Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

The salafists, who had no presence before the January 25 revolution, are now preoccupying the public opinion and the mass media. Some of them are making quite a fuss from time to time like Mustafá Tamām, a salafī shaykh in Beni Suef.

Egyptian security arrests a group of Islamic fundamentalists that were allegedly planning to attack foreign and Egyptian military forces.

Ahmad Bashā reports on the Swiss call to give al-Hadarī Swiss citizenship.

The article covers issues that have made the headlines in Egypt in the last month and includes the story of a postman was detained for two months, a fatwá that was issued declaring that non-Muslims are not apostates and the contentious issue of a piece of land near St. Macarius monastery that has been sold.

The article presents an interview with the fundamentalist cleric Ahmad al-Mahallāwī.

Liberal Islamic thinker Nasr Hāmid Abū Zayd participated in a cultural festival that was organized in Beirut and Cairo at the same time. After the difficulties encountered to hold Abū Zayd’s lecture in different places, the lecture was given at the American University in Cairo where Abū Zayd stressed the significance of art and discussed prohibition in Islamic societies.

Drs. Hulsman and Dr. Burslem provide a detailed report on Muslim-Christian relations based on a review of Dr. Hugh Goddard’s book, commenting on a number of issues including Western perceptions, mis-interpretations, and examples of recent incidents involving Muslims and Christians.

Shaykh Yūsuf al-Qaradāwī denies that the Qur’ān has texts with presumptive and indisputable passages and ones that call non-Muslims kafīr.

Drs. Hulsman comments on the recent incidents involving a monastery in Minia, and a number of articles in this issue that point to sectarian tensions.

In the article, the author rejects the idea that a Muslim woman is allowed to marry a Kitābī [a Jewish or Christian] man.