“Al-Azhar had over several decades lost part of its authoritative intellectual firepower. Several notable theologians emerged in Egypt (and elsewhere in the Sunni world) who had been trained by Al-Azhar yet later broke away from the institution's structure and became… — 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 Image
“Between 1991 and 1993, the militants had virtually taken complete control of Imbaba, replacing the government as the social arbiter. The situation reached a… — Tarek Osman Copy Share Image
“At that time, a grand Arabic project emanating from Cairo had credibility. That is not true today. The relative standing of Egyptians (the country,… — Tarek Osman Copy Share Image
“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… — Tarek Osman Copy Share Image
“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… — Tarek Osman Copy Share Image
“The Alexandria Bourse (the fourth largest worldwide) and the Cairo stock exchange were sizable, international markets. In fact, the story of the Alexandria Bourse… — Tarek Osman Copy Share Image
“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
