic project emanating from Cairo had credibility. That is not true today. The relative standing of Egyptians (the country, the people and the culture) in the Arabic milieu has significantly declined. The major socio-economic challenges that ordinary Egyptians have struggled with for thirty-five years have exacted their price on the country's living standards, income levels,… — Tarek Osman Copy Share
“There was a major demographic boom in Egypt from the 1980s, in which the population almost doubled from around 45 million to 80 million,… — Tarek Osman Copy Share Image
“the factor that really cemented the Brotherhood's social re-emergence, and founded the Islamic movement's social base, was its highly efficient services infrastructure.” — Tarek Osman Copy Share Image
“Luxor attack in 1997 in which Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya killed fifty-eight tourists and four Egyptians outside a pharaonic temple. In the same year, an ambush… — Tarek Osman Copy Share Image
“Cairo itself was founded under their rule in 969, as was Al-Azhar (whose name is derived from that of Al-Zahraa). The dynasty also inaugurated a large number of religious and social festivals, the most notable of which venerate Ahl Al-Bayt (Prophet Mohamed's descendants) and commemorate Al-Mwaled” — Tarek Osman Copy Share
“But the society became characterized by a unique mix of Sunni theology and Shi'ite social traditions. Al-Azhar evolved and consolidated its unique status; and the people continued to honour the Prophet Mohamed's descendants (in many cases ascribing to them powers of divine and spiritual intercession), to celebrate Al-Mwaled and to embrace various Shi'ite traditions; even today, the country's social calendar… — Tarek Osman Copy Share
“The Alexandria Bourse (the fourth largest worldwide) and the Cairo stock exchange were sizable, international markets. In fact, the story of the Alexandria Bourse – or the Alexandria Futures Exchange – is an interesting representation of Egyptian society's capitalism – and cosmopolitanism – in the first half of the twentieth century; the Bourse's board of directors included Muslim, Christian and… — Tarek Osman Copy Share
“In general, the liberal experiment seemed to have failed to put forward a development programme for the country's poor, who continued to constitute more… — Tarek Osman Copy Share Image
