Faraj Foda

Farag Foda إفرج فوده'
Farag Foda, second from the right
Born	(1946-08-20)20 August 1946
Died	9 June 1992(1992-06-09) (aged 46)
Cause of death	Assassinated
Nationality	Egyptian
Occupation	Professor, writer

Farag Foda (also Faraj Fawda, Egyptian Arabic: فرج فوده‎‎, IPA: [ˈfɑɾɑɡ ˈfoːdæ] or [-ˈfuːdæ]; 1946 – 9 June 1992), was a prominent professor, writer, columnist, and human rights activist. He was assassinated on 9th of June 1992 by members of Islamist group al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya after being accused of blasphemy by a committee of clerics (ulama) at Al-Azhar University. Foda was one of 202 people killed by "politically motivated assaults" in Egypt between March 1992 and September 1993. In December 1992, his collected works were banned.

Faraj Foda was born near Damietta in the Nile Delta. He worked as professor of agriculture. He wrote numerous books and contributed as a columnist to the Egyptian magazine October.Foda wrote during a time of Islamic revival and growing influence of Islamism, both violent and non-violent. In Iran, Islamists had overthrown the Shah in 1979. In 1983, Hezballah suicide bombers destroyed the barracks of the American and French troops stationed in Beirut, killing hundreds. In Egypt, Marxist intellectuals (such as Muhammad Imara or Tariq al-Bishri) converted to Islamism. Long out of fashion, beards became common, and hijab "became the norm rather than the exception in universities and government" offices. In the early 1980s, Islamic radicals assassinated president Anwar Sadat and attacked Coptic churches and homes, and extorting jizya (Islamic protection tax) from Coptic Christians. (From 1992-1998, the group that assassinated Foda, (Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya) fought an insurgency against the Egyptian government during which at least 796 Egyptian policemen and soldiers, Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya fighters, and civilians including dozens of foreign tourists were killed.) Muslim Brotherhood ideologue Yusuf al-Qaradawi blamed the extremist violence in part on the failure to give Islam "the place it deserves in government, legislation and guidance."